The Long Game: How Acting School Grads Can Build and Sustain a Performing Career (September)

Host(s)

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  Michael McCall

  Michael originally hails from Glasgow, Scotland, but spent his formative years in Western Australia. He is a graduate of Curtin University (1997), with BA English (Theatre Arts/Creative Writing), as well as a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Acting Course (2001). In 2008, he completed Honours in Performance Studies, looking at the role the media plays for emerging playwrights, again at Curtin. He completed a Masters in film and television directing and screenwriting at the WA Screen Academy (2008-09). He completed a PhD at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2018, examining the methods of director, Mike Leigh. Michael has worked as a professional actor, director, writer, producer, dramaturg/script editor and arts educator for over 20 years.
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  Bert LaBonté

  One of Australia’s leading men, Bert’s Melbourne Theatre Company credits include: The Truth, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lungs, Rupert, Birdland, The Mountaintop, Elling, A Behanding in Spokane, Clybourne Park, Richard III and others. For Sydney Theatre Company, he has performed in A Raisin in the Sun, All My Sons, The Grenade and Spelling Bee, and his Malthouse Theatre credits include: Cloudstreet, I am A Miracle, Time Share. Musical theatre credits include: The Book of Mormon (Watchtower Productions), Helpmann Award Winner An Officer and a Gentleman (Gordon Frost Organisation), Chess (The Production Company), Grey Gardens (The Production Company), Pippin (Kookaburra Theatre), Full Monty (IMG / David Atkins), Jesus Christ Superstar (Really Useful Group), Showboat (Livent/Marriner Productions), Guys and Dolls (Ambassador Group). Screen credits include Five Bedrooms (Networks Ten), Pieces of Her (Netflix), Lie With Me (Fremantle), FISK (ABC), The Newsreader (ABC), Surviving Summer (Netflix/Werner Film Productions), More Than This (Baby Banksia), Jack Irish (ABC), Wentworth (Foxtel), Playing for Keeps (Network Ten), Upper Middle Bogan (ABC), Tomorrow When The War Began (ABC), Lowdown (ABC), Wilfred (ABC), The Let Down (ABC/Netflix), and Squinters (SBS). Film credits including Animal Kingdom (Porchlight Films) and The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (Kathy Morgan International).
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  Dave Newman

  David has worked in various aspects of the industry for the last 35 years, the last 23 years in casting, including the last 10 years in partnership with fellow Casting Director Tom McSweeney forming McSweeney Newman Casting. Having started his casting career with hundreds of commercial projects he then progressed to work on some of the biggest and most successful feature film & long-form drama projects to shoot in Australia. Credits include Nautilus, The Family Law, Blacklight, Dora and the Lost City Of Gold, Love and Monsters, The End, East West 101, Tidelands and many more. Dave has also worked on many US pilot seasons (7 years with CBS America) and individual searches for companies including HBO, Fox, Disney, Netflix, Dreamworks, BBC and Paramount+. Early on, he spent 15 months as the Australian Casting Associate on 'The Pacific' (Stephen Spielberg, Tom Hanks, HBO), scoured the country and personally conducting well over 3000 auditions on this project alone – Dave calls The Pacific his ‘degree in casting’. Dave was honoured to represent his peers as the President of the Casting Guild of Australia from 2020 - 2022.

• Monica Keightley

  Mollison Keightley Management enables the creation and development of careers in the performing arts. Our highly experienced team come from diverse backgrounds including law, producing, casting, marketing/PR and performing. We work in close partnership with our clients to help them achieve their artistic and career goals, whether locally, nationally or globally. Monica Keightley has an arts/law degree and has worked at law firms Purves Clarke Richards in Melbourne and Ashurst in London. Though artist management has occupied greater part of her working life, past gigs include fronting a jazz trio in Melbourne, touring and producing children’s theatre shows as a university student, helping run and write for an indie theatre magazine, and performing in Australia, Europe and the UK. She began running MKM (then Barbara Leane and Associates) in 2003.

• Andy Walker

  Andy Walker has produced over 130 hours of drama and narrative comedy for Australian and international audiences. He is currently in post production on Kate McCartney & Kate McLennan’s comedy mystery series DEADLOCH (Guesswork Television/Amazon Prime). Recent credits include SPREADSHEET (Northern Pictures/Paramount+) , Season 2 of FIVE BEDROOMS (Hoodlum/Paramount+) and all five seasons of Celia Pacquola & Luke McGregor’s hit comedy series ROSEHAVEN (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV). Walker was also the Casting Director on ROSEHAVEN. Other drama and comedy credits include TRUE STORY WITH HAMISH & ANDY (Radio Karate/Nine Network), Season 1 of WANTED (Matchbox Pictures/Seven Network) and Anne Edmonds’ THE EDGE OF THE BUSH (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV). Walker co-produced Seasons 1 and 2 of THE FAMILY LAW (Matchbox Pictures/SBS) and was one of the producers of the multi-award winning THE KETTERING INCIDENT (Porchlight Films/FOXTEL/BBC Worldwide). Earlier credits include drama series WONDERLAND and MR & MRS MURDER (both for FremantleMedia/Network TEN) and SATISFACTION (LoneHand/FOXTEL). Narrative comedy credits include A MOODY CHRISTMAS (Jungle/ABC-TV), LAID Season 2 (Porchlight Films/ABC-TV) and WOODLEY (Guesswork Television/ABC-TV).