Sheridan Humphreys

I am a creative writer, screenwriter and screenwriting researcher. My work includes screenplays and plays, and I am working on my first novel. I am a PhD candidate in Screenwriting at King’s College London supervised by Dr Ian Henderson, Director of the Menzies Australia Institute.

My PhD includes a feature screenplay inspired by the forgotten, hidden histories of Aboriginal Australians who lived in England in the 1830s. I am interested in research that explores hidden histories of ethnicity in the British Empire, of travellers in history whose paths may have crossed. My work explores what screenwriters can do to address the almost complete lack of protagonists of colour in period drama specifically, and how we can create more leading roles for actors of colour in this genre. These conversations about how we teach race and ethnicity alongside the screenwriting manual methodology are difficult and fraught with issues of identity politics, but the industry has a problem with diversity, actors of all ethnicities need great roles and writers must have some tools to address this. This is what my research contributes to.  

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATIONS

• Panel discussion and blog: The Secret River at the National Theatre, September 2019
• Jury member, Raindance Web Fest Awards, Aug-Sep 2019
• Participant, CLOSR Development Scheme, Raising Films/BFI, 2017
• History and Empire on Screen – Writing the Non-White Protagonist Series of workshops and seminars for screenwriters to engage with academy researchers, 2016-2018
• Knowledge Exchange Associate (Arts & Humanities), King's Cultural Institute, 2016-18

 WRITING

• My latest blog is about Natives Go Wild, written and directed by Rhoda Roberts, at the Sydney Opera House. www.sheridanhumphreys.com (Oct 2019).
• Women: Our History (2019), foreword by Lucy Worsley – I contributed three chapters about Indigenous, Maori and Settler Australian and New Zealand women
• My work has appeared in The Stage, The Guardian and The Independent
• Stand Up comedy at UCL’s Bright Club (and other London clubs 2015-16)
• Kultureflash.net – Senior Writer and reviewer of dance and theatre (2003-2008)
• Dude! Where’s My Teddy Bear – writer and producer, Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury and UK tour (2002-6)
• BBC, Emap, boo.com – editor and copywriter (2000-2004)
• The Rough Guide to France, 1996 edition – travel writer
• Winner, The Independent Student Travel Writing Competition 1996

AWARDS

2018 - Australian Bicentennial Scholarship

2018 - King’s Global Research Grant

2015 - Collaborative Learning in the Arts and Social Humanities (CLASH) Public Engagement Fellowship, AHRC

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Greenwich, London, 2018-19 academic year – present 

• Lecturer - Advanced Screenwriting, 3^rd year, BA Creative Writing and BA Film Studies
• Lecturer - Storytelling for Film and Television, 1^st year screenwriting module, BA Film and TV Production, BA Animation, BA Film Studies

Royal Holloway University of London, 2018-19 academic year – present

• Lecturer - Introduction to Narrative Theory and Practice, 1^st year screenwriting module, BA Drama and BA Film Studies

King’s College London, 2015-2018

• Lecturer – Australian History & Film, 2^nd year, BA English Lit, Liberal Arts and Film Studies
• Tutor – Writing London, 1^st year core module, BA English Literature 
• Lecturer – Screenwriting for Dentists, 1^st year School of Dentistry students, part of a Clinical Humanities pilot project

CONFERENCE PAPERS PRESENTED AT

• Sightlines, Australian Screen Production Education Research Association (ASPERA), RMIT University, Dec 2019
• Association of Australian Writing Programs (AAWP) 2019, UTS, Nov 2019
• European Association for Studies of Australia Conference (EASA) 2019, University de Toulon, Sep 2019
• European Association for Studies of Australia Conference (EASA) 2018, Universitat de Barcelona, Jan 2018
• Redfining Austraila and New Zealand, Polish Australian Studies Association, University of Opole, Poland, Nov 2017
• Screenwriting Research Network (SRN) 2017, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, Aug 2017
• American Association of Australasian Literary Studies (AAALS), Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA, April 2017
• Where is the Film Scholar in Hollywood Filmmaking? CMCS, USC, Los Angeles

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

• Exploration and Memory, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Sep 2018
• Screenwriting Research Network 2016, Leeds Beckett University/University of Leeds
• Teaching Screenwriting in Higher Education: ‎Creativity‎, ‎Innovation and ‎Professional Practice, University of Salford, Media City, 7 April 2014
• Immigration, Nation and Public History, Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King’s College London, 18 June 2014
• London Screenwriters’ Festival 2013, School of Drama, Film and Media, Regent’s University, London, 25-27 October 2013