Filmmaker from Western Sydney, Paul Rye.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul.k.rye/
Noel Street Productions: https://www.instagram.com/noelstreetproductions/
Filmmaker from Western Sydney, Paul Rye.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul.k.rye/
Noel Street Productions: https://www.instagram.com/noelstreetproductions/
Hi folks, welcome to Trigger's podcast. James isn't here. We've had a big weekend of filming so got quite busy. But I'm here and we have a wonderful guest named Paul Rye, that's right. So, paul and I oh, Paul, you got in contact with me, yep, or we got in contact with each other through our friend Amelia Conway.
Speaker 3:Yes, amelia, wonderful actress, wonderful friend, yep. So yeah, I messaged her. I'd listened to the podcast a handful of times and wanted to come on. So I reached out to you and here we are. No Jimmy, though. No Jimmy, no Jimmy, no Jimmy, or James as he likes to be called.
Speaker 2:We'll muck around before the podcast regarding, like, whether he can get away calling James Jimmy.
Speaker 3:I don't think I can get away calling James.
Speaker 2:Jimmy.
Speaker 3:Whether I'm close enough to him.
Speaker 2:But he's going to hear this now. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3:He's going to be. So, Jimmy, if you're listening, we're close friends. Just don't tell anyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look, thanks for coming on, man. So Paul is a filmmaker and you've been in the industry for a while now, have you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I started a little bit like Journey, if you'd like. Yeah, yeah, I started a few years ago. I'd always been like a crazy cinephile and film lover. I grew up in Western Sydney, blacktown, which I think I've mentioned to you that I'm very proud of. I won't throw up any Western Sydney signs or gang signs, don't worry. But yeah, huge lover of film, you know, would bang out five or ten movies a day and it became an obsession. But where I'm from, it's very sport-centric, so it's rugby league land. So that's what I did growing up played football, went to a sports school and that was sort of the trajectory I was on.
Speaker 3:Um, the arts is, it's very niche. There's a small pocket of people that do do arts, you know, for instance, you know whether it be filmmaking or acting or you know some sort of theater. So I held off for a long time and then eventually I got to a point where, um, I was unhappy with the, the way I was living, working, the jobs I was doing and stuff like that. So I had a friend that was doing extra and featured work, uh, and then she was like you should just give it a crack. Started doing extra work, got some featured stuff on, like tvc's and stuff, uh. Then I started taking acting classes and more acting classes and then eventually some community theater, um, and then some short films, uh.
Speaker 3:And then I got to the point where I needed to either like dive in fully or um, or just go back to the normal job. So basically basically got to a point where I got married so had a house, all that sort of stuff, and we got to a point where we're financially stable, where I could fulfill it and pursue it. So I went to film school as of last year yeah, just graduated At AFTRS, sydney Film School. Sydney Film School, yeah, sydney Film School, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's one of the big sort of uh conversations, like a lot of actors I guess we have, uh is financial, like, and like you have, like you've set yourself a, a, um, an environment where you can start pursuing those acting goals and a lot of actors, and like a lot of creators out there who, I guess, jump straight in, which is good too, you know, but you have to take care of your rent. You know, and that's tough, especially living in Sydney, you know, and we all have those challenges. Survival yeah survival.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know there was stages where it was milk or bread, but I wanted milk and bread, so it was survival. I was always working a full-time job while trying to do this on the side and hustle, but it's near impossible. You might be with an agent who says you've got an audition at 12.30 in the middle of the day, but you're working a full-time job. So you're like oh, so I took cutbacks and you know, me and my wife, we discussed it all and it was like now or never, or we're just going to continue living this unhappy existence of mundane work I wasn't enjoying. So, yeah, is she an actor too? No, no, she's a primary school teacher. I know she's wonderful, she's a great network. Without her, she really sort of pushed me to pursue it. Like without her I wouldn't be doing anything, I'd probably be still working the normal job. But, um, she's the way to describe her, which you would listen this and she'll probably have a laugh. So if listening, courtney, um, she's like miss honey from matilda, remember miss?
Speaker 2:honey yeah yeah, she's just a sweet soul, that's nice.
Speaker 3:Just extremely caring A lot of my mother's sort of values and traits she has that so like yeah, so yeah, yeah lucky.
Speaker 2:Very yeah, look, if you weren't married and you already are, but you could have like proposed to her on our podcast, that would be-.
Speaker 1:That would have been good, that would have been great. Me you, Jimmy, her.
Speaker 3:I did propose to her in an elaborate sort of movie way, though you did, yeah, so we went to Boston, so we went all through America and I proposed, on the big screen at this Red Sox game in summer, no, way. Organized it through this. Red Sox Did the whole. You know they do that in a lot of movies. Yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 3:I'm obviously a movie buff, so I wanted to do it big, so I did it, yeah, organized it through them for like a year out, carried the ring around New York, finally got to Boston. It was a nervous day. And then, you know, they got the cam up. They took us up to this like private area on the dance cam and she's dancing along, you know, buster, move, move, and she can't read the screen because it's so far away. And then someone yells out hey, can you see the shine? And she's like, oh, and then I dropped down and did it all.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, so surprised there. Yeah, okay, so that's a lot Big scale. Yeah, it's a big scale. Yeah, yeah, but how did you hook that up in terms of like, did you have something inside? Like, how did you do it?
