Emerging visions: the (hero’s) journey to a career in Australian film and television production

ABSTRACT

Despite an increasing proportion of the film and television workforce with tertiary qualification, the value of higher education as a source of training and development for, and a pathway into, the industry remains unclear. Education and screen policy could do better preparing emerging filmmakers for their career but there are few studies that consider the pathways and the journey from emerging to established screen practitioner to support improvement. Drawing from historical interviews with Australian screen creatives, this article adapts the monomyth framework of Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero’s journey’ to smooth the narrative of filmmakers’ trajectories as they establish careers in the industry. It then identifies recurring patterns within that narrative structure to explore concepts and construct theory relating to the pathways to a successful screen career. The findings reveal general themes of cognitive (i.e. self-efficacy), emotional (i.e. resilience) and social (i.e. periphery to core) transformation in the career journey, shaped by social structures, human agency and luck. The implications for screen education and screen policy are also considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Screen education
• screen production pathways
• project-based careers
• social structures
• human agency
• monomyth

Acknowledgements

This article draws on research commissioned in 2015 for Metro Screen. Thank you to Celeste Alcaraz (Griffith University), Christina Alvarez (former CEO, Metro Screen), Kath Shelper (former Chair, Metro Screen), Rosemary Curtis and Cathy Gray for their contributions to this work. The author would also like to thank Professor Craig Batty and Associate Professor Liz Ellison, PhD supervisors at Central Queensland University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Metro Screen was a community organisation that provided training, equipment, facilities, mentoring and production funding to emerging filmmakers. The purpose of the report commissioned by the organisation in 2015 was to identify and profile the ‘emerging sector’ in Australian film and television, describe the current screen production environment and its implications for emerging (novice, aspiring) practitioners, and identify the career success factors needed for an emerging practitioner to transition to the professional industry. It also profiled supports available and the contribution of the emerging sector.

2 For example, Cate Shortland directed Marvel’s big budget Black Widow (2021) and Alex White produced her first feature, Babyteeth (2019).

3 Many respondents expressed a desire to attend the AFTRS, the national film school, because of its reputation, its resources, and its connections to the industry. It provided a perceived advantage over other film schools.

4 Mehta (2017) describes ‘hustle’ as the ability to form connection, learn about the industry, consolidate reputation and continually make content

5 Night Cries (dir. Moffat 1990) and Radiance (dir. Perkins 2005).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Craig C. Rossiter

Craig C. Rossiter is a PhD candidate at Central Queensland University in the School of Education and the Arts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Australian National University and a Master of Business (Research) in customer orientation and innovation from Queensland University of Technology. As part of his undergraduate degree, Craig attended film school at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also co-authored a book chapter and journal article on the Australian film and television industry with Jordi McKenzie, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Macquarie University.