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2025 Quicksilver Production Fund

 

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2025 MERCURY QUICKSILVER PRODUCTION FUND CLOSED.

The Mercury invites early-career and emerging South Australian filmmakers to apply for the next round of Quicksilver Production Funding, now officially open for submissions.

Supported by the South Australian Film Corporation, the Quicksilver Production Fund promotes the professional development of creative talent by providing funded production opportunities of short form content that demonstrate an authentic, original artistic vision.

In 2025, the program expands with additional support from Country Arts SA through the Country Arts Foundation, enabling greater opportunities for regional and First Nations filmmakers.

Thanks to this additional support, the two grants awarded to projects led by a majority of First Nations key creatives will receive increased funds from previous years, strengthening SAFC and The Mercury’s shared commitment to supporting the development of South Australia’s First Nations filmmakers. One of these grants will be specifically allocated to a film by a First Nations regional or remote filmmaker. All grant recipients in 2025 will receive equal funding.

With a total of $150,000 in funding and mentoring support, Quicksilver is an opportunity for projects ready to commence production in the first half of 2026.

In 2025, the Quicksilver Production Fund will provide 6 creative teams with grants of $25,000 to produce a short film or the pilot of a web series. Projects can be narrative fiction, documentary or animation, up to 12 minutes in duration.

In addition to the provision of cash budgets, in-kind support will also be provided by way of equipment and facilities hire at The Mercury, public liability and volunteer insurance cover, a suite of contract templates & production forms, paid Script Consultation and project mentoring from an above the line (ATL) industry mentor, and the use of the Mercury’s Iris Cinema auditions and a cast & crew screening.

Applications are now CLOSED.

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2024 QUICKSILVER RECIPIENTS

Lucky Nine Fingers

Lucky Nine Fingers is a dark comedy about down-on-his-luck Marty, who attempts to settle old debts by overselling shares in a dud racehorse. Only to find this ‘sure bet’ scheme comes back to bite him!

Producer: Tim Hodgson
Writer/Director: Nicole Miller

Forget Me, Not

Following a near drowning, Sadie awakens in a secluded seaside home and must rely on her partner Adrian to fill in the substantial holes in her memory, but when a strange mark appears on her skin, she questions if her relationship with Adrian was as perfect as he claims it was.

Producer: Sarah Wormald
Director: Tamara Hardman
Writer: Sophie Morgan & Tamara Hardman

Stewed

After waking up in an unknown place with no memory of how she got there, Kelly is forced to reflect on her self-destructive behaviour as she tries to piece together the night before

Producer: Lilla Berry
Writer/Director: Pearl Berry

False Narrative

When a rising First Nations boxer is falsely accused of heinous crimes after his image is mistakenly used in a viral news report, he must confront the social, emotional, and physical consequences of a media-fuelled witch hunt while battling for his identity, accountability, and resilience.

Producer: Travis Akbar & Thibul Nettle
Writer/Director: Travis Akbar

The Other House

A bittersweet short film about two children who meet across three consecutive Christmases while their families fall apart year by year.

Producer: Charlie Milne & Juniper Dew
Director: David Friswell
Writer: Charlie Milne

Finding Harmony

A bunny who experiences the world differently and a portal-hopping kangaroo show the forest community that true harmony emerges when everyone’s unique way of being is embraced.

Producer: Lysah Phoenix
Director: Cameron Edser
Writer: Lysah Phoenix

Strange Devil Signals

Three twenty-somethings struggling to run an amateur radio station find their work cut out for them when the station is cursed by a witch, and starts receiving calls from the literal depths of hell.

Producer: Emma Hough Hobbs & Leela Varghese
Writer/Director: Alice Lam

Ananab Ananab

When an eleven year-old boy loses his mum’s attention to her new Pentecostal Christian faith, he fakes speaking in tongues to get it back.

Producer: Emma Beech
Writer/Director: Emily Steel

2023 QUICKSILVER RECIPIENTS

Great Divide

Producer: Adam Camporeale
Writer/Director: Stephen Packer

Burnout

Producer: Lilla Berry
Director: Johanis Lyons-Reid
Writer: Piri Eddy, Lilla Berry & Johanis Lyons-Reid

Guts

Producer: Ben Galotta
Director/Writer: Scarlet Scherer

Dancing Dragon

Producer: Wei Gao + Dante Niedzwiedz
Director/Writer: Shuying (Grace) Liu

The Hitcher

Producer: Tom Schaefer + Cooper Rees-Jones
Director/Writer: Henry Reimer Meaney

I’m the Most Racist Person I Know

Producer: Suriyna Sivashanker
Director/Writer: Leela Varghese

The Shifting Eyes

Producer: Bryce Kraehenbuehl
Director/Writer: Alex Salkicevic

Second Chance - First Nations

Producer: Tim Harkness
Director/Writer: Thibul Nettle

The Mysterious Maiden of Montefiores - First Nations

Producer: Josh Trevorrow
Director/Writer: Travis Akbar

A Nightmare on Felt Street

Producer: Craig Jackson
Director/Writer: Brendan Godfrey

Liability

Producer: Jasmine Leech
Director/Writer: David Daradan
Additional Creative: Joshua Campton

Great Deliverance

Producer: Jasmine Leech
Director/Writer: Guy Henderson

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