Kirsty Fisher

Kirsty Fisher is probably Australian, so she would also fit well with my old biography posts.

She's maybe-Australian and a TV writer.

I say maybe-Australian, because she could be from New Zealand.

She does work in the Aussie screen industry, though.

I can see that from looking at her filmography.

She wrote one of the episodes of Wanted that I watched today.

I'm liking that show a lot. I've seen it described as a cross between The Fugitive and Thelma and Louise. I definitely agree with that assessment.

The show is about two women, Lola (Rebecca Gibney) and Chelsea (Geraldine Hakewill), who know each other only because they take the same bus every day.

One day (or night?) things don't go well at the bus stop. They end up being part of a crooked cop drama. They're kidnapped, chased, framed for murder, etc.

They become fugitives and bond along the way.

In Kirsty Fisher's episode, Lola and Chelsea mess up on filling the car with petrol. Oops! And they end up having to trek through the Australian wilderness.

It's quite a shitty mess but fun to watch because there's suspense, touching moments, and humor. And unlike the most recent Game of Thrones episode I watched, there's plenty of sunshine and other sources of light. So I can see what's going on.

* * *

Now I'm going to make my way through Kirsty Fisher's filmography.

Chronologically, the first thing I see is that Fisher was an assistant to producer and secretary to producer for the show Halifax f.p.

You know...I think Rebecca Gibney was in that too.  Although I could be wrong.

I'll click on the show and see.

I'm not wrong! Yay! Gibney was the star of that.  

It seems to me that Fisher had more humble beginnings than Daniel Chun. Daniel Chun was like Harvard; then onto writing for The Simpsons.  

Note: By humble beginnings, I mean their writing careers...not their childhoods.

The Halifax f.p gig was from 1997-1998. Also around that time period, Fisher worked as a script editor trainee for two episodes of Stingers.  I guess that was an educational job. I wonder if she got paid at all. Or was it more of an internship type thing?

I've heard of Stingers but have never watched it. I also can't remember who's in it. Though I feel that it's one of those shows that constantly pops up when I look at the past work of actors I'm seeing in recent Aussie TV shows. 

For fun, I'm going see if I know of any of the actors in one of the episodes that Fisher did her training. 

There's Kate Kendall.  I know her from Neighbours.

Jessica Napier.  I loved her in McLeod's Daughters.  

Nicholas Bell. I've seen him in a lot of stuff. And he's one of the stars of Wanted.

* * *

If I'm understanding IMDb correctly, it looks like Fisher was having a lack of screen work from 1999-2003.  Things get quiet.

I wonder what she was doing.

Taking care of a baby?

Theater work?

Writing a novel?

Dealing with an illness.

School?

Working at a job that is totally outside the realm of the TV industry?

Anyway....

In 2003, Fisher got back into things. She worked for the TV show The Sleepover Club.

She was a script editor for thirteen episodes and a writer for one episode. 

The Sleepover Club is another show that I've heard of but never watched.  

I think maybe it's like The Saddle Club in the sense that it's filmed in Australia but they keep the setting vague.  

The Saddle Club was annoyingly mysterious about what country the horses and girls were living in.  

No, mysterious is the wrong word. A mystery would have been fun. They would have dropped hints and tried to get us to guess.

Obtuse would be a better word. Or vague? 

Oh! Cool.

I just saw from IMDb that I'm wrong.  

The Sleepover Club is actually about Australians. That's cool.

Lord Wiki says that the books, the show is based on, actually take place in England. But the TV show took place in Australia.

Now I'm looking at what actors I recognize from this show.

Ryan Corr.  He was in Wanted. But mostly I know him from Packed to the Rafters. And the Wolf Creek sequel.  

At least I think it was the sequel.  Or was it the first one?

There's Caitlin Stasey. I recognized her but had to click on her name, because I couldn't remember what I've seen her in.  It was probably Tomorrow When the World Began.

So far I feel this post is more about actors than writers.

Sorry.

I think I'm just more used to writing about actors than writers.

I'll get a hang of things eventually.

Or maybe I won't.

Ah! Eliza Taylor!  She's in The Sleepover Club. I know her from the American show The 100. 

I'm thinking I should look specifically at the episode that Fisher wrote.  It's called Fearlotto.  It involves the sleepover kids sharing their worst fears.

