Duncan Thompson

Duncan Thompson is one of Australia's pre-eminent script experts with an impressive background in the fields of feature film script development, feature film finance, and film and TV media education. Duncan has been a key contributor to the creation of successful film industry institutions in his role as inaugural Artistic Director of the Aurora script development workshop (2002-2009), the founding Market Director of the SPAAmart Feature Finance Market (2003-2005) and Head of School at the International Film School Sydney (2006-2012). As a script consultant, Duncan has worked on over $70 million of produced feature films, with a high proportion of those films receiving critical acclaim and prestigious awards, locally and internationally. As Executive Producer/Creator/Writer of the start-up screen content creation company Genre Factory, Duncan has several feature film and TV series projects in development. Born in Essex, England, Duncan studied Fine Art (painting and time-based media) at Chelsea School of Art. He composed music for documentaries, a TVC, corporate video and art installations, and was a member of hardcore acid-house dance band The Holy Ghost Inc. Duncan took the unusual step of studying Acting and Directing at the prestigious school of physical theatre L'Ecole Internationale du Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France, and Directing and Expressive Scenography at Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement (LEM) (the laboratory of movement studies) on his path to a career in the film and television industry. After successfully working as a script doctor and rewriter, with agents ICM France, Duncan moved to Australia in 1996, and apprenticed to Writer, Director, Producer, Executive Producer Rolf de Heer. He worked for the Australian Film Commission as a production and development executive, and was involved in the launch of the prestigious Aurora Script Development Workshop where as Artistic Director he helped it achieve a 4:1 success rate. As Market Director of the SPAAmart Feature Finance Market, Duncan single-handedly selected projects at script stage launching 15 films on the path to full financed and production, again with a 4:1 success rate. As Head of School of the International Film School Sydney, Duncan engineered the sale of the school to the University of Wollongong's commercial arm, and grew the student body from 10 to 130 students. Duncan gained a Professional Certificate in Executive Producing from Victoria University, and is studying part-time for a Masters in Screen Business.