 |
|
| Image: Homicide |
For a trip down memory lane, ACMI will be showcasing productions that were conceived and produced in Melbourne.
monday 15 september
Cop Shows
This session facilitated by Michael Harvey.
Whether dressing them up as the 'D's of Crawford's cop shops in the 60s, or dressing them down and dirty for the gritty undercover drama of the 90s, Melbourne's longest-running tradition of screen writing has been the police drama.
Beginning with Homicide in 1964, these police procedurals gave many their first consistent glimpse of Melbourne street life as a location for screen drama - and something of the city's inner ethical life.
One of Melbourne screenwriting's most revered figures Cliff Green (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Janus, Phoenix,) joins the creators of the groundbreaking ABC-TV series Phoenix, Alison Nisselle and Tony McDonald to discuss four decades of Melbourne cop drama and to introduce two of its outstanding pieces of writing: Homicide, 'Johnny Dead Fella'.
Source: ScreenSound Australia. Screens courtesy of Crawford Productions Phoenix, 'Fond Memories' screens courtesy of ABC-TV Tape Sales and Archives. Both episodes written by Cliff Green.
tuesday 16 september
Comedy
This session facilitated by Noel Moloney.
Comedy writing seems to be the most ephemeral, most throw-away, most heard today, forgotten tomorrow writing form. Then why is it so hard to get right?
Two of the young guns of Melbourne comedy writing, SBS's Music Jamboree's John Safran and Mark O'Toole compare notes with Alan Hopgood, the man who made Alvin Purple a household name.
Screenings will include an episode from Hopgood's ABC-TV mini-series of the early 1970s, And the Big Men Fly and a screening of Safran and O'Toole's Music Jamboree.
And the Big Men Fly written by Alan Hopgood. Screens courtesy of ABC Tape Sales and Archives. Music Jamboree written by John Safran and Mark O'Toole. Screens courtesy of SBS Television.
wednesday 17 september
Telemovies
This session facilitated by Debi Enker.
The mini series was queen of TV in the 80s with its depiction of dramatic events. In the 90s, the telemovie series allowed television to access the attractions of the modern thriller novel series: the right mix of recurring characters and a renewable resource of prime guest stars.
Join Roger Simpson, the creator of the most successful of the 90s telemovie series, Halifax fp as he talks about this and his other Melbourne TV series successes of the 90s (Good Guys, Bad Guys, Stingers) and introduces his own AWGIE award-winning episode of the series: Halifax f.p 'Afraid of the Dark' (1997).
Screens courtesy of Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier.
thursday 18 september
Family Drama
This session facilitated by Robert Fidgeon.
The Secret Life of Us seems to have caught up with how we think about our families in the 21st century - our
extended families of friendship, workmates, lovers past, present and potential.
In the late 1970s, The Sullivans captured what we were and wished we were as families - by imagining the community of World War Two. How do we keep these families together over successive series? Secret Life writer Hamish Wright joins The Sullivan's script editor and writer Graeme Farmer and veteran actor-director
Bud Tingwell, who executive produced The Sullivans in its last season.
The Secret Life of Us 'The Dark Side' written by Hamish Wright. The Secret Life of Us screens courtesy of Southern Star Entertainment. The Sullivans screens courtesy of Crawford Productions.
friday 19 september
Soaps and series
This session facilitated by Jon Stephens.
'Once upon a time, there was a television station known as Channel 12 .'
Everyone remembers The Box for its wicked sex and nudity but few remember it was also wicked satire about the TV industry. It was payback from a few of the people who had made the Australian TV industry possible and
had been regretting it a little ever since.
The Box's characters, premise and targets were all lined up in the very first episode: TV's first lesbian kiss, Belinda Giblin's seduction by the camera, and a subplot involving the great, late Cul Cullen as a battler vaudevillian. This was satire but sensitively written.
Ian Jones, arguably the father of Melbourne screen drama production, joins his The Box co-creator, Emmy and
AWGIE award winning Tom Hegarty, to tell the story of Crawford Production's bad seed and to introduce The Box 'Pilot'.
