Screen Australia has announced the eight creatives that will travel to the Big Apple next month as part of the Talent USA: New York program.
Julietta Boscolo, Lucy Campbell, Beck Cole, Vonne Patiag, Samuel Nuggin-Paynter, Renée Webster, Rachele Wiggins, and Thomas Wilson-White are set to attend the Australian International Screen Forum (6 – 8 September), where they will take part in professional development and networking opportunities with the support of an international mentor.
Initially run in 2017 for Los Angeles before being expanded to New York the following year, the Talent USA program is an opportunity for Australian creators to learn and network on the ground in the US.
With this to be first year since 2020 that attendees have travelled in person, Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said it was exciting to again be able to showcase some of Australia’s best creative talent internationally, as well as facilitate important business relationships in the North American market.
“We’re proud to support these creatives who are well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and best leverage these new connections to advance their upcoming slates and professional networks,” he said.
The delegate announcement follows the release of the Australian International Screen Forum (AISF) program earlier this month, with Gracie Otto’s Seriously Red, Bunya Productions’ True Colours, and Phil Noyce classic Dead Calm leading the line-up for the Lincoln Center event.
Other Australian filmmakers joining the Talent USA: New York group will be the Screenworks AACTA Regional Landscapes Pitch recipients, Lou Sanz and John Kachoyan, as well as Darlene Johnson who is supported by the American Australian Association & Australian International Screen Forum Scholarship.
Australian International Screen Forum co-founder and executive director Michael Kelleher said he was pleased to welcome back delegates for industry roundtables, panel discussions, matched mentoring sessions, pitching and strategic consultations, and introductions to and advice from a selection of influential New York-based screen professionals.
“There is no place like Film at Lincoln Center to inspire creatives as they set their sights on an international career,” he said.
“The NYC-based industry is always keen to meet the newest batch of Talent USA delegates but this year is especially important given the two year absence of in-person sessions.”
The Australian International Screen Forum (AISF) will take place September 6-8.
The Talent USA: New York 2022 delegates are as follows:
Julietta Boscolo: A writer/director/creator currently attached to direct a feature starring Viola Davis. Her feature project The Sound of Light was one of only nine international projects invited to Venice International Film Festival’s Biennale College – Cinema in 2019. She was set-up director for ABC children’s series The PM’s Daughter and has directed on primetime drama, The Heart Guy. She won the Emerging Filmmaker Award at Melbourne International Film Festival 2018 for the short Let’s See How Fast This Baby Will Go, and the film was preselected for Cannes (main competition) and Cannes Critics Week. Boscolo’s screenplay Catching Sight was shortlisted for Sundance’s Screenwriters Lab and placed in the top 15 per cent of the Academy Nicholls.
Lucy Campbell: A writer and director whose short films and online series have screened at festivals around the world including Seattle International Film Festival, SeriesFest, Byron Bay International Film Festival, and Adelaide Film Festival. Campbell is co-creator, co-director, and co-writer of sci-fi series The Big Nothing, which has more than one million views on DUST. She has worked as a script editor and script coordinator for TV shows, including Firebite (AMC), Stateless (ABC/Netflix), Pine Gap (Netflix), Upright (Sky/Foxtel), and Wolf Creek Series 2 (Stan). She has written VR for ABC’s Deadlock VR component and her pilot TV script for The Big Nothing was shortlisted for the Australian Writers Guild Pathways program. In 2019, Campbell was selected for the eight-week Bird in Nest residency at Australians in Film in Los Angeles, and, in 2020, she co-created and released online dramedy series Dinner with Friends. After being chosen for SAFC and Adelaide Film Festival’s FilmLab program, Campbell’s script for sci-fi feature film Monolith is now in post-production with Bettina Hamilton producing and Matt Vesely directing.
Beck Cole: A writer, film, and television director, who was the supervising director of the feature film We Are Still Here, an anthology of stories by First Nations filmmakers screening at TIFF this year. Her debut feature film Here I Am was released in 2011. Cole directed three seasons of award-winning comedy show Black Comedy, and her other television credits include Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me, Mustangs FC, and the smash hit drama series Wentworth. Her short films Plains Empty and Flat both screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In documentary, she produced, directed, and shot Making of Samson and Delilah, First Australians; The Untold Story of Australia, Lore of Love and Wirriya; small boy. She recently directed on comedy/drama series Deadloch for Amazon and is developing her third feature film Ruby Moonlight.
Vonne Patiag: A writer, director, producer, and actor from Western Sydney. Patiag was a writer on upcoming ABC drama Significant Others, and he co-wrote and associate produced on The Unusual Suspects for Aquarius Films. He also co-wrote and associate produced feature film Here Out West, which opened the Sydney Film Festival 2021, and show-ran and directed Halal Gurls for ABC, an online comedy series that won the Prix du Public award at the Marseilles Webfest. The In-Between Pictures co-founder is developing the feature film Tomgirl, which has been invited to the Inside Out Film Finance Forum and the TIFF Filmmaker Lab in 2021, as well as half-hour series Boy (Space) Friends, which received pilot production and development funding through Screen Australia’s Hot Shots Plus.
Samuel Nuggin-Paynter: An Indigenous screenwriter and producer whose writing credits include children’s television series Little J & Big Cuz and Thalu, which he also developed. Nuggin-Paynter is writing feature film Colour of Blood, which is in advanced development and has received development funding from Screen Australia, Screen Territory, and is being produced by No Coincidence Media. He was part of the writing team and associate producer on the anthology feature film We Are Still Here. Nuggin-Paynter worked as the Production Manager on the 6 x 30 minute docuseries Larapinta and produced a sizzle reel for the series to take to international markets.
Renée Webster: A writer and director, whose feature film How to Please a Woman garnered a US cinema release, before being acquired by Hulu and playing as a Sky Original in the UK. Webster was also the series director of the second season of Aftertaste (ABC, Acorn), while her other credits include series one and two of The Heights (ABC, BBC) and set-up director of the first season of Itch (ABC, BBC). Her TV commercial directing work has earned numerous awards and nominations and her short films Edgar and Elizabeth and Scoff have screened at over 25 film festivals internationally.
Rachele Wiggins: A writer, producer, and director, who produced the Shudder original series Deadhouse Dark, which was selected for Canneseries, as well as writing and directing the episode ‘Mystery Box’. She was the segment director on another Shudder original anthology feature sequel, Scare Package II, which will have its world premiere at Frightfest 2022 in London. Wiggins’ other credits include feature film Beast No More, which is being distributed worldwide by Level 33 Entertainment; short Slice Of Life, which won best Sci-Fi at LA Shorts and screened at Sitges; and supernatural series The Surge, which she co-wrote and created, and was selected for Nashville Film Festival and Hollyshorts screenwriting competitions in 2020. Wiggins is in preparation to direct Wolf Creek 3, with creator Greg McLean producing alongside Bianca Martino and Kristian Moliere.
Thomas Wilson-White: A director and screenwriter whose debut feature film The Greenhouse premiered in 2021 at BFI: Flare, Frameline45, and Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as playing at over 30 other festivals. It won Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget under $1M) at the 2021 Australian Directors Guild awards and was acquired by Netflix ANZ. As a screenwriter, Wilson-White wrote on Netflix’s Heartbreak High reboot and is writing the film Rock Eisteddfod for Aquarius Films, along with his second feature Wildflowers with script editor Anna Seifert-Speck. His autobiographical comedy TV series Sick To Death is in development with the support of Screen Australia and Screen NSW.