Screen Australia announces Talent USA: New York recipients 2022

Screen Australia has announced the eight creatives selected to travel to New York next month as part of the agency's Talent USA: New York program. The delegation will attend the Australian International Screen Forum (6 – 8 September) where they will take part in professional development and networking opportunities with the support of an international mentor.

First run in 2017 in Los Angeles and expanded to New York in 2018, the Talent USA program presents a unique opportunity for Australian creators to learn and network on the ground in the US, offering participants a chance to forge connections with both Australian and American creators. This is the first year since 2020 that attendees have travelled in person.

Screen Australia's CEO, Graeme Mason said, "It's exciting to bring back this unique career development opportunity in person following the pandemic, and showcase some of Australia's best creative talent internationally, as well as facilitate important business relationships in the North American market. We're proud to support these creatives who are well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and best leverage these new connections to advance their upcoming slates and professional networks."

Australian International Screen Forum Co-founder and Executive Director Michael Kelleher said, "We are very glad to welcome the Talent USA delegation back to an in-person format in New York. There is no place like Film at Lincoln Center to inspire creatives as they set their sights on an international career. The NYC-based industry is always keen to meet the newest batch of Talent USA delegates but this year is especially important given the two year absence of in-person sessions."

The Australian International Screen Forum at the Lincoln Center in New York brings together outstanding actors, filmmakers, producers and industry to guide the next generation of outstanding Australian talent. In addition to attending the forum, the delegates will take part in industry roundtables, panel discussions, matched mentoring sessions, pitching and strategic consultations, and introductions to and advice from a selection of influential New York based screen professionals.

Other Australian filmmakers joining the group in New York will be the Screenworks AACTA Regional Landscapes Pitch Recipients, Lou Sanz and John Kachoyan, as well as Darlene Johnson who is supported by the American Australian Association & Australian International Screen Forum Scholarship.

Talent USA: New York 2022 attendees:

