Screen Producers Australia (SPA) CEO Matthew Deaner joins the podcast ahead of the annual conference Screen Forever, which takes place in late April 2026. The conference is made up of two parts – the online Global Market, and the in-person conference and market, which runs for three days (April 28-30) on the Gold Coast. Throughout the podcast, Matthew gives tips for anyone planning on attending Screen Forever, as well as talking through what Screen Producers Australia is and does, and his thoughts on the state of the Australian industry following a tough 2025.

SPA was also part of the successful, years-long push to introduce local content quotas for streaming services – under the new laws, passed in Parliament in November 2025, streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers will be required to invest at least 10% of their total program expenditure for Australia—or 7.5% their revenue—on new local drama, children's, documentary, arts and educational programs. In addition, the ABC will also receive a $50 million funding boost over 3 years to support the production of new Australian children's and drama content. On the other side of that bill passing, Matthew also talks to SPA’s focuses going forward, advice for producers, and more.

Screen Forever bootcamp video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJeo_ajVH2c] 

Screen Forever website [https://www.screenforever.org.au/40]

SPA CEO Matthew Deaner: Screen Forever tips and advice for producers

AP Pobjoy joins the latest episode to talk about the SBS Digital Originals series Homebodies. AP is the creator, lead-writer and one of the directors on the series, which is streaming on SBS on Demand now.

Throughout the podcast, AP talks about the journey of Homebodies – from pitching the idea to Mad Ones producer Cyna Strachan, through to writers’ rooms with people like Charlotte Mars, working with set-up director Harry Lloyd and the challenges of casting those key roles. AP also talks to applying and developing Homebodies through the SBS initiative Digital Originals, takeaways from writing the 6 x 10-minute episodes, and much more.

In Homebodies Darcy (Luke Wiltshire) returns home to look after his estranged mother (Claudia Karvan), but discovers she’s got an unusual housemate: the teenage ghost of his pre-transition self (Jazi Hall).

Watch all episodes: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/homebodies

AP Pobjoy: creating SBS Digital Originals series Homebodies 

On today’s episode of Breaking Screen is Lee Naimo. As the Head of Creative for Grouse House, Lee works for Haven't You Done Well Productions, the production company of comedy group Aunty Donna.

As Grouse House says: “Grouse House connects Australia’s most cooked comedians with the freaks who froth it. Curated by Aunty Donna, we produce and showcase internet videos, podcasts and live shows. It’s the home of Australian alternative comedy.”

Throughout the podcast, Lee talks about takeaways from his time at Screen Australia as Head of Online and Games, the upcoming launch of the Grouse House TV streamer, his advice for anyone preparing to pitch (and what Grouse House is looking for), being an internet elder as one third of Axis of Awesome and much more.

Lee Naimo: creating the home of Australian alternative comedy in Grouse House, pitching tips, and advice from an internet elder

Screenwriter and director Hannah Lehmann joins the latest episode of Breaking Screen to talk about her writing process, how making a vertical series prepared her for feature film and TV, dealing with rejection, exploring the realities of working in the screen industry through her writing, and much more.

For her digital series Two Sides, Hannah won an Australian Directors Guild award and a Streamy Award. She created and directed The Unboxing for Seven Studios, and began her career with The Out There, a series she produced and wrote for Instagram.

Read Hannah’s SubStack ‘Still Losing’: https://hannahlehmannworld.substack.com [https://hannahlehmannworld.substack.com/]

Currently, Hannah has a number of projects in development including her debut feature, the semi-autobiographical TV series Mirrorball, produced by Easy Tiger Productions, and several feature film adaptations.

Screenwriter/director Hannah Lehmann: writing process, navigating development, and why rejection will ultimately make you better

Jimpa producer Liam Heyen joins the latest episode of Breaking Screen ahead of the film's  release in Australian cinemas on February 19th.

Directed and co-written by Sophie Hyde, Jimpa stars Olivia Colman as a filmmaker who is forced to reckon with the past when her teenager (played by Aud Mason-Hyde) declares they want to move to Amsterdam to live with their gay grandfather, “Jimpa” (played by John Lithgow).

In this wide-ranging interview, Liam talks about why he was drawn to producing, starting the production company Mad Ones Films with Cyna Strachan in the pandemic, making Latecomers, Erotic Stories, upcoming Homebodies and their first feature film with Jimpa, tips for funding applications, his biggest learnings to date, and much more.

Liam Heyen: producing Jimpa, advice for Digital Originals, and career takeaways

We're joined on Breaking Screen by Michelle Law, a writer and actor who writes for print, theatre and screen. Throughout the episode, Michelle talks about the differences in writing for those three mediums, her writing process, managing her time as a freelancer to avoid burnout, juggling parenting and working in the industry, and much more.

Michelle has been published in numerous Australian books, literary journals, and magazines, and her travel book, Asian Girls are Going Places, was published by Hardie Grant in 2022. 

