Writing Australia’s screen future

What We Do

Mission and vision of Scripted Ink.

Scripted Ink. is an innovative, not for profit organisation that aims to shape, build and invest in the Australian screen industry by creating new ways for script development.

Incubating and accelerating quality Australian writers and their screenplays through direct development funding; showcasing them to production companies, broadcasters and investors and assisting in brokering commercially and creatively successful partnerships.

Scripted Ink. focuses on bringing commercially viable scripts and great writers to an industry hungry for both. It works with strategic partners in the Australian film and television industry identifying, incubating and developing talent; acting as a catalyst facilitating commercial exposure and opportunity; and ensuring that writers are properly recognised and rewarded for the successful exploitation of their work. A joint venture between Shane Brennan and the Australian Writers’ Guild, Scripted Ink. builds on the infrastructure and track record of the Australian Writers’ Guild’s Pathways Program to identify talent, invest in that talent and bring it to the market place.

Media

Older Posts

Currently Funded

Kym Goldsworthy

Jane

The year is 1899 and Tarzan is dead. Murdered by a party of American explorers on safari in Africa. His partner Jane Porter is taken by force and returned to her family home in New York City where she grieves the loss of her partner. But Jane is no longer the pampered socialite who left for Africa 15 years ago.

Drew Proffitt

Put Your Hands Up!

A drag queen recruits a very straight ex-crim to plan an armed heist on Mardi Gras night. To succeed, she must groom her accomplice to pull off his disguise: full drag.

Nir Shelter

Home

After a Palestinian wearing a coat boards an Israeli bus, an IDF soldier must choose between a risk to the lives of the other passengers and a potentially innocent man.

Peter Mattessi

Just Another Week in Suburbia

A dedicated teacher and an aspiring politician are forced over 7 wild days to confront one question: can you be married to someone for 7 years without ever falling in love?

Kym Vercoe & Arky Michael

Mrs Burswood

An elderly suburban woman finds a new lease on life after a chance meeting with two Bengali tailors.

Mithila Gupta

Salsa Masala

Asha defies her father to escape to India and become a Bollywood dancer - only to realise that he might be the key to connecting with her culture and star potential.

Tim Spencer

Friend Mode

When an artificially-intelligent fridge is sold to a morose ex-lawyer
he sets out to reclaim his beloved old family whilst avoiding his new owner’s spectacular self-implosion.

Tavis Urquhart

The Last Crop

In post-apocalyptic America, a former biologist and her son are forced to join a secretive commune or face starvation, only to discover the cult's intentions are far worse...

Sam Meikle & Chris Smyth

Ex-U

The long arm of the law. For foreign fugitives hiding here. For Australians fleeing overseas. True justice knows no borders.

Nicholas Verso

Sleep to Dream

When a troubled teenager is invited to attend a prestigious though mysterious boarding school, he uncovers a sinister world of hidden power and ancient evil.

Chris Aronsten

The Recogniser

When a young woman with an extraordinary talent is arrested, she finds herself trapped into working for the police in order to avoid jail, and forced into taking control of her brother's criminal enterprise in order to avoid suspicion.

Michelle Offen & Kristen Dunphy

Traces Of Nuts

Helicopter parents wrestle for control of the P&C, the tuckshop menu and hapless staff in a bid to guarantee their nut free, lactose-intolerant childrens’ success.

Katherine Thomson

Helena

At the dawn of the 20th Century, Helena Rubinstein takes her cosmetics empire global; the first self-made woman to beat the men of Wall Street. But at what cost?

Brendan Luno

Private Universe

When a physics experiment goes wrong, Simon Morales finds himself flipping between his current reality and a parallel universe where his dead wife is alive again.

Justin Monjo

Three Crooked Kings

The explosive true story of searing greed, crime and corruption in the Queensland police.

Jacklyn Bassanelli

Preconception

When a late-thirties jobbing actor, with a weakness for booze and musicians, is cast with a teenage daughter, she decides to test her own fertility.

Warren Coleman and Stephen Abbott

Dear Evelyn

Fictional characters can live forever - can’t they?

Ellie Beaumont

Vestal Virgins

Six women with the fate of an empire in their hands.

Nir Shelter and Tai Scrivener

God's 17

A mockumentary about a modern-day cult, which satirizes politics, major religions, and activist groups.

Matt Ford

The Surgeon's Knife

Mia's a brain-surgeon. Smart, obsessive, with nerves of steel - she excels in her work. The only thing in her way is a bunch of men. So she begins to murder them, one by one.

