AWG Sharp Prize Winner Announced

22 April, 2010

It is with great pleasure that the Australian Writers' Guild congratulates Chris Houghton, the winner of the inaugural AWG Sharp Prize. The AWG Sharp Prize is the crescendo of the Story Sharpener Initiative presented in partnership with the South Australian Film Corporation and Eurista Development, to reward and promote the discovery and development of new screenwriting talent.

Launched in November 2009 and led by international film development expert, Stephen Cleary, the aim of the initiative was to equip the 38 participants with the tools to sharpen their projects on the journey from idea to first draft through the development of a razor sharp treatment. Over two months seven finalists have been given the opportunity to work with Stephen Cleary in a one-on-one capacity to further refine their story in the lead up to the deadline for the final submission.

Over 40 AWG members, friends and screen industry colleagues gathered to hear the announcement of the winner first hand at the Winners Reception on Friday 12 April, held at the SA Writers' Centre.

Chris has been awarded a $2,000 cash prize for his project Passing the Bone, the most compelling demonstration of a project with exceptional clarity of narrative vision, confident use of craft skills, which was in turn indicative of Chris's great potential for a future career in professional screenwriting. Passing the Bone is a feature length adaption of a short story written by Sean Williams (Star Wars: New Order Jedi series ,Evergence, Orphans and Geodesica series), a New York Times best selling science fiction author from South Australia. Passing the Bone is a brave piece of work that delves into difficult territory and creates a mystery that aroused the assessment panel's curiosity.

Merit prizes of $1,000 each were presented to two writers had most advanced their craft skills and treatment to a level appropriate to their intentions. The Merit prizes were awarded to Sandy Cameron and Hugh Sullivan for their feature project Fortune and Ryan Davidson for his feature project I am Kevin.