It’s unfortunate to say but this year really hasn’t been much about acting. Don’t get me wrong if I had oodles and oodles of auditions it would have definitely been about acting. But I haven’t and so I’ve put my mind on other things…
I leave for Europe it exactly eight weeks! For four months!! With my best friend of fifteen years!!! Everything is awesome!!!! No doubt only then will I receive the audition of a lifetime that I have to be present for. But such is acting life. Last Monday I had a commercial casting and on Friday I had a recall at 3pm. Two hours after my flight to Brisbane. Classic. Lucky I had frequent flyer points and I got a new flight for free.
Last week I started class with Leigh Pickford, Maura Fay’s top gun. He’s awesome and remembers me. Yay! I look forward to this course. I love working with casting directors! They’re relatable and love finding raw talent. Oh and Leigh is just the coolest. It’s run through Maura Fay Casting on Tuesdays for the next four weeks. He knows me as a funny gal so my goal is to get him to see more of my dramatic side.
This month I have had two auditions, both commercials. One for Mullinars Casting, where I was an ‘amazing professional dancer’ for a day. There was no choreography for the first round, instead we did some freestyle. I began to shimmy and the casting director started laughing. I thought it was because of the old fashioned dance move but she probably laughed out loud because I’m 99.9% sure my nipples made an appearance. I also unfortunately wore undies that rode up. So my boylegs turned into a g-string. Hilarious at the time… and hilarious even now. I didn’t get a call back. Maybe it’s because I’m not an ‘amazing professional dancer’. The lack of fashion tape must have given it away. I also had my first audition at McGregor Casting which I mentioned earlier. Apart from those auditions, I took to Starnow for some unpaid work to keep me busy. I’ve auditioned for bits and bobs and scored the lead role in a short film by Floating Maze Productions. It’s shooting early July and should be fun. It will be my first short film in 2015. Also shooting in June/ July is feature film 'The Cottonwood Fence'. The filming finally comes to a close and post-production begins.
I was in Newcastle recording ADR for 'Pop Up' last month. I got to spend the day with comedian Greg Sullivan talking and talking till our voices went raw. It was fun. Lucky he was cool otherwise the trip would have been hell. Learnt a lot, laughed a lot and found out that I would be a great radio host. Thanks Greg! So naturally, my best friend and I got working on a podcast. Maizie & Mez. It’s free, it’s fun and coz why not. Have a listen. We talk about everything and laugh a lot. Who knows what this will become. But for now it’s new territory.
As is writing... And the Australian Writers Guild (AWG) has some incredible seminars. I went to listen to the 'Bondi Hipsters' creators, Lawrence Leung and the creators of 'Paper Planes'. I only found out about AWGrecently and I love it. So newly inspired, my goal for next year is to fully fund and shoot ‘Zombie Bru’. Thank you to all the wonderful directors and creators in my life that have already given me hoards of information about making a film. You are all incredible. I’ll be shooting a trailer start of August and then when I’m back in Aus early 2016 it’s time for the whole thing to get up and running. I’m so excited… and terrified.
Also just got my feedback from the Emerging Screenwriters Competition for my second screenplay ‘Balls’ “Overall, I really enjoyed reading this script. The writer effectively guides the audience through the world of the 10 year old protagonists and has created a charming and endearing story. “ I couldn’t be happier. Thanks for the feedback.
And finally congrats to Xanthe Paige who has finally got the piece of paper saying she has graduated NIDA, congrats to a long time friend Thomas Hutchins for his highly reviewed theatre show 'Dust Covered Butterfly' and a very sad farewell to Oscar Theatre Co's, Emily Gilhome. Thank you for all you have done for me and I look forward to see where London takes you.
And to end this post, here’s some footage from the Les Chantery course in April. My favourite is this ‘Packed to the Rafters’ scene. Have a watch.
See you in the second half of the year!!! Xx May