Erica Harrison
Erica Harrison is a multi-AWGIE nominated screenwriter, script producer, and story development professional.
She studied for a Bachelor of Science before gaining qualifications in photography and journalism and a Master of Arts in Screenwriting.
Her 2012 short A Cautionary Tail, starring Cate Blanchett, David Wenham, and Barry Otto, won the 2014 AACTA Award for Best Short Animation, as well as the Academy-accredited Jury Prize for Best Animated Short at The Austin Film Festival. It was adapted into a picture book that she also wrote and that Penguin Books published.
More recently, Harrison co-created and wrote queer drama Triple Oh!, which premiered in 2023 at the Cannes Film Festival market and won Best Series at the Valencia International Film Festival before going on SBS On Demand. She has also written on the ABC/CBS comedy Gold Diggers, for which she received an AWGIE nomination; script edited Stan Original Film Windcatcher; and spent time as head of development at Aquarius Films.
In addition to her writing, Harrison mentors emerging LGBTQIA+ screenwriters through the +Screen Stories Mentorship Program.
Millie Holten
Millie Holten is a writer and performer who graduated from the Victorian College of Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in screenwriting in 2019
In the past 12 months, Holten has written web series Long Head, starring Sam Campbell, Tom Walker, and Kate Dehnert), which gained 4 million in the first three weeks of release after premiering on TikTok in Nov 2024, and co-created, written, and performed AACTA Award-nominated web series, Descent, produced by Haven’t You Done Well Productions.
She is also the creator/director/co-writer of the weekly RPG show Trope RPG, where comedians roleplay through their favourite movie genres, and serves as the Narrative Lead at Toot Games (working on My Arms Are Longer Now).
Her upcoming web series, Munch Rexford: Legendary Poacher!!, is currently in production with LateNite Films for Adult Swim. Holten has previously been shortlisted for the Australian Writers’ Guild’s John Hinde and Monte Miller Awards.
Sarah Bassiuoni
Sarah Bassiuoni is a former lawyer who embarked on a career in the screen industry three years ago after deciding her original profession wasn’t for her.
After completing graduate certificates from AFTRS in screenwriting and directing in 2016 she wrote and directed the short films Little Secret and Dunes.
In 2018, she participated in Screen Australia’s Developing the Developer Program, after which she undertook a six-week placement with the development team at Fremantle.
She also forged a relationship with Matchbox Pictures’ director of scripted development Debbie Lee, who would enlist her services on season two of The Heights and the drama House of Gods.
After being encouraged to pitch an original concept, she came back with an outline for a drama based on her experiences at what is now the Justice and Equity Centre. Premiering on Stan last year, Critical Incident follows a police officer who, in pursuit of a teenage suspect onto a busy train platform, knocks a bystander onto the train tracks, critically injuring him. Bassiuoni’s credits also include ABC drama Ladies in Black and psychological drama The Secrets She Keeps.
Steve Anthopoulos
Steve Anthopoulos is a drama and comedy writer.
His 2022 short film Voice Activated, about a delivery man who stutters and is forced to cooperate with a voice-activated car, was an official selection of the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
It won 12 awards at festivals around the world, was nominated for an AWGIE and AACTA, and won Best Short Production at SPA awards.
Also in 2022, he wrote and directed My Summer in the Human Resistance, a proof of concept short made through The Black List / Hornitos ‘Take Your Shot’ initiative that premiered at the 2023 Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Festival.
Anthopoulos’ TV pilot, The Worst Me, was shortlisted for the 2024 John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science Fiction Writing.
Ella Cook
Ella Cook is a screenwriter, script editor, and producer with a background in drama development.
Her short film The Exit Plan, starring Paapa Essiedu and Marcia Warren, premiered in 2021 at Flickerfest and played at festivals internationally. The film won Best International Film at the Norwich International Film Festival and Best Drama at the Women Over 50 Film Festival. For stage, Cook’s work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, and London’s Theatre N16.
She was also a finalist in the 2022 AACTA Pitch: Mother for her horror concept, Specimen.
A month later, she was chosen as one of six writers to take part in Endemol Shine Australia and Screen Australia’s NCIS: Sydney S1 Script Department Program, completing a 10-week, full-time paid placement on the first season of the drama before staying on as a co-writer for its second.
