Left to right: Ken Duncum, Alaina Wilks, Alexander Nebesky, Jennifer Wilton.
A television drama series tracing a week in the lives of a group of students living on Castle Street in Dunedin has been awarded the 2024 David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.
Written by Alaina Wilks as part of her 2024 Master of Arts folio at the University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML), the TV series FLO is described by its examiners as “captivating, enthralling, tough, raw, authentic, distinctively Kiwi, and so very now” with one examiner stating “it quickly becomes apparent that the show gets better and better—your scripts are as bingeable as the series itself promises to be”.
Named in honour of the late David Carson-Parker, who established the prize to support the Master of Arts (Scriptwriting), it is continued by David’s partner Jeremy Commons. The $5,000 prize is awarded annually to an outstanding Master of Arts (Scriptwriting) student at the IIML and was presented by last year’s prize-winner Jennifer Wilton.
FLO follows a friend group of eight second-year Otago University students through their Flat Orientation Week—seven nights, seven themed parties—and examines the dramatic repercussions of an assault on night one, in which one of the group is the victim and one is the perpetrator. As all their relationships are strained, the friends grapple with the question: ‘Will they make it out of this week as they began it? Together.’
Alaina says, “I’m so grateful for my classmates, my family, and my friends, all of whom have been the best part of my year. This MA means the world to me, it’s been hard and a lot of work, but it has provided a deep understanding of the art form I love.”
An examiner of the winning script wrote, “This series is crying out to be made and I for one can’t wait to see it.”
Fellow Master of Arts student Alexander Nebesky has won the Brad McGann Film Writing Award for his feature film script A Brief History of the End of the World.
Named in honour of the late Brad McGann (writer/director of In My Father’s Den) the award is worth $4,000 and was presented by MA Scriptwriting convenor Ken Duncum.
A Brief History of the End of the World examines how we might react when we have good reason to believe this may be the last night of our life. It follows ex-partners Joe and Lydia as they spar with each other and experience a series of bizarre encounters as they wait to see if alien spacecraft will annihilate humankind by the morning.
Examiners described A Brief History of the End of the World as a “an off-beat, human and humane story with an intriguing, ultimately uplifting scenario” and “distinctive, different and with something new to say”.
Alexander says, “I’m delighted to receive the Brad McGann award as the punctuation mark on a year of immensely valuable and rewarding writing and workshops.”
For more information contact Associate Professor Ken Duncum, International Institute of Modern Letters, ken.duncum@vuw.ac.nz