Speaker 3:With the Red Sox? Yeah, no, I just emailed. And then eventually we got on the phone to each other back and forth. You pay a charity fee, yeah right, you organize the date, the time, and then basically, what they do is they send you a fake answer and you go to a booth and you have this sheet that says, oh, you've won a prize or whatever. And you go there and say, oh, they'll ask you a question which you already know the answer. And they go yeah, you're a grand prize winner. Come up here, so you know. She thinks, oh, we've won a prize. This is what amazing. She was clueless. That's where the acting came in, because they were asking me this question and I was sitting there going. I know this one, I know this one, I've been studying this up here we go. But then, yeah, answered it and did the whole thing and then we just spent the next four weeks travelling through America on a bit of a high.
Speaker 2:yeah yeah, you know what? There's nothing more nerve wracking than than proposing 37,000 people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's it was. Yeah, I can send you the video.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the video on YouTube, Is it on?
Speaker 3:YouTube. No, it's not on YouTube. I've got it like as they tape it professionally and then I've got a guy to use my phone as well. But once she says yes and she was crying, and they take you to like the balcony, which is like over the whole stadium and everyone's cheering because it's a home game for us. I'm a Red Sox, I'm a Boston guy. The reason I did in Boston is because we both love Boston of the city, because of films. Right.
Speaker 3:I almost did it in the public garden, boston Garden, where you know Robin Williams has that speech with Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. Yeah, almost did it there. And then I tried to, which they laughed at me. The government, you know, have you seen the Departed? Yeah, of course, you know the state building, the gold building that Matt Damon lives across.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I tried to get in that around that gold part, yeah nice. And they laughed at me. They said not even the president can get up there. I was like, okay, sure, okay sure my 500 Australian went dude.
Speaker 2:Okay, so Red Sox came through. Yeah, well done, that's great, thanks. Yeah, uh, so like so you. So how come you transition become an actor to a filmmaker? Um, what was that transition like? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I was always really, really, um, uh, intrigued about acting and directing because my dad was a huge cinephile. So when we'd go to you know your Video Easy or your Blockbuster, and we'd hire out you know 10 or 15 movies, he would say to me I'd show him the cover and usually as a kid you decide on the movie by the box art. You know, like, you know I don't know Toxic Avenger or Batman or something that's you know really wild Jumanji. But he would say who's in it? And I'd go, oh, this guy. And Dad would go, okay, yeah, robin Williams, amazing, who's directed it? And I'd go, I don't know Spielberg. So that's like Hook, obviously. But yeah, he would ask me those questions.
Speaker 3:So I started to like be aware of, like quality of acting and directing. So I admired both the filmmaking process and acting at a young age and I was just watching, I'd just make decisions on the quality of it all. So then when I got into acting, I was always, you know, sitting back listening to directors or producers and stuff talk to actors and think, like before, that director would give direction to an actor next to me. I was thinking the same direction, so I was like, maybe I've got a little bit more to this than being in front of the camera. So I wanted to be behind the camera or in the production side of things and I always just found it all intriguing how they got things made and who was in charge, and you know all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah so then, so what? What is that transition like in terms like, okay, so now that you, you inside of you, feel like, yeah, okay, I gotta become a, I feel like I want to become a director. There's so many avenues to becoming a director, like you start off as a runner and then you're there for a while and then you go as I don't know, assistant director, I don't know AD or some sort or whatever.
Speaker 2:Then you go to the top and you know, and obviously during that sort of journey you may do director's courses and you work with different directors and they teach you some stuff. You know there's that and there's the avenue of like people. Some people go to school, uni, to learn how to direct.
Speaker 3:And how did you do that? So, when I was obviously acting and I was intrigued about the filmmaking thing, it basically was a conversation between myself, my inner self and my wife, where I was like she was seeing aspects of the filmmaker just by watching movies with me, I would say things, or I would have conversations with actors and other filmmakers. So then it was all right, well, if I'm going to do this properly, I'm going to need to go to film school, because I didn't really find there were other avenues to get into that, this, this sort of um the area. So, like, my main intention was go to film school, um, do the, do the first year um see how it goes if I want to continue and do the next two years with it. Um, that was my first niche. And second was I always found like I'd find my group there.
Speaker 3:You know, you hear spielberg and sporsese. They say you find your crew, you find your friends there, uh, and that did work out, which is great, um. So I thought, okay, well, I'll see if I like it first, um see if I'm made for it. Um, you know, I'll find my niches the first couple months which I did, which were definitely, you know, producing, directing, um those sort of avenues. I've sort of drifted down um and then find the crew and see if I can pursue it. So the transition from acting to filmmaking, um, it was quite easy. I I feel more natural man behind the camera, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2:I still want to act um, I'm still out there as an actor if things come up and but at the moment it's it's quite quiet on that front because I'm all my focuses are going into the other stuff but don't you feel like, because of that particular and I think maybe I'm in that same sort of category is that uh, once, uh, the audience or the casting agency, you as a director, now that I'm I got podcast running, they may only see me as a podcaster or they may not see me as a legitimate actor anymore or may not see you Like, does that worry you?
