Luke Devenish

Luke Devenish is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright and academic.

As Script Producer with FremantleMedia’s Neighbours from 2001 to 2007, Luke oversaw scripts for 1,500 episodes of the internationally celebrated soap opera, represented the show at the UK National Television Awards, and spoke about the enduring successes of exported Australian TV dramas at industry conferences in Cologne and Amsterdam.

Before working for FremantleMedia, Luke was Assistant Commissioning Editor (Drama) with ABC Television. In this position he was Script Executive for 300 episodes of Something in the Air, and a development executive for SeaChange, RAW FM and other ABC TV series.

Luke enjoys a parallel career as a playwright. Productions of his work have been staged by Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, the Queensland Theatre Company, the Adelaide Festival and the Sydney Festival, among others.

Luke’s historical novels about Ancient Rome, ‘Den of Wolves’ and ‘Nest of Vipers’, have been published in five languages. A new novel, ‘The Secret Heiress’, set in late 19th Century Australia, will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2014.

In recent years, Luke has worked as a Development Consultant with several Australian production companies, including Matchbox Pictures and FremantleMedia, as well as Philippines TV network ABS-CBN.

Luke joined the VCA’s School of Film & Television in 2013, where he lectures in screenwriting and coordinates the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting) degree. He has previously taught screenwriting at the Australian Film Television & Radio School, RMIT University, Monash University and NIDA.

Luke’s areas of research interest include the Hollywood Studio Era from birth to decline; and the development, evolution and implementation of narrative tropes in film genres.