Ella Roby & Lachlan Marks

Small Town - Television Series

A suspected murder, a series of unexplained disappearances and a strange new drug bring a journalist, a cop and an addict together on a surreal and dangerous investigation into a sinister subterranean cult run by children.

Peter Gawler

Underworld - Television Series

A cowardly, selfish, philandering wedding gown salesman from the Melbourne suburbs ventures into the Asian underworld to rescue his missing daughter – and finds himself.

Judi McCrossin

Stranded - Television Series

The five most brilliant kids on Earth are not on Earth anymore.

John Alsop

Oblong Days - Television Series

At tether’s end, middle-aged Faye can either go on being mad as hell or simmer down and somehow start over.

Chris Phillips & Chris Burke

CatGod – Cross-Platform TV Comedy

When a timid atheist accidentally kills himself, he meets CatGod who offers him a second shot at life, all he has to do is kill nine people.

Ian Simmons

The Creeps - Television Series

When two young women start investigating Australia's supernatural myths and legendary monsters, they uncover a lot more than they bargained for.

C.S. McMullen

Awake - Television Series

In a society where sleep is optional, the rich work and play on a 24-hour cycle. But when a lawyer starts losing time, she realises this new technology comes at a steep price…

Jane Hampson

Tigress – Feature Film

In late-1980s Sri Lanka, an idealistic and spirited teenage girl joins a militant guerrilla movement to fight for freedom.

Matt Ford

Shining Light – Television Series

Patrick Lamb is a brand new priest - young, smart, driven. His one small problem: he doesn’t believe in God.

Heather Wilson

Another Time – Feature Film

After being heartbroken by his fiancée, a man gets the chance to rewrite history and stop himself from ever meeting her, when he finds himself travelling back in time to the Halloween Party where they first met.

Adam Spellicy

Race with the Devil – Feature Film

A psychogeographic rock and roll ghost story based on the life of 1950s singer Gene Vincent, a man who wanted to be immortal… even if it killed him.

Jacklyn Bassanelli

Evergreen – Television Series

When an Australian mining settlement on Mars loses contact with Earth, and the communications technician is found dead on the surface, a young, uncompromising astro-biologist must overthrow the treacherous leadership of the mining CEO and orchestrate the survival of the first human colony in space.

Eloise Healey & Jessica Brookman

Black Creek – Television Series

Apathetic small-town cop Matt Gallagher is forced into action when he suspects his hero father’s suicide is actually murder.

Harry Aletras

Martingale – Feature Film

A 24 year old Philosophy Major and compulsive gambler is coerced into an international drug smuggling ring by an underworld boss to repay his mounting debts.

Max Walker

The Peacemaker

Australian surfer and UN Officer Jim Ryan puts it all on the line to free Taliban suspect, Rafi Khan (a man who once tried to kill him) from Bagram Prison, Afghanistan.

FAQs

Scripted Ink has been created with the purpose of building the Australian screen industry by rewarding scriptwriting talent in such a way that respects, rewards and harnesses the full value of writers in the creative process. Independent research commissioned by Scripted Ink. demonstrates the gap between Australia’s approach to, and investment in, scriptwriters and script development with that of the U.S. and the U.K. and the attendant correlation between script/writer-focussed development and success.

The creative contribution of writers, their creative vision, their commitment to story, and their experience in their craft provide the foundation for successful production. Investment in this crucial and cultural capital is key to the creative and commercial success of our industry and our stories.

Scripted Ink. incubates and accelerates quality Australian writers and their screenplays through direct development funding; showcasing them to production companies, broadcasters and investors and assisting in brokering commercially and creatively successful partnerships. The type of support offered to Australian writers through Scripted Ink. will vary from case to case and be individually tailored to the particular writer and his or her project.

Examples:

  • Experienced scriptwriter Kate has a great idea for a television series that’s “hot” and, after being long listed on Pathways, has secured strong interest from a production company. Scripted Ink. may invest $20,000 in Kate’s first draft script. Scripted Ink. may also co-invest $75,000 in a “writers room”, funding a team of writers to brainstorm, plot and write three more draft scripts and a series bible.
  • Emerging scriptwriter Oliver has a draft script that has great potential but needs work.Scripted Ink. may offer Oliver a place in its incubator program, investing $30,000 in his next draft while also funding an experienced mentor to help him develop his script.
  • Lisa’s television project has been long listed on Pathways and her writing skills have attracted the attention of a production company or broadcaster that is interested in developing her potential as a staff writer and / or showrunner on other projects. Scripted Ink. may provide $50,000 to pay Lisa a living wage while working as an intern in the production company.
  • Michael is a teacher by day, scriptwriter by night. He’s written a brilliant script for a film. Scripted Ink.’s partnership with Pathways can assist Michael in negotiating a commercial deal with a producer or selling an option in the script ensuring that he gets a fair deal for his work.

