It's with a great sense of disbelief - a feeling I know is shared by many in our industry still reeling from the passing of Jeff Truman - that I solemnly inform Awg members that we have lost the significant talents of James Walker from our screens.
A bright and sharp-minded contributor to Australian scriptwriting for more than a decade, James - at the youthful age of 41 years, husband and father of two young boys - succumbed to a diabetic coma on 11 January and was tragically unable to recover. He passed away peacefully on 20 January, surrounded by family.
A boy from Perth, James' talent was noticed early; he was singled out via a competition and sent to La for an experience that cemented his intention to become a writer. In various roles - including Script Editor, Script Producer and freelance writer - James worked on many of our fine dramas,...
A bright and sharp-minded contributor to Australian scriptwriting for more than a decade, James - at the youthful age of 41 years, husband and father of two young boys - succumbed to a diabetic coma on 11 January and was tragically unable to recover. He passed away peacefully on 20 January, surrounded by family.
A boy from Perth, James' talent was noticed early; he was singled out via a competition and sent to La for an experience that cemented his intention to become a writer. In various roles - including Script Editor, Script Producer and freelance writer - James worked on many of our fine dramas,...
- 1/21/2015
- by Sarah Walker
- IF.com.au
With a bruised heart I have to report to Awg members that our dear colleague Jeff Truman has delivered his last script.
Tragically, Jeff suffered a massive brain bleed last Sunday and passed away on Tuesday 2nd December without waking up. He was 57.
Jeff was one of the television industry.s true professionals. Over a career spanning more than 30 years he wrote almost 200 hours of produced drama - everything from Neighbours, for which he contributed over 100 episodes, to the new Seven Network crime drama Winter and, most recently, Doctor Blake. His scripts for Fat Tony & Co were widely considered to be the pick of the series, and in 2013 he took home a long overdue Awgie for his fine work on Underbelly Badness. Any way you look at it, until two days ago Jeff Truman was working at the height of his powers.
Jeff was a writer who always delivered, both...
Tragically, Jeff suffered a massive brain bleed last Sunday and passed away on Tuesday 2nd December without waking up. He was 57.
Jeff was one of the television industry.s true professionals. Over a career spanning more than 30 years he wrote almost 200 hours of produced drama - everything from Neighbours, for which he contributed over 100 episodes, to the new Seven Network crime drama Winter and, most recently, Doctor Blake. His scripts for Fat Tony & Co were widely considered to be the pick of the series, and in 2013 he took home a long overdue Awgie for his fine work on Underbelly Badness. Any way you look at it, until two days ago Jeff Truman was working at the height of his powers.
Jeff was a writer who always delivered, both...
- 12/3/2014
- by Peter Gawler*
- IF.com.au
Kim Mordaunt won the Australian Writers. Guild best original screenplay award for his debut film The Rocket and Cate Shortland and Robin Mukherjee got the feature film adaptation prize for Lore at the Awgie awards held in Melbourne on Friday night.
David Roach and Warwick Ross.s Red Obsession took the award for public broadcast documentary screenplay.
Underbelly again won best original mini -series and Robert Connolly.s Underground: The Julian Assange Story was named best telemovie adaptation.
The $25,000 Foxtel prize for a significant and impressive body of work in television went to Jacquelin Perske, whose screenwriting credits include The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, Spirited and Little Fish.
The Good News Week writing team received a ninth Awgie for the final season of the series.
Playwright Alana Valentine picked up three awards including most outstanding script of 2013 and the inaugural David Williamson Prize.
Australian Writers. Guild president Jan Sardi said,...
David Roach and Warwick Ross.s Red Obsession took the award for public broadcast documentary screenplay.
Underbelly again won best original mini -series and Robert Connolly.s Underground: The Julian Assange Story was named best telemovie adaptation.
The $25,000 Foxtel prize for a significant and impressive body of work in television went to Jacquelin Perske, whose screenwriting credits include The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, Spirited and Little Fish.
The Good News Week writing team received a ninth Awgie for the final season of the series.
Playwright Alana Valentine picked up three awards including most outstanding script of 2013 and the inaugural David Williamson Prize.
Australian Writers. Guild president Jan Sardi said,...
- 10/4/2013
- by Staff writer
- IF.com.au
Tickets are selling fast for the 46th Annual Awgie Awards, to be held in Melbourne on October 4.
