Student News

2011 Student News

Advanced teen students Rebecca Carbone and Aris Varvarian have successfully auditioned and been accepted into the prestigious Atlantic Theatre Company three week  full time program in L.A. for January 2012. The rigorous entry conditions and serious competition for a place in the course didn’t faze Rebecca or Aris. This was confirmed when the coordinator of the program called me praising both of the teens for their acting skills and attitude. Aris was accepted into and completed the demanding course last year so he’ll be a good source of information for Rebecca before they fly to L.A. The Atlantic Theatre Company Youth Program is renowned for placing the first young Australian actors on numerous American TV shows – including the popular series Glee.

Advanced adult students Jodie Lea Campbell and James Bolger have just wrapped a Subscribe-HR shoot via an approach to the school from the producers seeking two hot actors. The corporate product promo will be screened online and the producers are hoping it will go viral.

Intermediate adult student Brandon Vear scored his first paying job via the school on a demo scene supporting Melbourne actor Ashley Jeffrey. The scene we shot for Ashley was for an online audition for Barrett Casting for the role of a policeman.

Former student and New Yorker Brady Kirchberg returned to America a few years ago where he founded Red Wheelbarrow Productions. Red Wheelbarrow produced three successful off-Broadway stage plays and are now producing their second short film. Tha various scenes from the two films which Brady has linked me to are exceptionally well-acted and feature state-of-the-art production values.

Jodie Lea Campbell has recently wrapped the role of  Russian International Peacekeeper Gina Lednyak in the Danger Alliance online commercial promoting a new gaming app. The new app is in the same genre as the game Worms and is used on iPhones, iPods and Macs. The new app has received rave reviews and the online promo will hopefully increase Jodie’s growing acting profile. With only 7 days notice before she had to play the role of a Russian speaking character, Jodie said the techniques she learned in the Accents and Dialects master class from tutor Bill Pepper really paid off when it came to perfecting the difficult Russian accent in such a short amount of time. Jodie said the technique she applied from Bill’s classes “helps to break down the sounds and allows you to work out what goes where.”  The firearms skills Jodie learned in tutor Tony Garland’s Armoury master class also came in handy as her character had to fire a rocket launcher! Both producer Dous Rahman and director Andy Fernandez praised Jodie’s performance on the Danger Alliance shoot. Well done Jodie.

Sabeena Manalis’s career has taken another step forward with the role of “Sabeena,” Frankie’s wild little cousin in the SBS-TV satirical comedy series Housos. Actor/producer/director Paul Fenech’s Housos – like his Fat Pizza series – is definitely not for the faint hearted; but if you’re not easily offended by foul language, drug use, sex scenes and madcap antics and you like your comedy rough and ready, then you’ll get a laugh from Housos.

Advanced adult student Sam Smith is currently working on the Baz Luhrmann remake of The Great Gatsby as stand- in for actor Toby Maguire. Sam’s role as stand-in requires him to fill in for Maguire for lighting and camera set ups and to perform in preliminary rehearsals, after which the star emerges from his trailer and takes over the limelight. The job is a golden opportunity for Sam as it gives him access to performers of the caliber of Maquire and star Leonardo DeCaprio. Sam said it’s been a real education working on a big budget Hollywood film, not only for the contacts he’s making but for the behind-the-scenes machinations of cast and crew and the high-end application of camera support equipment and lighting set ups.

Former students Frank Stead and Bobby Babin can be seen strutting their stuff in the online film Waiting, in which Frank plays a town sheriff circa 1929. Waiting is beautifully shot and edited and the period is captured with stark realism. The shoot-out scene alone is just magnificent.  Frank’s American accent is seamless thanks to the skills he gained in Bill Pepper’s American Accents and Dialects master class and which he has been perfecting since. There’s no question about fellow actor Bobby Babin’s accent though as he is an American.

Bobby Babin was well featured walking the dog and strutting his stuff in the high-rotation Sun Herald Mary Poppins CD giveaway promotion TVC for the August 21st edition. Nice energetic performance Bobby!

Earlier this year current students and former students were all over the Underbelly 3 series playing a variety of roles from 50 worders – Sabeena Manalis as one of John Ibrahim’s girlfriends, Frank Stead as the Police Minister, Ronnie Masoud as one of the mad bad guys – to series 3 co-lead Rob Carlton as put upon Kings Cross detective Neville “Scully” Scullion. Rob also recently played the young Kerry Packer in the critically-acclaimed ABC-TV series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo.

The new Underbelly Razor series, currently screening on the 9 Network, has also been a good source of work for some of our current students. And to top it all off, film armourer and Screen Actors Workshop Armoury for Actors master class tutor Tony Garland is the armourer for the Underbelly Razor series.

Graduate Agoes Soedjarwo will soon commence filming the role of a mad Japanese restaurant owner in the black comedy feature film, Another Bloody Wedding. Agoes also features in the new 7 Network series Wild Boys about Australian Bush Rangers in the 1860s. He plays Chinese Opium kingpin, Chow Fat.

Advanced student Sam Smith delivered a commanding performance in the Queensland Flood Clean Up Gas Safety public service TVC, which screened on high rotation during and after the massive state-wide flood clean up campaign. Sam followed up the Gas Safety TVC in July by featuring in a new multi-media Samsung commercial.

