QLD Equity Graduate Day 2025 - QUT, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane

Host(s)

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  Amy Lehpamer

  A Helpmann Award and Sydney Theatre Award winner, Amy is acclaimed as one of Australia’s most versatile leading ladies of musical theatre.Earlier this year, Amy revisited the role of Dusty Springfield in Dusty for Prospero Arts at QPAC. She spent 2022 and 2023 performing across Australia and Singapore as the dynamic Anne Hathaway, wife of Shakespeare, in the hit musical & Juliet.Other notable roles include Maria in The Sound of Music, Principal Rosalie Mullins in School of Rock, Mrs Walker in The Who’s Tommy, Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: the Carole King Musical, Dusty Springfield in Dusty, Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Mrs Webb in Our Town (for Queensland Theatre), Sherrie in Rock of Ages, the violinist Reza in Once: the Musical. Amy was a member of the ensemble cast of Eddie Perfect’s Shane Warne the Musical, featuring on the cast recording.In demand as a concert artist, Amy has performed with the Sydney, West Australian, Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras. Opera Queensland featured Amy in their 2024 and 2025 recital series’.On screen, Amy has made guest appearances in favourite Australian tv series’ such asUtopia, Get Krackin’ and the Time of Our Lives. She most recently featured in Australian Epic, an original musical docuseries for the ABC.
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  Ilai Swindells

  ILAI SWINDELLS is an award winning Actor, getting his acting debut after attending an open casting call in his home state; Queensland for Foxtel teen drama SLiDE. Brissy boy enjoyed his modest TV premiere, soon after gathered more credits that included Open Slather for The Comedy Channel in which he performed and created original characters alongside local comedic giants; Magda Szubanski, Gina Riley, Jane Turner. Landmark TV series Redfern Now for ABC, Lead role as Ramsay in the Award winning ABC series Retrograde centered around, filmed in 2020 Covid pandemic. Lent his voice for the titular character in popular animation Feature and Series 100% Wolf. As well as acting he dabbled in Presenting for TV and Radio; having spent time on the airwaves of Australia’s most Iconic Youth Music Station, Triple J. He next starred as the Leading Man in Amazon Prime’s first local Aussie Feature Film; Five Blind Dates opposite actress/creator Shuang Hu, The film premiered Valentine's Day on Prime in 2024. Catch up on Dramedy Bay Of Fires, Iview before he reprises his role of tech maven Sammi in Season 2 of the ABC hit airing in 2025. Reunited with homegrown icons; Marta Dusseldorp and Pamela Rabe.
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  Julian Curtis

  In 2025, Julian wrapped supporting roles in ‘Hershey' (opposite Finn Wittrock); indie sequel 'All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane'; and 'The Tacoma Exorcism' directed by Julius Avery. As a writer/director he is currently in post-production on ‘The Long Passeggiata’; an ambitious proof of concept detailing the 1960s Italian migrant experience; and has been commissioned by the Brisbane City Council to write his second full length play. His most prominent TV role was the lead villain in the limited series ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark: Ghost Island’ for Nickelodeon USA in 2022 (Emmy nominated for Outstanding Children’s Series). In 2026, Julian will appear across Australia in two plays; ‘Afterglow' for the New York based Midnight Theatricals and a new work for Playlab in Brisbane. Julian is a NIDA graduate.
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  Asabi Goodman