To be hosted by writer, comedian and singer Sammy J, the ceremony will honour the achievements made by Australian writers for performance. The Awgie Awards are the only Australian awards judged solely by writers on the basis of the script . the writer's intention . rather than the finished production.
"The Awgies are the highlight of the year for us and a unique chance to celebrate the oft-unsung but stellar work created by Australian writers of the script," says Awg.s President and Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi..
.It.s a night that really just celebrates the importance of story and storytelling. And that.s what sets us apart from other animals in the end, the ability to tell stories..
Sardi says the slate of nominated work is once again a strong one.
.It.s...
To be hosted by writer, comedian and singer Sammy J, the ceremony will honour the achievements made by Australian writers for performance. The Awgie Awards are the only Australian awards judged solely by writers on the basis of the script . the writer's intention . rather than the finished production.
"The Awgies are the highlight of the year for us and a unique chance to celebrate the oft-unsung but stellar work created by Australian writers of the script," says Awg.s President and Academy Award nominee Jan Sardi..
.It.s a night that really just celebrates the importance of story and storytelling. And that.s what sets us apart from other animals in the end, the ability to tell stories..
Sardi says the slate of nominated work is once again a strong one.
.It.s...
- 10/1/2013
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
The sixth installment in the iconic Underbelly crime series is set to begin filming in Melbourne.
Underbelly: Squizzy will chronicle the the exploits of gangster Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor - better known as .Squizzy. - and his quest for power from 1915 to 1927.
Squizzy will be played by rising actor Jared Daperis, while other cast will include Susie Porter (as matriarch Rosie Taylor), Luke Ford, Dan Wyllie, Nathan Page, Richard Cawthorne, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Boesenberg, Diana Glenn, Ken Radley, Andrew Ryan, Fletcher Humphrys and Peter Moon. Camille Keenan, Elise Jansen and Gracie Gilbert will play the three women who loved Squizzy.
The latest Underbelly series is being produced by production company Screentime for the Nine Network, which will broadcast the series next year. Screentime executive chairman Des Monaghan said Squizzy was to the 20th century what Ned Kelly was to the 19th century.
.Squizzy loved women and they loved him...
Underbelly: Squizzy will chronicle the the exploits of gangster Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor - better known as .Squizzy. - and his quest for power from 1915 to 1927.
Squizzy will be played by rising actor Jared Daperis, while other cast will include Susie Porter (as matriarch Rosie Taylor), Luke Ford, Dan Wyllie, Nathan Page, Richard Cawthorne, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Boesenberg, Diana Glenn, Ken Radley, Andrew Ryan, Fletcher Humphrys and Peter Moon. Camille Keenan, Elise Jansen and Gracie Gilbert will play the three women who loved Squizzy.
The latest Underbelly series is being produced by production company Screentime for the Nine Network, which will broadcast the series next year. Screentime executive chairman Des Monaghan said Squizzy was to the 20th century what Ned Kelly was to the 19th century.
.Squizzy loved women and they loved him...
- 9/24/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
Screentime has begun production on the latest instalment of Underbelly for Nine.
The announcement:
Australia’s most colourful crime tsar is set to reclaim his throne when Underbelly: Squizzy commences filming on location in Melbourne this week.
A Screentime production for the Nine Network, the sixth instalment in this iconic series will chronicle the exploits of Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor, known to all as “Squizzy” – the celebrity gangster whose ego and ambition knew no boundaries.
Spanning the years from 1915 to 1927, Underbelly: Squizzy tells the epic story of Squizzy’s relentless quest for power, ultimately creating a public persona that made him the first superstar gangster of the 20th Century.
With rising star, Jared Daperis, in the titular role, the dynamic cast will include Susie Porter, as matriarch “Rosie Taylor”, alongside Luke Ford, Dan Wyllie, Nathan Page, Richard Cawthorne, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Boesenberg, Diana Glenn, Ken Radley, Andrew Ryan,...
The announcement:
Australia’s most colourful crime tsar is set to reclaim his throne when Underbelly: Squizzy commences filming on location in Melbourne this week.
A Screentime production for the Nine Network, the sixth instalment in this iconic series will chronicle the exploits of Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor, known to all as “Squizzy” – the celebrity gangster whose ego and ambition knew no boundaries.
