More than 125 years after Miles Franklin first introduced the world to Sybylla Melvyn, Netflix is helping usher the iconic literary heroine into a new era – gathering leading creatives, authors and cultural voices to celebrate the enduring impact of “My Brilliant Career” ahead of its upcoming screen adaptation.
Held as an intimate cocktail reception, the event brought together women whose own creative paths have been influenced by Franklin’s writing, from authors and screen creatives, to women-led book clubs and literary voices, as anticipation builds for Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of “My Brilliant Career.”
Leading the evening’s tributes were Amanda Duthie, Head of Content at Netflix ANZ; actor Philippa Northeast, who stars as Sybylla in the forthcoming series; and executive producer Chloe Rickard.
“Miles spent her whole life being told her ambitions were too big. We thought – what better fit for Netflix,” Duthie said. “There is something quietly poetic about a story that was almost suppressed in its time now reaching more people across the world than ever before.”
The celebration comes amid a major resurgence of interest in Franklin’s work. In recent months, “My Brilliant Career” has inspired a successful stage musical adaptation from Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company, while new literary works including “Miles Franklin Undercover” and “The Very Secretive And Passionate Stella Miles Franklin” have further reignited conversation around the author’s life and influence.
French author Alexandra Lapierre, who recently appeared across multiple sessions at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, joined fellow author Kerrie Davies and journalist Nikki Gemmell in offering their own reflections on Franklin’s impact.
For Northeast, stepping into the role of Sybylla has highlighted just how contemporary Franklin’s writing still feels more than a century later. “The gift Miles gave me, and all her readers is this: through Syb, [Miles] loudly asks us who we might become if we were brave enough to believe in ourselves, she challenges us to know ourselves honestly and offers us the confidence to pursue a life that feels true to us even if it’s awkward and even when it challenges our societal expectations…more than a century later, her words still remind us that ambition is not arrogance, pants are optional, contradiction is a right of passage and dreaming beyond a life planned for you is worth fighting for,” she said.
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Rickard added: “Sybylla Melvyn is as fresh, funny, and as fiercely alive today as she was in 1901…And now Philippa Northeast is about to take Sybylla out to the world with such ambition and tomfoolery.”
Netflix also used the evening to tease a forthcoming initiative aimed at discovering emerging Australian female writers. Inspired by Franklin’s legacy, the yet-to-be-announced program will give a cohort of writers the opportunity to pitch original concepts directly to the Netflix ANZ content team and receive feedback on their projects.
The new adaptation of “My Brilliant Career” is expected to premiere on Netflix later this year.