AWG member wins US award

10 December, 2015

AWG member, playwright and author Gabriel Bergmoser has been awarded the 2015 Sir Peter Ustinov Scriptwriting Award by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in America.Melbourne-based Gabriel, will collect the award in New York on Sunday. He says that winning the Peter Ustinov Award was not something he had dared hope for.“I'm so grateful and excited for what this might mean for the future,” he says. “I have no idea where this could take me, but for now I can't wait to see who I get to meet in America and what kind of opportunities that might afford. Already the award has started opening some doors that I thought were pretty tightly shut, which is a humbling and thrilling place to be in.”His first play, “Windmills”, was produced in 2010 by Misfit Theatre in the Yarra Valley, followed by “Life Without Me” in 2012. In 2013 his plays “Hometown” and “Reunion” were staged by Centrestage Youth Theatre and Bitten By Productions. In early 2014, his play “Below Babylon” became one of the most successful independent theatre shows ever performed at the Revolt Theatre. Its sequel, “Beyond Babylon”, opened in August 2014 at the Butterfly Club, to strong reviews. His most recent play, “The Last Supper”, opened at the Red Room Theatre in Brunswick to sell-out shows and excellent reviews.In 2015 Gabriel completed his Master of Screenwriting at the Victorian College of the Arts and he has performed for theatre companies around Victoria, as well as being a member of the comedy podcast collective Sanspants Radio.The Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award is designed to motivate non-American novice writers under the age of 30, and offer them the recognition and encouragement that might lead to a successful career in television scriptwriting.