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This editorial introduces the 14.1 issue of the Journal of Screenwriting. It provides an overview of the articles in the issue and makes reference to the 2022 Screenwriting Research Network (SRN) conference held at the University of Vienna, which was the first face-to-face conference of the SRN in three years.

Clinical nurse educators within Queensland, Australia, tend to be selected for the job based on their clinical expertise and consequently may lack knowledge of educational theories and practices. Within the Nursing School in which this project was based, there is interest in developing expertise in Transformative Learning theory. To share this knowledge with clinical educators, a workshop was designed using short films produced by the research team that focused on potentially transformative moments in clinical placement settings that the literature and the researchers' experience had shown to be important. As the project developed iteratively through various stages, action research was chosen as the most suitable methodology to research and document the evaluation of this training workshop, which brought together 20 nursing clinical nurse educators. Interpretive data analysis approaches were employed to understand participants' learning experiences resulting from the workshop, which led to four key themes: 1) first encounters with students need to be engaging and energising; 2) teach students how to bracket personal needs so they can provide professional empathic actions; 3) teach students to value both procedural- and person-centred care; 4) a transformative learning pedagogy is useful for clinical nurse educators to frame and enhance their teaching practice. Learning experiences produced using an action research methodology can stimulate clinical nurse educators to engage with and use relevant educational theory in ways that enable some of the more nuanced and affective dimensions of clinical training Refereed/Peer-reviewed

«Just like Prisoner and Wentworth, this book is an instant cult classic. Written with love by a collective of expert aca-fans, TV Transformations & Transgressive Women takes us on a fascinating journey through the cultural legacies of Australia’s favourite prison TV dramas. Contributors use a rich palette of methods, from genre analysis to production research, to unpack the significance of these shows. An exemplary textual study, this richly multi-perspectival collection is essential reading for anyone interested in television genres.» (Ramon Lobato, Associate Professor, RMIT University) «This collection is a wonderful example of how certain TV shows can have tremendous impact, not only in the time of their making, but for several decades, when suddenly there’s the opportunity to travel even further in an on-demand age and meet new audiences, academics and analytical approaches. The chapters offer a wide range of interesting interpretations and discussions, not the least on the way women have been represented on screen then and now. A good read for academics, fans and aca-fans.» (Eva Novrup Redvall, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen) A deep dive into iconic 1980s Australian women-in-prison TV drama Prisoner (aka Cell Block H), its contemporary reimagining as Wentworth, and its broader, global industry significance and influence, this book brings together a range of scholarly and industry perspectives, including an interview with actor Shareena Clanton (Wentworth’s Doreen Anderson). Its chapters draw on talks with producers, screenwriters and casting; fan voices from the Wentworth twitterverse; comparisons with Netflix’s Orange is the New Black; queer and LGBTQ approaches; and international production histories and contexts. By charting a path from Prisoner to Wentworth, the book offers a new mapping of TV shifts and transformations through the lens of female transgression, ruminating on the history, currency, industry position and cultural value of women-in-prison series.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Objectives This review intended to synthesise existing evidence on the application of transformative learning theory in nursing education. Design An umbrella review, or review of reviews. Data sources Six databases were systematically searched: CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, Ebscohost, OVID, ProQuest Central, and PubMed. The structured framework of PCC: Population/Concept/Context was employed to identify relevant literature, published in English between 2012 and March 1st, 2022. Review methods Elements of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guided this review. A modified version of the Johanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Synthesis was applied to determine final inclusions. Results Sixteen (16) reviews were included. Most reviews were scoping reviews. Nursing featured in 10 of the 16, medicine in half (8/16) and various allied health disciplines were reported in seven reviews. Studies reported on differing scholarly approaches to transformative learning theory. Curricula design and evaluation, developing leadership skills and a professional identity were common applications. Critical reflection and learning experiences that challenge students' and professionals' existing ideologies also featured. Few reviews reported on studies of models and tools for educators to guide them in applying the theory in lesson design and teaching practice. Conclusion Applying transformative learning theory in curriculum design, program evaluation and healthcare professional education can be beneficial. There were reported successes and some critiques. Researchers should design more rigorous studies to evaluate the theory in practice and to develop and test frameworks that guide educators in teaching with transformative learning theory.

