Catherine Hill: Women who write our worlds – shaping global screen culture with Some Happy Day (2021, Australia)

By Joanne Tindale¹
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¹ Griffith Film School
Source: Shaping Global Cultures through Screenwriting , pp 269-286
Publication Date: September 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951590_21
Language: English
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Older women are underrepresented on screens in Australian feature films and women comprise 60 per cent of the homeless in Australia. This chapter examines screenwriter Catherine Hill’s debut social realist feature film Some Happy Day ( 2021 ) about an older woman sleeping rough on the streets of Melbourne. It interrogates the script development process, theories and influences, including a detailed analysis of agency for the lead character of Tina. The theme of hope for the future reflects an interdisciplinary approach, which is underpinned by a social welfare strength-based framework to screenwriting. Hill’s work as a case manager and crisis worker supporting marginalized people for over twenty years informed and inspired the film. It explores how her life experiences influenced the story and how she overcame obstacles to develop the project and bring it to fruition. Some Happy Day was supported by the Sacred Heart Mission and the Salvation Army Crisis Centre with the assistance and support of the local community who have a lived experience of homelessness. The film was accompanied by an impact campaign around housing, which aimed to create social change by advocating for a National Housing Policy. Some Happy Day is a powerful example of how an older female screenwriter with a team of collaborators negotiated screen industry norms, practices and hurdles to create a feature film that tackles the significant global issue of homelessness.

Keywords: homelessness ; housing ; older female protagonists ; screenwriting ; script development ; social change ; social impact

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References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness, 2016, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/2049.0. Accessed 20 November 2022.
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (2022), ‘Why does Australia have a rental crisis, and what can be done about it?’, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/why-does-australia-have-rental-crisis-and-what-can-be-done-about-it. Accessed 20 November 2022.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2021), ‘Homelessness and homelessness services’, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/homelessness-and-homelessness-services. Accessed 25 November 2022.
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Field, S. (2005), Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, New York, Dell.
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Gray, R. (2017), Broken Ghost, United States: Amazon Prime.
Hill, C. (2006), Women in Crisis, unpublished television script.
Macdonald, I. W. (2013), Screenwriting Poetics and the Screen Idea, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hill, C. (2021), Some Happy Day, Australia: Special Broadcasting Service.
Hill, C. (2022), Interview with J. Tindale, Melbourne, 15 October.
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McCrae, D. (2011), Johnny Ghost, Australia: Continuum Motion Pictures.
McKee, R. (1999), Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, London: Methuen.
Peppermint (2022), ‘Struggle, strength and stories: The humanity behind homelessness’, 10 October, https://peppermintmag.com/some-happy-day-film. Accessed 23 November 2022.
Potter, M. and Hill, C. (2022), Week 6. Scriptwriting Review, Drama: Four Conditions Essential to the Experience of Drama, Geelong: Deakin University.
Saleebey, D. (1999), ‘The strengths perspective: Principles and practices’, in B. R. Compton and B. Galaway (eds), Social Work Processes, 6th ed., Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
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References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness, 2016, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/2049.0. Accessed 20 November 2022.
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (2022), ‘Why does Australia have a rental crisis, and what can be done about it?’, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/brief/why-does-australia-have-rental-crisis-and-what-can-be-done-about-it. Accessed 20 November 2022.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2021), ‘Homelessness and homelessness services’, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/homelessness-and-homelessness-services. Accessed 25 November 2022.
Batty, C., O’Meara, R., Taylor, S., Joyce, H., Burne, P., Maloney, N., Poole, M. and Tofler, M. (2018), ‘Script development as a “wicked problem”’, Journal of Screenwriting, 9, pp. 153–74, https://doi.org/10.1386/josc.9.2.153_1.
[Google Scholar]
Batty, C., Taylor, S., Sawtell, L. and Conor, B. (2017), ‘Script development: Defining the field’, Journal of Screenwriting, 8, pp. 225–47, https://doi.org/10.1386/josc.8.3.225_1.
[Google Scholar]
Cash, R., O’Donnell, M., Varker, T., Armstrong, R., Di Censo, L., Zanatta, P., Murnane, A., Brophy, L. and Phelps, A. (2014), The Trauma and Homelessness Service Framework, Melbourne: Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health in collaboration with Sacred Heart Mission, Mind Australia, Inner South Community Health and VincentCare Victoria.
Chandler, J. (2014), ‘Catherine Hill’, Australian Stage, https://www.australianstage.com.au/201408126938/features/melbourne/catherine-hill.html. Accessed 22 November 2022.
[Google Scholar]
Collins, The Hon Julie MP (2022), ‘Helping more Australians into homes’, media release, https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/9511. Accessed 25 November 2022.
Documentary Australia Foundation (2022), ‘Documentary Australia Foundation’, https://documentaryaustralia.com.au. Accessed 2 December 2022.
Field, S. (2005), Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, New York, Dell.
Finneran, P. (2014), ‘Documentary impact: Social change through storytelling’, Hot Docs, Inspirit Foundation, Panicaro Foundation, https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.hotdocs.ca/doc/HD14_Documentary_Impact_Report.PDF. Accessed 12 December 2022.
Gray, R. (2017), Broken Ghost, United States: Amazon Prime.
Hill, C. (2006), Women in Crisis, unpublished television script.
Macdonald, I. W. (2013), Screenwriting Poetics and the Screen Idea, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hill, C. (2021), Some Happy Day, Australia: Special Broadcasting Service.
Hill, C. (2022), Interview with J. Tindale, Melbourne, 15 October.
Hopper, E. K., Bassuk, E. L. and Olivet, J. (2010), ‘Shelter from the storm: Trauma-informed care in homelessness services settings’, The Open Health Services and Policy Journal, 3, pp. 80–100.
[Google Scholar]
Ireland, P. (2015), Pawno, Australia: Toothless Pictures.
Jacey, H. (2017), The Women in the Story: Writing Female Characters, in Trouble, in Love and in Power, Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions.
King, J. (2022), Inclusive Filmmaking for Film and Television, New York: Routledge.
Kornits, D. (2022), ‘Catherine Hill: Deep impact’, Filmink, 12 May, https://www.filmink.com.au/catherine-hill-deep-impact. Accessed 17 November 2022.
[Google Scholar]
Lester, L. and Faulkner, D. (2020), At Risk: Understanding the Population Size and Demographics of Older Women at Risk of Homelessness in Australia, Sydney: Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, The University of Adelaide, Social Ventures Australia, https://www.oldertenants.org.au/sites/default/files/at_risk_final_report_web.pdf. Accessed 27 November 2022.
McCrae, D. (2011), Johnny Ghost, Australia: Continuum Motion Pictures.
McKee, R. (1999), Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, London: Methuen.
Peppermint (2022), ‘Struggle, strength and stories: The humanity behind homelessness’, 10 October, https://peppermintmag.com/some-happy-day-film. Accessed 23 November 2022.
Potter, M. and Hill, C. (2022), Week 6. Scriptwriting Review, Drama: Four Conditions Essential to the Experience of Drama, Geelong: Deakin University.
Saleebey, D. (1999), ‘The strengths perspective: Principles and practices’, in B. R. Compton and B. Galaway (eds), Social Work Processes, 6th ed., Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
[Google Scholar]
Woods, C. (2022), ‘Some Happy Day is Catherine Hill’s powerful tale of homelessness and humanity’, SBS, 1 August, https://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2022/08/01/some-happy-day-catherine-hills-powerful-tale-homelessness-and-humanity. Accessed 17 November 2022.
[Google Scholar]

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