1995 Bachelor of Arts (Film & Television) Scriptwriting graduate Tony McNamara looks set to blitz the award season with his screenplay for the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed The Favourite. So far, the script, co-written by Deborah Davis, has been nominated for Best Screenplay Golden Globe, and has won the Best Screenplay award at both the AACTA International Awards and a host of critics’ awards.
Bringing his experience writing beloved Australian TV series The Secret Life of Us, Puberty Blues and Doctor Doctor, and writing/directing feature films The Rage in Placid Lake and Ashby, McNamara was brought onto the project by Lanthimos to overhaul Deborah Davis’ script, incorporating a modern vision and adding delicious flourishes to the story’s historical facts.
Speaking to E! News, McNamara said, “I think with me being Australian, it never felt to me like I was writing a film where I was looking back at something. These felt like characters now who happened to live in a castle and have big dresses. They were just like us, really.”
McNamara is currently executive producing The Great, a TV series about Catherine the Great starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, and is writing another “black comedy, female-driven story” for Lanthimos. The Favourite is currently playing in Australian cinemas and stars Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. We’ll be rooting for Tony during the rest of this awards season.