Speaker 3:That makes a lot of sense, because when I was at film school, I came in as an actor. So when you stand up and say who you are and blah, blah, blah, I came in saying I've done a bit acting this and that, but no one ever saw me as an actor. Uh, again, yeah, after saying that I'm here for filmmaking, it was like so a few teachers would say, you know, I thought you'd be cast in a lot of the other students films. I never was, so, um, yeah, it doesn't really worry me. I look at people like you know, a few heroes, like someone like ben affleck or matt damon, where they wear many hats, um, and that's sort of what I want to do definitely, is wear the many hats and be considered in many roles, um, and they do it really well too. I always think the best directors have done some sort of acting, whether it be courses or growing up in an acting family. I always think the best filmmakers have come from acting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's something about that. There's something about, like, directors who know how the actor works, yeah, and the different processes that some of them may go through, you know, and I guess they're more lenient when an actor has their, I guess, odd processes, yeah, and also helping them to get to a certain emotional state or tell them the story that the way they intended to tell. I feel like, yeah, I think some directors do need to be actors, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I do feel like I am more of a director's actor or actor-director because of my history, you know, not only just watching theatre and films and all that sort of stuff, but acting as well. I think I understand where the actor's coming from a little bit more, um, where someone like a dop is like this is a beautiful shot, that is a beautiful shot, but what's going on inside the frame with the two actors? So that's where I leaned into directing more and less so other filmmaking things like, you know, being a dp and stuff like that, yeah, um what is?
Speaker 2:uh, I guess because you grew up in western Sydney yeah um, and how's that influenced you as a director? Like, what do you? What is your storytelling? Is that? Is that influence you in your storytelling?
Speaker 3:uh, I haven't made anything, uh, particularly um for the west just yet, but it certainly it shaped me as a, as a filmmaker.
Speaker 2:I wear the the flag extremely proudly um, and how does that like, how does that help you in terms, I guess, maybe working different types of people, I'm assuming because, uh, it's such a diverse sort of place, western sydney yeah, um, so I have, we have a production company.
Speaker 3:So those students that I said I was going to meet and become a crew, we did. There's about eight of us, we're a solid bunch and we created a company called Knoll Street Productions. That's right. Yeah, so Knoll Street is the company that we created, but Knoll Street is the street I grew up on, so it all sort of goes back to day one for me. So, yeah, we created that. So it's. It is based in the west.
Speaker 3:Obviously, as a company we're doing narrative stuff, we're doing, uh, corporate, um, all sorts of stuff. We get music videos. But, um, I do want to grow like the west. I want to be known as a western sydney filmmaker. You hear people like Tony Collette or Joe Edgerton they're all from, you know, blacktown or the West, and those people were heroes to me. So I do want to fit in there, you know, fit in with them. So I find that there's just so many stories out our way that aren't getting told Because, like I mentioned at the start, that there's only pockets of the arts and it's hard to find those people and bring them all together.
Speaker 3:Well, how is it hard to bring them together, like, yeah, how is it hard Because it's hard to say, but I think, because we are so pro on other things, it's very blue collar, you know, like tradies and sport. That sort of way of living is there. We've only got like theaters spread out and the communities are either really old it's hard to get the younger people in these communities, so they're much older, so like it's sort of growing it, but it's hard because it's rugby league land or soccer, or a lot of kids aren't getting taught drama out there. You know what I mean and arts, you could say.
Speaker 2:I guess kids out there, their priorities are a bit different. I think the amount of times I brought up Maslow's hierarchy of needs on this podcast is like I've said this so many times. But I feel like a lot of the east suburbs, north shore people, all those things have been met and that's what.
Speaker 2:Like they, their kids go to school and learn theater and yeah and uh acting or whatever it is yeah and very specific as well, like, very specific, like they'll go, oh yeah, we do this type of art or this type of uh like, for example, you know they do all these things right. But then because I do a bit of teacher's aid work, so I work in different places and whatnot, and I find that you know, kids in inner west, in western Sydney, you know, like they have so much imagination man, yeah, you know like they, uh, they have so much imagination man, yeah, and and it it gets placed, uh into different space where they like a, which will get them possibly in trouble or living down in a negative sort of um avenue. You know, yeah, yeah, and I wish, like um, there was more, like I guess, money or funding or something into west sydney children, because you always see kids man on trains in paramount or blacktown, whatever personality personality characters yeah, whatever they are, they're like they're rapping something or they're singing something?
Speaker 2:yeah, they're drawing something, they're writing something like on the way to school. I always see it.
