Ross Grayson Bell stands behind a chair, hands rested on the high point of its iron frame. He is slight and compact, with a powerful smile. Dressed in mauve and purple, with clipped silver-brown stubble, his look is casual but cool. The most exciting thing about Fight Club, he says, is the scene in the […]
Writers Mentoring Program
Are you working on a full length work of fiction or non-fiction, or a screenplay? Need help getting to the end, or seeing the shape of your story? I am pleased to announce I have just joined the Australian Writers Mentoring Program, which offers guidance to a select group of aspiring writers from Australia and around the […]
Screen Tasmania Joins Forces with ABC to Develop Four TV Projects
Joining forces with Hobart-based screenwriter, Daniel Weavell, we have created a proposal for a 26 x 1/2 hour, mystery adventure series, SEAL BAY, set on Tasmania’s spectacular Bruny Island and submitted it as part of the Screen Tasmania/ABC Spotlight Initiative. SEAL BAY is the story of an unlikely friendship between a grieving, 12-year-old boy and […]
Screen Daily: Screen Australia backs 18 features with development funds (article by Sandy George)
UK producer Kevin Loader joins comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths. Now that it is likely to be set up as a UK/Australian co-production, prolific UK producer Kevin Loader (In the Loop, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Week-End) has become part of the team behind the comedy drama B Model, […]
AWGIE Award for AFTRS Screenwriting Alumna – Charlotte McConaghy
Huge congratulations to my former student, Charlotte McConaghy, (Graduate Diploma Screenwriting 2012) for her win at the 2013 Australian Writers Guild Awards held at Melbourne’s Plaza Ballroom last Friday night. Charlotte won the Monte Miller Award: Long Form for Best unproduced script for her TV pilot FURY – which she developed as part of her […]
Premiere of DEADBEAT DADS – Winner of the MTV Optus ONE80 Competition (2012)
Success of my mission to create stronger concepts for film and television came when two former screenwriting students, Kent Pearson and Shelly McLaren (Graduate Diploma Screenwriting 2011), partnered with current screenwriting student Ben Matthews (also a graduate of the Directing course), and won over $180,000 in the MTV/Optus One80 Competition to make a TV pilot […]
Screen Australia – Announces New Development Funding Approvals
SALVATION CREEK has been approved for another round of development funding for a third draft. This round, Screen Australia has committed $643,125 in funding to support the development of 18 feature films and to cultivate the careers of the next generation of filmmakers. ALI’S WEDDING Genre Drama, Comedy Producers Helen Panckhurst, Michael McMahon Executive Producer […]
2 AFTRS Screenwriting Alumni Nominated for Awards at 46th AWGIE Awards
Jessica Paine and Charlotte McConaghy have both been nominated for the Monte Miller Award for best unproduced screenplay by an unproduced writer for the TV pilots they developed as part of their course work. Jess is nominated for THE KNOT and Charlotte for FURY. This is the fourth year in a row my students have […]
Director attached to SALVATION CREEK – Megan Simpson Huberman
Megan Simpson Huberman has agreed to direct SALVATION CREEK, an Australian movie about a high-flying magazine editor whose husband and brother die within three days of each other. The producer is Heather Ogilvie, CEO of Galvanized Film Group, who collaborated with the director on her two previous features, Alex (1992) and Dating the Enemy (1996). […]
Marta Dusseldorp and Rebecca Gibney Join Read-thru of SALVATION CREEK
Shirley Barrett will direct today’s read-thru of SALVATION CREEK, funded by Screen NSW’s Aurora Script Development Workshop. Erik Thomson and Jeanie Drynan join Marta Dusseldorp and Rebecca Gibney. After so many months of writing, it will be a treat to finally hear the characters come to life. Well done Heather for pulling together such a […]