John Edwards to deliver Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture

Renowned producer John Edwards will deliver the Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture at the Screen Forever conference.

Edwards, whose body of work includes such titles as Love My Way, The Secret Life of Us, and Offspring, will speak at the annual Producers’ conference in Melbourne next Wednesday. Previous speakers have included Phillip Adams, Kim William, Lachlan Murdoch, Margaret Pomeranz, Harold Mitchell and Gillian Armstrong.

Matthew Deaner, CEO of Screen Producers Australia said: “Edwards’ contribution to Australian television drama is incomparable to any other contemporary figure in the country. Across an incredible, prolific career, his creative vision has spawned high-quality Australian drama that has resonated with national and international audiences. It will be a rare opportunity to hear from someone with such experience, intimate knowledge and perceptive insight into the Australian media industry.”

John Edwards is one of Australia’s most successful television producers. He has produced more than 600 hours of television drama and holds over 30 production credits. A master of the one-hour series drama, Edwards is best known for his rich, complex character dramas that have gone on to become era-defining programs. These include the multi-award winning series Love My Way, The Secret Life of Us and audience favourite Offspring, which enters its sixth season for Network Ten in 2016. Love My Way was a landmark in Australian television production as the first high-quality in-house drama to screen on pay television, and The Secret Life of Us together with Edwards’ six-time Logie Award-winning series Police Rescue remain the only two Australian episodic series ever commissioned for primetime in the UK.

Creating works for major national and international networks including Network Ten, Network Seven, Nine Network, ABC, Foxtel, New Line, BBC, Channel 4 UK and BSky B, Edwards’ further production credits include The Surgeon, Dangerous, Rush, Tangle, Puberty Blues, Party Tricks, and The Beautiful Lie, which currently screens on the ABC. Edwards has also produced mini-series and telemovies including the Golden Globe nominated mini-series On the Beach; Marking Time, winner of 7 AFI Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, AWGIE Award and others; Do or Die; Children of the Dragon; Tracy; six telemovies in the Cody series; Beaconsfield; and Paper Giants.

Edward’s productions have won 29 Logie Awards, 39 AFI and AACTA Awards, four People’s Choice Awards, eight ASTRA Awards, more than a dozen craft awards within Australia and a number of international accolades, including three New York Festival Awards and a Golden Globe nomination. In 2011, Edwards was conferred an Honorary Masters Degree by the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

Photo: John Brawley