Spanning the years from 1915 to 1927, Underbelly: Squizzy tells the epic story of Squizzy’s relentless quest for power, ultimately creating a public persona that made him the first superstar gangster of the 20th Century.
With rising star, Jared Daperis, in the titular role, the dynamic cast will include Susie Porter, as matriarch “Rosie Taylor”, alongside Luke Ford, Dan Wyllie, Nathan Page, Richard Cawthorne, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Boesenberg, Diana Glenn, Ken Radley, Andrew Ryan,...
- 9/23/2012
- by mumbrella
- Encore Magazine
The finalists have been announced for the Australian Writers’ Guild awards – or Awgies.
Wish You Were Here is up for best feature film, along with Last Dance and Not Suitable For Children.
The Slap and Underbelly: Razor are up for best TV mini-series.
The short list in full:
Telemovie Original
Beaconsfield – Judi McCrossin
Mabo – Susan Smith
Television Mini-series – Adaptation
The Slap – Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa with Cate Shortland
Underbelly: Razor – Peter Gawler, Michaeley O’Brien, Felicity Packard and Jeffrey Truman
Television Mini-series – Original
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Television – Series
Spirited: If You See Her Say Hello – Alice Bell
Offspring: Episode 206 – Michael Lucas
Spirited: Living In Oblivion – Ian Meadows
Spirited: I’ll Close My Eyes – Jacquelin Perske
Television – Serial
Home & Away 5437- Louise Bowes
Home & Away 5391 – Fiona Bozic
Neighbours 6231 (Jim’s Death) – Pete McTighe
Comedy...
Wish You Were Here is up for best feature film, along with Last Dance and Not Suitable For Children.
The Slap and Underbelly: Razor are up for best TV mini-series.
The short list in full:
Telemovie Original
Beaconsfield – Judi McCrossin
Mabo – Susan Smith
Television Mini-series – Adaptation
The Slap – Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Brendan Cowell, Kris Mrksa with Cate Shortland
Underbelly: Razor – Peter Gawler, Michaeley O’Brien, Felicity Packard and Jeffrey Truman
Television Mini-series – Original
Only one nomination and the winner will be announced on the night.
Television – Series
Spirited: If You See Her Say Hello – Alice Bell
Offspring: Episode 206 – Michael Lucas
Spirited: Living In Oblivion – Ian Meadows
Spirited: I’ll Close My Eyes – Jacquelin Perske
Television – Serial
Home & Away 5437- Louise Bowes
Home & Away 5391 – Fiona Bozic
Neighbours 6231 (Jim’s Death) – Pete McTighe
Comedy...
- 7/11/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
The nominees for this year's Awgie awards include the scribes behind local films such as The Sapphires, The Eye of the Storm, Wish You Were Here and TV programs such as Mabo, Beaconsfield, and Underbelly.
Battling in the feature film adaptation category will be Judy Morris. The Eye of the Storm, starring Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davies, and The Sapphires from Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs. Michael Lucas has also been nominated for his first original feature, Not Suitable for Children while Last Dance by Terence Hammond and David Pulbrook and drama Wish You Were Here, written by Kieran Darcy-Smith and Felicity Price, have also been nominated.
Among television nominees, the team of writers behind The Slap and Underbelly: Razor have been nominated as well as Susan Smith for indigenous telemovie Mabo, and Judi McCrossin for Beaconsfield. Michael Lucas was also nominated for the television series Offspring while three scripts...
Battling in the feature film adaptation category will be Judy Morris. The Eye of the Storm, starring Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davies, and The Sapphires from Keith Thompson and Tony Briggs. Michael Lucas has also been nominated for his first original feature, Not Suitable for Children while Last Dance by Terence Hammond and David Pulbrook and drama Wish You Were Here, written by Kieran Darcy-Smith and Felicity Price, have also been nominated.
Among television nominees, the team of writers behind The Slap and Underbelly: Razor have been nominated as well as Susan Smith for indigenous telemovie Mabo, and Judi McCrossin for Beaconsfield. Michael Lucas was also nominated for the television series Offspring while three scripts...
- 7/10/2012
- by Staff reporter
- IF.com.au
A new series of Underbelly has started filming for Nine and production company Screentime.
