$25,000 To Be Awarded To Top Screenwriter

The Australian Writers’ Foundation (AWF) is calling for nominations for the prestigious FOXTEL Fellowship: rewarding excellence with freedom.

The $25,000 prize is awarded to a screenwriter who has a body of work that is impressive in its craft, scope and impact and their demonstrated excellence in screenwriting, particularly in the field of television. Now in its sixth year the Fellowship has recognised some of Australia’s top screenwriters.

The 2011 FOXTEL Fellow was Kris Mrksa (The Slap, Underbelly 2 & 3, The Secret Life of Us).  In previous years recipients included Sue Smith (Mabo, R.A.N Remote Area Nurse, Brides of Christ), Christopher Lee (Paper Giants, Rush, Love My Way)

John Alsop (My Brother Jack, Leaving of Liverpool, Flying Doctors) and Mac Gudgeon (Killing Time, Last Ride, The Delinquents).

The Fellowship provides the chosen writer with the creative freedom to develop a television project of their choosing and is made possible through the generous sponsorship of FOXTEL.

FOXTEL and the AWF partner on a number of projects designed to recognise television’s important contribution to the country’s cultural landscape and the screenwriters who shape that contribution through their exceptional work.

Other FOXTEL/AWF projects are the annual FOXTEL Screenwriter’s Address, which will be given this year by Andrew Bovell, and the FOXTEL Oral History project, a series of interviews with significant writers who have built and shaped the screen industry.

The Fellow will be announced at the 45th Annual AWGIE Awards to be held in Sydney in August.

Screenwriters may nominate themselves to be considered for the fellowship, however the AWF also encourages third party nominations. 

Deadline Extended: Nominations for the 2012 FOXTEL Fellowship close 9am Monday 16 July 2012.

Click here to download a nomination form.