Rock Surfers announce new $12.5K Playwriting Commission

Rock Surfers Theatre Company and Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder (CJZ) are proud to announce the inaugural CJZ/Rock Surfers New Writing Commission.

In its first year the commission, worth $12,500, will be open to any writer nationally that has had a work produced or published since the Rock Surfers were founded in 1997.

“Our company fosters a collaborative and  creative culture where some of the industry’s leading producers, writers and performers thrive and flourish,” said CJZ CEO Nick Murray.

“Good writing is the cornerstone of all great TV and I believe we should be nurturing this talent – that’s why CJZ is proudly backing this new writing initiative.”

Rock Surfers Artistic Director Leland Kean too is thrilled with the new partnership.

“The commission brings together Australia’s largest independent producer of television with Australia’s largest producer of independent theatre.

“It’s incredible and such an honour to partner with CJZ on a new writing commission. In the past decade the Rock Surfers have produced more new Australian writing than any theatre in the country and this is a wonderful nod to that history and a step toward sustaining that tradition by CJZ.”

“In true Rock Surfers style, in its first year we are throwing the doors open to any writer that has
had a play produced or a work published in Australia since the company’s inception in 1997.

“The Rock Surfers have a long history of developing and producing unsolicited work. This commission continues that legacy and will add another chapter in what is one of the largest Australian canons in the country’s theatrical history,” continued Kean.

The commissioned playwright and play will be announced as part of the Rock Surfers 2014 season
at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre and directed by Artistic Director Leland Kean.

Applications and details are available through the Rock Surfers web site – www.rocksurfers.org/newwords.