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Refereed/Peer-reviewed This article brings together a group of history practitioners who, prompted by their experiences of creative approaches to the theory and practice of history, are exploring how the term ‘Creative Histories’ might apply within the Australian context. While the term and practice of Creative Histories has gained international currency in recent years, little has been done to consider its development and relevance in Australia. Here we develop a working definition for the term which has been shaped in conversation with Creative Historians at the University of Bristol and a suite of interviews conducted with 10 Australian ‘creative historians’ who have worked or still work within the academy, as well as four Indigenous artists, academics and activists who each employ creativity in the ways they ‘practice the past’. Together, these influences indicate that questions of purpose, poetics and politics go to the heart of Creative Histories in Australia and that a fuller understanding of both Creative Histories and the creative histories of Aboriginal practitioners will make a useful contribution to conversations concerned with decolonising the discipline in Australia.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Drawing on interviews from industry professionals, this article explores both the collaborative and, less documented, individual manifestations of script development. Researchers have noted that within screenwriting and screen production, script development practices and processes defy definition over various modes, media, global contexts and production cultures. This article argues that part of this flux is the ways in which individual pursuits of script development are mis/understood and/or dismissed. Screenwriting scholarship often questions the discourses within which individual pursuits of script development are promoted, especially the ‘how-to’ market of screenwriting manuals, using the ‘practical realities’ of the screen industry as a basis for this critique. This article builds on this work to problematise script development as a solely collaborative pursuit. Those interviewed for the research occupy a breadth of script development roles across their respective countries and industries, including screenwriter, script consultant and script editor. While the how-to market often neglects the practical realities of script development by reducing it to the individual pursuit from idea to draft, it is not simply the case that the industrial perspective is always collaborative either, as these professionals reveal. This article investigates the relationship that exists between collaborative practices and the contributions of the individual.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed This article describes an interdisciplinary creative collaboration between a group of academic researchers from the creative arts and nursing education, along with professional actors, who co-created a series of short film scenarios for pedagogic impact. The scenarios were intended to improve the experiences of nursing students on placement by supporting nurse educators to experiment with a transformative learning praxis in their pre-and post-placement interactions with students. This work addresses the process of collaborative content creation, which was undertaken through a method comprising character and story development drawn from screenwriting, improvisation and (Creative) Participatory Action Research. Beyond influencing nursing pedagogy, we suggest this approach has useful implications for creative practice disciplines more broadly, and the application of story development scenarios across a range of academic contexts for pedagogic impact.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Screenplay directions, also known as the ‘big print’, form an integral part of the story on the page. While dialogue breathes the words of spoken language, screen directions evoke the literary qualities of the screenplay. In developing an approach to understanding the screenplay text as multilingual invitation to its collaborators, we show how the languages of filmmaking, literature and poetry can be used in the writing of screen directions for evoking character perspective. As an entry point to a character’s inner life, character perspective in screen directions have the qualities to not only depict what is intended to be seen, but also evoke inner thought processes. Revoking traditional opinions that a screenplay should only include what can be seen, we show that these ‘invisible’ screen directions form an integral part of the screenwriter’s craft. As counterpart to the physical, they drive the character’s inner journey. We discuss how language choice can attain different levels of physical and emotional perspective – a multilingual approach that initiates a translation process from page to screen.