Speaker 3:I always see it, you know, and we have come a long way in that sense. You know, we've got one, four and we've got all these different artists that, uh, helping us blow up, uh, on the mainstream, which has helped huge. Um, like you said about schools out in the inner suburbs and in northern suburbs, it's not that our schools don't have it, they're just not big. For instance, I went to a sports school. I played in the football program. There were teachers and drama teachers and English teachers that you know would say to me you should join the drama club and blah, blah, blah. But I wasn't going to do it. I was playing in the football program, it just wasn't, you know, felt a bit like Zac Efron in High School Musical.
Speaker 2:It just wasn't, you know?
Speaker 3:not as talented though, get your head in the game. But I think now that it's with you know TikTok and YouTube, all that sort of stuff I think it's a little bit easier to get into the arts out west. But to where I grew up. You know the time I grew up, but again, it's still such a sport-driven world out there and I was a part of that. I think it's because it's an easier reach for like a yeah, it is, it's an easier reach, 100%. There's more funding to it.
Speaker 2:Well, here's the thing. Yeah, Sporting doesn't need that much Like. If you want to play soccer, you just need a ball. Here's a ball man.
Speaker 3:Go to the park.
Speaker 2:Here's a ball, it's like 20 bucks 100% or a rugby ball and someone sees you play rugby, man, this guy can run and this guy can pass and they'll choose you for a team, like, if it heals, if they're a rep team, they'll choose you or whatever.
Speaker 3:It's an easier reach. It is an easier reach reach. And you know, if you look at let's look at penrith, I think there's about two or three theaters, maybe if in the after the mountains there's more like glenbrook and stuff, but we've got 65 football levels you know what I mean and 65 football clubs. So, uh, it's much easier for a guy to slip into a football club than is a theater group. Um, you know, and he's also. You think about generationally. His father played football that club and his father before that. You know the. And he's also. You think about generationally. His father played football at that club and his father before that. You know the neighborhood guys that grew up there and stay there. So it's only rare that that father be like you should join the theater. You know what I mean. So I didn't and I kicked myself. I feel a bit like I waited a little bit too long. Do you ever feel that You're like 100%?
Speaker 2:you know, dude a little bit about me man. 100%, yeah, I literally by me man. Like I started when I was 28, 29, same same yeah so I was a. I guess I was a sporting kid as well. Yeah, and I went to a sporting school as well oh, here no in Canberra in.
Speaker 3:Canberra. Oh okay, yeah, we probably played against you yeah. Arendelle College, most likely. I went to Hills Sports 7 Hills. Shout out to Hill Sports. Your close school at Seven Hills Great school. It was a great school, had a good time. But like you were saying, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So that wasn't my interest at all. And then I do have that retrospect sort of moment when I go oh man, I wish I had this when I was like 18. And then he put things together. No wonder I did this and did this no wonder I was thinking this way and I was like why didn't I catch on to that? Why the hell did I do that?
Speaker 2:Because there wasn't anything there that helped. There wasn't a teacher there, there wasn't a person there. Oh, you can do this. Yeah, that's right, there wasn't that there and there was an option. Yeah, did fear, keep you back as well.
Speaker 3:Fear of what other people thought, of course, of course, your friends look like or your friends.
Speaker 2:Look, you know how there's like if you're in that environment.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You're going to do what Pippin? What's that? You know? What. I mean yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the funny thing is that, you know, we always talk about the Australian society, how it's like a tall poppy syndrome Tall poppy man. It's even worse when it comes to that level.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:They do not want you to succeed above a certain level. No, they do not.
Speaker 3:And I still find that I suffer from that, like I still don't. This is my first podcast, but I don't scream from the rooftops like I'm a filmmaker. I'm an actor. Because of the tall poppy it's like who do you think you are? Who do you think you are man? No, no, no, no, no. So it's like it's a sort of double-edged sword the tall poppy. It keeps you level but also doesn't let you grow just a little bit more more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I love how, like, acting teachers and and coaches out there are like, oh, you should, you should, uh, uh, uh, be you and you should like accept you for who you are and like man, I would love to if they will accept me. Yeah, that's right, that's how it feels, yeah yeah, yeah, you know, I have some.
Speaker 3:You know I've run into people recently that I grew up with, or whatever, and, um, they ask you how you're doing and what you're doing and you're hesitant to tell them exactly how you're doing and what you're doing. You know what I mean. And then you tell them and their eyes sort of glaze over and they're like yeah, yeah, yeah, what about the nights? Eh, and you're like, yes, they're still going.
Speaker 3:They're still going, so I sort of mean it's wrong of me that I pick and choose who I tell what and what I'm doing to. Yeah, yeah, you have to be sort of anal and particular about it yeah, yeah, I know what you mean.
