Casting Director Dave Newman in Conversation with Sharon Johal

Host(s)

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  Dave Newman

  Dave has worked in various aspects of the industry for the last 35 years, the last 25 years in Casting. In 2012, Dave joined forces with fellow casting director Tom McSweeney to form McSweeney Newman Casting, covering Australia and New Zealand for international and local projects, also participating in major international casting searches (CBS, HBO, Showtime, Paramount +, Disney+/AMC, MGM, Amazon, Netflix and more) Dave’s journey in casting began with hundred’s of commercial projects, helping lay the foundation for the transition into high profile feature films and long form drama. Dave calls his time as the Casting Associate (15 months) on THE PACIFIC as his degree in casting, having personally conducted over 3000 auditions on that project alone. Dave has won four Casting Guild of Australia (CGA) awards and was proud to hold the position as President of the CGA 2020-2022. Credits Include: Blacklight, Love and Monsters, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Nautilus, Darby & Joan, The Castaways, No Escape - The Blue, Rock Island Mysteries, The Family Law, Australia Day, The Inbetweeners 2, Mako Mermaids, The Pacific & East West 101 Having spent many years conducting auditions, Dave realised long ago, that it’s not about perfection (that’s completely unachievable and a recipe for bad mental health & wellbeing - an audition will always be far, far away from a final performance), it's about helping actors find ways to trust that their interpretation of life, their sense of humour, their translation of love, anger, hate or whatever a scene may throw at them - is the one thing that actually sets them apart from anyone else. An actors greatest competition isn’t other actors, it’s usually within themselves and that inner battle to be honest, open, unfiltered and being brave enough to allow the world to see it - there’s beauty in the imperfections and the messy.
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  SHARON JOHAL

  Sharon Johal made history as the first Punjabi Sikh Indian woman to star in Australian mainstream television in long-running Australian drama Neighbours, appearing in over 580 episodes as series regular Dipi Rebecchi. Her portrayal of a complex, modern Indian-Australian woman broke new ground in representation, identity, and family dynamics on and off screen. Beyond Neighbours, Sharon has starred in American television show Shantaram, American film Ricky Stanicky, a number of other Australian productions but most recently as primary cast in award winning series The Twelve with Sam Neill, again breaking barriers in her representation of the first woman to wear a turban on mainstream Australian television. A former litigation lawyer turned artist, Sharon is the proud child of immigrant parents with a deep passion for diverse and nuanced storytelling that expands the scope of what it means to be Australian on screen. Off-screen, she is a prominent voice for equity and inclusion in the arts for all minorities, serving as a media commentator, writer, and cultural leader, producing and directing work as it commands.