$5,000 BizGiver grant helps Aussie filmmaker bring bold stories to life 

At BizCover, we love seeing what small business owners can achieve when they have the right tools behind them. That’s why, every six months, the BizGiver small business grant gives one Australian business owner up to $5,000 to bring a business wish to life. 

The latest recipient is filmmaker Amelia Foxton of Ninth Circle Entertainment, who asked for a new editing laptop to replace an ageing machine that was struggling to keep pace with her work. 

For Amelia, this isn’t just a new laptop – it’s a powerful tool that can help Ninth Circle Entertainment continue creating bold, inclusive stories. 

This is Amelia’s story. 

What attracted you to the entertainment industry? 

Amelia’s path into filmmaking started long before Ninth Circle Entertainment. 

Amelia began performing as a teenager and continued through her twenties, working across musical theatre, theatre and film while balancing an executive day job.  

Then life took her in a different direction. 

After having children in her early thirties, Amelia spent around eight years away from the industry to care for her children, who were all diagnosed with autism and ADHD. When she eventually returned to acting in her late thirties, she encountered a new problem: the roles she wanted to play were hard to find. 

“I found that there were very few really meaty, raw, real roles for middle-aged women,” she says. “So, I decided to start writing my own.” 

Writing soon led to directing. Directing led to editing and sound design. Today, Amelia can work across much of the filmmaking process herself. 

“I fell in love with every part of the process,” she says. 

What makes Ninth Circle Entertainment different? 

Ninth Circle Entertainment creates speculative fiction that combines recognisable human experiences with something unexpected. 

Run by Amelia and her partner, the filmmaking and content business specialises in psychological thrillers, elevated horror and stories incorporating supernatural or mythological elements. 

“Ninth Circle Entertainment is primarily a filmmaking business, but we’re basically content producers creating impactful, intelligent content developed for cinema and international streaming,” Amelia explains. 

Even the company name offers a clue about the stories Amelia likes to tell. Ninth Circle takes its name from Dante’s Inferno – a suitably dark and cheeky reference for a business drawn to complex characters and unconventional stories. 

One project currently in development, Cherry Poppins, follows a woman experiencing perimenopause who inadvertently summons an ancient demon. Beneath the supernatural premise is a story about ageing, female power and rediscovering your passion. 

It’s exactly the kind of unexpected storytelling Amelia loves. 

“What do I love the most in my job? Honestly, it’s story,” she says. “The drive, the passion, the joy for me is the story. It’s why I take the story from the writing to the directing, the acting, the editing, the sound design. Because once the story comes into my mind and into my heart, I need to see it through… and I want to make sure that it stays authentic and delivers the advocacy that was intended.” 

The importance of inclusion in the entertainment industry 

Creating inclusive film sets is an important part of how Amelia and Ninth Circle Entertainment work. 

The business supports mentorship and training opportunities for people with disabilities, neurodivergent people and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Amelia says many of the cast and crew she works with are neurodivergent. 

“We make sure our sets are inclusive,” Amelia says. “We make sure that we run sets in a way that breaks are taken when they’re required, and there are buffers in place to support people through their unique needs.” 

That advocacy can also find its way onto the screen. 

Amelia points to the comedic horror film Mother Tongue as one of her proudest recent projects. The film won Best Director at the Night of Horror International Film Festival and an Audience Choice award at the Sydney Women’s International Film Festival. 

“It was a wonderful production, incredible cast and crew,” Amelia says. “The story was exciting to shoot. It had an advocacy bent, and we won quite a few awards for it as well.” 

Why did Amelia enter the BizGiver competition? 

Amelia entered BizGiver because she needed an essential piece of modern filmmaking equipment: a new editing laptop. 

A friend told her about the competition and, after seeing that entry involved creating a short video explaining her business wish, Amelia decided to give it a shot. 

“It seemed like an easy enough thing to enter,” she says. “The one-minute video was an easy thing for me to do, and so I did that and put it in with the hope that maybe it could give me a good outcome.” 

That outcome turned out to be a winning one. 

“As an editor, you really need a strong editing system,” she says. “My laptop was about to die, so [the BizGiver grant] came at just such a wonderful time. 

“There was cheering. There was a bit of excitement and dancing about,” Amelia recalls.  

How will the BizGiver grant help Ninth Circle Entertainment? 

The new laptop gives Amelia the processing power she needs to edit film projects and explore new production tools. 

Film editing software can require substantial computing power and storage, particularly as projects become more complex. Amelia also expects technologies such as special effects and AI tools to place new demands on filmmakers’ equipment. 

“As we get more into the space of special effects and AI, eventually you’re going to need a lot of power in your editing tools,” she says. “I was so pleased to be able to upgrade to a new model [laptop], so that I’m just so much more capable of getting my job done.” 

What advice does Amelia have for other small business owners? 

Amelia’s advice to Australian small business owners thinking about entering BizGiver is simple: give it a go. 

“If anyone was considering entering the BizGiver grant, I’d say go for it,” she says. “All it takes is a little quick video of what you’re after, and it goes out there to the world.” 

BizGiver has supported Australian small businesses since 2014, with almost $120,000 awarded through grants for equipment, marketing, training and other business wishes. 

For Amelia, winning meant replacing an essential piece of equipment at exactly the right time. 

“$5,000 for a small business is a boon,” she says. “That’s a lot of money to somebody who’s trying to get by doing their own thing. 

“So just go for it. Give it a go.” 

Find out more about BizGiver and keep an eye out for the next round of the competition.