PAC Script Lab: Goliath

17 March 2010

6pm Wednesday 31 March 2010

Reviews

Schoolyard politics will be tackled head-on in the next PAC Script Lab on Wednesday 31 March. Burleigh Smith’s screenplay, Goliath, offers insight into the lives of those affected by bullying.

Set at a prestigious boarding school for boys, Goliath reveals how bullying shapes those involved, with not just the popularity of students at stake, but also the respect of parents and teachers on the line.

“Goliath is a liberal adaptation of Tom Brown’s School Days, the classic novel by Thomas Hughes,” says Smith. “It’s set in the present-day and tells of a new student trying to make friends and a new Headmaster who is determined to reform the bullying culture.”

Burleigh Smith is a Perth screenwriter, director and actor who has made a number of short films, including Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt, which opened the Perth International Arts Festival’s Lotterywest Films season in 2009 and has just earned him a Best Director nomination at the WA Screen Awards.

In 2007, his short film Mere Oblivion picked up the Best Actress award at Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival. In 2008, he competed at Tropfest New York with Gentle Persuasion.

Having studied under prominent Australian film critic David Stratton at the University of Sydney, Burleigh now lectures at the SAE Institute.

His films centre on relationships between men and women and often emphasise dry wit and desperate characters, perhaps an indicator of his strongest influence, Woody Allen.

Also at PAC Script Lab, the audience will be treated to a viewing of another recent short film of Smith’s, Then She Was Gone, shot entirely in black-and-white Super 8.

With professional actors to deliver a rehearsed reading of this new script and with complimentary wine and nibbles on hand from 6pm at the Subiaco Arts Centre, the public will be hard pushed to experience a more relaxed way of supporting local talent while playing a part in the filmmaking process. Those attending will have the chance to offer their thoughts on the script in a feedback form after the reading.

To reserve a place, email or phone Annie Murtagh-Monks.

PAC Screen Workshops
P: 08 9384 4604
E. pac@screenworkshop.com.au
W: www.screenworkshop.com.au
PAC Script Lab is proudly supported by ScreenWest, Paddy Maguire’s and City of Subiaco.