The fifth series- called Underbelly: Badness – returns to Sydney’s modern crime history, set between 2001 and 2011.
The story is based on the murder of Terry Falconer by underworld figures Anthony Perish and Andrew Perish and the team of police dedicated to bringing the Perishs to justice.
Perish, 42, was sentenced to 18 years on Friday 13 April 2012 in the Nsw Supreme Court while his brother Andrew Perish, 41, was sentenced to at least nine years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Des Monaghan, executive producer of the series and executive chairman of Screentime said: “This, the fifth series of Underbelly, is the most contemporary yet and is in marked contrast to Underbelly: Razor. While on the face of it they couldn’t be more different, they do both share the Underbelly DNA, namely police versus organised crime, the dramatisation of actual events,...
The fifth series- called Underbelly: Badness – returns to Sydney’s modern crime history, set between 2001 and 2011.
The story is based on the murder of Terry Falconer by underworld figures Anthony Perish and Andrew Perish and the team of police dedicated to bringing the Perishs to justice.
Perish, 42, was sentenced to 18 years on Friday 13 April 2012 in the Nsw Supreme Court while his brother Andrew Perish, 41, was sentenced to at least nine years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Des Monaghan, executive producer of the series and executive chairman of Screentime said: “This, the fifth series of Underbelly, is the most contemporary yet and is in marked contrast to Underbelly: Razor. While on the face of it they couldn’t be more different, they do both share the Underbelly DNA, namely police versus organised crime, the dramatisation of actual events,...
- 4/17/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
<p><a href="http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/The-Sapphires.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-3055 alignright" title="Farmer and Anu in the current stage version of The Sapphires" src="http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/The-Sapphires-150x150.jpg" alt="Farmer and Anu in the current stage version of The Sapphires" width="150" height="150" /></a>Screen Australia announced its last investment round for 2010, with almost $18m for five features, three drama series, two low budget TV dramas, a children’s TV series, and 17 docos.</p> <p>The films include the musical <em>The Sapphires </em>(dir. Wayne Blair),<em> The King is Dead!</em> (dir. Rolf de Heer), <em>Dead Europe</em> (dir. Tony Krawitz), <em>Venice </em>(dir. Miro Bilbrough) and <em>Summer Coda</em> (dir. Richard Gray).<span id="more-6142"></span></p> <p><em>Summer Coda </em>was released in October, and today’s announcement by Screen Australia refers to a September decision that provided the film with post-production funding.</p> <p>The projects are:<br /> Feature Drama<br /> <strong>Dead Europe</strong><br /> See Saw Films Pty Ltd<br /> Producers Emile Sherman, Iain Canning<br /> Writer Louise Fox<br /> Director Tony Krawitz<br /> Sales and Distribution Cross City Sales, Wild Bunch International Sales, Transmission Films<br /> Synopsis Isaac, a late 20s Greek Australian, spirals out of control when he’s forced to confront<br /> his own family’s cursed legacy on his first trip to...
- 12/2/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
Now entering its third year, Packed to the Rafters has become the Seven Network’s flagship drama. Its creators told Eleeza Hooker that making a hit TV show might be difficult, but maintaining it over the years is even harder.
The series, about a couple whose adult children come back to live at the family home, has been a hit with audiences, averaging 1.9m viewers in 2008 and 2009 – with a peak of 2.07m for Episode 41, a number surpassed only by Nine’s Underbelly.
The concept was developed by series creator and network script executive Bevan Lee, producer Jo Porter and script producer Anthony Ellis. Together, they’re in charge of keeping the series going.
“It’s a nice problem to have to maintain a hit show. As you keep going through stories, it becomes harder and harder,” said Porter.
According to Porter, Rafters is a valuable property for the network, and...
The series, about a couple whose adult children come back to live at the family home, has been a hit with audiences, averaging 1.9m viewers in 2008 and 2009 – with a peak of 2.07m for Episode 41, a number surpassed only by Nine’s Underbelly.
The concept was developed by series creator and network script executive Bevan Lee, producer Jo Porter and script producer Anthony Ellis. Together, they’re in charge of keeping the series going.
“It’s a nice problem to have to maintain a hit show. As you keep going through stories, it becomes harder and harder,” said Porter.
According to Porter, Rafters is a valuable property for the network, and...
- 8/4/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.