Eight early to mid-career Victorian screenwriters will hone their craft under the tutelage of script producer and former ABC development executive Clare Atkins as part of Co-Curious’s Stories From Another Australia initiative.
Delivered with support from The Ian Potter Foundation, Screenrights Cultural Fund, and VicScreen, along with assistance from Cinespace, the program aims to accelerate the careers of writers from culturally and linguistically diverse and other under-represented backgrounds by giving them the opportunity to collaboratively create a concept for television.
Angeline Rachel, Tinio Armstrong, Meegan May, Lauren Anderson, Vee Shi, David Koutsouridis, Diane Vu, Beth Knights, and Aranyan Thangaratnam have been divided into two workshops to suit their interests. They will work together using Co-Curious’s model of development, and learn skills across story engines, series arcs and character, as well as the basics of a writers’ room. They will also receive professional development, networking opportunities, and mentoring sessions.
Each workshop group will be facilitated by Co-Curious and supported by an experienced writer-mentor, with Penelope Chai and Magda Wozniak joining the program. Atkins will lead the intiative under the mentorship of Blake Ayshford.
Atkins said discussions about the program with writers, production companies, and program partner VicScreen had revealed a gap in support for early to mid-career writers.
“Many of the applicants had extensive experience notetaking and were working on their projects such as filming shorts or writing pilots but were yet to gain a television credit,” she said.
“Through their involvement in this unique program Co-Curious hopes to support these talented writers in taking the next steps in their careers.”
The announcement comes nearly 12 months after participants were unveiled for the original NSW program.
Co-Curious CEO Annabel Davis said it was “enormously exciting” for the organisation to welcome the successful Victorian applicants and expand the initiative.
“The program will create a network of support and collaborators for the participants and Co-Curiouss’ holistic approach will provide the foundation for participants to establish and sustain a career in the industry,” she said.
“We can’t wait to see what comes out of the labs and have no doubt we will see these writers’ names on our television screens before too long.”