The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) and Screen Australia are lining up digital-first launches for a trio of projects that received production funding through their Kids IP Incubator.

The initiative, first launched in 2024, had multiple phases. It initially provided development funding to eight projects. To receive the next stage of financing, the teams pitched to a panel consisting of ACTF and Screen Australia representatives and former WildBrain Spark digital content strategist Nico Lockhart. Three projects were selected to receive that production funding.

Now, those projects are set to hit screens in the coming weeks.

The incubator was set up to give creators with digital-first ideas a leg up—support that was critical, since funding for kids content in Australia has been scarce, especially when the initiative launched, and it’s increasingly difficult for kids producers to make money on YouTube. 

“The landscape for children’s content is evolving quickly, and Kids IP Incubator plays a critical role in empowering creators to innovate and meet our littlest audiences and their families wherever they watch and engage,” Louise Gough, Screen Australia’s director of narrative content, said in a release.

“These three projects are highly original and made with great respect for the children’s audience,” added ACTF CEO Jenny Buckland.

Here are the details on the three projects:

Worm Diner 

Victoria-based production company Strange Mage is behind this seven- to 11-skewing comedy set in a family diner at the edge of the multiverse. Absurd humour fills its 40 x eight-minute episodes, when strange characters from across the cosmos stop by.

Emerging creatives Caitlyn Stapes (indie feature film Squids) and Millie Holten (web series Long Head) created the series, and are writers/directors on it.

Monique Mulcahy is the producer on the series; she started Strange Mage and is head of development at Haven’t You Done Well Productions (a prodco focused on comedy videos that made Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe for ABC Australia).

“The last 12 months have been a dream come true for us,” Mulcahy wrote on LinkedIn, “developing a kids series specifically for where kids are actually watching content these days—YouTube!”

Pit Pats

This chill preschool series is the result of a team-up between mid-career writer, director and producer Darcy Prendergast and emerging writer/director Josie Mackerras, in her first screen project. The Victoria-based duo’s project is a gentle 52 x four-minute series about curious creatures called Pit Pats that learn about mindfulness, movement and music.

The series is a mix of stop-motion, live-action, puppetry and hand-drawn animation. Prendergast and Mackerras are making the series under the Oh Yeah Wow shingle, a service studio that does VFX and animation, makes commercials and music videos, and has produced some original projects.

Magic Monkey Mayhem

In this monkey-out-of-water story, the mythical Monkey King ends up in modern-day Brisbane with his little brother. The two of them adjust to Aussie culture and contend with the struggle of trying to fit in.

The series (24 x three minutes) for eight to 12s blends live-action with animation. It’s produced by Queensland-based Little Tiger Films, led by writer, director and producer Nicholas Lin (a writer on Bluey) and producer Stefan Wernik (The Jellies).

Worm Diner and Magic Monkey Mayhem are set to launch in June. Pit Pats is scheduled to debut in early August, an ACTF spokesperson confirmed to Kidscreen.

Pictured left to right: Pit Pats, Worm Diner, Magic Monkey Mayhem. Image courtesy of Screen Australia.