Exciting opportunity for emerging Tasmanian screenwriters

The Hodgman Liberal Government is a strong supporter of Tasmania’s creative industries.

The creative industries are helping to grow Tasmania’s economy and create jobs and this weekend there will be another exciting professional development opportunity for Tasmanian writers.

Sixteen emerging Tasmanian writers will take part in a two-day Masters’ Apprentices workshop with screen industry luminaries Vicki Madden, co-creator of The Kettering Incident, and her creative partner and co-writer, Mike Jones.

The workshop in Hobart this weekend will focus on writing television drama, and the process of developing a TV show that includes multiple storylines, structure and theme work.

The workshop is the first stage in the development of Vicki Madden and Mike Jones’ new TV drama series, Shrewsbury, which received $15,000 in Development Investment Funding from Screen Tasmania.

Up to four of the writers participating in the Masters’ Apprentices workshop will be selected to join a ‘writers room’, working with Vicki Madden and Mike Jones on the next phase of project development for Shrewsbury, which is set in Tasmania.

This initiative is unique among Australian screen agency programs because it combines project development for a new drama series created by two of Australia’s most celebrated writers with professional development workshops and writer’s attachments for Tasmania’s emerging screenwriters.

Vicki Madden: “We are looking for Tasmanian screenwriters who want to learn and can work to deliver on a defined creative brief, and possess skills not only in writing but also in researching and contributing ideas in a rigorous writers’ room process. People who have demonstrated a passion for a TV career will be foremost in our minds for the project.”

Mike Jones: “Screen production is a hard craft and in my experience, particularly working across growth areas of digital and new media as well as TV, the crucial thing so often missing is a genuine opportunity for emerging writers to learn from experienced writers in real-world contexts. This program with ScreenTas is a great initiative to address that problem head on and produce writers who are sustainably industry focused and experienced over the long-term.”
Vanessa Goodwin, Minister for the Arts Media Release