Screen Australia Just Funded A Dragon Friends DnD Web Series

Screen Australia might not be able to fund local video games anymore, but they’re still helping fund some great gaming-adjacent investment. The latest round of government funding is backing a new series from Dragon Friends, the Australian Dungeons & Dragons comedy group.

The project is called Dragon Friends: Dream Killers, and is created by the same team behind the Dragon Friends podcast and Twitch channel. It’s described as a live action/animation hybrid that stars a dad who begins hosting DnD nights after his friends group are banned from their local pub trivia:

• Dragon Friends: Dream Killers: A six-part online animation/live action hybrid which follows friends Gabe, Ally, Mike and Eddie who get banned from their local trivia night. In need of a new activity to keep the splintering friendship group together, they leave their real life behind and enter the world of Dungeons and Dragons. This adventure comedy is created by the team behind The Dragon Friends podcast, with writer/director David Harmon and writers Edan Lacey, Alexandra Lee, Michael Hing, Ben Jenkins and Simon Greiner. It will be produced by Lacey, Jenkins, Shakeera Khan and Grace Rein.

The program was one of 28 new projects receiving $1 million in funding from the federal body. Other online, TV and film projects approved include: Duck Turpin, a comedy action-adventure about a time-travelling duck; a series inspired by the ABC comedy podcast Snowball; Troubled Youth, a comedy-drama about three suburban middle-aged women reforming their teenage rock band; One More Shot, a film about someone who discovers a bottle of time-travelling tequila on New Year’s Eve that sends her back to the beginning of the night; Tradecraft, a drama series about two CIA recruits in 1948; a web series about someone being tricked into spending time at a psychological hospital; and Arguments With My Mum, a web series about the first-born boy in a Greek-Australian household and the disputes between him and his overbearing mother.

There weren’t any other gaming or gaming-adjacent series funded in the latest Screen Australia round of funding, but the body has backed DnD-based projects before. Earlier this year, 1 For All, a live action comedy web series about the escapes of a DnD group, received federal funding for a second season.

Dragon Friends most recently took part in the Stream of Annihilation two-day event, playing 5th Edition on the official Dungeons and Dragons Twitch channel. They’ve also uploaded many of their own streams and DnD sessions to Twitch and YouTube, including their Beef Babes D&D series.