This article asks how educators at tertiary level might attempt to address gender diversity behind the camera in student productions. The 2020 Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association(ASPERA) report Diversity On and Off Screen in Australian Film Schools outlines the results of a national survey measuring levels of gender diversity behind the camera in Australian university capstone (major project-based)screen production units. The survey results reveal that, while close to even numbers of male and female students are completing capstone projects in screen production departments and film schools in Australia, crew roles are highly gendered. A gendered skew is most pronounced in the roles of cinematographer and sound designer (male dominated), and producer and production designer (female dominated). We argue that an investigation of this subject calls for an examination of the specificity of the tertiary screen production environment. The crewing of student projects can be fraught, involving competition for popular roles such as that of director, and choices are made based on student likes and dispositions. In this article, we further drill into quantitative and qualitative data from the ASPERA survey to examine educator attitudes and approaches towards the gendered nature of some student production roles. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In a sea of endless stories of corporate ethical scandals, many of which are attributed to ‘failed leadership', this article examines how creative writing research is being used as a way of inspiring – or suggesting – new forms of leadership behaviour. In the processual nature of being in our lives, if experience is valued as primary to consciousness as a way of active belonging, then it will be argued that creative writing – here, scriptwriting specifically – is a powerful medium to examine organisational experiences. This research practice occurs through the lens of affect in embodied responses to such experience, as distinct from the singular, scientific mode of cognitive analysis that can cause us to habitually jump too quickly to conclusions about our experiences. By employing the affective methodology of creative practice research, which in this case forms the basis for a PhD currently in candidature, this article speculates how creative writing might disrupt habitual thinking through the elevation of emergent data from our physical senses. Creative writing can, we argue, provide a balance for science to work with art and craft, and in doing so encourage new thinking in the fields of organisational behaviour, relational leadership and creative practice research. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Rising worldwide scrutiny of the PhD has focused on issues such as return on investment and career outcomes. This article investigates PhD graduate careers and knowledge transfer looking at the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). Firstly, our extensive literature review of PhD graduate outcomes reveals limited knowledge of HASS careers and a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) bias. Secondly, our case study of graduates suggests HASS PhDs provide a vital conduit for end-user engagement and knowledge transfer. Our findings deepen knowledge about the careers of HASS PhDs by revealing pre-existing professional networks may be harnessed to inform end-user relationships throughout candidature and post-graduation. Contrary to dominant assumptions, these networks may endure even for graduates in the academy. This under-recognized phenomenon demonstrates the multi-sector knowledge transfer capacity of HASS researchers with implications for their research capability and career development needs and perceptions of the value of their research. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Serial storytelling dominates the international TV landscape, yet the terms used to describe this form as distinct from ‘series’ vary across industry, scholarship and popular media. While many scholars have observed the series/serial ‘divide’, none of them have done so from the vantage point of screenwriting practice. This article argues there is both the scope and a need to provide clearer definitions for discussion of TV drama screenwriting, particularly as it intersects with extant notions such as ‘complex’ and ‘quality’ TV. In this article, we consolidate the literature on the series/serial and provide our own terms to describe contemporary trends in serial storytelling – finite, infinite and franchise – terms that we hope speak more directly to the screenwriter and screenwriting scholar.

Creativity is a staple of many screenwriters’ lives, but when it comes to using that creativity to help with real story problems, do the two meet comfortably? Are screenwriters even aware of what creativity means, and how it can be learned and applied to their practice? Certainly in much of the screenwriting guides and training available, the focus is on models, templates and paradigms. But what about the theory and practice of creativity? What role does psychology play in the screenwriter’s creative process? And how might creativity theory help the screenwriter to overcome story stumbling blocks? This chapter will outline a fresh approach to screenwriting—practice, teaching and training—that encourages writers to understand and harness their creative skillset, and with these acquired skills, deal with complex problems by playing, taking risks and daring to fail during the script development process.

Script development is one process of many in the production of a screen work. It is a creative, commercial and social practice in which ideas, emotions, people and personalities combine and work within the practicalities, policies and rapid movements of the screen industry. It is experienced in multiple ways depending on the scale and stage of the project and the production culture within which it is practised. As such, we might suggest it is a process that resists both definition (Batty et al. 2017, 2018) and delineation (Taylor 2015), because the elements of the practice—drafts, revisions, feedback and so on—may continue into other erstwhile discrete aspects of production. With the rise of new forms of digital technology, new kinds of script development are also being facilitated: online, for new and networked platforms, and for transmedia story worlds, all of which are challenging traditional notions of script development and are opening up new possibilities for practice.

In this chapter, we explore the notion of improvement as it relates to script development discourse and experience. In an attempt to open up debate for further conceptualisation and theorisation, we draw on two distinct datasets: script development guidelines from Federal and State/Territory screen agencies in Australia, and interviews with script development professionals. Screen agency documents were collated and analysed in 2018 for their explicit or implicit directives towards improvement, including analogous concepts such as betterment, quality and success. These were then considered in relation to 14 interview transcripts, the results of which were themed into groups. The interviews were conducted with industry professionals from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US in 2017, who have worked in a variety of script development roles across these countries, including as screenwriter, script consultant, script editor, story editor and storyline writer. This rich and diverse dataset is useful for comparing lived experiences—of both developing and being developed—with the discourses espoused by screen agencies.

