EIGHT EMERGING AUSTRALIAN WRITERS TAKE CENTRE STAGE FOR NETFLIX ‘THE NEXT BRILLIANT CAREER’ PITCH DAY IN SYDNEY

Eight emerging Australian writers from across the country have taken centre stage at Netflix ANZ headquarters in Sydney this week, pitching their original scripted concepts to the Netflix ANZ Content team as part of The Next Brilliant Career initiative.

The initiative, launched by Netflix ANZ in partnership with the Australian Writers’ Guild and Australia’s eight State and Territory Screen Agencies, was created to support the next generation of women and non-binary screen storytellers and provide emerging writers with direct feedback as they develop their uniquely Australian stories for screen. Representing every state and territory, the eight finalists presented their concepts to Netflix, sharing the stories, characters and ideas they hope to bring to Australian and global audiences, with Netflix providing feedback on how to develop it for screen.

The finalists were selected through an independent assessment process led by the Australian Writers’ Guild and supported by Screen Agencies, with submissions assessed on the strength and distinctiveness of each writer’s voice, the clarity and compelling nature of their central premise, and the potential for their story to sustain a series or feature format.

The eight finalists are:

• New South Wales: Elyse Landsberry
• Victoria: Theresa Angela
• Queensland: Rae Choi
• South Australia: Scarlett Scherer
• Western Australia: Jamey Claffey
• Tasmania: Caitlin Richardson
• Northern Territory: Rebecca Parker
• Australian Capital Territory: Denai Grace

Amanda Duthie, Netflix ANZ Content Director, said: “These finalists represent exactly what we set out to do with The Next Brilliant Career – shine a light on voices that deserve to be amplified, supported, and nurtured. We’re grateful to our partners the Australian Writers’ Guild and every state and territory Screen Agency for believing in this initiative, and for their support in creating a tangible direct-to-screen opportunity for Australian women and non-binary screenwriters.”

Susie Hamilton, Director of Professional Development at the Australian Writers’ Guild, Said: “Opportunities to pitch and receive feedback directly from streamers are rare for emerging writers, but that process is so important to their growth as industry practitioners and to the development of high-quality, authentically Australian television. We were thrilled to partner with Netflix ANZ on The Next Brilliant Career to make this a reality for eight of our best emerging storytellers. A huge congratulations to the finalists. We can’t wait to see where your stories take you.”

The Next Brilliant Career takes its inspiration from pioneering Australian author Miles Franklin and her determination to tell stories on her own terms. The initiative was launched alongside Netflix’s new series My Brilliant Career, based on Franklin’s celebrated novel, and reflects a shared commitment to fostering diverse talent and creating opportunities for emerging Australian voices.

Beyond The Next Brilliant Career, Netflix has invested over $10 million in capacity building through training and on the job training programs, via partnerships with AFTRS, NIDA, Lumina and attachment programs creating crew opportunities across Australian productions.

• New South Wales: Elyse Landsberry

Elyse Landsberry is an Australian female writer-director committed to telling bold and entertaining stories with a strong female voice. A recent AFTRS graduate, (BA Screen Production 2022), Elyse made her writing and directing debut with her SBS short documentary Drawing the Line in 2022. She has written and directed over ten short films, including the Miss Trial proof-of-concept, which won Best International Film at the Atlanta Women’s Comedy Film Festival, 2024. As an animator, Elyse worked on First Nations documentaries: Larapinta (SBS, 2023) and To Be Silent (SFF, 2023). While at AFTRS, Elyse was Production Assistant at Studio Blackbird, coordinating with Disney, Paramount and Matchbox. Following this, she became Animation Production Coordinator at Flying Bark Productions working on an upcoming Netflix series. Most recently, Elyse wrote, directed and edited her debut feature Black Prince, featuring Australian screen icon Jack Thompson. Black Prince is currently in submission to numerous film festivals.

• Victoria: Theresa Angela

Theresa Angela is a Filipino-Australian writer, director and visual artist based in Melbourne. Working across film, visual art, photography and performance, her practice explores culture, desire, faith, shame, belonging and power, often through dark humour and surreal imagery. Her films FLACCID (2025), YES SIR/SORRY MA’AM (2023) and THE HOLY WHORE (2022) premiered at the Melbourne Women in Film Festival, with FLACCID later screening at St Kilda Film Festival. Her work is grounded in culturally specific storytelling and an interest in the ways identity is performed, negotiated and reshaped across private and public life. She is currently developing new films and series.

• Queensland: Rae Choi

Rae Choi is a Chinese-Australian writer, director and producer. Drawn to emotionally honest, deeply relational stories that unfold at life’s thresholds, she aspires to create work that connects across cultures and finds the universal within the specific.

Her debut short as writer-director, WHEN THE SKY WAS BLUE, was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild Award and a SPA Award before streaming on SBS On Demand. She later co-wrote VIV’S SILLY MANGO, commissioned by ABC, and made her documentary directorial debut with IT GOES LIKE THIS, supported by Screen Queensland. Her most recent short, SOME KIND OF BLUE, premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival.

