Emerging visions: the (hero’s) journey to a career in Australian film and television production

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite an increasing proportion of the film and television workforce with tertiary qualification, the value of higher education as a source of training and development for, and a pathway into, the industry remains unclear. Education and screen policy could do better preparing emerging filmmakers for their career but there are few studies that consider the pathways and the journey from emerging to established screen practitioner to support improvement. Drawing from historical interviews with Australian screen creatives, this article adapts the monomyth framework of Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero’s journey’ to smooth the narrative of filmmakers’ trajectories as they establish careers in the industry. It then identifies recurring patterns within that narrative structure to explore concepts and construct theory relating to the pathways to a successful screen career. The findings reveal general themes of cognitive (i.e. self-efficacy), emotional (i.e. resilience) and social (i.e. periphery to core) transformation in the career journey, shaped by social structures, human agency and luck. The implications for screen education and screen policy are also considered.