By Natasha Fujimoto
THE call to writing never seems to just appear, but rather is a constant companion throughout one’s life and for Shepparton’s own Melissa Black, this is certainly the case.
Having always enjoyed telling stories and writing in a variety of genres, Melissa’s creativity has recently taken her to exciting heights, working as an attachment script supervisor on popular US TV show, La Brea.
Available in Australia through various streaming services, La Brea is a science fiction drama series set in the early 2020s and centres around a cast of characters who find themselves trapped in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land after falling through a massive sinkhole.
Produced by Universal Televison and Matchbox pictures, the TV show has just finished its second season and although Melissa’s role has focussed more on maintaining continuity during the production process rather than on script writing, Melissa said the experience was invaluable.
“Learning what the expectations are on a large-scale network set was incredible, as well as working with several directors. La Brea is run on a US production model, so it was great to know what the expectations are there as well.
“Even though script supervising isn’t part of the creative writing process, seeing how the words on the page translate to the set was great to learn,” Melissa said.
Achieving highly as a writer and following her time as a journalist at The Adviser, Melissa has had poems and stories published and a play produced by STAG.
In 2022, Melissa’s short film script ‘The Smell of Bones’ was selected as a top 5 finalist for the AACTA: Pitch Focus, short film competition.
With La Brea ‘between’ seasons, Melissa uses her spare time in Shepparton to write and produce other people’s shorts and independent productions, stating, “My goal is to show-run my own series in Australia and eventually travel to LA to work in Hollywood.”
