Another Aussie in LA
So... I've just moved to L.A. Yep. Yet another Aussie in this city. And I'm freakin' loving it! Mostly because I have had the good fortune to stumble upon an incredibly talented and supportive community of fellow country-humans. People who have been so generous in sharing their experiences in this crazy town with me. Here's a podcast with some of them! Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are strangers but all are Los Angeles dwelling Aussies with something to say.
Episodes
Talk about ending with a bang! It's the 2016 Heath Ledger Scholarship winner, Ashleigh Cummings (PUBERTY BLUES, MISS FISHER'S MURDER MYSTERIES, TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN). Ashleigh talks about juggling three jobs in three cities, her ability to nap on set (in between takes nonetheless) and asserting her independence at the tender age of 14 by traveling to Los Angeles on her own. We discover new words and bond over our mutual love...
Ok, before you loose your proverbial, this is a re-release of a chat I had with Tim Minchin two years ago. With his recent Logie win for THE SECRET RIVER, his musical GROUNDHOG DAY about to open in London and the success of MATILDA in Australia, well, I thought it might be appropriate timing. Tim illuminates me on the economic machine that is Broadway, how Groundhog Day the musical came about and his existential crisis brought on b...
You might recognize Eden Gaha from his days in front of the camera but it's his days behind it that you'll be most grateful for. As the President of Unscripted Television for Endemol Shine USA, this is the man who put the celebs into Celebrity Apprentice and the brought the juniors into the US Masterchef recipe. Eden shares his thoughts on what makes a great unscripted TV idea, what it was like working with Donald Trump, the import...
It all began with a tropical jumpsuit! I On the eve of their US iTunes release, director Maya Newell and producer Charlotte Mars tell the story of how they met and what inspired them to make their powerful and poignant documentary GAYBY BABY. And that was the realization that in the midst of the debate over marriage equality that the missing voice in the conversation was that of the children raised by same sex parents. We discuss t...
They say write what you know and Sarah Scheller (NO ACTIVITY) has done just that with her first pilot THE LETDOWN. Part of the ABC Comedy Showroom it tells the story of a struggling new mum and the mothers’ group she thinks she doesn’t need - a situation that proves to be ripe for the comedic picking. Sarah shares about finding a great collaborator in actress and co-creator/writer Alison Bell, developing the work with Julian Morrow...
Jersey born, Australian raised playwright Lally Katz (THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU IN PERSON, NEIGHBOUHOOD WATCH) appears to have moved to Los Angeles. So far she is loving everything about it - the instacommunity, the freeways, the people, even the Californian hook turns. We discuss her obsession with New York psychics, her procrastination tools of choice and getting polite nudges from Gillian Armstrong via Instagram to get back to w...
Have you seen an Australian film or TV show in the past 25 years? Then it’s likely you’ve seen some Ben Mendelsohn’s work. From The Henderson Kids to The Year My Voice Broke to Spotswood to Animal Kingdom. And that’s all before the US embraced ol’ Ben! We get stuck into all things Bloodline: working with Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, THAT INCREDIBLE WRITING and how the show made the Florida Keys locals proud. Ben shares how he work...
You probably haven’t heard of Emilie Cocquerel (LION, JOE CINQUE’S CONSOLATION) yet but you will soon enough! She’s had a very busy year including being one of the runners-up of the Heath Ledger Scholarship. We have a chat while she’s experiencing her first pilot season on the ground. She tells us how she sees her quieter times career-wise, what Garth Davies does in between takes to enhance the mood on set and her go-to karaoke son...
Funny is what gets actor Toby Truslove (UTOPIA, LAID, THE STRANGE CALLS, THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE) up in the morning. We caught up while he is here in Los Angeles having his first pilot season experience. And boy has it been a hectic one! No time to ruminate, no time to mourn. It’s just go, go, go. He shares his uncertainty about whether to maintain an American accent at all times and his experiences of being a ham & playing to the ro...
After a couple of years in Los Angeles, actress Hannah Levien baulked at the suggestion from a friend that she move to Vancouver. After all, she liked it here and she wasn’t to keen on the idea of upping her life once again to move to another country. But life did some nudging and in the past 18 months she has booked some strong US network TV credits - those that had been so elusive to her in LA. She shares her experiences of waiti...
AACTA winner and HLS nominee Joel Jackson (DEADLINE GALLIPOLI, NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR) has an inquisitive spirit. Whether it’s learning from Sam Worthington and Hugh Dancy about the technical side of screen acting or dissecting behavior and extracting character from text like it’s a crime scene. He shares how he had to get out of his own way and find his version of Peter Allen for Not the Boy Next Door and how playing Charles Bean i...
Actress Viva Bianca (SPARTACUS) is feeling at home in LA. Starting out on a high of five star hotels and red carpets, she then had to come to terms with the realities of living and working here. With much candour she shares what it was like to play villainess Ilithyia, the pitfalls of being on a show with the reputation of being oh-so very sexualised, google search results and how to state what you will and won’t do. We also discus...
Actor and Host Nick Hardcastle (HOME AND AWAY, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL) didn’t intend to to move to LA. And he certainly didn’t intend become Mr. Australia. But I’m glad he did - on both counts! As one of the co-founders of the Australian Theatre Company, Nick wants to bring Australian stories to US stages and put the multitudes of talented Aussie expats to work. We have a moan about flakey Angelinos, get fired ...
Director of Photography Denson Baker (THE BLACK BALLOON, THE WAITING CITY, ORANGES AND SUNSHINE) is the real deal - he has some fancy letters after his name to prove it! After a bit of back and forth, he and his "wife/director” Claire McCarthy decided to make the move to Los Angeles. We discuss director Jim Loach’s approach to filmmaking, to have or not to have an agent and working with such acting greats as Donald Sutherland, Emil...
Actor Toby Wallace (NEVER TEAR US APART, THE TURNING) has a Star Wars: The Force Awakens audition story!!!! And he waits a whole eight minutes to tell me! Can you believe it?!?! Before that we discuss what it was like coming to LA for the first time as a 2014 Australians In Film Heath Ledger Scholarship finalist, auditioning in odd places and preparing for pilot season. After he shares what it was like auditioning for J.J. Abrams,...
This episode with Belinda Gosbee (J. EDGAR, TWO BROKE GIRLS) is a illusion-busting reality check because sometimes it can take a little while to get started in Los Angeles. Belinda candidly shares her stories of her early days, her pride in still being here and how Hollywood can give you a little taste of the high life. Like when she worked with Clint Eastwood and Leo DiCaprio on J. Edgar!! EEK! She takes us on an in depth discussi...
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