AustLit logo
Kristen Dunphy Kristen Dunphy i(A128894 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Script-writer and script editor.

Kristen Dunphy's earliest role in the film industry was as assistant to the director (Gillian Armstrong) on the 1987 film High Tide (written by Laura Jones). In an interview with the Australian in October 2012, she said of her start in the industry

I contacted a list of producers looking for work, including Sandra Levy who was producing the feature High Tide (1987), and she offered to take me on as director Gillian Armstrong's assistant. Shortly after the film was shot, Sandra was appointed Head of ABC TV Drama and she took me with her.

Her earliest scripts were for medical drama G.P., for which she began writing in 1992 (and for which she continued to write until 1996, writing at least eight episodes). In the same period, she was also writing scripts for crime drama Heartland (1994), children's puppet-based comedy The Ferals (1995-1995), and teen drama Heartbreak High (1995-1997).

In the late 1990s, she contributed scripts to legal drama Fallen Angels (1997), young-adult time-travel fantasy Mirror Mirror II (1997), crime drama Murder Call (1997-1998) and Wildside (1998-1999), and medical drama All Saints (1999).

In the early 2000s, she had a spate of working on crime dramas, with scripts for Water Rats (2000), at least ten episodes of White Collar Blue (2002-2003), and the script for telemovie BlackJack: Sweet Science (2004).

Since then, Dunphy has contributed scripts to teen surfing series Blue Water High (2006), adult drama Sea Patrol (2007), crime drama East West 101 (2007-2009), young-adult mystery-thriller Conspiracy 365 (2012), and crime drama The Straits (2012).

She has also worked as a script editor, including for White Collar Blue (2002), the telemovie Small Claims: White Wedding (2005), and Michael Brown's episode of Two Twisted ('Finding Frank', 2006).

Among her awards are an AWGIE Award (2012) for The Straits (shared with Jaime Brown, Louis Nowra, Blake Ayshford, and Nick Parsons), an AWGIE Award (2008) for East West 101 (shared with Michael Miller, Kris Mrksa, Michelle Offen, and Kris Wyld), and an AWGIE Award (2003) for White Collar Blue (for episode 14).

In 2012, Dunphy was named as the recipient of that year's Foxtel Fellowship, awarded at the AWGIE Awards in recognition of a 'significant contribution to the Australian cultural landscape made by television writing'.


Further Reference

'10 Questions: Kristen Dunphy, Screenwriter, 48'. Australian, 6 Oct. 2012. (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/questions-kristen-dunphy-screenwriter-48/story-e6frg8h6-1226486085422) (Sighted: 22/10/2012)

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon Wakefield [Episode 1.8] ( dir. Jocelyn Moorhouse ) Australia : BBC Studios Jungle Entertainment , 2021 23367168 2021 single work film/TV
2021 nominated Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy
form y separately published work icon Wakefield ( dir. Jocelyn Moorhouse et. al. )agent Australia : BBC Studios Jungle Entertainment , 2021 21478633 2021 series - publisher film/TV

'Nikhil Katira is a psychiatric nurse working at Wakefield, a facility perched on the edge of Australia's spectacular Blue Mountains. There's one problem - while his patients are getting better, he's getting worse.' (Production summary)

2021 nominated Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Best Television Drama Series
form y separately published work icon The Principal ( dir. Kriv Stenders ) Sydney : Essential Media and Entertainment , 2015 8238841 2015 series - publisher film/TV

'The Principal is a story of intrigue and personal identity set against the backdrop of a boys high school in turmoil in South West Sydney.

'Matt Bashir, history teacher and former Deputy at a prestigious girls’ school, is swiftly promoted to the position of Principal of Boxdale Boys High. Boxdale is a troubled school with a history of conflict and Matt is determined to turn it around but his attempts at reform are met with scepticism and in some quarters, hostility from his beleaguered colleagues. But just when it seems he is making progress, a 17-year-old student is found dead on the school grounds.'

Source: Production company's blurb.

2015 shortlisted Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Best Telefeature or Mini Series
2015 shortlisted AWGIE Awards Television Award Mini-series - Original
2016 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award
Last amended 13 Jan 2015 15:09:19
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X