NIDA would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our graduates Richie Black and Craig Pearce on receiving their respective AWGIE Awards, at the 49th Annual AWGIE Awards ceremony this month.
Black (L) and Pearce* (R) (*Image from The Australian)
NIDA would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our graduates Richie Black and Craig Pearce on receiving their respective AWGIE Awards, at the 49th Annual AWGIE Awards ceremony this month.
Sydney-based writer Richie Black (Writing for Performance, 2016) won the AWGIE Award (Radio – Original) for Happy Monday – a script he wrote while studying at NIDA.
Written for ABC’s Radiotonic series, Happy Monday is a typical white-collar story of blood, death, sex, freedom and appliances. The piece focuses on two office workers who spend their lives in angst-ridden communication via Gmail chat – and documents the events of one particularly eventful (and hangover-infused) Monday morning.
On how he came up with the concept for the play, Black said: ‘I was trying to think of an original and compelling way to tell an audio story. It’s definitely not drawn from personal experience or anything. I wouldn’t do that sort of thing. Actually, it probably is – but I’ve repressed most of the memories so I’m not sure.’
NIDA Head of Writing for Performance, Stephen Sewell, said: ‘Richie has all the qualities of a great satirist: good timing, the gift of understatement, and a fierce, burning fury at the hypocrisy of the world.’
‘Working with Stephen was great. He is a maverick genius with a firebrand’s sensibility and a gentleman’s demeanour,’ commented Black.
Black hopes this award opens a few doors to more opportunities in the long run.
He is currently working on a new play – The Inspection– with recent NIDA graduate Jessica Dick (Directing, 2016). He is also helping develop a new TV series Wild Kat, with his fellow Writing for Performance classmates Clare Hennessy and Sunny Grace – they have already had interest from production companies and hope to have some good news soon.
Black’s other recent credits include Violent Extremism and Other Adult Party Games(NIDA Naked series),The Local(Insomniac Theatre Company),Aunt Agony(New Theatre) and The Cardboard Cartel(Arts Platform).
Craig Pearce (Acting, 1984), who has worked extensively with fellow NIDA graduate and director Baz Luhrmann (Acting, 1985), received the 2016 Australian Writers’ Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, for his major contribution to the Australian screen industry over more than 30 years.
After graduating from NIDA, Pearce moved on to (co)write some of Australian cinema’s most loved and iconic films which have gone on to win national and international awards.
This AWGIE award will sit alongside Pearce’s many other wins, including an AFI award for best screenplay (Strictly Ballroom), a BAFTA award for best adapted screenplay (Romeo + Juliet), a WGA nomination for best original screenplay (Moulin Rouge) and eight Academy Award nominations, including best film (Moulin Rouge).
Most recently, Pearce co-wrote The Great Gatsby with Luhrmann, and is currently working on his new TV series Will, about the early life of William Shakespeare. Will has been written and is now in production in Wales.
Decided by a unanimous vote of the 13 members of the Australian Writers’ Guild National Executive Committee (who are all professional writers), the Lifetime Achievement Award recognises writers who have made a significant contribution to the Australian screen industry. The Award celebrates the achievements of Australia’s most revered and admired writers, those who have achieved critical and commercial success throughout their career and made significant contributions to our national film culture.