What is the deal with these sleepovers?  How often does the club meet? Do they always have a sleepover?  

Okay. Lord Wiki says the club is made up of five girls and they sleep over one of their houses at least once a week.

That sounds pretty fun.

I'm imagining that at one point, there might be a newbie in the mix.  I also kind of imagine there's an outsider who tries to sabatoge the club.  

* * *

Someone has uploaded the "Fearlotto" episode to YouTube. I don't expect it to be around for long, so if you click on my link, it might, unfortunately, take you nowhere. 

I'm just watching random scenes.

It turns out the sleepover girls aren't just sharing their fears but planning to work together to conquer their fears. It's like group therapy.

Their Aussie accents seem very strong to me. 

I'm trying to figure out which young girl grew up to be the girl in The 100.

I think it's the girl wearing purple?

Yikes. Again...more into the actors than the writing.

* * *

I'm going to move onto the next show.

It's actually something I've never heard of before. 

Silversun.

Ryan Corr was one of the stars.  

So there seems to be some kind of connection between Fisher and Corr.  It might not be a connection between the two of them...but maybe a joint connection through someone else.  For example, maybe there's a producer or director that's friends (or friendly) with both Fisher and Corr.

Angus McClaren is also on the show and he starred with both Corr and Gibney on Packed to the Rafters.

Silversun is a 2004 science fiction show. It's about starting a colony on a silver sun.

What is a silver sun?

Lord Wiki says it's a British rock band and an Aussie TV show.  So I guess there is no real silver sun hanging out somewhere.  

I'm guessing it's the idea that somewhere out there is a sun that has a lot of silver in it's atmosphere. Or it has some chemical that makes it look silver in color?

Anyway, Fisher is listed as part of the script department for twelve episodes. And she was the writer for three episodes.  

Here's one of the episodes that Fisher wrote. 

Ryan Corr has some wild, futuristic hair.

The black girl in the show looks familar to me. Do I know her from somewhere?

I don't know her character name so it would be hard to find out what actress is playing her.

The more I watch bits of the show, the more curious I get. And I don't think they're going to say her name. So I'm going to Google the actors and see if I can find a black one.

So far I'm finding only white girls. But I've clicked on only two names...so far.

I found it!!!!

Cleopatra Coleman.

And I know her from an American TV show—Last Man on Earth.  

I love that show!

She's Jamaican black rather than Aboriginal black.

Okay. Yeah. This post is probably going to be more about me getting excited about recognizing actors than it ever is going to be about Kirsty Fisher.  At least during the IMDb part.  

The problem is, I'm not sure how much I'll find outside of IMDb.

* * *

The next show on Fisher's filmography is Last Man Standing. Fisher was a script editor for that.

There are last men on earth and last men standing.

And isn't there an American show, Last Man Standing?

Yep. Googled.  It's with Tim Allen.

The Australian Last Man Standing came out in 2005. Rodger Corser was the star.  It's a comedy-drama about male friendship.  It sounds a bit like House Husbands. And peaking ahead....Fisher wrote for that show as well.  

* * *

I watched the next show on Fisher's filmography—Pirate Island—the Last Treasures of Fiji. 

I remember these things. A) I watched it in Disney World when we were staying in Port Orleans. Jack was sick. It was very hot. B) I didn't like the show very much.

Fisher wrote only one episode: "Unholy Alliance".  It was the second to the last one.

I want to move on from this.

I don't want to have any reliving of my time on Pirate Island.

* * *

In 2006, Fisher was a script editor for five episodes of the first season of H20: Just Add Water. And she wrote one episode of season 2.

Oh! And that has a connection to Silversun. Angus McClaren was in both shows.

I'm looking at the episode that Fisher wrote: "Hocus Pocus". It's about making a potion that grants wishes. I vaguely remember that.  

Maybe there was a creepy guy who wished for one of the mermaids to fall in love with him? Or something like that?

* * *

It seems that between 2003-2007, Fisher was mostly writing children's television shows.

I might have failed to mention that some of these shows were for kids. The Sleepover Club seems kind of obvious. If there was an adult show called The Sleepover Club, it would probably be porno or erotica.

But yeah—Silversun, H20 Just Add Water, and Pirate Island are also all kid shows.

