ROAD TRIP COMEDY CONCEPT SELECTED AS WINNER OF 2024 AACTA PITCH: REGIONAL LANDSCAPES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SCREENWORKS

AACTA and Screenworks are delighted to announce OVER HER DEAD BODY as the recipient of the 2024 AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes development initiative. 

Jacqueline Chii Chien Lim, Tamara Whyte and Daniel Stevenson’s concept OVER HER DEAD BODY was announced as the winning concept at this year’s Regional To Global Forum hosted by Screenworks. The creative team were invited to present their unique concept on stage to a room of industry peers. The recipients will receive a cash prize and ongoing support including script consultation sessions, AWG pathways, and various industry connection opportunities, to progress their project toward production. 

Jacqueline Chii Chien Lim, Tamara Whyte and Daniel Stevenson said of their experience, “It has been such a great opportunity, we’ve enjoyed the experience of working with the mentors and are looking forward to next steps and lots more laughs.”

Now in its fifth year, AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes in Partnership with Screenworks celebrates the beautifully diverse regional landscapes in Australia and provides creatives based in regional areas with a platform to share their unique stories with industry leaders, amplifying these voices. 

The five finalists selected earlier months received valuable feedback and advice from the judges to help in their final pitch preparation. This year’s panel included AACTA award-winning screenwriter and director Belinda Chayko (Prosper, Fires, Stateless), writer and script producer Nicole Dade (Barrumbi Kids, The Drover’s Wife), AACTA nominated screenwriter Stuart Page (Total Control, The Doctor Blake Mysteries) and Head of Sales and Acquisitions at Umbrella Entertainment Nick Hayes.

AACTA Awards and Industry Development Manager Ivan Vukusic said, “It was an incredibly competitive year with all 5 projects showing immense potential but OVER HER DEAD BODY, with it’s interesting mix of cultures, sharp comedic writing and a rollicking Queensland road trip really shows incredible promise. Congratulations to Jacqueline, Tamara and Daniel who are a fun team that we look forward to working with. And we can’t wait to see this brought to life at AACTA Festival in February 2025.”

OVER HER DEAD BODY is a road-trip comedy that follows Marilyn, joined by her hyper-critical aunt and irresponsible brother, as she returns her mum’s body to the outback for her funeral. This heartfelt comedy deeply resonated with the judges, who strongly believe in its potential, in a year filled with remarkable entries.   

Additionally, OVER HER DEAD BODY will be profiled at AACTA Festival, with a live script reading starring a professional cast. The 2024 AACTA Festival program included a live script reading of 2023 runner-up MOONSHOT, and featured Nathalie Morris (Bump), Chris Alosio (Talk to Me), Christopher James Baker (Boy Swallows Universe), Nathin Butler (Winners and Losers), Jeanette Cronin (Upright), New York Film Academy graduate and teacher Ellie Popov, and Australian Performing Arts Conservatory graduate Daena Lucas.

This year’s AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscape initiative concluded at the 2024 Screenworks Regional to Global Screen Forum, held in Lennox Head from July 31 to August 2, 2024. The event featured workshops, presentations, one-on-one meetings, networking events and a final presentation to celebrate this year’s AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscape initiative. 

Screenworks CEO Lisa O’Meara said, "We’ve been very impressed by the high calibre of stories submitted to the AACTA Pitch Regional Landscapes. Congratulations to Jacqueline Chii Chien Lim, Tamara Whyte and Daniel Stevenson. I look forward to seeing how they use the cash prize, industry introductions, live AACTA Festival read and ongoing support to progress 'Over Her Dead Body'.”  

AACTA Regional Landscapes Judge, Stuart Page said “All the teams shortlisted had projects that showed really great promise. It’s a reminder, as if we ever needed one, of how strong and exciting our regional screenwriting culture is. 

The Over Her Dead Body team of Jacqueline Chii Chien Lim, Tamara Whyte and Daniel Stevenson brings a wonderful mix of lived and professional experience to the project. Their approach to collaboration was exciting and frankly hilarious, which works really well for the wild story they want to tell. The road trip itself is a wonderful showcase for regional Queensland, seen through the eyes of two feuding, grieving Asian Australian siblings, and it’s this perspective that gives Over Her Dead Body it’s very particular appeal. 

Meeting the teams and having those conversations has been the real highlight for me. Our industry needs more of these conversations, and for regional film makers, those conversations - the chances to make contacts, take in ideas, and to be part of the filmmaking community - are even harder to achieve, and are even more crucial.”

AACTA and this year’s judging panel are committed to providing ongoing support for all the finalists as they advance their project to the next phase of development. The remaining four finalists were:

Girl On The Edge - Karen Jackson & Nicole Sullivan

A rad teenage girl with a big teased-up 80s hairdo to match her big ambitious dreams, is slayed by her family, her school and her Far North Queensland small town, whose only interest is to studiously toe the patriarchal line.

How To Bee - Lisa Hoppe & Abi Tabone

Set after ‘The Great Famine’ when the quickest, bravest kids do the job of bees, How to Bee is the triumphant story of two young girls with a fierce friendship and minds of their own.

Marry Me Annie - Jessi Le Brocq

After a heartbreak and a viral marriage mishap, disillusioned wedding celebrant Annie retreats to her rural hometown, Tamworth, only to find herself continually pulled back into the wedding world she's sworn off! Navigating family feuds, matrimonial emergencies and unexpected romances, Annie tries to find space to rediscover who she is, when she’s not ‘Marry Me Annie’.

Rising Tide - Francisca Braithwaite, Riccardo Pellizzeri

In a picturesque Australian fishing town, a daring young mother rallies a diverse group of women to restore an abandoned fishing trawler. Together, they challenge the local fishing community, including their own husbands and partners, overturning the town's dated gender roles and pushing their own personal limits in a bid for independence and community respect.

For more information on AACTA Pitch: Regional Landscapes, click here.