Speaker 2:Like it's you gotta manage people's expectations in a way, yeah, and definitely, like every time I speak to someone who's not in the especially my family friend circle, who are not at all in that industry at all, I have to go, oh well, well, you know, at the same time, I'm like I'm happy you think about this, you got to think in this way, like it's good that we got some life experience in terms of doing other things in real world 100% yeah, there's a lot of creatives out there who have done the same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, because when I went, yeah, because when I went to well, there's more than that like, yeah, when I went to acting school, I was with not some 20 year olds like they couldn't hold a conversation. It was a hard conversation, uh, except, uh, except just about Shakespeare and Chekhov, which is great, and plays, but there's also. Can we talk about what's happening economically or financially? If you would have, for example, at the moment we have the whole Israel-Palestine that conversation. How can we have a conversation about that and not get emotional about it and have a conversation where you're hearing me out as well?
Speaker 2:you know, and there's things you learn being out in the world doing different jobs. Yeah, yeah, so I'm happy we did that. I'm happy a lot of people learned, so, like people learn different stages as well, yeah, yeah, I'm lucky I was in the middle of those conversations.
Speaker 3:You know, like right when I was acting I'd be in a you know theater production where they were talking about chekhov and and shakespeare and all that sort of stuff, and then I'd leave that and on the weekends we're talking about beers and barbecues, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:So it's like blending them both, yeah, and finding and I never felt, and I still don't feel comfortable in both realms. You know what I mean. You never feel fully comfortable. You're like, because I've, because I've lived in both worlds, I'm in the middle, I'm stuck, um, I've dipped my foot in both, um, so I know exactly what you mean about those conversations, but I'm regretful a tiny bit about my coming into it late in the game. But also those life experiences, working those jobs, building that tough skin and character, you know, to finally throw my hands up and go fuck it. I'm just going to do it. So I'm glad you know I don't regret it, no.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm making a stand now, neil, and Neil and Jimmy, I do not regret anything. Pursuing it late, okay. Wherever you are, jimmy, he's at home he's at home.
Speaker 2:Okay, you probably are working. Yeah, like yeah, and also, um, yeah, the whole like feeling uncomfortable in different environments. Uh, definitely felt that myself as well. Um, and uh, I guess there's, I guess, um, especially now in this environment where I guess you're a heterosexual, cisgender, and we're in an environment now where things are very politically correct and a lot of the stuff at the moment is on ticking boxes yes, of course, is on ticking boxes. Yes, of course, which is it's warranted. But then it's also like, hey, we are going this unauthentic route at the moment.
Speaker 3:Pros and cons. Pros and cons right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, because people's. In order to tell people's story, it has to be authentic. But I feel like right now we're going to a point where it's like, oh, we're going to tick these boxes and we're going to only accept these people. Yeah, that's not how Australia is. And I mean Australia was for a long time told I still see it on TV and film it was very much Caucasian based and like, oh, let's do a film, oh, let's do it in the outback and make sure there's a dead kangaroo there or something. Yeah, yeah. Or like that's not all. There's more to Australia than just that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anytime you speak to someone from overseas, they think I'm riding down the Willoughby yeah yeah, yeah, it's like there's so much more to that and the things that have sort of worked in our screens is shows like, I guess, lusk and the Cross, but then before that, the the story about what's called the King's Cross Underbelly that had worked and Rake had worked.
Speaker 2:Rake was great, rake yeah great show, yeah and those shows because it was in our backyard yeah, that's right. Yeah, and they weren't telling stories, which was like, oh, we were going to tick boxes. That's how it happened. We all saw it happen, yeah that's right yeah, and that's why a lot of Australians watched it. Yeah, yeah, and I find, like every time I speak to someone about Australian films, they're like oh, we don't watch it. Yeah, well, I mate, I can't defend it, I can't defend. It's hard to defend Australian industry are they older people?
Speaker 3:you speak to younger because the older people aren't happy about the ticking of the boxes.
Speaker 2:Man most old people are like white australians, like, oh, you're changing our ways and like, yeah, wait, we have to. Fucking move on, man.
Speaker 3:We can't be how we used to be yeah, in an ideal world, best story gets told in the best way. That's my, you know. Like same with awards, you know, when you see someone in an award and you go, oh, this person should have won. Was that, were they the best? Though? That's, that's the way I see it. So, um, I'm in the middle. Obviously, being out west, there's not a whole lot of box ticking. That's more like inner city and stuff like that. Um, for me it's it's sort about story first, um, and the best for the role, um. So I know exactly what you mean. Though it's we're in a hard world right now where where everything's just getting made and everything's getting ticked and we're fitting. It's almost like a checklist. You're like have we got this person? Have we got that person? Is this person working on it? All right, we can make it.
Speaker 2:I mean we definitely have to evolve, yeah yeah, yeah 100%, definitely have to evolve and we need to change the audiences that are watching our shows in theatre spaces and watching it in the cinemas. You know, like we can't keep telling the same stories because they're not right. Yeah, yeah, they're not right depictions of what Australia is, yeah, and that's why I guess a lot of ethnic people came to this country like they didn't watch TV at all.
Speaker 2:They bought satellite dishes, like my dad bought a satellite dish so he could watch films from, like India yeah, like they didn't watch TV at all. They bought satellite dishes, like my dad bought a satellite dish so he could watch films from like India, yeah, and overseas.
