The
Hon Troy Grant
Minister
for the Arts
PO
Box A226
South
Sydney
NSW
1235
16th
September 2014
Dear
Minister
This morning I received a letter from Screen NSW informing me that I
am “ineligible within the programs' criteria for television drama
applications, as per our published guidelines” to
make an application for Early Stage script development. Consider the following:
- I have been writing screenplays,
directing films (drama and documentary) for 43 years.
- I have made three feature films – the
last of which (BLACKFELLAS) won me an AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- I completed an Honours degree in Drama
at NSW university and proceeded to do a Master degree in Drama – only to be
interrupted by a scholarship to go to the Australian Film and Television
school. All but one of the films I made at the film school won awards.
- On the basis of the films I had written,
produced and directed to date I received a scholarship to do post-graduate work
at New York University.
- On my return to Australia I spent 10
years working as an assessor for the Australian Film Commission and was often
given the job of being a mentor to young filmmakers. (I no longer qualify to be
a mentor to young filmmakers as far as your new Screen NSW guidelines are
concerned)
- I have written more than a dozen
feature film scripts. And yet…
And yet, as a result of a policy change
at Screen NSW I am no longer eligible to apply for script development funds.
What this means, in reality, is that nothing I write will be read by anyone at
Screen NSW. My ideas, my synopses, my treatments and my screenplays might be
works of genius (or absolute rubbish) but no one at Screen NSW will ever know
because I do not qualify to have my work read and assessed.
Who on earth dreamt up this policy? Of
what purpose does it serve? The notion that a script by a screenwriter whose
last produced film was 9 years ago is eligible to apply but not a screenwriter
whose last film was produced 10 years ago is nonsense.
What does Screen NSW believe happens to
a screenwriter’s skills at this magical 10 year point? Do his or her skills
simply disappear? Or is the supposition that, after 10 years, a screenwriter’s
skills diminish to the point where he or she needs to have their hands held by
an ‘experienced’ filmmaker.
I have already written about the
deleterious effect that this new policy will, in all likelihood, have on young
filmmakers:
For myself it is no big deal. I have
already generated international interest in the project Screen NSW refuses to
read or assess - ANGKOR. I will re-write the three lead character (all
Australians) such that they are non-Australian and, in the event that the interest
generated to date leads to the series going into production, will use
non-Australian studios and non-Australian crews.
Minister, this policy is just plain
stupid and should be abandoned.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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