  Asabi Goodman is an American-born Australian (Queensland) performer. Her experience extends from performing in a multitude of genres including classical, pop, jazz, blues, RnB, and musical theatre both here and in the US. Most recently, she was seen portraying ‘Matron Mamma Morton’ in the Australian touring production of CHICAGO (2023/ 2024). Prior, she appeared in the Australian touring production of HAIRSPRAY! (2022/2023) as ‘Motormouth Maybelle,’ and reprised the role in the US Broadway touring production (2023). Asabi also appeared in the critically acclaimed Baz Luhrmann film, ELVIS (2022). Asabi has performed with several Queensland based acts including The Soul Men: Blues Brothers Tribute Show, The Australian Pink Show, and RESPECT: The Show, a cabaret dedicated to the life of The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. No stranger to producing her own works, Asabi created the sold-out Brisbane shows, Two Divas: Jazz vs Opera (2022) with world-class Korean-Australian opera singer, Eva Kong, and Trois Femmes Puissantes or Three Powerful Women (2018), a jazz showcase featuring Brisbane singers, Grace Cockburn and Emily Louisa Rose. In 2014, Asabi received acting awards from the Queensland School of Film and Television for her lead role of ‘Nurse’ in the short film, WAITING IN VEIN, and the Norfolk Island Theatre Festival for her lead role of ‘Marlene’ in the one act play, SURPRISE. More recently, Asabi was nominated for a Queensland Matilda Award for her work in the play, THE REVOLUTIONISTS (2021) and a Victorian Green Room Award for HAIRSPRAY!. Up next, Asabi will be starring in the Australian premiere of the musical, MILF, with renowned drag personalities, Hannah Conda (RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under winner) and Jens Radda.Asabi was trained in the dramatic arts at the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory in Brisbane and is a proud member of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, serving as the Queensland Equity President since 2020.
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  Chelsea Dawson

  Born and raised in Brisbane Chelsea Dawson (she/her) is a proud Musical Theatre graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. During her time at QCGU Chelsea had great delight performing in productions such as Les Misérables (dir. by Alister Smith), The Drowsy Chaperone (dir. by Penny Farrow) and Elegies: A Song Cycle (dir. by Jason Langley).Chelsea’s formative training is owed to the team at ROCKIT Productions, during this time she also was cast as Beatrice in Shake & Stir Theatre Co’s 2018 season of Much Ado About Nothing. In 2021 Chelsea made her professional debut in GFO’s production of Shrek The Musical as the Wicked Witch. Following this Chelsea starred as Katherine Howard in LWAA’s Australian tour of SIX the Musical (2022-2023) which was awarded Green Room Award’s Best Ensemble. Chelsea then toured with Mamma Mia! The Musical (2023) understudying the role of Sophie Sheridan and originated the role of Hope in Laura Murphy’s ZOMBIE! The Musical (2024). After returning to SIX the Musical (2024-2025), Chelsea has recently been a part of Stars and the Moon’s Shrek the Musical, sharing the role of Princess Fiona.
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  Sam Moor

  Sam Moor is a Emmy®, BAFTA, AACTA and Logie Award winning producer with extensive experience in original Entertainment, Drama, Comedy and Children's content. Sam spent 15 years working in production management for the BBC, as well as Line Producing for a number of London based production companies before moving to Brisbane. Sam is the producer for ABC and BBC’s series, Bluey, which is the most watched show in Australian TV history and is now the Head of Ludo's Production & Commercial. Sam is the producer for Ludo’s original live action series for Stan, Thou Shalt Not Steal, and continues to deliver across all future Ludo Studio productions.
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  Tony Auckland

  Tony’s career in the arts industry has spanned many areas – actor, director, producer, teacher, agent.Initially studying acting under Hayes Gordon at the Ensemble Theatre, he then graduated from the NIDA production course.  His first job post NIDA was as production manager at La Boite Theatre in Brisbane.  Following this he worked in Sydney directing student productions at Ensemble and was a part of establishing a school’s touring Shakespeare company.  In 1988 he was invited back to Brisbane to take up the position of Director of La Boite’s Youth Theatre.In 1992 with his partner Jenni Kubler he established Kubler Auckland Management and since then has represented actors throughout Australia.
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  Katherine Lyall-Watson

