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Draft:Alison Nisselle

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Alison Nisselle
Born
Alison Lempriere Smith

(1943-04-26)26 April 1943
Died15 November 2023(2023-11-15) (aged 80)
NationalityAustralian
Occupations
  • Writer
  • producer
  • journalist
Years active1977–2021
Known forPhoenix, Janus and Zoo Family

Alison Nisselle OAM (26 April 1943 - 15 November 2023) was an Australian writer and producer best known for co-creating the crime drama TV series Phoenix and Janus (with Tony McDonald), creating the children's TV series Zoo Family and writing the feature films Curtin, Healing and Parer's War.[1]

Career

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Before beginning her career as a filmmaker, Nisselle worked as a journalist for the Herald Sun and Channel 7 and then as a military researcher on period drama TV series The Sullivans.[2] [3] Nisselle has worked as a screenwriter, producer, script editor and script producer across a career spanning over four decades, drawing particular praise for the realism and accuracy she brought to her work.[4] [5]

Filmography

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Film

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Title Year Credited as Notes
The Interview 1998 Script editor
Healing 2014 Co-writer with Craig Monahan

Television

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Title Year Credited as Notes
The Box 1977 Writer (1 episode)
The John Sullivan Story 1979 Researcher TV Movie
Carson's Law 1983 Writer (3 episodes)
Zoo Family 1985 Creator
Writer (3 episodes)
Prisoner 1986 Writer (9 episodes)
Story editor (6 episodes)
Series finale
Sons and Daughters 1987 Story editor (1 episode) Series finale
The Flying Doctors 1985-1988 Writer (2 episodes)
Story development (3 episodes)
G.P. 1990 Story development (3 episodes)
Street Angels 1991 Writer TV movie
Phoenix 1992-1993 Co-creator
Writer (6 episodes)
with Tony McDonald
Janus 1994-1995 Co-creator
Co-producer
Writer (1 episode)
with Tony McDonald
The Feds: Betrayal 1996 Writer with Tony McDonald
TV movie as part of The Feds (miniseries)
The Feds: Deadfall 1996 Writer TV movie as part of The Feds (miniseries)
Ocean Girl 1994-1996 Writer (3 episodes)
Ship to Shore 1996 Writer (3 episodes)
Thunderstone 1999 Writer (2 episodes)
Marshall Law 2002 Co-creator
Writer (17 episodes)
with Rick Held and Bevan Lee
Blue Heelers 2004 Writer (1 episode)
headLand 2005 Writer (1 episode)
Home and Away 1988-2006 Writer (39 episodes)
Curtin 2007 Writer TV movie
Bed of Roses 2010 Script editor (7 episodes)
Hawke 2010 Script editor TV movie
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab 2012 Script editor TV movie
Reef Doctors 2013 Story producer
Parer's War 2014 Writer
Newton's Law 2017 Script executive (ABC)
Seven Types of Ambiguity 2017 Script executive (ABC)
Bloom 2019 Story editor (6 episodes)
Writer (1 episode)

Awards and Legacy

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Awards and commendations for works created or written by Nisselle include TV Week Logie Awards for Phoenix, Janus (which also received a Human Rights TV Drama Award from the Australian Human Rights Commission)[6] and Curtin and a Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Healing. In 2016, Nisselle received the inaugural Jan Sardi Award as part of Film Victoria's 2016 Screen Leader Awards for her significant achievement as a screenwriter and was recognised in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).[7] [8]

Following her death in November 2023, the Australian Writers' Guild released a statement praising Nisselle as "“…a towering figure among the generation of writers without whom today’s film and television industry would not exist. She will be remembered not only for her vast and varied body of work, and her numerous accolades and awards, but also for her warmth and wit. She was a brilliant writer, editor, creator, producer and, to many of us, a wise and generous mentor.”[9]

References

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  1. ^ Knox, David (22 November 2023). "Vale: Alison Nisselle". TV Tonight.
  2. ^ "Alison Nisselle". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  3. ^ Cica, Natasha (June 2007). "Forever war [Australian writers' responses to war]". Storyline. Winter 2007 (19): 4-8.
  4. ^ Deacon, Megan (2007). "Legal Drama: Phoenix (1992), Phoenix II (1993) and Janus (1994-5) created and produced by Tony McDonald and Alison Nisselle". Alternative Law Journal. 32 (3): 191-2.
  5. ^ Lever, Susan (2020). Creating Australian television drama: a screenwriting history. North Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Scholarly. ISBN 9781925984880.
  6. ^ "1995 Human Rights Medal and Awards Winners". www.humanrights.gov.au. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  7. ^ Staff Writer, 'Film Victoria unveils Screen Leader Award winners', IF October 14, 2016
  8. ^ "2018 Queen's Birthday Honours List". www.gg.gov.au. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  9. ^ Knox, David (22 November 2023). "Vale: Alison Nisselle". TV Tonight.
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Category:Australian screenwriters Category:Living people Category:Australian soap opera writers Category:Australian crime television writers Category:Australian female television writers Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:1943 births Category:Australian television producers Category:People from Western Australia Category:People from Victoria Category:20th-century Australian screenwriters Category:21st-century Australian screenwriters