(L-R): Lloyd and Spencer Harvey and Hannah and Eliza Reilly are among those selected for Talent USA.
Ryan Griffen, Greg Waters, Yolanda Ramke and Samantha Lang are among the 16 practitioners who have been selected to travel to LA as part of Screen Australia/the Australian Writers’ Guild’s Talent USA contingent.
The focus of the delegation, which will be held in mid-September, is to make business connections with the US television industry and to learn from LA-based creators/decision makers Participants were selected due to either having had considerable international success or established interest in the US. All recipients are also the key creators of a market-ready TV series which is suitable for an international partnership.
“International perceptions of the kinds of stories Australians can tell has changed dramatically over the past five years,” said Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason.
“Being an English-speaking country, major markets like the UK and US are looking to our screen industry for ideas, talent, producing partners and locations. Our Australian stories can absolutely travel beyond our shores, and that’s why Screen Australia enables our creators to physically travel abroad to make international business connections.”
AWG CEO Jacqueline Elaine said opportunities such as Talent USA were vital for building connections between Australian screenwriting talent and the industry internationally.
“There’s a hunger for unique voices, and Australian creators can offer the global industry top quality scripts that find the balance between the unique and the universal. Australian screenwriters can compete with the best in the world, and there’s never been a better time to grasp the opportunity to do so.”
Participants:
- Ryan Griffen, creator of ABC’s Cleverman, which has been picked up by Sundance TV, Netflix and BBC3.
- Spencer and Lloyd Harvey, who were awarded an Academy Nicholl Fellowship by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science in 2016 for their script Photo Booth
- Love Child creator, writer and producer and Lambs of God showrunner Sarah Lambert, who has also written for Love My Way, Dance Academy, A Place to Call Home and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
- Australian Directors’ Guild president Samantha Lang, whose 1997 debut feature The Well screened in official competition in Cannes and won 11 AFI Awards, and who has also shot The Monkey’s Mask and L’Idole (The Idol).
- Writer Sam Meikle, whose credits include Vikings: Athelstan’s Journal, All Saints, House Husbands, The Secret Daughter, Here Come The Habibs, Crownies, Home and Away and Neighbours. He also script produced the BBC’s Out of the Blue.
- Yolanda Ramke, writer and co-director of Cargo – the first Australian film acquired as a Netflix original.
- Hannah and Eliza Reilly, the sister’s behind ABC’s Growing Up Gracefully and the upcoming four-part comedy web series Sheilas.
- Nowhere Boys scribe and script producer Giula Sandler, whose other credits include shows such as Glitch, A Place to Call Home, Wentworth, McLeod’s Daughters, and a yet-to-be-announced ITV true crime drama.
- Writer Keith Thompson, whose credits include The Sapphires, Clubland, Lockie Leonard, Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You and Hoges.
- Writer-director brothers Christiaan and Connor Van Vuuren, who created YouTube hit The Bondi Hipsters, MTV’s SICK! And the ABC’s Soul Mates. Both have worked as directors on Sando, Squinters and The Elegant Gentlemen’s Guide to Knife Fighting.
- Adele Vuko, a member of comedy troupe Sktibox, who were behind the viral musical hit Activewear and ABC comedy series Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am. She has also appeared on Foxtel’s The Slot, and has a Google/Screen Australia funded online pilot being released later this year.
- Greg Waters, whose recent credits include writer on ABC televmovie Riot, and script producer on The Letdown, The Other Guy and Secret City. A former development manager for drama at the ABC, Waters has also EP’d shows such as Rake, and was a script executive on Janet King and Secret River.
- Charles Williams who was awarded the short film Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for All These Creatures.