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 […]
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 […]
AFTRS Screenwriting Student beaten to Monte Miller Award by AFTRS Staff Member – 45th AWGIE Awards
My second-year Graduate Diploma Screenwriting student, Claire Phillips, was beaten to the Monte Miller Award for best unproduced screenplay by an unproduced writer for the TV pilot she developed as part of her course work in year one, THE BOX, by none other than an AFTRS staff member (and a great colleague) Mike Jones. Awards […]
AFTRS Alumna, Claire Phillips Nominated for the Monte Miller Award
Congratulations Claire for becoming the third student in three consecutive years to be nominated for an AWGIE Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay for the TV pilot she developed as part of her course work. Your dedication to your craft and hard work has certainly paid off.
High Concept Lecture presented by AFTRS and AWG
Could the SIXTH SENSE (1999) have been an Australian film? Could we have shot that film in Melbourne with Toni Collette and Hugh Jackman and a kid who sees dead people? The answer is a resounding, ‘Yes.’ Similarly, could the HANGOVER (2009) have been an Australian film? We have grooms and bachelor parties and Surfers […]
Current AFTRS Screenwriting Student, Laura Greaves, Nominated for AWGIE Award
My second-year Graduate Diploma Screenwriting student, Laura Greaves has been nominated for the Monte Miller Award for best unproduced screenplay by an unproduced writer for the TV pilot she developed as part of course work in year one. Good luck tonight, Laura.
AFTRS Alumnus, Jonathan Empson, nominated for the Monte Miller Award at the 43rd AWGIE Awards
Jonathan’s TV pilot, CHROME, has been nominated for an AWGIE award at the 43rd Annual Writers’ Guild Award to be handed out August 20, 2010 at The Peninsula Hotel in Melbourne. Jonathan developed the pilot as part of his course work in the Graduate Diploma Screenwriting at AFTRS. For the full list of winners click […]
Postion as Head of Screenwriting at the National Film School Announced
I have taken over from Jane Smith as the new Head of Screenwriting at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Working with the school’s Director of Screen Content, Graham Thorburn and CEO, Sandra Levy, I am on a mission to reinvent the school’s approach to screenwriting with a greater focus on internships, mentorships […]
AFTRS Brisbane – Guest Lecture
I was in Brisbane today to lecture at AFTRS (Brisbane) on the Hero’s Journey. I first came to Brisbane/Gold Coast in 1988 to work as an assistant director on DOLPHIN COVE for Paramount Television (one of the first productions to use the Gold). A lot has changed in the twenty years since then — and […]