Frances Macaulay Forde

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Biography

Frances is a screenwriter has a diverse background as a poet, children’s author, production and direction in both film and youth theatre stretching over 25 years.
Currently, a member of the Peer Assessment Panel for the Department of Culture and the Arts, a co-moderator of the AWG On-line Writers Group, Frances hosts and has organised Poets Corner @ Pages Cafe in the State Library, Perth for the last three years.
Frances is a full member of both the A.W.G. and the Australian Society of Authors as well as many writing associations in Australia and Ireland where she recently spent 14 months attending workshops and festivals.

Qualifications

Frances completed courses in film & video production and direction at FTI in the 80’s and holds a BA in Writing with a supporting major in Media Studies from ECU/WAAPA.
Partnered with Peter Aquilina in their small video production company in the 80’s, Frances later worked as an on-screen presenter, news editor, commercial/news writer/producer for MWTV and AWI a private investigation agency as an editor and report writer.

Filmography

Frances wrote, produced and directed her first film in 1983, nurtured in 16mm by Heather Williams, Matt Kelly and Chris Lynch from Friends Films: ‘Some Folks Folk’ was filmed around the 1st Community Folk Club in Kalamunda which 20 years later, is still relevant to folk festivals today.
During the 80’s, she was commissioned to write a musical from a 1/2 page idea given to her by Charlie Giglia called ‘Getting Great’ and Michael Willcox commissioned a TV Series ‘Colour Science’, neither of which gained funding.
Her film-partner Peter Aquilina won the 1985 FTI Young Filmmakers Cinematography Award for a music video she wrote, produced and directed. Their company Sphinx Productions also did commercial work, filmed the 1983 WA Ital Song Festival at the Concert Hall and sold more than 50 copies of the video.
Divorce, young children and the need to earn rent meant she walked away from film to work for a short time with Mike Dorsey (No 96 fame) at Mid-Western Television but switched to writing novels and books for children.
She won the inaugural Furphy Award from the Fellowship of Australian Writers in 1994 for the ‘Best Unpublished Children’s Manuscript’. ‘The Swimming Pool People’ was later adapted as a pantomime and staged by Northern Youth Theatre with Frances as artistic director.
On returning from Ireland in 2003, her focus turned once more to screenwriting. Frances purchased the option on three teen novels by Krista Bell which she has adapted to a feature length script “No Strings”. This project has been professionally assessed with development notes and is currently seeking a producer and director.
‘Love You Mum’ an 18min film produced by Matt Pearson & Directed by David Ockenden from her script, is currently finding recognition in both Australia and the United States.
Nominated 7 times in the 2006 SA Short Screen Festival, the film screened twice as part of the acclaimed 2006 Adelaide Festival. Since then, it’s won “Best Dramaâ€Ω awards here and in the States, been broadcast on US TV and screened at film festivals in Canada and Hollywood. More information: http://www.francesmacaulayforde.com/LoveYouMum.html Two of her scripts were recently short-listed by Curtin students for this semester but not chosen. However, she has provided numerous short film scripts to be used in the PAC Screen Workshops. Frances has many scripts available and writes full-time from home.

Referees

Not arranged yet.