Inaugural VicScreen Greenlight Award winner Bron Lewis and VicScreen Manager of Development Mackenzie Lush. Photo by Nick Robertson.
VicScreen and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival have launched the VicScreen Greenlight Award, a new annual prize recognising a Victorian comedian with outstanding screen potential.
Melbourne is Australia's comedy capital, with the Festival long serving as the launch pad for many of the nation's most beloved comedians, who have gone on to find success in film and television both in Australia and abroad.
The VicScreen Greenlight Award will spotlight Victorian performers with bold voices that demonstrate outstanding screen potential.
In establishing the award, VicScreen hopes to identify the next comedian to follow in the footsteps of acclaimed Australian comedians-turned-screenwriters like Kitty Flanagan, Nazeem Hussain, Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney.
Drawn from a vast field of Victorian performers at this year's Festival, one show stood out for the originality of its voice, the strength of its storytelling, and its clear potential to translate to screen. Bron Lewis has been named the inaugural VicScreen Greenlight Award recipient for Chaos.
Victorian comedy is already making it to screen. Upcoming VicScreen-supported productions include Nazeem Hussain's new ABC series Separated at Birth, and Anne Edmonds' Bad Company starring Kitty Flanagan, premiering 26 April on ABC TV and ABC iview.
VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said: "Melbourne International Comedy Festival has spent forty years making Melbourne the comedy capital of Australia and we are thrilled to partner with them to find standout comedy talent that the screen industry should put on their radar. We were blown away by the extraordinary depth of Victorian comedy voices and look forward to creating more opportunities to bring their humour and storytelling to the screen."
Susan Provan AO, Artistic Director, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, said, "Congratulations to Bron Lewis, a truly deserving recipient of the inaugural VicScreen Greenlight Award. The breadth and quality of shows considered for this award is a testament to the strength of our comedy community right now — bold, diverse and brimming with ideas. It's incredibly exciting to see that talent recognised and supported by VicScreen."
Learn more about VicScreen's development programs here