As a playwright, she’s written Top Coat (Sydney Theatre Company 2022), Miss Peony (Belvoir St Theatre 2023), and the smash-hit play Single Asian Female (numerous, 2017 - 2022), which had sold out seasons across the east coast of Australia as well as in New Zealand. 

In screen, Michelle was the co-creator, co-writer and co-lead of the AWGIE-award winning SBS series Homecoming Queens, as well as writing episodes of Bureau of Magical Things and Safe Home.

This episode marks Breaking Screen's final episode of 2025! The podcast will be back in early 2026.



Michelle Law on writing for stage, print and screen

We’re joined on Breaking Screen by screenwriter Gretel Vella and Jungle Entertainment’s Chloe Rickard, who both executive produced the new Stan original series He Had it Coming, which launches on November 20. 

Throughout the podcast, Gretel and Chloe talk about the journey of He Had it Coming from horror feature to buddy comedy/murder mystery, their approach to writing – and selling – a half-hour comedy drama, tips for pitching a television series, the moments that got them to keep going in a tough industry, and much more.

He Had it Coming is an odd couple comedy-drama about two university students who are accidentally entangled in a murder mystery when their spontaneous feminist art activism is co-opted by a killer. Gretel co-created the series with Craig Anderson, with both serving as showrunners and writers.

Gretel’s television credits include three seasons of The Great; Class Of ’07 for Amazon Studios; the Stan TV movies A Sunburnt Christmas and Christmas Ransom, and Season 3 and 4 of Doctor Doctor for Easy Tiger and Channel Nine. Her own original series which she wrote, created and executive produced Totally Completely Fine premiered on Stan in April of 2023.

Jungle’s Chloe Rickard, meanwhile, is a Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Producer at Jungle Entertainment. She has executive produced and produced globally acclaimed series such as Good Cop Bad Cop, Population: 11, No Activity, A Moody Christmas and Wakefield.



Jungle Entertainment's Chloe Rickard and showrunner/writer Gretel Vella on making Stan series He Had it Coming

We're joined on Breaking Screen by Alexei Mizin and Ryan van Dijk, the creators, writers and script producers of Stan’s original six-part series Watching You, which is based on the J.P. Pomare novel 'The Last Guests’ and is produced by Lingo Pictures in association with ITV Studios. The series stars Aisha Dee as Lina, who, after her affair is captured by hidden cameras, sets out to unmask an insidious voyeur that threatens to destroy her life. All episodes are available to stream now.

Throughout the podcast, Alexei and Ryan talk about the positives of being a writing duo, how they navigate conflict if it does arise, the process of adapting a novel for the screen, writing advice and much more.

Alexei and Ryan’s writing partnership began over a decade ago while completing a Master of Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts. Together they have won the prestigious Monte Miller Award at the AWGIE Awards, partnered with The Fleming Agency and sold original IP to Apple, been attached to a sci-fi series for Animal Logic and Truant, secured a development deal with the AMC Network, developed projects for Apple TV+ and Disney, are part of the writing team for upcoming Apple series The Dispatcher, and authored all six episodes of Watching You.

Creators of Stan series Watching You on adaptations, writing tips, and crafting a propulsive thriller for TV

We’re joined on Breaking Screen by Amie Batalibasi and Nikki Tran, the producers of 18 x 1 minute series Ceebs, which was written by and stars Betiel Beyin & Leigh Lule. Throughout the podcast, Amie and Nikki share their insights on developing and creating an online series, what vertical storytelling actually is, learnings from their marketing and release strategy, unexpected hurdles with the algorithm, and advice for anyone wanting to make a series for TikTok or Instagram.

In Ceebs, best friends Zion and Ruby run for Youth President to save their youth centre from imminent closure while struggling to keep their friendship from being hit in the crossfire. The series is many things: a love letter to the youth centres that provide a place of belonging to young people, a platonic rom-com about two best friends, a rare representation of Afro-Australian joy and an absurdist political satire. It launched on TikTok and Instagram on September and you can watch every episode online now.

Making a vertical series with the producers of Ceebs

We're joined on Breaking Screen by Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs, the co-writer/directors of the award winning animated feature film Lesbian Space Princess, who talk about splitting responsibilities during development and production, the differences in writing for live action versus animation, and tips for working in low-budget animation.

Lesbian Space Princess premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film, an international award recognising exceptional films with LGBTQIA+ themes and content. It was also selected for Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals – and at Sydney won the GIO Audience Award for Best Australian Feature. It marks the debut feature of Leela and Emma, as well as producer Tom Phillips of We Made a Thing Studios. It’s the first full-length animated feature film made in South Australia, and was the second production to come out of the South Australian Film Corporation’s Film Lab: New Voices feature film initiative, supported by Screen Australia and Adelaide Film Festival. It’s also hilarious and you can catch it in select cinemas now.

Making an animated feature with Lesbian Space Princess co-writer/directors

Get up-to-date on Australian screen industry news and hear from local writers, producers, directors and more. Created and hosted by journalist and screenwriter Caris Bizzaca.

Caris Bizzaca

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