Speaker 3:I do watch a lot of foreign stuff and world movies and stuff because I want to know what's going on. As a filmmaker, what I try to do is watch as many Australian things as possible because that's the industry that I'm trying to get into. Everyone's obsessed with american stuff. You know what I mean. Like I don't watch any reality. Do you watch much reality tv?
Speaker 2:I do not watch reality, no I don't watch much.
Speaker 3:Um, I'm working on one in may. I'll go away overseas for a month or so. Yeah, to work on a reality tv show. I can't say which one.
Speaker 2:That's fine.
Speaker 3:But Jimmy knows Jimmy.
Speaker 2:He's still not here, is he?
Speaker 3:But I don't watch much of that. But mainly, you know, films and TV I watch. Not a big TV, like I seem to go back to the same ones If it's an American one, like Sopranos, breaking Bad, the Greats.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I struggle to get rid of all this stuff, band of Brothers, band of the greats yeah, I struggle to get.
Speaker 3:Banner Brothers, banner Brothers, banner Brothers. I've seen, yeah, the Spielberg one, yeah, yeah that was Tom Hanks and Spielberg yeah, yeah what a cast.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, because they did that film after.
Speaker 3:Saving. Saving Private Ryan, yeah, yeah. Which, for the world that's listening got completely robbed of the Oscars. So who won that year that lost? Yeah, yeah. Which, for the world that's listening, got completely robbed of the Oscars? Who won that year that lost? To Shakespeare in Love, yeah that was a. Weinstein meddling. He did his whole like promotion, right? I don't know. So, I mean, everyone thought that Saving Private Ryan was going to win. And then Shakespeare in Love won. Everyone was like what? Because?
Speaker 3:Spielberg won the directing award. Mm-hmm what? Because Spielberg won the directing award. So a little bit of Oscars history for everyone out there, which I love. Do you watch the award shows?
Speaker 2:It's a good one this year. It's a good one this year. Yeah, it was, they did well. Yeah, yeah, last year wasn't great.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was the Will year, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was the year. Is that the Will year or the year before?
Speaker 3:I was the will you, wasn't it? Yeah, it was the uh. The year before, I think, I watched the will one live. Oh, did you? I watched the slap and I was with my partner and she said what do you watch the like you're there? No, yeah, I was next. I was you see me next to will.
Speaker 3:Oh, I had my head shaved. Um, no, I was. It's a jader joke. I was at home watching it like as it was, like live on tv, and the whole slap happened. And I looked at my partner. I said, nah, this ain't a joke, this ain't a bit, because you can see Will's face was a bit red and he was a bit shook. I could tell. I just knew, you know, I thought it was a joke, man, I thought.
Speaker 2:I honestly thought because they were laughing. Yeah, they were laughing. And then he gets up. Because I love Will Smith man, I looked up to him for all these years and and he's a like, really like, charismatic. Oh god, yeah, funny guy yeah. I thought he was gonna go.
Speaker 3:He went up because I know them two are mates, they're friends yeah, yeah and he walks up and I'm like oh, he's to do like a theater slap.
Speaker 2:And he looked like a theater slap.
Speaker 3:It was so good. He even used his foot to slap the ground a bit. You know what I mean when you slap and you hit the ground with your foot. He did that, so part of it did look a bit like it was a bit yeah.
Speaker 2:And Chris Rock did him like, it was like he stood there.
Speaker 3:Didn't drop him. Yeah, he didn't drop him. Well done. Chris Rock Weighs 80 kilos. Well done, bro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what is it. What is it. What is it? What's it like? 100 kilos, yeah, more.
Speaker 3:It must be 100.
Speaker 2:It was like 6'5".
Speaker 3:He put all his weight into that slap and the rock took it, baby yeah yeah and oh, that wasn't.
Speaker 2:and then he sat back down and then okay, alright, and then he's gone. I think people were still sort of maybe still laughing a little bit yeah, yeah and then he goes keep your, my wife's name out of your mouth, whatever. And then a little bit of giggle. A little bit of giggle and then the next one.
Speaker 3:The next one was for real. I think who was behind him. Was it Lupita from 12 Years a Slave, and Get Out the actress Lupita. I can never pronounce her last name, so apologies, but she was behind Will in the frame. Yes, yes and she went yeah, she knew, she knew, she knew man. And then I was like no, because this was his night. Yeah, and you know, you said you're a huge Will. Smith fan, Huge fan yeah huge fan.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was watching. I was like oh man, this is going to be uncomfortable, he's going to get up and he's going to win. Yeah, they can't like not give it to him, because he deserves it. He was the best that year and he got up and won and he was crying and all this stuff. Then it just took a long time for him to apologize to chris, which I think was a bit of a fault on his path yeah, I, yeah, that was yeah.
Speaker 2:I wished I hope they met in private and did it. I hate this whole. Like they should have met in private and just shook it out and said, hey look, I was in a bad state and obviously I'm not sure if it's like gossip and whatever it is, but like you know, obviously Will Smith and Jeddah like they have a relationship issues, whatever, and it may have been like everyone's going through things you know, like you don't know, and this is obviously out of character for Will Smith.
