Post Courier 12

Abstract

In 2003, I directed a feature film called Travelling Light which was loosely inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s visit to Australia to participate in Adelaide Writers’ Week in the 1960s.¹ The script, which was in development for approximately six years, was funded draft by draft through the Australian Film Commission, the national film-funding agency then responsible for script development. The project was conceived as a multi-stranded narrative with an ensemble of characters at pivotal moments in their lives, all connected via their relationship to television: in particular, to a fictional 1970s variety show called Adelaide Tonight, hosted by the equally fictional Ray Sugars. The screenplay utilised motifs of light and electricity to be played out across the film’s image and soundtrack. As is so often the case, as the project progressed down the financing route, there came increased pressure for the screenplay to conform to a more classic protagonist-driven, three-act structure. Myself, the script editor and producer were repeatedly advised by assessors and readers that we should complete the set-up more quickly; snip out those scenes about early television they deemed unnecessary; focus more on a central character, thereby ensuring sufficient screen time to retain the prominent young Australian actress who was attached to the project. We were also encouraged to fill out the soundtrack with hit songs of the 1970s to ensure audience accessibility.