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Industry Directory

Penelope Chai

Writer

Career Summary

Penelope studied film and theatre in Melbourne and Sydney before hitting the road to live and work in London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Honiara and Kakadu. She’s written across several different genres including drama, comedy-drama, action-adventure and science fiction. Cinderella Must Die, an action-adventure co-written with Matteo R. Bernardini, recently won the Australians in Film Gateway LA Screenwriting Fellowship (2017) and the Script Pipeline Grand Prize (2016). Mary, Mary, a dystopian sci-fi co-written with Adam Spellicy, won the Monte Miller AWGIE Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay (2016) and the John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science Fiction Writing for Best Unproduced Screenplay (2015). Her comedy-drama series Other People’s Problems premiered at Series Mania (Melbourne) in July 2017 and will screen on ABC iView later this year. Co-created and -written with Jane Dickenson, it’s based on their real-life letter writing project Clothing for Correspondence. The series was directed by Erin White and produced by Charlotte Seymour with Sue Maslin as EP. Penelope is currently collaborating with writer/director Corrie Chen on Empty Empire, a feature film set in an ‘empty’ city inspired by Ordos in Inner Mongolia, China. Last year, with support from Screen Australia, they travelled to China on a research trip. With Film Victoria’s support they’re about to deliver the second draft. Penelope’s other credits include the documentary Love & Fury (co-written with John Hughes for ABC TV 2013) and a short film called She was She (MIFF 2014). Both were nominated for AWGIE Awards. She’s a recipient of a City of Yarra Arts Residency for The Punt Road Project (2014, with Anna McGrath and Rita Walsh) and a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship (2013), and was part of Film Victoria’s Catapult Lab (2012). Her short stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and she’s twice been shortlisted for the City of Melbourne Lord Mayor's Creative Writing Award.

Professional Credits

Festivals, Awards, Nominations

  • 2017, Winner of the Gateway LA Screenwriting Prize, USA, Cinderella Must Die
  • 2016, Winner of the Script Pipeline Grand Prize for Best Feature Screenplay, USA, Cinderella Must Die
  • 2016, Winner of the AWGIE Monte Miller Award for Best Unproduced Screenplay, Australia, Mary, Mary
  • 2016, Winner of the John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science Fiction Writing for Best Unproduced Screenplay, Australia, Mary, Mary
  • 2014, Shortlisted for the AWGIE Award for Best Short Film Screenplay, Australia, She was She
  • 2013, Shortlisted for the AWGIE Award for Best Broadcast Documentary Screenplay, Australia, Love & Fury

Professional Memberships

  • Australian Writers Guild

Direct URL

https://vicscreen.vic.gov.au/choose-victoria/industry-directory/10039/penelope-chai