Speaker 2:yeah, and it's severely out of character, and I think, as Chris Rock, who's Chris?
Speaker 3:Rock's bite shook, wasn't he? Yeah, because he knew he was out of character in the moment. He was like like maybe someone else like you know, someone else like Ice Cube or someone doing it you know what I mean, but not Will Smith, mr Charming.
Speaker 2:If Mickey Rourke was there, he would have definitely punched on yeah.
Speaker 3:I think a few people would have jumped in for Chris.
Speaker 2:Denzel was close by. Denzel get up there.
Speaker 3:Training day style Yo Jake. Where's my money, jake?
Speaker 2:Jake, I watched the interview with Train Day director David….
Speaker 3:Fuqua, yeah, yeah And… Fuqua.
Speaker 2:Yeah, fuqua, yeah, yeah, yeah, great, yeah, yeah, but the writer….
Speaker 3:Oh, the writer is….
Speaker 2:Isn't it, david?
Speaker 3:Goyer, david S Goyer. Yeah, is the writer of it. I think he wrote like Suicide Squad and Blade, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, and then I was watching him on another podcast and he was on the one the ones podcast.
Speaker 3:Hot one, is it? No, no, no. Not the chicken one?
Speaker 2:No, no no, with I forget his name, the other actor who's in. Anyway, I lost it, but I watched that podcast and I was watching him like man. I watched that podcast and I was watching him like man, the person who I guess of that character to make a film in America, and then he was heavily scrutinized for a long, long time and he was talking about the industry and when he made Suicide Squad yeah, how much like they cut that film.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right and destroyed it. Yeah, it's the same director as Fury, I think. I think it's David S Goyer.
Speaker 2:We've got to find out. Hold on, we'll put this in the bottom of the link. I am so We've got to find out. I'm good.
Speaker 3:I'm good, I'm one of the greats, so that's why, when you said it, I was like David Esquire.
Speaker 2:I don't know why I was thinking.
Speaker 3:If I'm right, I believe I get to take home something from the venue today. I will choose the camera he was on.
Speaker 2:Sorry, he was on the real one, david David Ayer oh, david Ayer, he's the hairy guy. Yeah, john Berthel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh Johnny, oh yeah, john Berthel, one of the greats. Yeah, so fucking good man.
Speaker 2:So good, so good, and like his comments, them two comments, I'm like man, that's yeah, like, yeah. You can see, like when they were talking about all the gatekeepers, how much they cannot say certain things. He Can, I say certain things.
Speaker 3:He's an LA guy actually. Now, you mentioned that David Ayer grew up on the streets in LA. Yeah, that's where he wrote Training Day. Yeah, yes, I remember. Now I have seen bits of that, david Ayer. Sorry, david Ayer. I am so sorry S Goya, we still like you, man. You did Blade, so it's all good you wrote.
Speaker 2:Blade and watered it down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and Great film, yeah, but are you scared that one day that may happen to you? As a filmmaker, I'm cautious.
Speaker 3:Like so yeah, I've got a movie. We've got a few movies in our slate that are coming out, so I've got a film that I wrote, produced and directed called Places Please. It's actually premiering this Sunday at the Inner West Film Festival. Oh, it's actually premiering this sunday at the inner west film festival. Oh, no way. Yeah, so it's making its debut, got in, got selected.
Speaker 3:So very exciting for me, my, you know, my partner and my crew and cast and crew, of course, um, that one is a comedy drama. There's there, when we were writing stuff in school, we were told and sort of warned about, you know, possibly being watered down in certain situations, like you're mentioning. Uh, mine is fine, it's a comedy drama. There were some films that other students wrote that, um, the school was. They didn't put the kibosh on them, but they sort of let them know lightly that we, you know, we're not going to let this like be made and through our school. Um, so is my fear that things will get watered down in the future? Um, yes and no, because, just, I suppose, as a young filmmaker coming out now and trying to make things, I have to be a bit more inside the box where someone like quinton or, like the greats, have carte blanche, they can do whatever they want.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because they've got the power. Yeah, they've got the power.
Speaker 3:So, with my power right now, I would probably write to stay inside the box to a degree. I won't push the boundaries too much. But again, that's what films are. They make you think and feel, and if we're not thinking and feeling, we're just watching Fast and Furious 25 again. You know what I mean. So no offense to Vin, the boys out there, vin, if you're listening, don't hurt me. But yeah, so part of me is a little bit like cautious. Cautious is the word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think it takes a lot of maturity. Yeah, and then, yeah, I guess you need to have some sort of power as well. Yeah. And we're in an industry where you have to play the game. There's a business you know, you got to play the game you know, and that's how it is sometimes.
Speaker 3:As far as, like, what we're doing with Noel Street is, a lot of us have written what we know and we're making what we're doing with knoll street is a lot of us have written what we know and we're making what we know. Yeah, so that was a lesson that I learned in school. Like you know, write about what you know, like whether it be culture or whatever, whatever you grew up in, or how you grew up in, or what you do. For instance, I've seen denzel talk about this, you know, um. They asked him something about culture and who makes movies, and denzel said Martin Scorsese made Goodfellas. Yeah, I've seen that.