 

To be considered for Scripted Ink. support, writers first need to be invited to join the Australian Writers’ Guild’s Pathways Program after having their original works peer-reviewed.

Australian Writers’ Guild’s members are regularly invited to be considered for the Pathways Program via a number of different channels. The Australian Writers’ Guild’s Pathways Program provides a valuable springboard for writers to develop and commercialise their unproduced original works. This is being further expanded to create opportunities for experienced and emerging writers alike to have their original works considered by Scripted Ink.

Scripted Ink. is interested in funding the development of original screenplays of all kinds, including:

  • Television scripts
  • Feature film scripts
  • Online series, webisodes and interactive games

Producers, broadcasters and other investors will be invited to invitation-only networking events and pitching opportunities with high-potential scriptwriters. Scripted Ink. assists parties in entering into commercial arrangements, including options and deals that provide sufficient flexibility and exclusivity.

Partnerships between producers and broadcasters and scriptwriters will enable them to gain competitive advantage in the current highly competitive global screen industry while ensuring original creators are given the creative and financial role crucial for success.

To qualify for investment by Scripted Ink. in projects they wish to option, production companies and broadcasters will be required to offer writers minimum terms and conditions, in keeping with the industry agreements that have been negotiated by the Australian Writers Guild and the Screen Producers Association.

Scripted Ink. values relationships with Federal and State government funding bodies, reinforcing the value of its services in the marketplace where the identification and bringing to market of high-potential scriptwriters is inherently complex. It will play a critical role in lobbying the Australian Government for support for scriptwriting and innovation in the Australian screen industry. Scripted Ink. seeks partnerships; creative, practical, and financial and will use its investments as catalysts to trigger funding from other industry and government partners.

Scripted Ink. development investment funding is provided in the form of recoupable investment. This recoupment is payable when and if the funded project is produced, on the first day of principle photography.

No.

Many writers sign option agreements and assignment deeds that do not adequately reward them for their creativity. When considering terms and conditions in option agreements and assignment deeds, Scripted Ink. will take into account the following considerations:

OPTION AGREEMENT

Experience of the writer
Scripted Ink. expects that the terms and conditions of any option agreements for projects in which it invests should be tailored according to the experience of the writer.

Option term
Scripted Ink. understands that Producers need time to work with the writer to develop the script and development materials, find market attachments and to raise finance. The option periods into which this time is divided and the number of extensions of these option periods are important factors in Scripted Ink.’s considerations. Granting an exclusive option to a producer means the writer is relinquishing the opportunity to shop their project to others in the marketplace for the option term, so it is important that this option term and any extension period is reasonable in all circumstances and that the Option Fee is adequate compensation for relinquishing this right for the option period.

Option fees
At the beginning of each option period, the writer should be paid an equitable fee for granting an exclusive option to the producer. The degree to which these fees are considered to be fair and reasonable will be determined according to the nature of the project, the progress required in order to trigger an extension, the level of investment the Producer is bringing to the project, the level of interest in the project in the marketplace, the experience of the writer and the experience of the producer.

Investment by the Producer
Scripted Ink. expects producers, who are optioning projects funded by Scripted Ink., to bring some investment to the table. Such investment may come in the form of direct financial investment into the project for further development materials and marketplace attachments, option fees, facilities, co-investment arrangements and creative input (brainstorming/plotting etc.).

Development Schedule & Budget
Scripted Ink. recommends the writer and producer agree on a development schedule and development budget prior to embarking on development of the project. A producer should have obligations during the development period including using reasonable efforts to develop the project with diligence, commitment to pitching the project in the marketplace, packaging, facilitating workshops, plotting and brainstorming, applying for further development and production funding and the delivery of development materials and further drafts.

Future creative involvement of the writer(s)
Scripted Ink. expects writers, who have created original concepts, to be guaranteed ongoing creative involvement in their projects. Such involvement should be commensurate with the writer’s level of experience and should range from a right of meaningful consultation on key creative elements of the project and a right to write development materials and further drafts, to producer credits and associated entitlements.

Fees for Development Services
Writers should be paid fees commensurate with their experience and in accordance with AWG recommended minimums for services provided during the development period, especially where the Producer has received government funding.

Rights Reversion
Scripted Ink. expects rights reversion clauses in option and assignment agreements to state that in the event that the option is not exercised within the option term or principal photography has not commenced within a specified period the rights to the original work revert to the writer at no cost.