This book offers the first international look at how script development is theorised and practiced. Drawing on interviews, case studies, discourse analysis, creative practices and industry experiences, it brings together scholars and practitioners from around the world to offer critical insights into this core, but often hidden, aspect of screenwriting and screen production. Chapters speculate and reflect upon how creative, commercial and social practices – in which ideas, emotions, people and personalities combine, cohere and clash – are shaped by the practicalities, policies and rapid movements of the screen industry. Comprising two parts, the book first looks ‘into’ script development from a theoretical perspective, and second looks ‘out from’ the practice to form practitioner-led perspectives of script development. With a rising interest in screenwriting and production studies, and an increased appetite for practice-based research, the book offers a timely mapping of the terrain of script development, providing rich foundations for both study and practice.

In this chapter, we explore how narrative forms and techniques from creative writing can be applied to both conducting and writing up qualitative research. With a focus on fiction, we examine the potential for bringing research to life through evocative and sensory stories. The experiences of individuals are intersubjective, dynamic, relational and much more than representation, and it is through fiction that these facets can be communicated. Here we describe a bricolage methodology, where methods such as interview, ethnography and Participatory Action Research can be adapted to fit the epistemologies that underpin creative writing and creative practice research. We draw on and expand a model of writing ethnography developed by Humphreys and Watson (2009), whose four-fold framework presupposes that ethnography is an act of writing at a fundamental level and thereby attends to the problematic question of how to write up research. We use illustrative examples to show how interviews, ethnographic field notes and data from action research might be written up using devices more commonly associated with fiction, such as building composite characters, verisimilitude, narrative movement and scene-setting. By demonstrating how research can benefit from fiction, we argue that when careful attention is paid to providing rich and thick description to achieve verisimilitude, a clear sense of what it was like ‘to be there’ may be evoked by the researcher - and equally, a clear sense of ‘what this means to me’ may be achieved for end-users of the research.

The WoW Project – Words on Wheels; Words on Water – is a public transport poetry venture in development, seeking to bring poetry to Sydneysiders (and then others) commuting to work – on buses, light rail, trains, and ferries. The project attributes its genesis to two major public transport schemes in London and New York, where established and legacy poetry is displayed on posters throughout each city’s public transport system. Locally, while upholding established and legacy poets, the project seeks to support new and emerging poets. Additionally, and importantly, the poetry in this project is interested in igniting social justice, equity, and advocacy issues – poetry to start a conversation. ‘The Moving Poet’ is the pilot product of The WoW Project, a collaboration between University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Creative Writing staff (former and current) and UTS undergraduate Visual Communication students. Throughout one semester in 2020, Creative Writing staff became clients of the students’ simulated design company Salt Studio, collaborating at the intersection of text, image, and place. Staff stepped into a space unknown to them as the students designed 20 posters, thematically and conceptually framed, of poetry by eight Australian poets; developed social media interfaces; and produced teaser videos of the concept for pitching to potential funders and supporters. The collective goal, underpinning both practice and pedagogy, is to use these artefacts to provoke conversation about social injustice in a bid to incite discussion, particularly in an Australian context; to surprise commuters by ‘scattering’ poems in public places; and to generate further interactions from these poems through social media and digital responses. Drawing on both the field of creative writing and its place within a design education context, this article traces the project from its inception, including its positioning within similar projects internationally, to writing and design collaboration, to its final stage of presentation of deliverables. It outlines the project’s next steps, namely engaging with industry and community partners for full execution. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article investigates the value of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) candidates’ prior industry networks and experiences as they intersect with doctoral study, as assessed by a group of HASS PhD graduates. While the phenomenon of industry engagement in PhDs across HASS and STEM is widely recognised, the value of these relationships to the PhD experience is less understood. This is particularly the case in HASS PhDs given the opportunities afforded to this predominantly mature-aged cohort of pre-existing professional networks. In our previous work on this topic, we showed that engaging with industry throughout the HASS PhD research lifecycle is widespread, and that networks may have their genesis prior to commencement and persist into careers post-graduation. In this article, we subject these networks to finer-grained analysis. Based on 16 in-depth interviews, we investigate the value HASS PhD graduates ascribe to their industry networks pre-, during and post-graduation. Our analysis suggests industry engagement during the PhD contributes value in two key ways: by facilitating candidate learning, in the form of research design and data collection related activities, and for knowledge exchange. These insights are further enhanced by development of a novel analytical model that measures the extensiveness, or continuity, of industry engagement across the PhD lifecycle. Comparative analysis reveals a correlation between enduring industry engagement and academic careers post-graduation, suggesting additional value in the form of a highly industry integrated HASS academic labour force. Our findings suggest HASS PhDs can function as an important and hitherto under-recognised industry engagement vector, contributing added value to the research process with multiple potential beneficiaries. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

