Henry Lawson

LAWSON

Deaf at 14 and with an early tendency for poetry and alcohol, Henry’s is a compelling story that lends itself to the screen. Henry Lawson is a 32-year-old wiry introvert from the bush. He carries inside him the images and experiences of gold-diggers, shearers, madmen and ghosts. When Henry is thrust into the publishing limelight he becomes the darling of Sydney literature. But with success comes the increasing pressures for Henry to maintain his place in the spotlight forcing him to struggle with his natural inclination to return to the bush. He must overcome the pressures that persist as he charms a nation.

Writer: Andrew Slattery

Andrew Slattery is a contemporary Australian poet. A local to the Lower Hunter, his poetry has been published in Meanjin, Landfall, Poetry Salzburg Review, Quadrant Magazine and The Weekend Australian. He is branching out to screenwriting with this courageous and entertaining portrayal of an Australian icon.

Pauline Chan

MEI MEI (working title)

Dean Randall is doing time in a Sydney gaol for manslaughter. Mei Mei is Chinese, a teenager who was rejected by her parents at the age of three, in favour of a son. These two very different lives are connected by a sponsorship program through which Randall has been sending Mei Mei money for the past thirteen years. Then one day they meet. Catching one another off guard, both Randall and Mei Mei find strength in each other to fight for their own private dreams and beliefs. Together, they find peace and new life in ways they never expected. They learn how to trust: something neither has known before.

Writers: Pauline Chan and Martin Edmond

Pauline was reviewed as a premier Australian filmmaker by Time Magazine Asia a few years ago. Her short films The Space Between the Door and the Floor (Director/ Producer) and Hang Up (Director/ co-Producer/ Designer/ Editor) were selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes. Pauline’s debut feature film Traps (Director/ Co-Writer) won the grand Prix at Marseille Women’s Film Festival, and her telemovie Little White Lies (Director) was invited to festival screenings and sold to broadcasters worldwide. Pauline has also produced a number of films in the past few years: Ultraviolet (Sony Columbia, 2006), Belly of the Beast (Salon Films HK, 2004), and RushHours2 (New Line Pict, 2002).

Martin Edmond came to screenwriting from a background in alternative theatre and music, in which he acted, stage managed and specialized in lighting design. He has written the feature films Illustrious Energy (1987), The Footstep Man (1992) and Terra Nova (1998) as well as the shorts Philosophy (1997) and Earth Angel (2002). His books include The Autobiography of my Father (1992), The Resurrection of Philip Clairmont (1999), Chronicle of the Unsung (2004) and Luca Antara – Passages in Search of Australia (2006).

HITTING THE BRICKS

Kara, a former stripper and sex-worker, is trying to change her life. After receiving a victim’s compensation payout for assault, she is confused by friends’ advice about how to use it. Money has always created problems for Kara, a co-dependent type personality. A unique and life changing friendship develops between Kara and Sima, a Muslim social work student. When Kara decides to use her funds to travel to warn-torn Afghanistan to help people there, conflict develops with her possessive friend, Jeannette. But Kara slips back into her old life, it's Sima's intervention that helps her find a new path.

Writer: Alana Valentine

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Not all Sleeping Beauties want to wake... A financially-strapped university student accepts work as a sleeper. She will be drugged, fall into deep sleep, “it will be as if the hours never existed”. The first old man to visit venerates her youth and beauty. The second old man is sadistic. The third accidentally harms her. Nonetheless she returns.

Writer: Julia Leigh

Currently studying for her Doctorate of Philosophy, Julia Leigh has extensive experience as both a writer and a legal practitioner. A published novelist, Julia Leigh has won numerous awards including The Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year (2000). In 2006, she was Writer-in Residence at the University of Wollongong. Julia’s writing has been described as ‘strong and hypnotic’ by Don DeLillo, while Toni Morrison describes her as ‘a sorceress. Her deft prose casts a spell …’. The Observer UK claims: ‘It is not difficult to see why she was picked as one of the 21 writers to watch in the 21st century.’

ROY

On A short shopping trip, one car is stolen, one baby goes missing, and eight lives are changed forever. Over a two year period, Roy follows the emotional journeys of all affected. Roy is a thrilling emotional tender story, which delves into our deepest fears, and questions our values concerning blame, judgement and loss.

Writers: Steve Rodgers and Cameron Stewart

Steve Rodgers’s play Ray’s Tempest featured in the 2004 Australian National Playwrights’ Conference and was then picked up by Company B Belvoir, and produced there in 2005 under the direction of Richard Roxburgh. The following year it was produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company in a sell out season starring William McInnes. His new play Savage River recently played at the Playwriting Australia Festival in Brisbane. He also co-wrote Lightning and the Snowman with Cameron Stewart for Downstairs Belvoir St.

Cameron Stewart graduated from Theatre Nepean, University of Western Sydney. Writing credits include Dark and Stranger (2002 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, UK Filmstock International Film Festival 2001 ‘Best Comedy’ winner) which Cameron also directed, Lightning and the Snowman (co-written with Steve Rodgers), which was optioned as an animation series by Freerange Animation, a feature film Canberra (currently in development), and Roadies, a TV series (also in development and co-written with Richard Lindsel).