Foxtel Presents… International Showrunning Masterclass - Melbourne

THIS MASTERCLASS HAS NOW SOLD OUT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO A WAITING LIST PLEASE CONTACT james@awg.com.au

Learn about the art as well as the business of showrunning in this two-day masterclass featuring showrunners Alexa Junge (Friends Grace & Frankie) Shane Brennan (NCIS: LA) and Ellie Beaumont (House Husbands).

Day One               Alexa Junge

Day Two               Shane Brennan and Ellie Beaumont

This event is made possible through the generous support of Film Victoria.

Alexa Junge is an internationally acclaimed Writer Producer and Showrunner. Her credits include Grace & Frankie Friends The West Wing Sex and the City Big Love and United States of Tara.  A four-time Emmy and WGA Award nominee Junge grew up in Los Angeles and attended Barnard College where she wrote for and performed in the Columbia University Varsity Show. Junge continued her education at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Junge wrote for Friends from 1994 to 1999. Nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild of America Awards Junge also won the National AOL Poll for writing the "All Time Favorite Friends Episode" for "The One Where Everybody Finds Out". This same episode being used in a scientific study cited in Atlantic Magazine as a proven “mood booster”. Junge went on to write for Once and Again Sex and the City West Wing (where she was nominated for two Emmys and two WGA Awards) as well as Big Love and the BBC comedy Clone. Junge also wrote lyrics for Disney's Mulan 2 screenplay and lyrics for Disney’s Lilo & Stitch 2.A frequent contributor to National Public Radio's This American Life Junge performed live for their 2008 "What I Learned From Television" tour. She served as Executive Producer and showrunner for the first season of Showtime's series The United States of Tara and worked on Tilda for HBO with Bill Condon Alan Poul and John Hoffman and was the executive producer on Best Friends Forever starring Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair for NBC.Junge's theatrical adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith had its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in March 2015. She also wrote four episodes of the 2015-16 Netflix series Grace and Frankie.

Shane Brennan is an Australian writer and producer who has become one of the most successful television drama producers in America. In 2007 he became the first Australian writer to become the showrunner of a U.S. network television drama series when he took over as Executive Producer on the CBS series NCIS which went on to become the number one scripted drama on network television and is now entering its thirteenth season. While running NCIS Brennan created the hit spin-off NCIS: LOS ANGELES which became the number two scripted drama on network television. Both NCIS and NCIS: LOS ANGELES are seen in more than 200 countries and have become two of CBS Studios most successful shows in the last decade.Shane who has his own production company in Hollywood has numerous projects in development his latest the television adaptation for the Fox network of the hit feature franchise THE EXPENDABLES. Shane’s other credits include KING & MAXWELL (Creator-Executive Producer); ONE TREE HILL (Co-Executive Producer); CSI: MIAMI (Supervising Producer); and SUMMERLAND (Supervising Producer). Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2003 Shane worked on numerous Australian television series including THE MAN FROM SNOW RIVER: THE MCGREGOR SAGA STINGERS ALL TOGETHER NOW LAW OF THE LAND TALES OF THE SOUTH SEAS and THE FLYING DOCTORS.Shane has won numerous national and international awards including two Australian Writers’ Guild Awards for Best Television Series and Best Situation Comedy; a Penguin Award for Best Television Series Episode; an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Mini-Series; and a Chicago Film Festival Award also for Best Mini- Series. He has been nominated five times for Australian Writers Guild Awards. In 2009 Shane was awarded the prestigious Television Showman of the Year award by the International Cinematographers Guild. Born in Australia Shane is a journalism graduate.

Ellie Beaumont is an experienced Australian showrunner and writer. She has just completed Dead Lucky a 4 part crime thriller for SBS starring Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under Brothers & Sisters Muriel’s Wedding) which Ellie co-wrote and executive produced with Drew Proffitt through their company Subtext Pictures. It has recently sold to Sundance to be screened on their premium SVOD Sundance Now.Ellie was also co-creator showrunner head writer and executive producer of the Logie Award Winning hit drama House Husbands for its first four series. It ran for five seasons on Channel Nine and sold to Hulu in the US. Ellie has written script edited and produced some of Australia’s most respected television dramas. Her credits include House Husbands Bed of Roses Newton’s Law Wicked Love The Secret Life of Us Go Big Love Is A Four Letter Word Wildside Water Rats and GP. She has also written and script edited children’s television series including Lockie Leonard Dance Academy Blue Water High and The Sleepover Club.