About

Béatrice Barbeau-Scurla (Bea) is a writer, producer and performer born and raised in Sydney. Now based in Melbourne and a self-described “recovering stand-up comic”, Béatrice has accumulated impressive credits across numerous stage and screen formats over her ten years in the industry. 

In 2016, Béatrice and her classmate Imogen McCluskey co-wrote a feature film, Suburban Wildlife, which then successfully crowdfunded 4,000 AUD and went into production (with a lot of free labour!). The film has screened all around the world and garnered critical acclaim, even bagging a few awards on the way (second runner-up audience award at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival, long-listed for an AACTA Award). Béatrice and Imogen received CreateNSW festival funding, which allowed them to fly over to California for the world premiere at Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival. 

Graduating from a Bachelor of Screen Arts in 2017, with a few producer credits on short films created by classmates Alexei Toliopoulos (Gronks, Finding Drago (proof of concept for the now-adored ABC Podcast with the same name)) and Michail Mathioudakis (Witch Hunties), Béatrice then launched into Development Production for comedic web-series funded by Screen Australia’s Generate Development. The show entitled CHEN PM 3010 was created by Aaron Chen who approached Béatrice to help him with a Screen Australia Submission. Béatrice worked closely with Aaron and brought Alexei Toliopoulos on board as they worked together on a pre-production pitch. Unfortunately, due to other commitments Aaron had, the series never made it past development. 

To prolong her suffering (and HECS debt), Béatrice graduated with a Master of Screenwriting in 2019 from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). In 2020, her fictional podcast, Expiry Date (co-written with Nina Oyama and Rebecca Shaw), was long-listed for the Australian Writers' Guild and Audible's On Air Podcast Writing Competition. As a comedian, Béatrice performed in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane, and opened for top Australian comedians such as Geraldine Hickey (The Gala) and Wil Anderson (Gruen Transfer).  In 2023, she debuted her one-woman comedy show “HOUSE”, which was developed with financial support from both PACT’s Centre for Emerging Artists and the Adelaide Fringe Artist Fund. It was about the selling of her childhood home, intergenerational trauma and mental illness, but it was also funny (she swears!). It received decent reviews and some praise from Industry legends (she doesn’t want to brag, but if you ask, she’ll tell you who they are). Also, thanks to her ties to the comedy world, she was able to be a contributing writer on ABC’s show Question Everything, receiving specific praise from Wil Anderson, Charlie Pickering and Paul McDermott for her joke writing and comedic offers.  

Béatrice moved to Melbourne in 2023 while working as a Development Assistant at Princess Pictures. She worked on several projects, helping writers (often from non-screenwriting backgrounds) help develop, pitch and rewrite their concepts to get them ready for market. In 2024, Frankie McNair approved Béatrice to help produce a web series called “The Telling of the Untold Story of Tabitha Booth”. She joined the team as not only a producer but a Script Editor, helping Frankie and her co-writer Harris Stuckey find the heart, plot and format the show correctly. It was uploaded to Grouse House in 2025 and is currently sitting on 27k views. Béatrice’s talent for making low to no-budget projects drew the attention of Haven’t You Done Well, Aunty Donna’s production company, and she was employed to help them build a platform for their YouTube Grouse House. Working closely with the head of Grouse House, Lee Naimo, Béatrice helped launch grousehouse.tv, being an essential member in creating the vibe, look and feel of the platform. During this time at Haven’t You Done Well, Béatrice produced, helped develop and re-format several of Grouse House’s shows, such as Special Interest Quiz, Crafternoon, History Untold and Big Time Murder. 

Now Béatrice is jobless and looking at her keyboard, saying, “When did I stop finding time to write?” and reminding myself that the time is now.