Advanced adult student Abby Holz is currently in Los Angeles with her agent Gina Stoj. Under Gina’s guidance and mentorship Abby is doing the rounds meeting with producers and local agents and learning about the Hollywood scene and the television pilot season. We wish her the best of luck with her career both at home in Australia and, hopefully in the not too distant future, in the US as well.

Former advanced student and septuagenarian Peter Wilson has been no slouch over the past couple of months performing a variety of interesting small roles. Along with playing a member of Kerry Packer’s board for the upcoming ABC-TV drama “The Birth of Cleo” about the launch of the popular women’s magazine in the 1970s – wherein former student Rob Carlton plays a very convincing young Kerry Packer – Peter is also appearing in a current NRMA TVC and a new Telstra TVC. Peter also appears in a scene with Julia Zemiro (host of the popular ABC-TV show “Rock Quiz”) playing a Catholic priest in the upcoming SBS documentary “Sex an Unusual History.” Peter’s vitality and zest for life would shame many actors half his age and he should be an inspiration to all of us “young folk!”

After winning a small speaking role on the upcoming feature film “A Dusty Town,” advanced student Katy Beaubois is now heading to Los Angeles for two months of intensive study culminating in an industry showcase for Hollywood casting agents, agents, producers and directors.  Needless to say, Katy is thrilled to have this golden opportunity and is determined to make an impact in Hollywood.

After gaining exposure via an iiNet TVC and numerous roles on Gangs of Oz, Mike North is currently featured as a frustrated peak hour motorist in a high-rotation Youi car insurance TVC. Well done, Mike.

After recently winning a principal role in the upcoming feature film Virgin Forest, Sabeena Manalis is rapidly heading toward the big time and has now won the lead role of Delilah in the film Fatherhood. Sabeena’s continuing success is likely due to her proactive approach to her career. She has just set up her own web site and it is obviously paying dividends for her.

Grant Martin is featured to great effect on You Tube in a series of trailers promoting the feature film Australian Enemy. The film is set in the late 1950s and early 1960s and depicts the rise and fall of Italian crime figure Angelo Morello. Grant plays big-time marijuana grower Cole Meadows. In the trailers, Grant plays the character with a cheeky sense of humour and is obviously relishing the role. Australian Enemy is slated for national release early 2012.

Over the past 14 years, graduate student Amber Higlett’s news presenting career has grown exponentially and she is now well established as the news presenter on the weekend edition of the 9 Network’s Today Show. Amber is also the channel’s morning news reader and she is increasingly reading the news later in the evening as well. What defines Amber as a credible and trustworthy news reader is the fact that she delivers the news in a refreshingly natural voice, as opposed to the annoying “news speak” adopted by other news readers.

The Discovery Channel series Deadly Women, produced in Australia and now in production for Season 4, deals with American female killers and their motives. In Season 4, advanced adult student Abby Holz plays Darleen Norrie, a young mother and wife of murder victim August Norrie who was killed by Penny Bjorkland in 1959. Also appearing in Season 4 is Abby’s classmate Iwona Abramowicz who plays a police detective, and Steve Orpin who plays the father of a murder victim. Steve was also featured in Season 3 when he played the husband and victim of killer Marjorie Orbin. The Deadly Women series commenced screening in the USA in September 2010 and will air on the Discovery Channel in Australia in 2011.

It was a pleasant surprise to pick up a copy of former student Les Thompson’s book Hello Ego and find that Les had given our classes a plug. After a long and illustrious career in Australian radio, Les has seen it all – and then some! If you are interested in the machinations and ego battles of the big names in Australian commercial radio broadcasting, then Les’s book is an entertaining and eye-opening read.

The high-rating 9 Network series Underbelly 3 has been a consistent source of work for some of the school’s graduate and current students: Frank Stead recently played the role of a Police Minister with a hare-brained and untimately worthless scheme to solve car theft in Sydney.

Sabeena Manalis, after a nicely performed three-scene cameo with actor Firass Dirani – one of her scenes with Dirani was also featured in the trailer for Episode 3 – has won an ongoing role in Paul (Fat Pizza) Fenech’s new comedy series Houso’s, in which Sabeena plays a bogan living in a housing commission flat. If that isn’t enough to keep her busy, Sabeena has also won a principal role in the upcoming feature film, Virgin Forest. From a cameo to an ongoing role to a principal role – not bad Sabeena! Well done.

Congratulations to Grant Martin for winning the role of gangster and marijuana grower Cole Meadows in the feature film Australian Enemy.

Mike North, after playing a murderous bikie over a couple of consecutive episodes of Gangs of Oz, is now the face of a new iiNet TVC.

After playing a principal role in the film Green Fire Envy, graduate student Aileen Beale is currently featured ìn a high-rotation U-bank TVC.

Graduate Ian Nicholson appears as an avid football fan in the new “What Would the World Be Like…?” Sharpie Pens TVC directed by Jeff Darling.

Graduate Christine Fullerton is currently appearing in a high-rotation TVC for HBF in New Zealand. The TVC was cast and shot in Sydney and directed by New Zealand writer/director Niki Caro (Whale Rider; North Country.) Competition was fierce at the audition as every actor in the room was vying for the opportunity to work with Caro, and Christine was one of the talented performers who made the grade.

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