Tue, Dec 14, 2021
This monthly podcast series will focus on the journey of late bloomer actors, the trials and tribulations of starting on a journey in the acting world that many (or dare I say, most) actors commence in their early 20's or 30's, and usually via 3- or 4-years of formal drama school education straight out of senior high school. I will endeavour to bring on guests that are fellow late bloomer actors to learn from their acting journey. And also, industry guests that can advise us late bloomer actors on how to navigate the world of acting in their particular domain, whether that be casting, acting classes, indie or student films or just how to navigate the world of social media and self-marketing.
Fri, Jan 14, 2022
This (my first episode) is with Eva Grzelak, a great friend of mine having met in 2015 as supporting actors on a MAPS student film in Adelaide, South Australia. A short film called 'Frequency' - arguably one of the best short films I've been involved in so far, thanks to the up-and-coming Director Rebecca Duncker. Eva was born in Cheshire England, a year before me and immigrated to Australia in the mid 70's with her parents. Her employment background is as an accomplished audio-visual technician which led her into her love of acting. She is a 2019 South Australian Screen Award Nominee for Best Female Performance and also received the Award Of Merit for Acting in the 2020/21 Southern Shorts Awards. She has also written and directed her first short film 'Untitled Thoughts' a short film about mental health which has done extremely well on the festival circuit. Nicknamed 'Harlee' by childhood friends due to her love of Harley Davidson motorcycles and currently residing in New York, Eva is my first late bloomer actor to join me on the podcast.
Mon, Feb 14, 2022
My guest today is a great friend of mine having started out on the late bloomer acting journey with me in 2013 where we met on day 1 of a 12 month acting course in Adelaide. We like to refer to each other as onscreen husband and wife after we performed our first stage experience together for a scene from the play 'Speaking In Tongues' by Andrew Bovell. In 2015 she was fortunate to partake in a full-time year long acting program with Melbourne's 'Film and Television Studio International'. She continues to participate regularly in acting masterclasses and workshops including the wonderful Anthony Brandon Wong in Sydney as well as having spent almost 2 years in the US exploring the craft. In 2017, now having moved to Sydney Australia, she again stepped on stage for a stand out role in the play Calendar Girls, based on the movie of the same name, a true story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar in 1999 to raise money for leukemia, where she played Celia (described as the show pony of the girls in the story.) This role was described by Sydney's The Daily Telegraph as "the role she was born to play". More recently, she has performed a guest role on the long running series 'Deadly Women'. She heralds from England but moved to Australia with her husband and has two wonderful, now grown children. She is also a singer in her own right regularly performing at local gigs.
Mon, Mar 14, 2022
Stephen Walker. Brisbane based actor and recent Tik Tok viral sensation for his spider catching 'expertise'. We discuss the change in the film making processes from the 70/80s to today and how he has become an all-rounder (aka 'slashee') by working with Channel 7 in Sydney. We also delve into the financial arena and how having a sound financial plan has led him to having a satisfactory passive income which allows for him to now focus on his acting full-time. And straight from my introductory episode, we touch on the subject of introversion and how that can hold you back then become a positive in your acting career.
Thu, Apr 14, 2022
Episode 4 with casting director Greg Apps and host of the online acting training resource The Audition Technique. I consider Greg a great friend and mentor as he has been a part of my acting journey almost from the commencement of my journey. Greg has a wonderfully long history in the Australian television and movie scene, as well as having been involved in some great international productions. He is a wealth of knowledge for actors particularly in the world of auditions. This is where the role journey starts and it is likely the biggest hurdle for most, if not all, actors. Greg always tells it like it is, how do you stand out in the audition room when dozens of other actors are all delivering the same scene. In this discussion, Greg imparts his knowledge but in a more focused manner addressing the complexities, pros and cons of the acting world for the more mature actors. We particularly discuss the need for a plan B, outside of acting, a pertinent discussion regardless of your position on the acting time-line.
Sat, May 14, 2022
Episode 5 is with Andrew Hearle, actor and CEO of the online drama club and acting resource site StageMilk. This discussion went in a completely different direction to what I originally thought it would, and in a very enlightening way. Andrew's insights into acting in general and with a focus of us late bloomers was just fantastic. So many times in my discussions about my journey as a late bloomer actor, I bring up the negatives of starting acting at such a later part of one's life, but Andrew really looks at some positives, both for the late bloomer actor but also the actors that cross paths with the late bloomer actor and how they benefit from the knowledge of the late bloomer actor. Much of the discussion centres around Andrew's platform StageMilk, an actors resource he built whilst studying in Perth at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). We discuss the benefits that are available on the website to any actor from around the world. We also discuss the online drama club component of which I have been fortunate to have been a member of for over two years now. We particularly discuss how this has been so valuable to my acting journey and how the community within StageMilk is so beneficial to all actors who partake. And for all listeners to this episode, make sure you listen right to the end where I tell you about a special offer Andrew has kindly made for all new sign-ups to StageMilk.
Thu, Jul 14, 2022
Episode 7 is all about agents, with my Adelaide agents from Buckland and Gun Management (aka AAA Talent).
We discuss the actor/agent relationship and how to enjoy the journey of acting rather than hoping for fame and fortune alone.
Being Adelaide based, we do focus on the South Australian industry particularly, which was very interesting in the discussions around how SA industry participants are all so open to collaboration in this state, both in the student film sector, independent film sector and professional sectors.
We discuss the journey of AAA Talent from when Nick and Carina bought it, to make it an agency to rival the traditional eastern states agencies that lure away actors from Adelaide.
A big part of Nick and Carina's agency philosophies, is in developing their actors to move from extra roles, to bit parts and then on to lead roles.
We also look at the differences of Australian agencies compared to the US model, that typically involves an agent, a commercial agent, a manager and likely a few other commission receiving entities.
And we finish up with talking about he complexities of an acting career for late bloomer actors who have to juggle their acting whilst still managing mortgages, family and bill paying careers.
Please if you enjoy this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already, and binge all the episodes if you haven't listened already. And check out Buckland and Gun Management on IMDB as well as their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
And I'll see you on set.
We discuss the actor/agent relationship and how to enjoy the journey of acting rather than hoping for fame and fortune alone.
Being Adelaide based, we do focus on the South Australian industry particularly, which was very interesting in the discussions around how SA industry participants are all so open to collaboration in this state, both in the student film sector, independent film sector and professional sectors.
We discuss the journey of AAA Talent from when Nick and Carina bought it, to make it an agency to rival the traditional eastern states agencies that lure away actors from Adelaide.
A big part of Nick and Carina's agency philosophies, is in developing their actors to move from extra roles, to bit parts and then on to lead roles.
We also look at the differences of Australian agencies compared to the US model, that typically involves an agent, a commercial agent, a manager and likely a few other commission receiving entities.
And we finish up with talking about he complexities of an acting career for late bloomer actors who have to juggle their acting whilst still managing mortgages, family and bill paying careers.
Please if you enjoy this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already, and binge all the episodes if you haven't listened already. And check out Buckland and Gun Management on IMDB as well as their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
And I'll see you on set.