After 2007, Fisher's filmography goes quiet again.

Then she comes back in 2011 with a NOT-kid show.  Instead it's a parenting show—Laid.

Oh! And now I see there's a season 2.  

I've watched only season 1.

I wonder if season 2 is on Netflix yet. 

You know...I really thought Laid was more recent—like from 2 years ago rather than 8 years ago.

Oh no!!!!

Wait.

I have the wrong show.

Stupid-me.

I'm thinking of The Let Down!!!!

I think that IS new.

I did also watch Laid, but I don't remember much about it.  

I'm pretty sure it stars the same woman from The Let Down.

Okay. Yeah. Alison Bell.  Now I feel a tiny bit less stupid.

Anyway, Laid is a comedy. I think about romance?  I don't remember much about it. IMDb, though, is triggering my memory a bit. I think Bell believes she's cursed?  She has multiple ex-lovers dying on her.

Here's a trailer.

It's kind of like a romantic dark comedy.

I wish I remembered it more.

I would sit here and say I should re-watch it. But there's just too much new stuff to watch.

That being said....I do have two re-watching things on my to-watch List.  One is Lost and the other is The Haunting of Hill House.

Anyway....

Fisher was actually one of the creators of Laid. She co-created it with a woman named Marieke Hardy.  

The two of them also produced the show along with six other producers.  

* * *

In 2013, Fisher wrote an episode of Mr. and Mrs. Murder.  I think I've seen one episode of that?  Maybe we watched it IN Australia? I have this vague feeling/memory that we did. I think maybe there was something with horses?

Oh!  

I just clicked on the episode and saw that Fisher wrote the very first one! I wasn't expecting that.

Any actors, on the show, that seem to be have some kind of connection to Fisher and/or her work?

Yes!

Alison Bell!

Anyone else?

Well, not that I can see.

I'm watching the trailer now. The premise is more interesting than I imagined.  I thought it was just another detective thing. But no, Mr. and Mrs Murder (Shaun Micallef and Kat Stewart) are crime scene CLEANERS.  

Did I understand that when I watched the one episode? Maybe I did and just forgot?

* * *

The next show is....

DANCE ACADEMY!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!

That's such a fantastic show.

I think I've tried to get everyone in my family to watch it....well, not the three young boys. Because at the time they would have been way too young. Or not even born.

But anyway, not one family member took my advice. 

Their loss!

I really think all of them would like it.

Well to be fair, Jack and Tim did TRY one episode. But still. I think they should have tried a bit harder. Maybe.

Fisher wrote four episodes in 2012-2013.  Which season would that be?

Just did the clicking.

There's one from season 2 and three from season 3.  

I'm going to see if I remember any of them.

In the first episode "A Choreographed Life", Christian (Jordan Rodrigues) is hurt by Tara (Xenia Goodwin).  

I recently watched the Americanized version of Rodrigues in The Fosters.

I wonder if any fans of The Fosters have ended up seeking out Dance Academy. I hope so.

Well...as for "A Choreographed Life", nothing in the description really rings my memory bell.

The next episode is "The Naturals". I kind of remember this one, or at least I remember the storyline it leads to.  

Zach (Kip Gamblin) gives Grace (Isabel Durant) some private lessons. And if I remember correctly, that led to an incident of the ever-so-popular TV troupe of false accusations of sexual assault. 

I can't remember but am wondering. Did Dance Academy ever deal with real sexual assault or harassment? 

Oh! I almost forgot to mention.  From what I saw in the description, it seems "The Naturals" is where Abi (Dena Kaplan) starts singing.  

I think with the third episode "Short Cut Clause" the grief has already begun. Because Thom Green is not in the credits.

He IS in "The Naturals".

I guess he dies in between those two episodes.

Anyway...the last Fisher episode is "Graceland".

Nothing about it feels familar to me.

And...

I'm confused.

Now I'm seeing that only "Graceland" is in season 3.  The other episodes were in season 2.  

Did I read something wrong? Or is IMDb being confusing?

Well...it seems to be me.

I read things wrong.

It's two episodes in season 2 and two episodes in season 3.  

The big tragedy happens towards the end of season 2.  

I'm looking through the episodes, and I totally have to watch that tribute scene now.  

So...beautiful.

* * *

I see that once again I've messed up chronologically with IMDb.