  Katherine is the co-artistic director of the female-led theatre company Belloo Creative. In 2022, she won the Lord Mayor’s Award for Best Australian New Work for her play Boy, Lost, produced by Belloo. Katherine graduated with a doctorate in Creative Writing from UQ in 2013, the same year she was shortlisted for the Patrick White Playwright’s Award for her doctoral play, Motherland. Motherland won numerous awards for its premiere season in 2013 and went on to tour nationally in 2016.Katherine’s latest play is BACK TO BILO, the true story of the Nadesalingam family’s four years in Australian detention and the Biloela community who fought to bring them home. BACK TO BILO premieres at Queensland Theatre for Brisbane Festival in September 2025.She is the writer of HANAKO (with Caroline Dunphy, Brisbane Festival 2016), Rovers (Brisbane Festival 2018), House in the Dunes (Japan 2020), Hot Mess Mama (with Emma Dean, Brisbane Festival 2020), Phaedra* (Queensland Theatre 2020), AKIRUNO (Tokyo Tokyo Festival 2021), Home Grown Opera (Opera Queensland and Bleach Festival 2022) and Boy, Lost (Queensland Theatre 2022).In 2008, Katherine was one of three finalists for the Queensland Premier's Drama Awards. Her work has been selected for Playwriting Australia’s National Script Workshop and read at the National Play Festival. She was an Associate Artist at Queensland Theatre Company in 2015 and Belloo was Company in Residence at Queensland Theatre from 2019 to 2020.Katherine has a long history in theatre having worked as an actor, director and theatre reviewer before starting playwriting. She regularly mentors younger and emerging writers and was the chair of Playlab Theatre from 2014-2019. In her spare time, Katherine is a beekeeper and an avid reader.* Phaedra was a casualty of COVID-19 and didn’t premiere in 2020.
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  Jess Bunz

  Jess Bunz is a Producer, Director, and Theatre Maker originally from Aotearoa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary and Applied Theatre from Griffith University and has worked with many theatre companies across Brisbane, including La Boite Theatre, Queensland Theatre, Shake & Stir, and Dead Puppet Society.Jess is currently the Senior Artistic Producer at La Boite Theatre, where she works closely with the Artistic Director to program and deliver the company’s mainstage season, artist development programs, and youth & education offerings. She has previously produced the QLD Youth Shakespeare Festival with Shake & Stir and the Festival of Australian Student Theatre.In her creative practice, Jess is a co-founder of The Naughty Corner Collective, where she directed the sell-out season of MAZE at Brisbane Powerhouse in collaboration with Dead Puppet Society. She has directed across mainstage and independent projects and regularly translates this experience into Teaching Artistry, leading workshops for Queensland Theatre and La Boite. She has also led La Boite’s Assembly program for the past three years.
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  Egan Sun-Bin

  Egan is a storyteller and an Equity Organiser for the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance. He is a 2020 QUT Acting Graduate and since then, has worked as an actor, director, writer and teaching artist. Most recently, Egan directed the Award Winning Independent Production 'Scenes From A Yellow Peril' which was part of Queensland Theatre’s Door3 Program and had its mainstage premiere at Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
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  Michael Balk

  Michael Balk is an actor, producer, presenter and singer and current President of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).He has had extensive involvement in theatre, film and television with a large portion of the last decade focused on children’s entertainment. Michael was previously Associate Producer Programming with Nine Entertainment Co and appeared as senior actor in the network's children's programs SMASHHDOWN! and BrainBuzz. Michael is also known widely as scrapboy in the AFI & Emmy award-winning ABC kids show dirtgirlworld and Get Grubby TV.Previously, Michael was the Director of Entertainment at Australia Zoo and often works in advertising on television. A professional member of the Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts, Michael been a proud member of MEAA since 2000 and during his time as QLD President of the National Performers Committee he served on the Animation Committee, Screen Committee, and Intimacy Guidelines Committee.
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  Jenny Farrar

  As a Stakeholder Relationship Manager and Education Specialist at Media Super, Jenny is responsible for nurturing relationships and identifying opportunities for partners within various sectors of our creative industries. Jenny has 20 years’ experience as an educator within member-based organisations and 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, including her previous role as Founding Director of community bank Clifton Hill North Fitzroy and with Media Super and Cbus Super. Jenny also worked as an industrial organiser with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance for 15 years and has an Arts Degree from Monash University, has completed a Diploma in Superannuation and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Jenny prides herself on member engagement and providing quality service and support to members, employers and those considering joining the only industry super fund dedicated to the Creative Arts, Media Super.