Melbourne-based writer Gina Song has won the 2022 Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award for her project Miss Underworld.
The award, presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation, is given to a non-American novice writer under 30 for a half-hour to one-hour drama script.
Miss Underworld is a supernatural drama series about a Korean-American pageant queen who finds her entire life upended when she becomes possessed by a demon in her first year of college.
Song receives a $US2,500 cash prize and a trip to New York City, where she will be presented the award at the International Emmy World Television Festival on November 19. She will also be invited to take part in the red carpet festivities at the International Emmy Awards a few days later.
Song began writing the outline for Miss Underworld while studying at university. After graduating and moving back home, she began writing the script, finishing the first draft in two weeks – she tells IF it was a way of working through her anxieties about the future.
“It’s very much in the vein of shows like Buffy and iZombie while trying to reflect the horrors of coming-of-age for a new generation,” she says.
“I’ve always loved genre, and the script was my attempt to have fun with classic tropes while exploring the horrors of growing up as a young adult in 2022.”
Song joins previous Australian winners of the Sir Peter Ustinov award such as Joe Brukner (2017), Catherine Smyth-McMullen (2016), Gabriel Bergmoser (2015), Jason Spencer (2010), Claire Tonkin (2009) and Felicity Carpenter (2008).
Looking at the calibre of the past winners, Song says it is an honour to receive the prize; she is still processing her win.
“It’s also a huge confidence boost, and I really want to use this momentum to keep working on Miss Underworld and my other TV writing samples,” she says.
Song is currently undertaking the Victorian Screen Development Internship. Currently working with VicScreen, she will later this year will move across to gain experience with Blackfella Films and Paramount ANZ.
“I can’t speak highly enough about the team at VicScreen. They’re so incredibly supportive, generous, and knowledgeable about the industry. I’m coming up on four months there, and I’ve learned everything from how to provide effective script notes to understanding a project’s finance plan,” she says.
“Going into the internship, I knew there were gaps in my knowledge, especially regarding the financial/business side of the industry, and I really appreciate how much the team have mentored me through the process. My goal is to be a TV writer and producer, so the experience has been so valuable from both a creative and production standpoint.”
Song is also one of the six participants in Screen Australia and Australians in Films’ Untapped initiative, which has helped hone her introduction and project pitch for Miss Underworld.
Her other work includes short film Namesake, which won Best Script and Direction at Mudfest Film Festival and she has also worked as a script editor for several short films, one of which, The Veil, screened at Lift-Off Los Angeles and London.
In addition to her screenwriting, Song has published articles about the Korean diaspora experience for The New York Times, SBS Voices and Refinery29.