Use of Development Materials
Scripted Ink. is of the view that it is in nobody’s best interest for a project to be unable to proceed with another producer in the event the optioning producer is unsuccessful in having the project made or commissioned within the option term. As the creator of the original work, the writer should be permitted to take the project back into the marketplace to seek opportunities with other producers and any repayment of the original Producer’s development costs should not come from the writer. Rather, these costs should be paid from the production budget of the first film or series based on the work and be limited to reasonable and verifiable amounts actually paid by the Producer directly attributable to the project (excluding any amounts received from state or federal funding bodies).

Assignment
 Producers should not be able to assign any of their rights under the option agreement without the prior written consent of the writer.

ASSIGNMENT DEED

Rights assignment
Scripted Ink. expects all option agreements to be accompanied by an assignment deed which clearly sets out the terms upon which the copyright in the project is to be assigned if the option is exercised. Scripted Ink. does not recommend the inclusion of clauses which require a writer to sign the assignment deed at the same time as the option.

Creator Entitlements for Original Concepts
If the writer has created the original concept they are entitled to fees, revenue share, contingent compensation and credit entitlements which are additional to what they should receive as a writer. Highly experienced creators should also insist on Producer credits and entitlements.

Writer’s revenue share
Scripted Ink. expects writers, who have created original concepts for film or telelvision, to share in the revenue streams that flow from those projects on a pari passu basis with producers and other investors. It is also expected that those writers will receive a percentage of production budgets for any prequels, sequels, remakes or spin-offs.

Contingent compensation
Writers are entitled to contingent compensation for subsequent films and series and merchandising.

Credits
Scripted Ink. expects all originating writers to be credited appropriately. (E.g. “Written By” and “Created By”).

Reassignment of rights
If commissioning has not occurred or if principal photography has not commenced within a specified period, the Writer is entitled to a re-assignment of rights in the work, the development material and any script based on the original work or development material. The Producer’s development costs should not come from the writer. Rather, these costs should be paid from the production budget of the first film or series based on the work and be limited to reasonable and verifiable amounts actually paid by the Producer directly attributable to the project (excluding any amounts received from state or federal funding bodies). The Producer should also give effect to the reassignment of rights by signing a quit claim.

Collecting Society Payments
Scripted Ink. insists on the verbatim inclusion of the collecting society clauses recommended by the AWG to ensure the writer’s entitlement to statutory royalties is respected.

Moral Rights
The Australian Film Industry Moral Rights Consent Accord (as amended from time to time) should apply.

Who We Are

Shane Brennan

Shane Brennan

Founding Board Member

Shane Brennan is an Australian writer and producer who has become one of the most successful television drama producers in the world. In 2007 he became the first Australian writer to become the showrunner of a U.S. network television drama series when he took over as Executive Producer on the CBS series NCIS.

Jacqueline Elaine

Founding Board Member

Jacqueline Elaine is the Group CEO of the Australian Writers’ Guild. She sits on the Audiovisual Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies(CISAC). Her previous executive positions include Director of the Whitlam Institute, Director of the European Network on Debt and Development.

Jan Sardi

FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER

Jan Sardi is one of Australia’s eminent screenwriters. In 1997 he received an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay for Shine, as well as BAFTA, Writers Guild of America and Golden Globes nominations. He has won numerous awards for his work in film and television.

Sigrid Thornton

Board Member

An icon of the Australian screen, Sigrid Thornton has starred in many of the films now regarded as classics of the Australian cinema. They include George Miller's box office hit The Man From Snowy River (Fox Classics), The Lighthorsemen (RKO), directed by Simon Wincer, Slate Wyn and Me (Hemdale) and The Man From Snowy River II (Disney – Touchstone). Her stellar television career highlights include the Australian landmark series SeaChange for ABC TV, The Boy in the Bush for UK’s Channel 4 opposite Kenneth Brannagh and BBC - ABC Co Pro The Far Country opposite Micheal York. Sigrid’s miniseries 1915 for BBC - ABC was followed by HBO’s highly acclaimed All The Rivers Run and Paradise / Guns of Paradise for CBS in the US. Ratings winner Little Oberon, Underbelly – The Golden Mile, Peter Allen– Not The Boy Next Door, The Code & Wentworth continue to consolidate her unique position in the Australian film and television landscape.

Contact Us

Sydney Office

Level 4, 70 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000
+61 2 8036 6019
admin@scriptedink.com.au

LA Office

Raleigh Studios
5300 Melrose Avenue
Bronson Building, #B134
Los Angeles CA 90038
+1 323 433 1468