Australian Screenwriters Podcast

This is a special episode. Stephen Vagg - most recently the Script Producer on Neighbours - memorialises his good friend and colleague, James Walker.

James passed away, in January of 2018, aged only 41. My condolences go out to his wife and two children.

James was a veteran of both Neighbours and Home & Away and also wrote for shows like McLeod's Daughters, Wild Boys and Wonderland.

I'm really thankful to Stephen for coming to me with this idea, so people who didn't know James can get to know him and his legacy and also so his family, friends and colleagues can relive fond memories.

As Co Head of Drama at Nine Network with Jo Rooney, Andy has overseen the commissioning, development and production of such shows as Love Child, Fat Tony & Co and House Husbands.

We also talk about upcoming Nine shows and what it's like commissioning for a commercial broadcaster.

As the Drama Executive at Foxtel, Carly Heaton evaluates drama pitches and scripts, represents the network in writers' rooms and helps develop scripts.

We chat about upcoming Foxtel shows, who can pitch to Foxtel and what level your pitch might need to be at.

This is a great episode for insights into the Foxtel drama department.

In trying to get different angles on Screenwriting and the screen industry, I recently attended C21's Content London Drama Summit, which brings together 1500 industry professionals to get insights about upcoming shows, understand the current marketplace and look at trends for the future amongst many more topics of discussion.

My interviews include:

Catherine Oldfield - Creative Director, Tall Story Pictures

Graeme Mason - CEO, Screen Australia

David Hannam - Screenwriter, Wanted, Nowhere Boys

Elizabeth Kilgarriff - Senior Commissioning Editor, BBC Drama England & Wales

Andy Ryan - Co-Head of Drama, Nine Network

Julie Eckersley - Producer, Matchbox Pictures

Jenni Tosi - CEO, Film Victoria

Nick Waller - Business Development Director, C21 Media

This is the second interview in a series from the recent Content London Drama Summit.

I got to chat to experienced producer Stuart Menzies outside by Regents Canal, to talk about Content London and various other issues pertaining to the industry.

Stuart is currently working as a freelance producer after many years as CEO at December Media and a decade at the ABC as Head of Documentaries, Controller of ABC 2 and finally Head of Content and Creative Development.