Australian Writers' Guild and Adelaide Film Festival launch INSITE Award

6 April, 2017

Adelaide Film Festival and the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) today launched the prestigious Australian screenwriting development initiative, the INSITE Award. Established to unearth feature film screenwriting talent, the INSITE Award is presented to the writer of a screenplay which has not yet secured a producer or funding. INSITE’s proven formula will see the 2017 winner meeting industry directors and producers with a view to moving the project forward and onto the screen.

The call is now open for AWG members to submit a synopsis and writing sample of an unproduced screenplay to INSITE. Entries for the 2017 INSITE Award are open until Wednesday 3 May 2017 and the winner will be announced during the Adelaide Film Festival, 5–15 October 2017.

‘Great films start with a great script,’ explains ADL Film Fest CEO and Artistic Director Amanda Duthie, ‘which is why we are so thrilled to partner with AWG in this open call for unproduced work.’

AWG Executive Director Jacqueline Elaine agrees: ‘INSITE celebrates and promotes the best of Australia’s screenwriting talent, uncovering great scripts and providing writers with the opportunity to have their work produced for the big screen.’

Established television screenwriter Blake Ayshford saw his screenplay Cut Snake made into a feature film which premiered internationally at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival after winning the inaugural INSITE Award in 2003.

2015’s INSITE winner, Harry Alteras, was inducted into AWG’s Pathways Program after winning and went on to receive development funding for a second draft of his winning script, Martingale, as well as being awarded a Scripted Ink.-funded mentorship with INSITE alumni Blake Ayshford.

Aletras says winning INSITE was a turning point in his screenwriting career. ‘Since winning the 2015 INSITE award, Martingale has received a level of exposure and recognition that simply wouldn't be possible without the continued support of the Australian Writers' Guild and the Pathways Program. With Scripted Ink.’s development funding, I am afforded the opportunity to further develop my skills as a screenwriter under the careful guidance of Blake Ayshford, winner of the inaugural INSITE award and arguably among the finest screenwriters working in Australia today. Blake is a generous and insightful mentor, with a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will prove instrumental in bringing Martingale closer to production,’ Aletras says.

Previous winners of the INSITE Award are:

2003 – Blake Ayshford for Cut Snake

2005 – Cath Moore for Moving South

2007 – Priscilla Cameron and Heather Phillips for Salt

2009 – Ben Chessell for Writing Rain

2011 – Barbara Connell for The Unlikeliest Hero

2013 – Jane Hampson for Tigress

2015 – Harry Alteras for Martingale

Entry form and competition details are available at www.awg.com.au/insite-award.The ADL Film Fest will go punk from October 5–15 2017. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the punk movement, from arthouse to hard core, 2017 ADL Film Fest’s Vive Le Punk features premieres and retrospectives of Australian and international films and new work from the incomparable ADL Film Fest Fund. Punk thrives on invention, which opens the program up to explore a plethora of platforms and screen storytelling: adelaidefilmfestival.org

FURTHER INFORMATION:AWG: Olga Nowicka olga@awg.com.au

ADLFF: Cathy Gallagher cathy@abcgfilm.com / Alicia Brescianini Alicia@abcgfilm.com