As a practice, collaborative writing between students and supervisors is hardly new and can be considered common in STEM disciplines. This has not always been the case in the creative arts,where there are different expectations around authorship and, as in other contexts, potentially deeper considerations of power and authority. In this article, we examine modes of collaborative writing practice in the creative arts, with a particular focus on writing across hierarchical boundaries in research training scenarios. Using screenwriting practice as a context for this discussion, and informed by our own reflective practice, we identify a number of collaborative writing ‘modes’ (which we have named ‘take the lead’, ‘share the load’, and ‘learn the ropes’) and offer possible strategies for those writing across hierarchical relationships and boundaries. This is important for understanding what might otherwise become an assumed,misunderstood or, worse, predatory practice that disempowers students and unfairly advantages supervisors. As part of our exploration, we draw on our experiences of running cohort-based,collaborative research opportunities in creative disciplines. Reflecting on our experiences in regard to our own collaborations allows us to examine how these structures have enabled students to find their own agency within these collaborative spaces. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Aim/Purpose: This article reports on university-funded research conducted to inform, design and implement applied industry-integrated training that could support higher degree by research (HDR) candidates in the disciplines of nursing and creative arts. Background: Doctoral candidates contribute in steadily increasing numbers to the intellectual and economic capital of universities globally, however, the quality of candidate progression and outputs has also been widely criticised. How to best support doctoral candidates for success is therefore a critical focus for universities and an ongoing area of research. Methodology: The study was framed as an action research project as it was driven by the identification of a problem embedded in professional practice that invited action and reflection as well as participation from other practitioners in the field. Contribution: This article presents a multidimensional, industry-focused model for HDR training that effectively engages HDR candidates with key threshold concepts for research. Findings: Doctoral training needs to be more holistic, integrative and career-focused to meet the needs of increasing numbers of candidates with diverse backgrounds and post-doctoral career pathways. Recommendations for Practitioners: This article provides a doctoral training model that can be adapted to other disciplines and industry contexts. Recommendation for Researchers: This article provides a doctoral training model that can, and should, be adapted to other disciplines and industry contexts in order to build more substantive and reliable evaluative data. Impact on Society: As secure career pathways in academia are diminishing, while the number of doctoral candidates are increasing, the integration of industry partners and applied contexts into holistic doctoral training is critical for the working futures of doctoral graduates. Future Research: Further implementations and evaluations of the training workshop provided in this article would advance understandings of training design and implementation options and issues.

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Comedy writers use their practice to raise questions and create awareness about social, political and cultural issues, but can these practitioners be considered academics? With creative modalities of enquiry now commonplace in universities–where research is used to shape one’s practice, resulting in creative work that embodies that research–when does comedy writing start to take on a different function? In this article, we discuss comedy screenwriting in an academic setting, arguing that it has potential as a rigorous mode of research that can sit happily alongside art, design, creative writing and media practice. Much has been written about creative practice research, yet not so much has been written about the form this type of research takes; specifically, why one might choose comedy to express, embody or otherwise perform the findings of research. Here, then, we draw on our experiences of undertaking screenwriting projects using comedy to discuss the ways in which researchers might use the comic mode to present their findings in imaginative, innovative and fun ways that can expand understanding and, potentially, garner impact.

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Writing from the perspective of the peak body for screen production education and research in Australia, ASPERA, the authors report on a research symposium held in 2017 that brought together the academy and industry to explore strategies for what the engagement and impact agenda might mean for the ASPERA community. In this context they explore what engagement looks like and how it can be structured as a pathway to impact; the implications and mechanisms for measuring impact in a variety of contexts; and the possible ramifications of the engagement and impact agenda on how ASPERA practitioner-researchers do their work. A set of complex and competing perspectives are presented that, while on the one hand provide principles and models for best practice, on the other hand question and problematise this new era of research.

