The Australian Writers’ Guild has announced the winners of the 2024 Emerging Writers’ Awards, which celebrates the best unproduced scripts in the country.
Evlin DuBose took home the Long Form Award for her drama series, Former People. Set in the aftermath of the USSR’s fall, it tells the story of a jaded journalist unraveling 70 years of tragedy within a Soviet family, through the eyes of its sole survivor.
‘Every time it hits me I freak out – it’s wild to think that complete strangers sorted my script from 500, and, without knowing me, went: yeah, here’s a good bet,’ DuBose said. ‘Scripts are inherently an unfinished artform, so in my lovely curly delusions, if there’s a remote chance my labour-of-love gets made, it puts a sparkle-tint on everything. The validation is so beyond lovely, and I’m so psyched to meet the other winners. Congratulations everyone: you’re in the room where it happens.’
The judges called Former People ‘an epic and ambitious story which showcases the writer’s deft craft and world-building skills’.
‘This evocative story, nuanced characters and fascinating timelines had us absolutely hooked,’ they said in a statement. ‘We hope to see this on screen in future.’
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Cameron Williams won the Short Form Award for his series Mum Fell Off the Roof, a coming-of-age comedy-drama about two kids left with their dad and grandmother after their mum’s accident.
‘It’s an honour because there aren’t many initiatives to support emerging screenwriters in Australia, especially in an industry obsessed with everything that’s not on the page,’ Williams said. ‘The Australian Writers’ Guild does a lot of heavy lifting to provide career pathways for emerging writers and I can’t thank them enough.’
The judges commended Mum Fell Off the Roof for its ‘refreshing take on Australian suburban drama, which defied expectations with its clever craftsmanship, skilful storytelling, and clear perspective’.
Williams said he’s excited to see what the future holds for all the shortlisted projects. ‘I’d watch all the shortlisted scripts and I can’t wait to see how each project travels. I hope there’s a hunger from producers to develop these projects or get these scribes into a writers’ room because there should be a greater investment in scripted content from emerging writers in Australia.’
In the Long Form category, Allanah Avalon’s comedy feature Scorpio was named runner-up, praised for its ‘engaging characters that leapt off the page. Both funny and at times heartbreaking, we appreciated the writer’s boldness and voice and were drawn right into the story and world.’
The winners share a $10,000 script development fund.
This year’s winning and shortlisted projects are now featured on AWG’s Pathways Showcase, awaiting potential development. The next round of submissions opens in 2025.
Long Form Category
Winner: Former People by Evlin DuBose (television, drama). After the fall of the USSR, a jaded journalist investigates seventy years of tragedy and mysteries in one Soviet family, as told by the only survivor.
Runner-up: Scorpio by Allanah Avalon (feature film, comedy). Between sex work, lesbians, Orthodox Russians, and a rising Melbourne property market, Scorpio has found herself in an irreconcilable cocktail ready to explode in her face; a comedy-drama, Scorpio traces one young woman’s experience dealing with family expectations, and the lies one must keep to sustain a myriad of lives.
Shortlist
- Bells by Danny Lee (television, comedy). When a successful early 40s professional suddenly dies, he is reincarnated as a toy elf and must prove to Santa his life’s worth, under threat of permanent existential deletion.
- Blue Print by Rob Draper (television, drama). When Cathy joins the Ford marketing team in 1980, she winds up helping a gregarious team of Aussie Ford workers kickstart a new age in the Ford versus Holden rivalry.
- The Night Bus by James McLaren (feature film, drama). Two women, who haven’t seen each other since high school, realize they are stuck on the same long bus trip home together. When polite chit-chat suddenly reveals a violent intent, they must question who they thought they were and what they have become to make it to the end of the line.
Short Form Category
Winner: Mum Fell off the Roof by Cameron Williams (television, comedy) Mitch and Poppy are left in the care of their useless dad after their mum has an accident. But when Dad’s loose parenting skills land him in trouble, the siblings’ estranged grandmother arrives to take control.
Shortlist
- Hallow by Ryan Prestipino (short film, drama). A young girl, convinced her elderly neighbour is God, sets out to receive his religious acknowledgment.
- The Night of the Lonelies by Willy Brown (short film, drama). A naive Australian backpacker reluctantly accepts to be shown a shortcut through a menacing London at night, only to find himself fearing for his life in his mysterious guide’s house.
- Too Fabulous to Die Alone by Harry Sabulis (television, comedy). Out of the closet but stuck in the world of his straight high-school friends, a 22-year-old gay man with Eastern European heritage goes headfirst into a messy journey of self-discovery in the gay scene – while his Belarusian grandmother is hell-bent on finding him a boyfriend for his straight best friend’s wedding.
For more information on the Emerging Writer’s Awards, visit the Australian Writers’ Guild website.
