Former Fiji political advisor nominated for Academy Award

A former political advisor and speech writer to the late former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, David Seidler, has hit the big time in Hollywood after being nominated for an Academy Award for “The Kings Speech”.

The Academy Awards official website said Seidler’s nomination for top honours is being described as a stranger than fiction Cinderella story after being nominated for the Best Screenwriter award.

73-year-old Seidler’s work in “The Kings Speech” has been viewed as a best picture frontrunner, making Seidler a favorite when it comes to the original screenplay category.

It said in a career that stretches back to the 1960s, Seidler never wrote a hit movie, though he had been a prolific TV writer, most of that work had dried up in recent years thanks to the explosion of reality television, leaving him laboring on such fares as “Kung Fu Killer” and the “Son of the Dragon” miniseries.

Seidler got work on a 1960s TV series called “Adventures of the Seaspray”, which was shot in Fiji.

He then ended up in Fiji, serving as a political advisor and speech writer for Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

A local consultant and writer who worked with Seidler in the period leading up to Independence, Mat Wilson, said he knew back then that Seidler would move on to achieve global fame through his inspiring work.