This is a conversation that took place between three practitioner-academics one morning in Melbourne. All three work and practice in the field of the moving image: from screen production to audiovisual installation to screenwriting. Our conversation is underpinned by previous research we have undertaken in this field, namely the launching of a moving image journal, Sightlines, and a companion journal article on the process of setting it up, which focussed on the issues presented when trying to establish peer review protocols and guidelines for moving image works. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article considers how creative writers use research to experiment with and expand the written form. Focussing on modes of storytelling for fiction and non-fiction, four current research degree candidates and a supervisor-mentor from RMIT University present snapshots of research works in progress, to reveal how they are negotiating the sticky yet rich relationship between theory and practice. Specifically, they offer innovative ways of expanding the written form to combine creative and critical modes of thought, resulting in distinctive contributions to knowledge and practice that are relevant to their genres, forms and subject matters. The candidates, who are working across the lyric essay, screenwriting, performance writing and radio, are also members of a peer-to-peer group facilitated by the supervisor-mentor, which over a four-year period has supported research training in creative writing and assisted in the formation of new research identities. This collaborative support structure has helped candidates to transform from creative writers to creative writing researchers, encouraging playfulness and experimentation yet underpinned by the needs of academic rigour. This article thus offers a collective, reflective approach to finding innovation in/through creative writing research–methodologically speaking. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

PurposeThere has been sustained interest in how to support doctoral students through the often-gruelling journey they undertake from enrolment to graduation. Although doctoral numbers and successful completions have been steadily increasing globally as well as in Australia, the quality of student progression and outcomes has been widely interrogated and criticised in the literature that is reported in this paper. The authors’ interest as experienced research higher degree supervisors and research leaders in the creative arts and humanities prompted a research project that aimed to better understand the challenges and breakthroughs involved in completing a doctorate from the perspective of candidates themselves.Design/methodology/approachThis was implemented through an action learning collaboration with 18 students from three Australian universities facilitated by four research supervisors.FindingsThe main findings presented in this paper include the necessity for maintaining, brokering and supporting a range of relationships; understanding expectations of research study and embracing the need for agility in managing these; and finally, using techniques to improve personal agency and ownership of the transformative journey of research higher degree candidature. The importance of establishing an understanding of the multidimensional human experience of doing a doctorate and providing appropriate support through enhanced forms of research training emerged as a core finding from this research project.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small number of research participants in this study and the discipline-specific focus prohibits generalizability of findings; however, the collaborative, action learning method adopted represents an approach that is both productive and transferable to other contexts and disciplines.Practical implicationsFurther research might investigate the relevance of the findings from this research to doctoral students in other disciplines and/or institutions or apply the collaborative action learning approach to doctoral training presented here to a range of contexts and cohorts.Social implicationsImproving doctoral training options to support the multidimensional needs of candidates can better assure the mental and emotional well-being of doctoral students (essential to their continuing intellectual development and sense of agency) through developing sustainable relationships and realistic expectations. This in turn has the potential to address the consistently high attrition rates in doctoral programmes.Originality/valueThis research contributes new insights from doctoral students on the challenges and breakthroughs experienced by them as they pursue original research through formal study and present a novel, collaborative and empowering approach to doctoral training that can be applied in diverse setting.

While Australian film has tended to focus its sights on the bush, the desert and the road, there is another intrinsic aspect of white Australian identity—the beach. From the danger and dread associated with open spaces, exemplified by iconic characters, Australian filmmakers have sought a different type of representation. This chapter analyses how the beach is used in Australian film, from the specific perspective of screenwriting. Focusing on the core aspect of most screen narratives—the character arc—this chapter reads a selection of films, including Storm Boy (1976), Puberty Blues (1981) and The Coolangatta Gold (1984), through a lens of conflict and catharsis, as developed and plotted by the screenwriter to reveal that the beach as story world allows for deep thematic resonance.

This chapter introduces the conceptual underpinning and aims of the book, and outlines its content. It discusses how, although the doctorate represents the most advanced form of adult education and qualification, and considerable effort, research and training has been expended on the process of completing a doctorate, there has been far less interest or focus on the lived experience of doing one. It describes how, and why, this book focuses on the human dimension that underpins the highest level of formal learning achievable. This chapter also outlines the volume’s unique organisation around the themes and concerns that students themselves have identified as centrally important to successfully completing their research degrees. The introduction describes how, from assessing the self to working with others, from building resilience to developing networks, and considering how ethical conduct permeates a researcher’s practice, this book takes readers—both students and supervisors—on a journey towards successful doctoral learning. It also describes how, while each section is framed by ideas and concepts suggested by the editors, who are experienced doctoral supervisors, the core content of the book is purposely student-driven and authored, in order to provide an authentic account of the doctoral experience. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article discusses how doctoral candidates identify and navigate personal learning challenges on their journey to becoming researchers. Our study asked creative arts and humanities candidates to think beyond the research project itself and reflect on emotional hurdles they were facing or had overcome. The findings point to a great deal of ‘invisible’ work that underpins doctoral study, and show that such hidden work can have a major influence not only on the research project, but also on progress and satisfaction with the learning journey. In this article, we outline the key themes that emerged from the study: on the emotional and transformational dimensions of the doctoral journey. Using these themes and the candidate stories surrounding them, we align the doctoral journey with Joseph Campbell’s journeying ‘hero’ and Mezirow’s concept of transformation, and suggest how making such invisible aspects of candidature more visible might enhance research training. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