BEFORE Dance Academy, Fisher wrote some episodes of Winners and Losers.

I've heard of that show but haven't watched it yet.

I don't know if it's available on the three streaming thingies I use (Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon) 

No...I don't see it.

But anyway, Fisher wrote five episodes from 2011-2014. 

I'll look at the middle one. It's called "Maybe Baby" 

None of the actors on the show seem very familar to me; though some seem vaguely familar.

Wait. Damien Brodie....

I think he's the guy from The Elephant Princess.

Yep. I'm right.

Cool.

I like being right. 

* * *

I couldn't find "Maybe Baby" on Youtube. But someone has uploaded another Fisher episode—"Happiness is a Delusion".

I'm going to watch a little bit.  

The people have weird voices. Like they sucked in helium. I'm not sure if there's an issue with the uploading, or it's part of the storyline?

I fast-forwarded and people still sound strange.

Maybe the characters just talk that way.

Or maybe I'm having some kind of really fucked up neurological symptom. Is there something where everyone sounds like a Chipmunk to you?

Well, no. I'm fine. I can hear Tim in the other room, and he sounds normal.

I just turned on another YouTube video—a Ted Talk. And that sounds funny to me too!!????

Now I'm watching Oprah read Harry Potter. All is well with that.

So, what's happening?

I think I get it.

My guess is that the Winners and Losers episode was uploaded at the wrong speed. Then by coincidence, I think the Ted Talker had a kind of high voice.

* * *

Fisher wrote a season 2 episode of Upper Middle Bogan.  I watched the series but don't remember the episode.

I feel most of this post is about me forgetting what I watched in the past. 

The description on IMDb says Julie (Robyn Malcolm) learns that Wayne (Glenn Robbins) is a descendant of rich relatives. 

Yeah. I totally don't remember that.

I'm not even sure who Wayne is.

Julie's husband?

Yeah. That's who he is.

I wasn't sure, because his picture is not on IMDb. So I clicked on his name and saw he's the actor who was also in Kath and Kim. That helped to put things together for me.

* * *

Fisher wrote two episodes of Wonderland.

I watched some of that on Hulu. Years ago!  I so loved it.  Hulu was weird about it, though. They had the 1st season and part of the 2nd season combined as one season.  

Recently I learned that it's now on Amazon Prime.  

Well, they have the first two seasons.

Were any more seasons made?

Yes! 

It's three seasons!

Will we ever get all seasons here?

I hope so!

Fisher wrote an episode of season 2 and season 3.

I'm not going to dive deep because I don't want spoilers.

* * *

Fisher wrote an episode of Ready For This.

It was a 2015 series about Aboriginal teens at a hostel in Sydney.  

Here's a trailer for the series.

It's a teen drama.

I think it looks pretty good. 

The anthem kid (Aaron L McGrath) from Redfern Now is one of the stars. So is manipulative Billie (Tessa de Josselin) from Home and Away.  Though I think she ended up being less manipulative later on...after I stopped watching.  People DO change sometimes. Like Theon Greyjoy.  BUT...I think it happens more in fiction than in real life.  

* * *

Well, I had some more chronological confusion.

Back in 2013....during the days of Dance Academy, Mr and Mrs. Murder and Winners and Losers, Fisher wrote an episode of House Husbands.  It was in season 2, which I would have watched.

The episode is where Kane (Gyton Grantley) and Tom (Tim Campbell) have their lives stressed by the appearance of their daughter's biological father.

I vaguely remember that.

Maybe?

Was their daughter adopted?

* * *

I just suggested to Tim that we maybe re-watch Game of Thrones, which reminded me that we re-watched some of Westworld.

So...I might have kind of misspoke before when I talked about re-watching only Lost and The Haunting of Hill House.

Anyway....onto The Family Law. This is a more recent show.  Fisher is a producer and writer for it.

Oh! It's about Chinese-Australians.

I don't think I knew that Australia has an Asian show.

That's very cool.

Fisher is the top writer just below the creator (Benjamin Law).  She's written 11 out of 18 episodes.

All the episodes of season 3 came out on January 12, 2019 which makes me think it's Netflix.  

I wonder if it's on my watch-list.  If it is, that means I DID know there was an Asian-Australian show and just forgot. Like usual.  

