Screenwords: Dr Ian David talks about his award winning career writing for film and television

Ian David chats with Nadia David from Beechworth Books about his award winning writing for the Australian screen.
After several years as a lay missionary in New Guinea and a short stint as a poet and playwright in Perth, Ian moved to Sydney. In 1984, he graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School, to spend the next 30 years working as a screenwriter. His produced work includes Palace of Dreams, Police State, Joh’s Jury, Blue Murder, The Shark Net and 3 Acts of Murder.
Ian is a recipient of every major industry award for film and television writing in Australia, including AFI, LOGIE, ATOM, AWGIE awards. In 1996 he received the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award and the following year delivered the MacPherson Memorial Lecture at the Sydney Film Festival. In 2001, he received the Byron Kennedy Award from the Australian Film Institute and was awarded a Centennial Medal for his service to the Australian film and television industry. In 2002, he represented Australia at UNESCO’s Paris conference on cultural diversity. In 2007, he was awarded the inaugural Kit Denton Fellowship and in 2011 he received the Richard Lane Award for outstanding service and dedication to the Australian Writers’ Guild. Ian lectured in screenwriting for over a decade at the University of Sydney, receiving his Doctor of Arts in 2018. He is currently writing a book.