Top US showrunner brings home plan for new Australian funding model

10 December, 2015

One of Australia’s most successful US television showrunners will be at the AWG National Screenwriters’ Conference in March to announce details of a plan to shake up the way our industry is funded.Shane Brennan, who has executive produced more than 300 episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS, is returning to Australia and will work with the Australian Writers’ Guild to kickstart a new era in Australia with a “unique system” and a “large amount of finance”.IF magazine says Brennan is heading home in a bid to change a production funding and development model he sees as antiquated and producer-heavy.“When I look at funding bodies in Australia, it reminds me that it hasn’t changed,” he says. “The money is not going to the right people. Too much money goes to producers and the money is not being spent where it should be spent. Everything is slanted to the producer and that needs to change.”“I will make an announcement at the National Screen Writers’ Conference and the Australian Writers’ Guild will also be making an announcement about an interesting opportunity for the industry, which will have a unique structure and a large amount of finance,” he says. Read the full IF story here.