I just checked my IMDb app on my phone.

Yes. It's on my watch-list.

Here's a promo of the show—the opening scene. 

It looks very sweet.

I hope to watch it someday.

Well...it might not happen because there are over a thousand things on my watch-list.

And I just checked. I was wrong about it being on Netflix.

Maybe Amazon Prime.....

Nope.

* * * 

The last show on Fisher's filmography is Mustangs FC. 

She's written eight episodes.

It looks like another team drama. This one's about football.

Here's a trailer for the 2nd season.

I guess it looks kind of good. Maybe?

I'm not really into sports.

But I'm also not really into dance, and I liked Dance Academy.

* * *

Now I'm going to look for articles and/or interviews.....

Here is Fisher's profile on the RGM website. I think it's an agency.  

They say that Fisher was an in-house development coordinator at Burberry Productions.

I have no idea what an in-house development coordinator is. I'm not sure I care enough to try to figure out what it means.

But I WILL look up Burberry Productions.  

They are a TV production company that is no longer active.

I guess they still have a website for nostalgic purposes...or for curious people like me.

They made Last Man Standing and The Sleepover Club—two of Fisher's shows.

Fisher was also part of something called Scribe. It has to do with screen and play development.  

I think this Playmaker website is talking about the Scribe thing.

What is Playmaker?

Oh. Okay. It's an Australian television production company. 

They're responsible for the shows Hiding, Love Child, The Code, House Husbands, and Slide.

There are other shows as well. The ones above are just the ones I've heard of (or watched) before.

Scribe seems to be about Australian writers working with writers in Los Angeles to help them refine their work.

It kind of sounds like they're trying to make Australian writers more Hollywoodish. 

It could be because American shows have more mass-international appeal, and they're trying to get Australian shows the same amount of attention.  

There are shows in Australia that are fairly popular around the world. But I don't think there has been anything like America's Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.  OR like the UK's Downton Abbey. 

Though I'm not sure it's about quality. 

It could be more about marketing and distribution.  

Anyway....

Here's some other stuff about Kirsty Fisher.

She has two small kids.

I wonder when that profile was written.

The small kids might be big kids now.

 And here's something quite interesting: Fisher has a stationery company called International Girl Aerogrammes. It's an initiative to get people back into letter writing.

Reading all my old letters this year and last year really made me miss letter-writing.

Then again, it could be that I lost(or greatly reduced) contact with pretty much EVERYONE from my past...except for my immediate family.

If  I was still in touch with people—texting them on a regular basis, I probably wouldn't have such a longing.

For example. In college, my first cousin and I frequently kept in touch with letter writing. We shared a lot. We were very much in touch.

Now I see him every few years at family gatherings, and it's just vague small talk.

What if we were still good friends? What if we texted on a weekly basis?  

So...it's probably my relationship to him that I miss and not the actual letter-writing.

* * *

Here's a 2009 review of International Girl Aerogrammes. I'm assuming it's the one that Fisher was co-creator/owner of.

I say was, because I tried to go to the actual website, and it doesn't work. It might have gone out of business?

The reviewer says the stationery designs have the aim of increasing awareness about cultures and languages. The example in the reviewer's photo has Arabic on the stationery.

The stationery is environmentally friendly—100% recycled. That's cool!

They have a quote from International Girl Aerogramme's mission. They say:

We believe that happiness and kindness come through slowing down and taking time: savoring the moment and being aware.

I definitely agree with this. Though it would be wise for me to work on putting it in practice more.

Well.....

Maybe my new way of doing biography posts is kind of on that path.

With the old way, I'd work all day. It was exhausting. And I'm sure I felt very rushed at times.

Now I'm writing the posts over several days. I feel less rushed. And also it gives me more time for other things.

* * *

Now I'm going to read an interview with Fisher and her Laid writing partner Marieke Hardy. It's in something called IF Magazine.

The article/interview is from 2012.

Fisher said she met Hardy when she was a script editor for a kids TV show that Hardy was writing for.

I wonder which one.

I guess I can just cross reference their filmographies.....

Looking at Hardy's filmography.  It looks like it was The Sleepover Club that brought them together.

In between The Sleepover Club and Laid, the two writers worked together on Last Man Standing.  

