Corrie Chen receives Screen Presence Trailblazer Award

Director Corrie Chen (The Artful Dodger, New Gold Mountain, Bad Behaviour) has been named as the recipient of the inaugural Screen Presence Trailblazer Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival yesterday.

Presented by the Museum of Chinese Australian History, the award acknowledges ground-breaking industry contribution by an Asian-Australian creative.

Established by the Museum of Chinese Australia History, the aim of Screen Presence is to grow the representation of Asian Australians in the screen industry by creating, mentoring, and securing work for Asian Australians in the mainstream industry.

Corrie Chen said, “I am incredibly grateful to have received this award from the Museum of Chinese Australian History. Screen is a cultural mirror, and it has shaped every aspect of how I have seen my identity. I have spent so much of my career trying to find a place of belonging, an award like this is a reminder of the power of a community that already exist to help me feel less alone. Don’t give up just because the mirror tells you nobody like you has ever done it. I’d also like to acknowledge the many, many other faces of change making incredible work that continue to inspire me every day, pulling me into a loud, creative Asian-Australian family I’m so happy to be a part of.”

Curator of Screen Presence, Lisa Wang, said, “Corrie Chen is truly a trailblazer, bringing recognition and understanding to the audience through her work, be it comedy or drama. She represents for me all that is unique to those who spin their magic in front of, around and behind the camera.”

Corrie Chen is a highly sought-after, award-winning writer/director who works in drama and comedy. Corrie directed the AACTA-nominated Stan Original mini-series Bad Behaviour for Matchbox Pictures, which premiered at the 2023 Berlinale in Official Competition. She also helmed the multi award-winning Goalpost/SBS mini-series New Gold Mountain, set on the frontiers of the Australian gold rush from the Chinese perspective – for which she won the ADG award for Best Direction in a miniseries. She has been named one of the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians. Most recently, she completed The Artful Dodger for Disney+ starring David Thewlis and will soon be directing the crime comedy Good Cop / Bad Cop for The CW and Stan.

As part of Screen Presence 24, Corrie was joined by Ra Chapman, Urvi Majumdar and Todd Abbott to discuss what makes something funny on screen in Deconstructing Comedy.

Featuring some of the most exciting Asian comedic talent from Australia and abroad, Screen Presence 24 included stand-up comedy favourites, industry round tables, international guests and offered audiences a peek behind the curtain to hear what it’s really like to be an Asian in contemporary Australia and especially in the stage and screen industries. Talent ontsage Corrie Chen, Ra Chapman, Nina Oyama, Joel Kim Booster, Lizzy Hoo, Sam See, Sashi Perera, Jenny Tian, He Huang, Jason Leong, Niki Aken, Takashi Wakasugi, Urvi Majumdar, Harry Jun, Diana Nguyen, Beverley Wang, and Todd Abbott.

Screen Presence 24 concluded with an exclusive preview screening of the hot new ABC comedy series White Fever, created by and starring Ra Chapman which premieres Wednesday 10 April on ABC TV and ABC iView.