Australian Screenwriters Podcast

Sam Strauss is the co-creator and screenwriter of Dance Academy, the very popular ABC that has also spawned a feature film.

We talk about how Dance Academy came to be, what it was like for her to come is as a Script Producer on the second series of The Wrong Girl and lots more.

As Co Head of Drama at Nine Network with Jo Rooney, Andy has overseen the commissioning, development and production of such shows as Love Child, Fat Tony & Co and House Husbands.

We also talk about upcoming Nine shows and what it's like commissioning for a commercial broadcaster.

Catherine McMullen is one of the hottest young genre screenwriters in Australia at the moment.

In 2017 she won the John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science-Fiction writing for a pilot called 'Awake' and her feature script 'The Other Lamb' got her onto The Black List, The Hit List and The Blood List in Hollywood.

She is now commuting between Australia and LA, working in writers rooms and forging what will surely be an illustrious career.

We discuss her career trajectory to this point, how she writes and why you can't talk yourself down in Hollywood.

As the Drama Executive at Foxtel, Carly Heaton evaluates drama pitches and scripts, represents the network in writers' rooms and helps develop scripts.

We chat about upcoming Foxtel shows, who can pitch to Foxtel and what level your pitch might need to be at.

This is a great episode for insights into the Foxtel drama department.

In trying to get different angles on Screenwriting and the screen industry, I recently attended C21's Content London Drama Summit, which brings together 1500 industry professionals to get insights about upcoming shows, understand the current marketplace and look at trends for the future amongst many more topics of discussion.

My interviews include:

Catherine Oldfield - Creative Director, Tall Story Pictures

Graeme Mason - CEO, Screen Australia

David Hannam - Screenwriter, Wanted, Nowhere Boys

Elizabeth Kilgarriff - Senior Commissioning Editor, BBC Drama England & Wales

Andy Ryan - Co-Head of Drama, Nine Network

Julie Eckersley - Producer, Matchbox Pictures

Jenni Tosi - CEO, Film Victoria

Nick Waller - Business Development Director, C21 Media

Deb Jourdain is a Co-ordinator at Margot Robbie's Lucky Chap Entertainment in Hollywood. She was Assistant to Producer John Edwards in Sydney for many years and moved over to LA a few years ago.

If you're interested in moving to Hollywood or just interested in what happens over there, then Deb's story of working her way up the Hollywood ladder is a great listen. She also has some great tips on how to gain credit, get a bank account and all those things you might overlook when setting up in a new city.

At the recent AWG Event: Representing Disability Onscreen, Luke Buckmaster, the film critic for The Guardian Australia gave a keynote address talking about how people with disabilities have been represented on Australian TV and film throughout the years.

Tim Pye has had an illustrious career and it's far from over. He's worked on everything from A Country Practice, E Street and Water Rats to Lockie Leonard, Stupid Stupid Man and Love Child.

Tim's won numerous awards including Awgies, AFIs and Logies and he now works as Head of Development at Scripted Ink, a screenwriter development company created up by NCIS Showrunner Shane Brennan.

On Thursday 28 Sept, AWG's Write Night presented the event Broadening The Horizons: Representing Disability On Screen at AFTRS in Sydney.

Genevieve Clay-Smith of Bus Stop Films chats to filmmakers Daniel Monks, Emily Dash, Johanna Garvin and Creative Director of Robot Army Ryan Chamley.

• Emily Dash's short-film I Am Not A Work Of Art... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzClTxpaI0Q
• Daniel Monks' film trailer for Pulse... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4IvKK4EsLs
• Daniel Monk's shortfilm Marrow... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo8b3gxeGGg
• ABC News story about The Milky Pop Kid... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhMms9LEBmA
• Robot Army's film trailer for Jeremy The Dud... https://www.facebook.com/Jeremythedud/videos/163547627541430/

Vicki Madden got her break on the Flying Doctors in the early 90's and went on to write shows like Halifax f.p. and Sea Patrol amongst many more in Australia. She has also worked a lot in the UK on shows like The Bill, The Clinic and K9. But we go in depth to her most recent work, the highly acclaimed The Kettering Incident. Vicki talks about where the show came from, working as a Showrunner and all things writing. If you haven't watched The Kettering Incident yet, Spoilers!