One of the major considerations in creating a premise for an enduring television series is choosing what is variously termed the “hub” or “precinct.” Focusing primarily on the television series ​Wentworth ​ (2013–) and its antecedent, ​Prisoner (Cell Block H) (1979–1986), this chapter looks to practices of screenwriting, script editing and serial drama development through the lenses of television studies and genre theory, to suggest that the unique appeal of women-in-prison series is broader than a general fascination with life on the inside. We argue that the prison-as-hub more broadly does much of the work of facilitating the internal logic of the interconnected lives and storylines of the characters. We contextualize these ideas within a broader investigation into how the prison hub functions within script development processes and suggest that this is a more productive conceptualization of the “hub” than the more common “world-building.” These factors pave the way for the greenlighting of a female-centered series, with transformative possibilities. We aim to also draw conclusions around the wider function of the female hub as a catalyst for industry change, especially at the level of series commissions. By focusing on gender in relation to script development processes, we hope to augment and deepen concurrent discourses on gender and representation, particularly in the television series. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Supervising PhD candidates is a story in itself. Like a novel or screenplay, there are protagonists and antagonists, emotional transformations, dramatic twists and turns, and nearly always rising tension - especially in the domain of creative practice, where methodologies and research artefacts are still debated and contested. Voiceover narration comes into play, too, from both the candidate ('Does my supervisor know what I'm trying to do?') and the supervisor ('Does my candidate really think this is research?'). And hopefully there is always a happy ending - or at least happy subject to minor revisions. There is a growing body of literature about PhD supervision. Here we seek to expand on this work by drawing specific attention to the supervision of the Creative Writing PhD in the contemporary academy in the Australian and British contexts, and in a form that befits this vibrant research discipline. In this paper, then, we make connections between theory and practice by presenting a series of fictionalised vignettes drawn from our collective experiences of supervising candidates. By being playful ourselves, we offer a creative-critical exploration of the creative practice research space that illuminates some of the challenges and opportunities for supervising in the discipline. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article focuses on both the process and the results of a recently completed research project that concentrated on what are commonly seen as peripheral aspects of the doctorate; that is, aspects of candidature that lie beyond,and outside of,the core work of what is widely understood to be research training. The project saw 18 candidates from the creative arts and humanities –and creative writing in particular –gather to reflect upon their learning journeys, and then analyse and theorise the ‘human’ dimensions of undertaking a doctorate. These often peripheral aspects were revealed to have a major influence on undertaking a research degree,as well as affecting candidates’ progress and satisfaction with their studies, and career potential beyond the research degree.This article first outlines how candidates were able to develop a language with which to identify some of the major human dimensions –the lived experience–of undertaking a doctorate that emerged from the project.It then explores how candidates were able to articulate their own growth in the form of producing an edited collection of essays in order that others might benefit from this reflective learning. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This handbook is an essential creative, critical and practical guide for students and educators of screen production internationally. It covers all aspects of screen production—from conceptualizing ideas and developing them, to realizing and then distributing them—across all forms and formats, including fiction and non-fiction for cinema, television, gallery spaces and the web. With chapters by practitioners, scholars and educators from around the world, the book provides a comprehensive collection of approaches for those studying and teaching the development and production of screen content. With college and university students in mind, the volume purposely combines theory and practice to offer a critically informed and intellectually rich guide to screen production, shaped by the needs of those working in education environments where ‘doing’ and ‘thinking’ must co-exist. The Palgrave Handbook of Screen Production fills an important gap in creative-critical knowledge of screen production, while also providing practical tools and approaches for future practitioners.