Alice Bell

Alice Bell is a screenwriter and video director that is most famous for being married to an Australian actor named Leon Ford.

Background

Alice grew up in Balmain, Sydney. Little is known of the beautiful Australian’s educational background. The only fact available publicly is that during her college days, she was studying at the University of California. Her parents are Elizabeth Bell and Calvin Bell. Alice’s father Calvin has passed on but her mother is still alive and well. Before she got into the world of filming and writing, Alice had worked in various occupations including being a dental nurse.

Breaking New Ground

Apart from working at the hospital, Alice has worked at a local electroplating factory. These occupations did not satisfy for her emotionally or spiritually. She felt like she needed a creative outlet to really express herself. Her jobs were well paid but they were not connecting with her on a deep level. As a result of her search for meaning, Alice opted to enter into the production field. At the start of her new career, Bell worked as a production assistant. But after a showing a dose of competency and hard work, Alice climbed the ladder in her field to become a Production Manager. During this time, Alice worked at The Doll Collective, a company owned by Leah Churchill-Brown.

Behind the Mind of a Writer

As a screenwriter, Alice Bell’s name is not new as it relates to movies and TV shows because she has been able to craft a healthy resume in the entertainment industry. She wrote the Suburban Mayhem, which became a multi-award winning production. As a result, Alice received the AWGIE for Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, Bell wrote the script for The Beautiful Lie where she worked alongside Jonathan Gavin, John Edwards, and Peter Salmon. She was a set-up writer on the award-winning Puberty Blues. In 2013, the film scooped the AACTA Award for Best Drama.

In an interview with the National Young Writers’’ Festival, Alice was asked to give festival attendees some insight on how she got into writing and what advice she has for her fellow writers. Alice was happy to share her though process, “I think I’ve just always been a studier of people, always observing and thinking about why they might say what they just said or did what they just did and I think all people who write are like that. They’re studiers and observers, little spies. I think you’ve just got it or you don’t, that ability to listen. It’s mostly about listening, because then the dialogue is truthful.”

Bell got the attention of many people in her industry when she wrote for The Slap, which is a highly praised adaptation of a novel from Christos Tsiolkas. She played her part by writing the ‘Connie’ episode, an episode that many critics say was one of the best in the series. Her writing was able to bring out important beats of the story and give the reader a different look at the main character of the story.

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Bell wrote her part with intentions, “I wanted the episode to stand out from the others because she is, I guess, the voice of the youth in that series and I really tried hard to keep the voice real. I think often on television when older people try to write younger people’s stories I just don’t believe it. I think ‘Really? That’s not how I remember it’ just the awkwardness and thinking you’re old enough to make adult decisions. But on some level you’re still not really capable of certain things, whereas on other levels you are very capable.”

She feels that her greatest strength is writing stories about young people, “I think that’s what’s so interesting about being a teenager, it’s probably why my work surrounds teenagers. I just find it a fascinating age. So it’s a mix of me doing it, but it’s a mix of people coming to me because I’ve already done it I guess.”

Her screenwriting prowess in the miniseries, The Slap earned her an AWGIE award. The comedy known as Spirited won Alice an award nomination at the AWGIE awards.

Showing Versatility as a Video Director

Apart from her screenwriting, Alice also handles music video directing.  She directed the Straight Lines video among other music videos. Alice has also made short clips for artists like Jimmy Barnes, Missy Higgins, and Little Birdy.

As an Australian director, Alice Bell has been involved in a number of notable works including working for artists such as Silverchair. In 2007, Alice won the ARIA Award for Best Video.

Alice cites many sources of inspiration. She is motivated by the tribe of clever, talented and impressive female producers around her. She never gives up because she sees how they all work tirelessly and passionately. They make her want to push through every day because they provide an example and great blueprint on how to succeed as a female in a male dominated industry. She has to juggle her busy life with raising kids but she has no complaints because she observes her heroes and mentors doing the same.

Some of the women that she counts as roles models are Claudia Karvan, Imogen Banks, Leah Churchill-Brown, Amanda Higgs, Jan Chapman, Liz Watts, and Nicole O’Donohue. She claims that she is very lucky to live her life surrounded by smart, interesting, busy, funny, artistic, generous,  and well-read women that are always there to help her when she needs assistance. There is no backstabbing or gossiping that may be present in other industries with a lot of women working together. She credits the female support in her career for why she has been so successful.

Personal Life

Alice is married to an actor name Leon Ford. Leon is a multi-faceted man who is into acting, directing and writing. Alice and Leon have two daughters. Leon’s name has appeared in numerous theatre productions as well as Australian TV shows.  Some of his popular television series include Stepfather of the Bride, Changi and The Cooks.

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