Fisher says this about her and Hardy's collaboration: 

I think our styles are slightly different. I think she does much more zingy one-liners and lots of pop culture references and I think I’m a bit more mushy. I often go for the heart and the warmth and the kind of poignant moment.

That makes collaboration sound really wonderful.

I haven't done much writing with other people. What Fisher says makes me want to. It sounds nice, working with your strengths and having someone else pick up the slack when it comes to your weaknesses.

My biggest weakness is probably descriptions. I'm horrible at describing people and settings.

It would be cool if I can have someone write the descriptions and I'd maybe do the dialogue?  We could both work on plot stuff.

Although I imagine sometimes things don't work out well. What if I have a writer friend that I adore. We want to work together but it ends up we both suck at writing descriptions. What if we both think we're good at writing dialogue, and we get all competitive and spiteful about that.

I like what Fisher says here: She’s a lot stronger on the directing – in rehearsals she’s much more able to direct performers because she understands that language. She understands how to communicate it in a way that’s sort of subtle and diplomatic rather than me going “not like that!

Funny! And I like Fisher's self-awareness. She seems to understand her strengths and weaknesses.

Oh!  I could have just kept reading.

In Marieke's section, she reveals that the children's show was The Sleepover Club.

Now I'm wondering why Fisher was vague about it. Did she forget the show?  Was she trying to be mysterious? Is she embarrassed of it?

* * *

Now I'm reading an interview with Benjamin Law regarding The Family Law.

He says something similar to what Fisher said about collaboration. AND he also seems to agree with what Fisher said regarding her emotional writing.

He says: Even in the series two iteration of the writers room, there are all of these different elements that complement each other. Lawrence Leung brings a lot of heart. Kirsty Fisher brings so much emotional depth, but also logic as well. She will say “This doesn’t make sense. This would make sense if you were in *this* situation”. Sophie Miller just has the vision. I provide really bad jokes, half of which don’t work. And Julie Eckersley who is our producer, who is in the room as well, has an acting background. So, when we can’t understand a scene, she gets up out of her chair to act it out.

That's very cool.

* * *

Here's an article, in The Age, about Fisher, Hardy, and Laid.

Now suddenly I'm naming the websites that I'm visiting.. I mean I usually do that when it comes to IMDb, Twitter, and stuff like that. But I don't usually name the places I'm finding the articles or blogposts.

So, now I'm thinking what I really need, in terms of collaboration, is a writer who is good at consistency.

I'm horrible at being consistent.

For example....

Should I write out numbers or should I just use the actual number?

When I talk about TV shows, should I talk in present tense or past tense. Should it be Ryan Corr is in Packed to the Rafters or Ryan Corr was in Packed to the Rafters.

Anyway.....

Paul Kalina, the author of the article, describes Laid as part gentle black comedy, part romantic fable.

I like that—gentle black comedy.

I wonder what other shows would fit into that description. 

Maybe Santa Clarita's Diet?  The gore of the show is FAR from gentle. It's very gruesome. But the characters are so sweet...even though they're committing murder.

Hardy is big on declaring that her show is not about female empowerment or a female fightback show.

Why? What's so wrong with that?  

I mean not every show has to be about female empowerment. But why would someone feel the need to promote the fact that it's not.  

It's like she's worried people will avoid the show because they're afraid of feminist themes.  

There's also stuff in the article about making sure Roo (Alison Bell) doesn't seem like too much of a slut. Because then she could end up being unlikeable.

Yikes.  

And they didn't want Roo to be too beautiful, because it might be a put off to female viewers.

Okay. That one I'm guilty of.

Sort of.

There have been actresses I've been resistant to, because they were too pretty. When I first saw their shows, I saw them as mindless, boring Barbie Dolls. But within an episode or two, I quite adored them.

The two that come to mind are Amanda Schull in 12 Monkeys and Lauren German in Lucifer.

I also have issues when almost every woman on a show looks like models. The newer episodes of Home and Away were like that for me. Too much prettiness. 

* * *

As for social media....

There are quite a few Kirsty Fisher's on Twitter,  but I don't think any of them are the subject of this post.

How about Instagram?

No. I'm not finding the right Kirsty Fisher there either.

I don't have a Facebook account, so I'm not going to explore that avenue.

So...I guess this will be the end.

Read my novel: The Dead are Online