First Break New South Wales: Applications now open
The Australian Writers’ Guild’s First Break program, delivered in partnership with Screen NSW, is an opportunity for aspiring NSW screenwriters to build skills as note-takers and script coordinators.
Applications for the next round of First Break NSW are now open with 15 places on offer via competitive application.
Working as a note-taker and/or script co-ordinator is a recognised industry entry point and pathway toward building a career as a screenwriter. As well as skills development, this program will enhance understanding of the industry and build industry connections and employment opportunities for early career writers.
On completion of the training, graduates will be added to the AWG industry resource, Pathways First Break where producers and writers find note-takers and script coordinators for paid work. The Pathways First Break portal is a permanent resource for industry looking for talented new writers who have valuable skills to offer in writer’s rooms. This portal is now the first port of call for many producers and writers looking for entry level staff for their productions.
Pathways First Break portal is regularly promoted to industry using the AWG’s multiple databases including its 9000+ subscribers to the AWG newsletter, its 600+ registered users of the Pathways portal (producers, directors, writers and industry professionals) and the 1000+ subscribers to the Pathways Newsletter.
Taking place online over three Saturdays, First Break offers participants an opportunity to undertake training in note-taking and script coordinating with our brilliant trainers Catherine Kelleher and Terence McCarthy.
WHAT ARE THE KEY DATES FOR APPLICANTS?
Tuesday 24 March 2026 – Applications open at 9am AEDT
Monday 13 April 2026 – Applications close at 4pm AEST
Monday 20 April 2026 – All applicants advised of outcome
Wednesday 22 April 2026 – Successful applicants announced
WHEN IS FIRST BREAK NSW BEING HELD?
Saturday 23 May 2026 from 10am – 4pm – Workshop One 10am to 4pm
Saturday 30 May 2026 – Workshop Two 10am to 4pm
Saturday 6 June 2026 – Workshop Three 10am to 4pm
Workshop One – Note-taking with Catherine Kelleher
The role of the note-taker in a writers’ room is a crucial one – detailed and accurate notes can either make or break a room. Creating a perfect set of notes isn’t easy and nailing it requires a different skillset to screenwriting. In this workshop, participants will learn the art of skilful note-taking – how to take notes, how to present them and how to make the most of the opportunity.
Workshop Two – Script Coordinating with Terence McCarthy
During the filming of a television show or movie, the script is constantly evolving. A script coordinator monitors these changes and makes the appropriate revisions for each version of the script. In this workshop, participants will learn what a script coordinator does, how a production office works and how a script coordinator operates within it. The workshop will also cover the basics of Final Draft.
Workshop Three – In the Writers’ Room with Terence McCarthy
The writers’ room is where writers pitch ideas, brainstorm, break down the scenes, create characters and write first drafts. In order to succeed, it’s crucial to understand how a writers’ room works – who does what and when. This workshop will cover character development, plotting, dialogue and the all-important social etiquette of a writers’ room.
Applicants must be available to attend all three Saturday workshops.
WHO IS FIRST BREAK FOR?
First Break is designed to give fifteen (15) aspiring NSW screenwriters the chance to build skills as note-takers and script coordinators, a proven pathway into a career as a screenwriter. It also provides graduates with the chance to be promoted to industry via the AWG Pathways First Break portal.
First Break is open to all NSW residents however preference is given to those from lower socio-economic and culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds. It will form part of the AWG’s ongoing overall professional development strategy to nurture talent and provide opportunities to talented writers by connecting them with industry.
HOW DO I APPLY?
You will be required to provide the following in one PDF attachment.
- An Expression of Interest – Why you want this opportunity and how you will make the most of it (500 word maximum)
- A one-page bio (500 word maximum)
- A writing sample – maximum 5 pages in industry standard format.
We encourage applicants to read through the application requirements in detail. Note-taking and script coordinating are both administratively demanding jobs and your ability to follow the application instructions (including formatting and responding to the questions posed) will form part of the assessment process. Applications close at 4pm on April 13, 2026.
OUR FIRST BREAK TRAINERS
Catherine Kelleher is an AWGIE-nominated screenwriter, director and singer/songwriter. She began her career as electronic pop artist Catcall, releasing her debut album, The Warmest Place, in 2012 via Ivy League Records. In 2013, Catherine turned her focus to film and television, co-creating, writing and producing the comedy/drama web series The Casuals. She also worked in-house as an assistant Playmaker (Lovechild, The Code) before freelancing as a script coordinator and writers’ room note-taker on series such as Glitch, Janet King, and The Secrets She Keeps. In 2019, Catherine received Screen Australia Enterprise funding to work in development at Lingo Pictures (After the Party, Prosper, Upright, The Secrets She Keeps).
From 2021 to 2024 she worked as the Scripted Development Executive at SBS, assisting the commissioning team in developing Safe Home, Erotic Stories, Swift Street, Four Years Later, and worked closely across the SBS Digital Originals initiative (Latecomers, Appetite, Night Bloomers). Catherine’s debut short film, Big Bad World (2016), starring Geraldine Viswanathan and featuring a score by David Fleming (The Last of Us), screened at several local and international film festivals, including the Brooklyn Film Festival, and St Kilda Film Festival. Her second short film, IMOAN (2023), screened at OutFest LA, SXSW Sydney, Brisbane International Film Festival, Mardi Gras Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, and Revelation Perth International Film Festival, and was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Award.
In 2019 Catherine and her collaborators received Screen Australia development funding for their drama/comedy series High Rotation, and in 2020 she was selected for the Imagine Impact Australia program. She is directing her third short, Release in 2026, and has various projects in development, including a US-based drama series and her debut feature film The Doof.
Terence McCarthy is a writer, development executive, script editor and script department training leader with 18 years’ experience in the Australian and US film and television industry spanning feature film, drama, comedy, serial and children’s television.
He recently served as the Script Department Manager for NCIS: Sydney (Seasons 1-3) for CBS/Paramount+/ EndemolShine Australia, where he also managed the Screen Australia Early Career Writers Programme. Terence has also worked in script departments for Academy Award winning director Ron Howard and screenwriter Bill Nicholson (13 Lives), Golden Globe nominated writers Harry & Jack Williams (The Tourist), and the International Emmy nominated Bevan Lee (A Place to Call Home, Back to the Rafters).
In 2022, Terence worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a Drama and Comedy Executive on In Our Blood and Total Control Series 3 and managed the submissions programme.
Terence has trained many emerging writers via the AWG, Screen Australia, ACE Parramatta, Screenworks and Screenwest that have gone on to rise through the Australian television drama ranks as writers, script editors, script coordinators and notetakers. In 2023 Terence founded the Script Squad, an emerging writers’ group that provides training in script department skills, pitching & networking, career planning and developing each writer’s original style & tone.
