Australian Screenwriters Podcast

Maya The Bee is beloved children's character in Germany and I recently chatted to Fin Edquist, the Australian writer of Maya's latest big screen adventure, The Honey Games. We talk about Fin's career, how he came to write this German character and how writing a movie for a predominantly German audience differs to writing for Australian audiences.   Maya The Bee: The Honey Games opens Thursday 26 J...

This episode is part 1 of 2 with Joe Murphy, writer on the US hit show Younger. In this ep, Joe talks about how he went from a small country town near Albury-Wodonga, Tangambalanga, to Deal Or No Deal and eventually on to Younger.  We also talk about the difference between writer's rooms here and in the US, what he had to do as an assistant and how having a support group of writers really helped h...

Mark O'Toole is one of Australia's premier comedy writers.  He started on shows like Full Frontal, Eric and Totally Full Frontal and has written everything from John Safran vs God to Adam Hills Tonight and Spicks and Specks. So naturally, this is the definitive conversation about writing comedy in Australia. 

Stephen Vagg rejoins us to discuss the History of Australian Screenwriting; a topic he knows a lot about having written an article for the AFTRS Lumina publication. It maybe educational, but don't let that stop you listening, as Stephen has some great tidbits, like Australians were nominated for three Academy Awards for screenwriting in the 70's. You can read Stephen's excellent article at AFTRS L...

This is a special episode. Stephen Vagg - most recently the Script Producer on Neighbours - memorialises his good friend and colleague, James Walker. James passed away, in January of 2018, aged only 41.  My condolences go out to his wife and two children.  James was a veteran of both Neighbours and Home & Away and also wrote for shows like McLeod's Daughters, Wild Boys and Wonderland. I'm really t...

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 forg...

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 Stor...

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...

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' fil...

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 an...

The AWG kindly invited me to cover the 50th annual Awgie Awards on Friday 25th August.  I interviewed the winners after they came off stage.  The interviews were:   Richard Lane Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication to the AWG - Kelly Lefever Theatre For Young Audiences - Finegan Kruckemeyer Children's Television 'C' Classification - Thomas Duncan-Witt Children's Television 'P' Classificati...

This AWG Event was recorded live at 107 Projects in Redfern, Sydney on 1st May 2017.  Writing for interactivity can present many challenges to the newcomer, and involves shedding a lot of what we've always been taught about storytelling.  Are beginning, middle and end really essential? Moderated by Teresa Crea, Christy Dena, Leena van Deventer, Anna Irwin-Schutze, Krister Collin and Nicole Stark t...

Rebecca is currently writing a rom-com feature film.  Her career started when she was commissioned to write a sitcom for the ABC and soon transitioned into freelance script consulting and editing.  Highlights in her career include being Creative Executive for the Producer of Capote, William Vince, writing script notes for Terry Gilliam's The Imagination of Dr Parnassus and story consulting on Paul...

AWG NSW Write Night event recorded live from the Harlequinn Inn in Pyrmont. Featuring screenwriters Debra Oswald, Shane Krause, Rebecca Sommi-Fisher and Story Consultant Karel Segers.

Holly Lyons has written for Neighbours, Home & Away and details her experience working on and writing for the soaps in the UK.  We also detail the importance of pitching.

Mithila Gupta entered TV land via Neighbours as a Storyliner and worked her way up to Script Editor and then Writer.  After going freelance she worked on Winners & Losers and Home & Away.  most recently she's worked on ABC's Indigenous sci-fi series Cleverman.

Recently, I recorded a speed pitching event at Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). You'll hear several minutes of pitch by Screenwriting students followed by several minutes of assessment by Producing students.  The first Producer was Dominic Hart.  Pitchees are: Keaton Stewart Dave Bloustein Stephanie Basile Luke McKenzie Gareth Richards Sarah Emery The second Producer was Sarah...

A different type of episode this time. Where I briefly interviewed Awgie winners after their win at the AWG Awgie Awards on Friday 14th October. Winners include: 1 - Rachel Spratt 2 - Adam Spellicy 3 - Angus Cerini 4 - Claire Stone 5 - Donna Abela 6 - Gerard McCulloch 7 - Hilary Bell 8 - Jason Herbison 9 - Katie Found 10 - Marcia Gardner 11 - Nick Pearce 12 - Sally Hardy 13 - Josh Thomas, Liz Dora...

Recorded live at the AWG's Write Like A Man event at King's Cross Hotel, Donna Abela interviews award-winning playwright Patricia Cornelius. She is known for her confronting plays that often deal with people living on the margins of society, struggling with poverty and prejudice.  Patricia has written over 25 plays, including SHIT, Savages, Slut, The Call amongst many more. Patricia's many awards...

This Ep is Helen Bowden and Jason Stephens who recently left Matchbox Pictures and Fremantlemedia respectively to form Lingo Pictures. Helen has produced shows such as The Slap, Devil's Playground and Underground: The Julian Assange Story, while Jason started as a writer/performer on The D Generation, but more recently has produced The King, Devil's Dust and Mr & Mrs Murder, amongst many more.  Yo...