When Emma Monk fell on her neck from an aerial silk two years ago, she was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
After endless hours watching television shows and movies, she realised a lot of the characters who had disabilities were two-dimensional.
They could be someone in a wheelchair or someone deaf, but there was no one who had explored what the experience was like to be a disabled person, she said.
“Deaf people have a very big range, and their deafness comes and goes,” she said.
“[With my FND] I go from having full paralysis of my waist down to having no issues at all, or then having seizures, fairly regularly.
“Disability is a whole spectrum of things, nothing is always consistent.
“And, kids don’t actually see disabilities. They just see different people.”
Monk is one of three creatives behind children’s TV concept The Sams of Planet 9, selected as one of three projects to share $90,000 of funding as part of Screen NSW Pathways Development Program.
Launched earlier this year, the program aims to support projects from creatives with disability and assist recipients in building their professional networks in the screen industry.
Monk is working with creator/producer Olivia Olley, writer Tristram Baumber, and creatives Vanessa Alexander and Kristina Anderson to develop the project, which follows a family who happens to be aliens hiding out in Australia to escape an enemy pursuing an artefact that promises mind control.
Also selected for the program was dramedy Pony by Eloise Snape (writer), Anthea Williams (writer/director), Katie Anning (writer), Justine Flynn (producer), and Naomi Just (producer). Based on the play of the same name, the story follows fantasist Hazel, who is stuck grinding on the dance floor, when she finds an unlikely way of coping with her painful past. Soon, a wave of change crashes over her life.
The third team comprises Victoria Singh-Thompson (writer/director) and Pip Smart (producer), whose horror/thriller feature New Year’s Eve centres on a group of friends in their 20s, who decide to push forward with a party despite fires burning across the country. However, it quickly descends into a nightmare when they witness a horrific accident.
Screen NSW head Kyas Hepworth said the variety of stories highlighted the importance of building an inclusive screen industry and “how vital it is to encourage new and distinct voices, bringing exciting projects into development”.
“I am thrilled we can support this talented group of creatives as they take these
projects to the next stage of development and embark on the next stage in their career as
screen practitioners,” she said.
“I look forward to seeing where these teams take these stories.”
Monk, whose team will now create a pitch deck to take to children’s television producers, teared up when she asked about how grateful she was for this opportunity.
“Words cannot describe how much it means,” she said.
“I have been extremely lucky that I have lived half my life able-bodied.
“But then when I did get diagnosed and became disabled, I saw that there was nothing that I could really latch onto as a 30-year-old.
“I have no idea what that means to kids who cannot see themselves on TV.”