Screen Australia announce Talent USA recipients heading to New York

06 02 2019 - Media release Screen Australia announce Talent USA recipients heading to New York

L to R: Alison Bell, Kodie Bedford, Niki Aken

Screen Australia has announced a delegation of 13 creatives who will travel to New York in March. The group will attend the Australian International Screen Forum where they will partake in professional development and networking opportunities and gain an insight into the US television and film industry.

There is an increasing appetite for Australian stories in the USA, most recently evident at the Sundance Film Festival where our films were making substantial sales, said CEO of Screen Australia Graeme Mason. Talent USA is an important opportunity to showcase and promote some of our best creative talent to the North American market and help elevate their projects to be in the best position to compete and be seen internationally.

Attending the Screen Forum will give these delegates an opportunity to hear from key US players on latest trends, challenges and opportunities in the current global market. This year the Talent USA delegation will also benefit from the Forum's ambassadors Deborra-Lee Furness, Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin drawing industry attention to the work of Australian creators.

TALENT USA: NEW YORK 2019 CONTINGENT Note: International media can refer to the end of this release for definitions.

Niki Aken: A prolific television writer, Aken has extensive experience working across both drama and comedy. Starting out in film, she wrote and produced her short film Poppy, which screened at both Flickerfest and St Kilda Film Festival. Since transitioning to television, Aken has worked on a number of popular series including The Secret Daughter, Janet King, Why Are You Like This plus the AWGIE award-winning series ANZAC Girls and Underbelly: Badness. Aken is also an experienced script producer, having worked on the highly anticipated comedy-drama series Upright starring Tim Minchin. Recently, she co-wrote The Hunting for SBS and Closer Productions, which will star Logie award winner Asher Keddie and AACTA/Logie award winner Richard Roxburgh.

Kodie Bedford: Beginning her career as a cadet journalist for SBS, Bedford is an accomplished storyteller, having written for a range of drama series including the AACTA award-winning ABC series Mystery Road, which became the most streamed non-children's show in ABC iview history and was the New York Times' Critic's Pick on US streaming. She also wrote an episode of the AACTA nominated NITV series Grace Beside Me. Recently, Bedford was awarded the Balnaves Fellowship with Belvoir Theatre for 2019 to develop her own play. She is currently working on the much anticipated second series of Mystery Road.

Alison Bell: An AACTA award-winning writer, Bell is best known as the co-creator/co-writer/producer and star of the ABC and Netflix Original series The Letdown. Prior to The Letdown, Bell spent much of her career on the stage, receiving numerous nominations and awards for her work with the Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Malthouse, Belvoir and STCSA, including two Helpmann's and one Green Room Award. She has also appeared in television series including the AACTA award-winning comedy Laid (available on Neflix in the US) and US television hits The Leftovers, No Activity and the reboot of Spielberg's Amazing Stories. Bell recently completed production of the The Letdown Series 2, which also marked her debut as a director. The series will air later this year.

Joe Brumm: Brumm worked as an animator for 10 years in London on numerous children's series, including the BAFTA award-winning Charlie and Lola. After returning to Australia, he founded Studiojoho animation studio whose clients include ABC's Good Game, Viacom, CollegeHumor and Ludo/Cartoon Network. His original web-series Dan The Man has been turned into a highly successful mobile game in partnership with HalfBrick studios. Brumm is the writer and creator of the breakout ABC/BBC Worldwide children's series Bluey, which gained over 11 million views in its first month in Australia, and has since become the most watched program in ABC iview history.

Matthew Cormack: Cormack is an award-winning writer, with credits including the feature film 52 Tuesdays, which was awarded the Crystal Bear at Berlin International Film Festival and an AWGIE award for Original Screenplay. He was also a writer on the ABC comedy series F###ing Adelaide along with the award-winning short film My Last Ten Hours With You. Cormack is the co-creator and co-writer of the SBS drama The Hunting, starring screen luminaries Asher Keddie and Richard Roxburgh which is due for release in 2019. Cormack also has 10 years experience working in development, production and sales, most recently working as a script editor on the Irish/Australian co-production feature film Animals, which premiered to rave reviews at Sundance 2019.

Glen Dolman: An established writer and executive producer working across film, television and web series, Dolman created, wrote and executive produced the six-part drama series Bloom, which premiered on Australian streaming service Stan in early 2019. Dolman also wrote the Australian feature film I Met a Girl which will star Brenton Thwaites and Lily Sullivan. Working on international projects across Australia, the UK and the US, he wrote the screenplay for the animated comedy feature The Ark and the Aardvark, which is currently in production with Kung Fu Panda director John Stevenson. Dolman's television writing credits include the TV movie Hawke, which won an AWGIE award and three AFI awards, along with working as a writer and script editor on the UK's longest running crime drama, The Bill.

Liz Doran: Working across both feature film and television, Doran is an experienced writer a

LINK:	https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2019/02-06-tal...
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