Duncan was born in Melbourne, grew up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and studied at Queensland Institute of Technology (QUT,) winning the QUT Medal for Academic Excellence, before moving to Los Angeles to study at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Duncan sold several major “spec” screenplays in Los Angeles including Zero Gravity (to Disney) Deep Blue Sea (to Warner Bros) and Underground (to Stratus Film.) Deep Blue Sea was produced starring Samuel L Jackson and earned over AU$200 million worldwide, and Underground was developed with Will Smith attached to star. He developed a wide variety of projects while in Los Angeles including an animated feature for Dreamworks and a television series for the CW.
Since moving back to Australia, Duncan has written family comedy Bluey which currently has Mark Lamprell attached as director, Shane Jacobson and Deborah Mailman formally attached, and producers Mark Overett and James M. Vernon. Also in development is thriller Ocean Pirates for producers Kirk D’Amico, David Redman and John H Williams.
Other writing assignments have included a Formula One racing legend Bruce McLaren biopic drama Eleven Tenths for Lord of the Rings producer Barrie M. Osborne, family action-adventure Pandamonium for W.A. producers WBMC, and Husband & Spy – an action/romantic comedy pilot for Fox Television Studios/Fox21 in L.A. Current projects include a drama television series for Essential Media.
Duncan has been a featured guest at the Brisbane International Film Festival, been selected to participate in Screen Australia’s “High Concept Workshop” with Michael Hauge, and been funded by Screen Australia multiple times for both group approvals and as an individual writer.
