Screen Australia, AWG and Scripted Ink launch third year of showrunner initiative The Creators

The Australian Writers Guild, Scripted Ink and Screen Australia have resumed The Creators programme alliance for the third year, aiming to accelerate the development of showrunners for the international market.

Jeff Melvoin

The initiative is focussed on mid-career Australian screenwriters who are developing their skillsets into showrunners and provides the selected talent with international high-level showrunner training, project development, and pitching training in Australia.

This year six writers will be chosen to be part of the programme that empowers them to sell their stories and talents to domestic and international markets.

The programme will run in Sydney across October and will feature Emmy Award-winner Jeff Melvoin (Northern Exposure, Killing Eve), the founder and chair of the Writers Guild of America’s showrunner training programme, traveling to Sydney to lead the selected writers in bespoke WGA-style showrunner and pitching training.

AWG president Peter Mattessi said: “Building on the success of the first two years, this programme is an invaluable opportunity to strengthen the Australian industry and empower writers as creators and leaders in the domestic and international markets.”

The selected cohort alumni for The Creators 2024 program included Sarah Lambert (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Lambs of God), Leah Purcell (The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, The Twelve), Thomas Duncan-Watt (Space Nova, Home & Away), Vanessa Gazy (Eden), Giula Sandler (Savage River, Bloom) and Alexa Wyatt (The Bureau of Magical Things, Janet King).

The Creators is supported by industry partners Scripted Ink, the NFP founded by Australian screenwriter, creator and showrunner Shane Brennan, the Australian Writers’ Guild and Screen Australia.