Five years ago, if you had told new Creative Industries student Emma Morgan that she was on her way to becoming an award-winning screenwriter, she’d have been as surprised as anyone.
It was 2020, and COVID-19 had shut down theatre and live performance industries around the globe – which meant that Emma, an actor and musician who had been performing locally for years, had some extra time on her hands.
A friend and fellow performer was studying Theatre and Performance at UniSC. Keen for some moral support, she convinced Emma to give it a go as well.
“There wasn’t much else going on at the time, so I thought, why not?” Emma says.
“I’d always been interested in getting into film, but I didn’t know how to make that happen, so I assumed I’d study music and performance and perhaps end up writing music for films or working for a theatre company.”
However, as she settled into the Bachelor of Creative Industries, Emma found herself drawn to courses in creative writing and screen media.
When it came time to complete a required screenwriting course, something clicked into place.
“I absolutely fell in love with the format of screenwriting,” Emma says. “I found that it was really easy for me to translate the story that played out in my mind onto the page, which opened up a whole new world for me.”
During this time, she went to a launch event for the Sunny Coast Showdown, a short film competition designed to showcase the region and promote interest in the local film industry.
“The first year I got cold feet, but as the end of my studies approached, I knew I needed to start putting myself out there,” she says. “So the next year, I submitted an entry and then promptly forgot about it – until they called and said they wanted to produce my film.”
That was how Emma found herself on set in April 2024 as her short film The Hoist – the first script she ever completed – came to life.
Loosely based on a true story she heard from her father, The Hoist is a dramedy centred around a quirky inventor who tries to help his local community by ensuring the safety of the supper at the local bush dance.
Directed by Janneke Williamson, the film stars Rhys Muldoon and Kate Atkinson and is currently touring nationally as part of Flickerfest.
It has also been shown at the Shorts Miami International Film Festival and the LA Comedy Film Festival, with European screenings slated for the coming months.
Creative Industries course coordinator Dr Hannah Banks said Emma’s journey was a great example of the interesting and unintended places a Creative Industries can take you.
“Our programs are designed to help students discover their voice, take creative risks, and apply what they’ve learnt to their own projects – whether they come in knowing exactly what they want to do, or they’re still figuring it out,” Dr Banks said.
It’s been a steep but thrilling learning curve for Emma, who also served as the film’s head of production design.
“I remember standing on the steps to the side of the set, looking around at 120 cast and crew members and thinking, this all came from something I wrote on a laptop,” she says.
“It was a very enjoyable set and I loved that it made memories for other people that they’ll look back on fondly. I also made a lot of friends, people I can turn to who can help with future projects.”
Those projects currently include a documentary, a TV pilot and several feature film screenplays, along with promoting The Hoist internationally – all alongside Emma’s final year of study.
“It’s not where I expected to be after a theatre and performance degree, but it’s taught me you have to put yourself out there,” she says. “Being at UniSC and doing those courses, getting the feedback I did, gave me a lot of confidence to go on to the next thing.
“It was a big decision for me to go back to uni as a mature-age student in the middle of COVID, but I wanted to find something I was passionate about and that gave me a greater sense of worth and accomplishment – and it’s been worth it.”
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