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Holden Sheppard reveals Invisible Boys sequel name

Best selling Aussie queer author Holden Sheppard has revealed the name of his follow up sequel to Invisible Boys – and even before it has been released its already winning literary acclaim.

Yeah The Boys promises to tell the further adventures of Zeke, Charlie and Hammer as they grow into a new decade as young gay men following the events of Invisible Boys and last night the unreleased novel won the $50,000 Minderoo Artist Fund Award for 2025.

“Back in 2023, I won a $25,000 grant from Minderoo to write the first draft of this book,” Sheppard revealed on his socials earlier today.

“The 2023 cohort of artists all have our projects and outputs assessed by a judging panel, who then deem one of us the winner overall and grant a prize of an additional $50,000.

“For an artist, this amount of money is life-changing and will help me stay a full time writer for a while longer now and get YEAH THE BOYS through to publication. I am so happy.”

Sheppard was presented with the award by Nicola Forrest AO of Minderoo Foundation at Stories in Yagan Square in the Perth CBD.

“Thank you so much to the Forrests for establishing this philanthropic fund to help WA mid-career artists,” Sheppard said after receiving the award.

“Thank you Nicola Forrest for your warmth and encouragement. Thank you to the whole Minderoo Foundation team led by CEO John Hartman for making me feel so supported for the past two years. Congrats also to my fellow 2023 Minderoo Artist Fund cohort & the new 2025 cohort announced last night.

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Alex Allan, the CEO of Invisible Boys publishers Fremantle Press and Stan television adaptation producer Tania Chambers were present when Sheppard received the award, as was Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall.

Sheppard also thanked his husband Raphael for his support during the writing process.

“He’s supported me through all the ups and the many downs that mostly go unseen. Thank you my man,” Sheppard said.

With audiences gushing over the television adaptation of Invisible Boys on Stan, there is definitely an appetite for a sequel and Sheppard said that he was exited to update the story for his readers.

“It is so exciting to have the title of YEAH THE BOYS public at last,” Sheppard said.

“I am not just proud of this book following the further adventures of Zeke, Charlie and Hammer – I am proud of what this book is all about and what it represents for gay men and for men’s mental health in this era.

“More info in due course about when and where and how this book will be getting into the world. For now, just hell chuffed to tell youse it exists and is finished and has a title I’m so proud of.”

Read our exclusive interview with director Nicholas Verso about making the television adaptation of Invisible Boys

Read about Holden Sheppard’s next novel King of Dirt

So I signed up and strode in half an hour early on the first day, Monday. The security guard at Perth’s Art Gallery Theatrette was less than welcoming. But never mind. There were a number of people there, all involved with film in some form or another. The seminar’s organiser, ScreenWest, even packed the lobby outside with tasty treats and coffee. Surely, this must be good.

The auditorium began to fill up. My close friend Sam had not yet arrived. She said she’d be late, which, toher later dismay, was a fallacy. What I noticed almost immediately about Paul Welsh was not the thick Scottish accent that drawled from his lips, but the way his accent softened his voice almost to a hush; when he walked and talked, sometimes it felt like he was talking to the wall, or his shoes. It didn’t help that he was monotonous. Of course, I am nitpicking. Such complaints have no way of finding a solution. He is Scottish, and he’s soft. It’s the way he is. But why not speak through a microphone? A lady amongst us broke the silence at one point to ask him a question; her voice was like thunder from the heavens compared to his. Even the dwarf Sleepy, curled up in the next room, would’ve been roused.

But I digress. The seminar began as it should, with recaps of what cinema is, was, and should be. We spent a good two hours throwing words around that we thought best contributed to the purpose and execution of a good narrative. For instance, a good narrative uses “character”, and characters have “conflict”. That sorta thing. It was all very straightforward. And then we started viewing the first twenty minutes of a few independent British films, including Andrew Haigh’s Weekend (2011), Paul Andrew Williams’ London To Brighton (2006) and Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (2010). The reason behind this exercise was to pinpoint the central characters and discuss their dilemmas and predicaments without viewing the rest of the movie. The two men in Weekend, for example, arrive at each other from different places, carrying different luggage that’s unloaded in different ways. The scene they share together on the bed after a drunken night of fornication is laden with effortless dialogue and clever insights to their current sexual and social philosophies. I hadn’t seen the film, so it was a fun exercise trying to determine where the characters would go from there, and to what end.

But that, my friends, was it. The seminar didn’t go anywhere else. After a lunch break we came back and continued watching twenty minutes of footage before discussing the characters. By that time my friend Sam had given up and left. I was alone, torpid, and utterly bored. I say this not to sound arrogant, but boy, you would’ve felt the same if you were there. What about discussing characters is specific to low-budget filmmaking? Does it not also apply to blockbuster filmmaking? How does discussing character help me make a movie on $1,000? It helps me write a good screenplay, maybe, with good well-rounded characters. But good well-rounded characters do not help make a film. For that you need the means, equipment, crew, cast, and money.

I vowed not to go back for day two.

But I had to break it for another friend, who, having missed the first day due to some meeting, insisted I go and keep him company. We walked out before lunch, and saddled into a theatre in Rockingham for A Million Ways To Die In The West, an experience equally painful, if not a little more exciting.

No doubt Paul Welsh is a competent producer. He is knowledgable in the fields that matter the most to him. But his lazy speech, soft approach, and focus on character dulled the experience to a blunt tip. I heard from my friend that others in the seminar found it useful. What exactly did they find useful? Dissecting characters? I did that in university, and I loved it. I walked into a seminar called Developing Low-Budget Films to learn how to develop low-budget films. If I wanted to sit around and critiqueShifty, I would have sat around and critiqued Shifty.

3:1 Match Funding by Screenwest

Today we launched ScreenWest's 3 to 1 initiative which will contribute $250,000 towards Western Australian filmmakers making exciting new screen content for audiences!!!! 

In other words that means for every dollar raised, ScreenWest will give three bucks! 

All the projects are featured on ScreenWest’s 3 to 1 collection page. If you're a lover of local film, check out these fantastic projects! But don't just listen to us, listen to Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman! So how does it work?

Each project that successfully reaches its target (from $5000 to $50,000) from the general public will automatically be awarded ScreenWest funding.  But it's a race to the finish, because the ScreenWest funds will be awarded on a first in best dressed basis.  To be eligible for ScreenWest funding, each project must have: 

At least 40 individual supporters