We are pleased to announce that Samantha Cable is the recipient of the Foxtel Diversity Screenwriting Scholarship 2018.
The scholarship of $20,000 was launched last year and will be awarded each year for the next two years to develop Australian screenwriting talent, with a focus on diversity.
Sam has been identified as a gifted emerging screenwriter and the Scholarship will enable her to complete the AFTRS Master of Arts Screen: Screenwriting. She will commence her Masters this year.
Recipients of this scholarship may also have the opportunity to undertake a work attachment at Foxtel.
Sam is a young writer with a big goal: to pioneer inclusion within the film industry. Her first-hand experience overcoming a mental health condition is the catalyst that grounds her creative practice. Sam’s body of work has won the 2016 Australian Women in Media Award’s Rising Star of the Year, the New York Festival’s 2016 Young Global Award, and earnt her a placed in the Top 10 Creatives in Australia for B&T’s 30 Under 30.
In her application for the scholarship, Sam expressed her interest in telling stories from diverse Australian communities to cultivate conversations and drive wider social change.
“I see my future leveraging the cinematic landscape to normalise the stigma around mental health on screen, as well as a process to support young people behind the camera. The Scholarship would open up opportunities to work with Foxtel and I would be humbled to learn from the Australian television network.” she says.
The purpose of this scholarship is to expand and enrich AFTRS’ student community by recognising and supporting an outstanding Master of Arts Screen: Screenwriting student, selected on the basis of merit from eligible students from diverse cultural, ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds, or from otherwise underrepresented minority groups.
Bruce Meagher, Foxtel’s Group Director – Corporate Affairs said: “At Foxtel we strongly believe that the rich diversity of Australian society should be represented on our screen. Our long-standing relationship with AFTRS allows us to support talented screenwriters through this new annual scholarship. We look forward to building a relationship with the Sam over the course of her Masters.”
AFTRS CEO Neil Peplow said: “Samantha is an outstanding recipient of the Foxtel diversity scholarship. Her application was exceptional. I am very excited to see what she produces here and the impact she’ll have at the School and in the industry.”
“Foxtel’s commitment to nurturing exceptional new talent has helped build an industry that continues to tell great Australian stories. Our joint commitment to encouraging the development of diverse Australian stories that reflect the society we live in will continue that ambition.”