Rae was named one of SPA’s Ones to Watch in 2024. She is currently undertaking a director’s attachment with Robert Connolly on his upcoming feature SHIVER, while developing the dark comedy series IN HER BODY, selected for SBS Digital Originals, and her debut feature, DAYS UNDER THE SUN.

• South Australia: Scarlett Scherer

Scarlett is a screenwriter and director living and working on Kaurna Land. Formerly a Director and Associate Producer at Repeater Productions, Scarlett now works as a Director’s Assistant to Sophie Hyde at Closer Productions.

A former recipient of the Carclew Fellowship, she’s undertaken study with NIDA, AFTRS, UCLA, and the Sundance Institute. Her most recent short films have screened at the likes of Adelaide Film Festival, Flickerfest, St Kilda Film Festival & Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Her latest film Boyish was one of eight Australian films selected for Mardi Gras Film Festival’s 2025 My Queer Career Competition, Australia’s richest queer short film prize.

Most recently, Scarlett was Director’s Assistant on Netflix’s My Brilliant Career. As part of this three-month mentorship, she directed a breakaway unit.

Scarlett is currently developing her debut feature film – a coming-of-age story set in Berlin – with Closer Productions.

• Western Australia: Jamey Claffey

Jamey is a writer and scripted developer who has worked in script and story editing roles within BBC TV Drama Commissioning and BBC Studios, and assistant produced radio plays for BBC Radio 4. Credits include RIVER CITY for BBC Scotland and THE REPLACEMENT for Left Bank Pictures.

Since returning to Australia, Jamey has script consulted on multiple Audible Original dramas and comedies. Recent TV work includes leading the development of a German/Australian family saga for Golden Pineapple Pictures and script editing a prestige drama series created by Posie Graeme-Evans for Dreamchaser Entertainment.

As a writer, Jamey is developing her own slate of projects. Her pilot for comedy romance series ARCHETYPAL received the Bold Voice Award from Writers Lab International 2025.

In 2026, Jamey was the recipient of the Bill Warnock Talent Accelerator, a Screenwest initiative designed to develop her creative skills as a screenwriter and progress her slate of projects.

• Tasmania: Caitlin Richardson

Caitlin is a writer and teacher living and working on Muwinina Country. She created and wrote AACTA, AWGIE, SPA and Melbourne WebFest award winning 2021 SBS web series THE TAILINGS (Good Lark in association with 2Jons and Roar Film). Caitlin is developing a screen project with collaborator Stevie Cruz-Martin (supported by Screenwest), and another with director Michael Hili, and in 2023 was shortlisted for the Screen Australia and SBS Emerging Writers’ Incubator Program, and the AACTA/Screenworks ‘Regional Landscapes’ initiative. Her theatre work has been produced in Nipaluna/Hobart, Launceston and Sydney, adapted for ABC Radio National and nominated for a Tasmanian Theatre Award. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with first class Honours in Creative Writing. Caitlin hopes to continue to write and teach, creating and sharing Tasmanian stories that reflect the challenges, complex beauty and existential questions of life in this strange era, and the universal need for human connection.

• Northern Territory: Rebecca Parker

Rebecca Parker is a writer/director from the Northern Territory. Before moving into film, she worked as a photojournalist and political adviser in conflict zones across Southeast Asia and the Middle East – formative experiences that continue to shape her storytelling. An AFTRS graduate with an MA in Directing, Rebecca’s short BEAR premiered internationally at Fantasia and screened at more than twenty festivals, including SXSW Sydney. She worked as an Assistant Director on Netflix’s TERRITORY, Amazon’s TOP END BUB and DEADLOCH 2. Rebecca recently co-founded Honey Ant Productions with Eastern Arrernte filmmaker Samantha Laughton to write and produce female-led, First Nations and regional stories. She is currently developing the TV series A SARASWATI WEDDING with producer Marian Macgowan and crime drama DO GOOD (shortlisted for the Monte Miller Award) with Greg Haddrick. Rebecca’s writing explores fractured families, power and politics, using genre to find unexpected ways into morally and emotionally complicated terrain.

• Australian Capital Territory: Denai Grace

Denai recently produced features Break A Leg and It Will Find You both making official selection at SXSW 2025, Snatchers which had its world premiere at Raindance Film Festival 2025. Denai wrote and directed The Staircase, an episode of the horror thriller anthology Deadhouse Dark which made official selection at Canneseries 2020, and released globally as a Shudder Original Series in 2021. She produced sci-fi short Shift, named one of the top shorts at the Toronto After Dark Festival in 2018 and feature Forbidden Ground (aka Battle Ground) which sold to Lionsgate (USA) and Straight on Til Mourning which won best mid-sized film at the Sydney Women’s International Film Festival 2024. Denai directed, wrote and produced short EXO226 which premiered at Sydney Sci-Fi Film Festival 2023, was nominated for Best Film and Best Director, won Best Production Design at CSFF and was awarded the CSFF 2023 Emerging Talent award.