Speaker Details

Full Name
Rick Kalowski
Company
Whoa Bandit Productions
Title
Co-Founder | Screenwriter | Producer
Biography
Rick is an International Emmy Award nominated screenwriter and producer, who has often been named among The Sydney Morning Herald’s Most Influential People in Australian TV. He is co-founder with writer/producer Natassia Halabi of scripted production company Whoa Bandit, with television drama and comedy projects in active development.

He is currently writing an original feature for UK-based Australian director Jennifer Perrott (Doctor Who starring Jodie Whittaker, Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack, Rain Dogs (HBO / BBC)), and another original for producer Kristian Moliere (The Babadook). Rick recently wrote and co-presented the acclaimed documentary podcast series Laya’s Way Home, released in June 2023 on ABC Listen / Radio National as part of The History Listen program.
From 2013 to 2020, Rick was Head of Comedy at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, overseeing more than 100 scripted titles across TV, iView, online and podcast, which to date have earned some 85 AACTA nominations, multiple Logie Awards and many other honours.

ABC titles commissioned by Rick include current award-winning hits Fisk (starring Kitty Flanagan) and Working Dog’s Utopia, as well as Rosehaven (co-produced with Amazon and AMC / Sundance), BAFTA nominee Frayed from Sharon Horgan’s Merman Television (with Sky UK / HBO Max), The Letdown (with Netflix), International Emmy Award nominee Please Like Me (with Participant Media), Kate McCartney & Kate McLennan’s Get Krack!n’ and The Katering Show, Ronny Chieng: International Student (with Comedy Central USA), Superwog (with YouTube) and Indigenous drama Wrong Kind of Black, for which Rick shared a 2019 International Emmy nomination for Best Digital Scripted Series. Before ABC, Rick was head of scripted at Quail TV (now Perpetual Entertainment) in Sydney / Los Angeles. His own award-winning creator / writer / producer credits include ABC comedies At Home with Julia and Wednesday Night Fever, and head writer of Nine Network Australia’s long-running sketch hit Comedy Inc: The Late Shift.

His first script, AACTA nominated comedy The Honourable Wally Norman, was produced by Best Picture Oscar winner Emile Sherman and opened the 2003 Sydney Film Festival. Rick has also developed comedy pilots for BBC, and for Fox / Imagine Television in the US. Prior to becoming a screenwriter/producer, Rick was a lawyer, including serving as Associate to Justice Mary Gaudron at the High Court of Australia.
Country (Address)
Australia
Rick Kalowski