Amanda Higgs

Her path to success - as the producer and co-creator of TV's highly successful drama, The Secret Life of Us - remains a bit of a mystery to Curtin graduate Amanda Higgs.

After Higgs graduated from Curtin in 1996 with a BA, and a double major in Journalism and Film and Television, she worked in Perth newsrooms before attending the Australian Film and Television School in Sydney. Higgs subsequently held several production assistant jobs.

In 1995, she went to the US to work with David E. Kelley Productions and Warner Brothers in Los Angeles. During that time, Higgs completed working attachments on major American shows, including Picket Fences, Chicago Hope and ER.

After returning to Australia, Higgs worked predominantly as a script editor, with television credits including Police Rescue, Fallen Angels, High Flyers, Wildside and Water Rats.

Although her career might look like the result of a well calculated plan, Higgs says that it certainly hasn't been that.

"When I first worked in Sydney, I got into script editing sort of by chance and now it's become a major part of what I do. I'm drawn to what I do because I love to tell stories," she said.

"During the years after I first left Curtin and went to Sydney, I formed important relationships that have come to shape my career in ways I could never have foreseen at the time."

Higgs' advice to those aspiring to a career in the world of television: "Be true to your skills. Know what your strengths are but also be open to what might come along."