• Julietta Boscolo is a writer/director/creator currently attached to direct a feature starring Viola Davis. Her feature project The Sound of Light was one of only nine international projects invited to Venice International Film Festival's Biennale College - Cinema in 2019. She was set-up director on ABC children's series The PM's Daughter and has directed on primetime drama, The Heart Guy. She won the Emerging Filmmaker Award at Melbourne International Film Festival 2018 for short Let's See How Fast This Baby Will Go, and the film was preselected for Cannes (main competition) and Cannes Critics Week. Julietta's screenplay Catching Sight was shortlisted for Sundance's Screenwriters Lab and placed in the top 15% of the Academy Nicholls. Because of her upbringing, attending an exclusive private school on a scholarship while often her family didn't have a home, Julietta is determined to create projects full of humour and light.
• Lucy Campbell is a writer and director whose short films and online series have screened at festivals around the world including Seattle International Film Festival, SeriesFest, Byron Bay International Film Festival and Adelaide Film Festival. Lucy is co-creator, co-director and co-writer of sci-fi series The Big Nothing with over 1 million views on DUST. Lucy has worked as a script editor and script coordinator for TV shows including Firebite (AMC), Stateless (ABC/Netflix), Pine Gap (Netflix), Upright (Sky/Foxtel) and Wolf Creek Series 2 (Stan). She has written VR for ABC's Deadlock VR component and her pilot TV script for The Big Nothing was shortlisted for the Australian Writers Guild Pathways program. In 2019 she was selected for the eight-week Bird in Nest residency at Australians in Film in Los Angeles, and in 2020 she co-created and released online dramedy series Dinner with Friends. After being chosen for SAFC and Adelaide Film Festival's FilmLab program, Lucy's script for sci-fi feature film Monolith is now in post-production with Bettina Hamilton producing and Matt Vesely directing, and the film will premiere at this year's Adelaide Film Festival.
• Beck Cole is an award winning writer, film and television director whose work spans many genres. Beck is the supervising director of the feature film We Are Still Here, an anthology of stories by First Nations filmmakers screening at TIFF this year. Her debut feature film Here I Am was released in 2011. Beck directed three seasons of award-winning comedy show Black Comedy, and her other television credits include Redfern Now, Grace Beside Me, Mustangs FC and the smash hit drama series Wentworth. Her short films Plains Empty and Flat both screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In documentary, she produced, directed and shot Making of Samson and Delilah, First Australians; The Untold Story of Australia, Lore of Love and Wirriya; small boy. Beck recently directed on comedy/drama series Deadloch for Amazon and is developing her third feature film Ruby Moonlight.
• Vonne Patiag is a writer, director, producer and actor from Western Sydney. Vonne was a writer on upcoming ABC drama Significant Others, and he co-wrote and associate produced on Australia's first prime time Filipino TV series The Unusual Suspects for Aquarius Films (SBS and Hulu). He also co-wrote and associate produced feature film Here Out West, which opened the Sydney Film Festival 2021, and show-ran and directed Halal Gurls for ABC, an online comedy series that won the Prix du Public award at the Marseilles Webfest. He is developing feature film Tomgirl which has been invited to the Inside Out Film Finance Forum and the TIFF Filmmaker Lab in 2021, as well as half-hour series Boy (Space) Friends, which received pilot production and development funding through Screen Australia's Hot Shots Plus. He is the co-founder of In-Between Pictures, a production company dedicated to producing nuanced and diverse stories for film, television and online.
• Samuel Nuggin-Paynter is an Indigenous screenwriter and producer originally from Alice Springs but now based in Melbourne, whose writing credits include children's television series Little J & Big Cuz and Thalu which he also developed. Sam is also writing his feature film Colour of Blood, which is in advanced development and has received development funding from Screen Australia, Screen Territory, and is being produced by No Coincidence Media. Sam was also a part of the writing team and associate producer on the anthology feature film We Are Still Here, which opened the Sydney Film Festival 2022 and has gone on to screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival in the same year. Sam also worked as the Production Manager on the 6 x 30 minute docuseries Larapinta, and produced a sizzle reel for the series to take to international markets.
• Renée Webster is a writer and director, who recently released the hit Australian feature film How to Please a Woman, selling world-wide with US cinema release, then acquired by Hulu and playing as a Sky Original in the UK. Renée was also the Series Director of the second season of Aftertaste (ABC, Acorn) and her other TV directing credits include Series 1 and 2 of The Heights (ABC, BBC) and set-up director of the first season of the successful children's TV series Itch (ABC, BBC). Renée's TV commercial directing work has earned numerous awards and nominations and her short films Edgar and Elizabeth and Scoff have screened at over 25 film festivals internationally.
• Rachele Wiggins is a writer, producer and director who produced the Shudder original series Deadhouse Dark, which was selected for Canneseries, as well as writing and directing the series episode Mystery Box. She was the segment director on another Shudder original anthology feature sequel, Scare Package II, which will have its world premiere at Frightfest 2022 in London. Her other credits include feature film Beast No More, which won the Audience Award for Best Film at Monsterfest and is being distributed worldwide by Level 33 Entertainment; short film, Slice Of Life, which won best Sci-Fi at LA Shorts and screened at Sitges; and supernatural series The Surge, which she co-wrote and created, and was selected for Nashville Film Festival and Hollyshorts screenwriting competitions in 2020. Rachele is currently in preparation to direct Wolf Creek 3, with creator Greg McLean producing alongside Bianca Martino and Kristian Moliere with Altitude Film Sales handling worldwide sales.
• Thomas Wilson-White is an award-winning director and screenwriter. In 2017 he graduated from AFTRS with a Masters of Screen Arts, specialising in queer theory. His debut feature film The Greenhouse premiered in 2021 at BFI: Flare, Frameline45, Mardi Gras Film Festival and played at over 30 other festivals. It won Best Direction in a Feature Film (budget under $1M) at the 2021 Australian Directors Guild awards and was acquired by Netflix ANZ. As a screenwriter, Thomas wrote the highly anticipated Heartbreak High reboot for Netflix, and is currently writing the Rock Eisteddfod Film for Aquarius Films and his second feature film Wildflowers with the support of Screen Australia and script editor Anna Seifert-Speck (Ammonite). His autobiographical comedy TV series Sick To Death is currently in development with the support of Screen Australia and Screen NSW. Thomas is represented by Mark Ross (Paradigm), Cullen Conly (Mosaic) and in Australia by Emma Winterburn (MKM).

Definitions

• ABC – Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Australian public broadcaster.
• AFTRS – Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Australia's federally-funded tertiary education facility for screen professionals.
• Foxtel – Australian subscription television company.
• SAFC – The South Australian Film Corporation. A state-funded screen agency.
• SBS – Special Broadcasting Service. Australian public broadcaster.