Netflix ANZ Opens Doors for Emerging Screenwriters With 'The Next Brilliant Career'

Netflix ANZ brought eight emerging Australian screenwriters to its Sydney headquarters to pitch their original projects directly to the streamer’s content team, as part of a new initiative aimed at creating opportunities for the next generation of local talent.

Launched in partnership with the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) and Australia’s eight state and territory screen agencies, ‘The Next Brilliant Career’ is designed to support emerging women and non-binary screenwriters, with one finalist selected from each state and territory. 

Speaking to Mediaweek following the pitch sessions, Netflix ANZ Content Director Amanda Duthie said the initiative was developed to address some of the barriers facing writers attempting to establish themselves in the Australian screen industry. “When we receive projects at Netflix, we require a producer to be attached,” she explained. “And we thought, what if you took away that barrier to entry?

“What would it be like to open the flood gates and see what else is out there, find those writers and provide opportunities for those writers who haven’t necessarily got a producer attached to their project?”

The response exceeded expectations, with hundreds of submissions received from across Australia. “Hundreds and hundreds of projects came in, it wasn’t a river, it wasn’t a stream, it was a flood,” Duthie said. “That’s so pleasing because the instinct that sat behind the initiative has borne such incredible fruit.”

The program was inspired by Australian author Miles Franklin and Netflix’s adaptation of her novel My Brilliant Career, with a particular focus on writers who have already gained some industry experience but are yet to secure a major opportunity.

“What if you’re emerging, but not quite emerged?” Duthie said. “What happens in that incredibly rich middle territory of people who do have a few credits, but they haven’t necessarily got their big, big break?”

Building connections across the industry

The eight finalists - Elyse Landsberry, Theresa Angela, Rae Choi, Scarlett Scherer, Jamey Claffey, Caitlin Richardson, Rebecca Parker and Denai Grace - were selected through an independent assessment process led by the AWG and supported by the respective screen agencies. Submissions were assessed on the strength of each writer’s creative voice, the originality of their premise and the potential for their project to be developed into a television series or feature film.

Beyond providing direct access to Netflix executives, Duthie said bringing writers together from across the country was an important part of the program's broader industry development goals. “They’ve, as of today, created their own network of really incredibly exciting writers who can all connect,” she said. “Hopefully that will also bear fruit, whether they end up working on each other’s projects or help each other out.”

She added that the national approach was particularly valuable given the screen industry's reliance on professional relationships and networks, which can be difficult for emerging talent to access.

The initiative also reflects Netflix's focus on developing stories that resonate with Australian audiences, while having the potential to reach viewers internationally. Identifying authentically Australian storytelling is not about a particular setting or subject matter, Duthie explained, but about the connection between a writer and their material. 

“Whether it’s lived experience or wildly imagined, we know that it is anchored to something that if we’re responding to it, then Australian audiences will be able to respond to it,” she said. “So it doesn’t feel like it comes from elsewhere. It feels anchored to the culture, the subculture, the world, the location, the characters, whatever it might be.”

Netflix's broader investment in Australian talent

‘The Next Brilliant Career’ forms part of Netflix's broader investment in developing Australia's screen workforce. The streamer says it has invested more than $10 million in capacity-building initiatives, including training and on-the-job opportunities through partnerships with AFTRS, NIDA and Lumina, alongside production attachment programs.

Duthie said the benefits of such initiatives were intended to extend beyond Netflix's own production slate, helping strengthen the wider Australian screen sector. “It needs to live beyond this day,” she said.

“Many of [these initiatives] are not just for Netflix titles. They are providing opportunities for people to have a career in the sector, not just on Netflix shows, but on shows happening anywhere in Australia for any broadcaster or streamer.”

She added that investment in emerging talent ultimately benefits the broader production industry, including broadcasters and streaming platforms competing for Australian content. “The more that we can see, the more opportunities that we can help grow, the better we can see the results across the whole sector. And in turn, that helps all of us, including Netflix.”

Looking ahead, Duthie said she was encouraged by the increasingly ambitious projects being developed by Australian writers and production companies. “I’m excited by how emboldened Australian production is becoming,” she said. “We’re seeing familiar territory being explored, but the surprises, the twists and the turns, the genre jamming, the global ideas, but made locally, that is increasing.”

For Netflix, she said, that evolution is increasingly reflected in the pitches and projects reaching its content team. “Just seeing that develop over the last few years, but especially having that honour of being able to sit at Netflix and receive those projects that are coming in with big, bold, audacious ideas - that is what is so thrilling.”

READ MORE: Rabbi slams Adam Brody over Gaza ‘genocide’ comments