Speaker 3:Obviously, denzel made Fences, you know Spielberg made Schindler's List. Because they know that they write what they know. So my film Places Please is about an amateur group of theatre actors on opening night. So you already just had a smile then, because you know about the personalities. Yeah, I just it's like a boiling pot, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, of people, whether it be crew, directors, stage managers, cast it's a boiling pot of people. So I'd done a handful of plays and met characters and then when we came to write our films, I was like, well, write what you know, write what you know, write what you know. So I did, and that doesn't mean you can't write what you know. I could probably write a Transformers movie, but the more authentic film to write and watch for me would be something what I know. So we have another gentleman who his film is out in the film festival circuit. I helped produce it. It's called the Beast Inside. It's a sci-fi fantasy horror. He loves that stuff. It's the Lord of the Rings stuff. So he wrote what he knew. So I've forgotten your question because I've just dribbled on a lot and plugged everything I can.
Speaker 2:You can do a plug later.
Speaker 3:Oh perfect, we'll do a little plug for you. I appreciate that, yeah, plug, we'll do a little plug for you. I appreciate that, yeah, plug for you. I'll plug everything.
Speaker 2:I can. Yeah, we're not just talking about like a personalization of your storytelling. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, to me it's write what you know. Write what you know. Yeah, that doesn't exclude you from writing something that you want to write that's not exactly to your character, but I find the best stories and my favorite directors is, you know, their stories are writing what they know and their background or their life. So when we spoke about Western Sydney, there absolutely will be a time when I will write something devoted to the West that I know, like those streets I grew up in and with the friends I grew up in. It's just finding getting more experience for me. For that I don't want to write something that won't work out. I want it to be extremely colourful and quality.
Speaker 3:So I'm very choosy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you're choosing your crew members. I ask this question to a lot of other filmmakers who come on the podcast is that? Would you want a crew members who are amazing at the job or pretty good at the job, but fit into your culture?
Speaker 3:Amazing at the job, okay, yeah. So best person gets the job. This is the way I think about acting as well. I think most of society, whether it be any job, best person should get the job. So, as the producer of a lot of these projects, um, I sort of always fit people in. It's very similar to playing football you know whether you play in the halfbacks or a captain it's slotting people into those right positions, that you know that the best product will come from it. So I I do like the 50 50 sort of blend, like you mentioned, whether it's like they're okay at their job but they know the culture. So, if it's a Western Sydney filmmaking project, if it's about three, brothers, meaning like knowing your crew culture.
Speaker 3:Oh, how they are on set and stuff like that. Yeah on set, yeah, yeah. So what do you mean by that? What do I want from them?
Speaker 2:No, because when you're working on films on set, yeah, so like, what do you mean by that? What do I want from them? Or no, like because you know, like when you're working on films and on set there's a certain type of, I guess, culture in each production. Sure, sure, and some people fit in, some people do not. You know, some people may hinder the process because of their certain character traits, whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, where I am now is, you know, coming from school, is I sort of assess that while we're in school I sat they might not know, they do know some of them know I sat at the back of the class, every single class. That was for a reason wasn't because I was shy, because I'm clearly not. It was that, um, I was sort of assessing people and their characters by seeing who could make a good crew member, what they're good at, what strengths and weaknesses do they have? Um, could I work with them, could they work with me? All these things happen at the back of the class because you can see it all. You can see who's working hard, who's asking questions, who's late, who's early. So I started at school doing that and, um, every sort of set that I'm on or I'm in charge of or have some sort of uh pull on, um, I want them to have the same work ethic as me and culture as me. So it's one whole boiling pot of it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, so what is moving? So you got a film that's going to be it's premiering next week.
Speaker 3:Yes, so Sunday the 14th. Actually, you know what Do a plug Yep Straight to cam?
Speaker 2:Yeah, straight to cam.
Speaker 3:Do a quick plug Do you like an accent or no, I won't.
Speaker 2:Aren't you putting an accent on right now?
Speaker 3:Yes, I'm actually from the Czech Republic. I'm doing a brilliant Australian accent right now, so my film is called titled Places, please. It's a comedy drama. It will be premiering at the Inner West Film Festival on Sunday, theth of april, at 6 pm. Um, so you can get tickets at the inner west film fest online. Uh, come enjoy the film. There's a multitude of great shorts on um, so, yeah, very excited for for that. Cast and crew wise as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know they're pumped, so yeah nice, yeah, and how big was the crew there um, production, sorry, production wise, we did that at school.
Speaker 3:So, um, not at school. So I obviously I've scattered a location. So shout out to um castleville theater, you know the pavilion theater. Um, I worked with, uh, lynette getting sorry, annette getting the um venue of the location. So we, we did that in two days. So it's wild that we're starting to get selected in these festivals because some people shot their shorts in, you know, five, ten days plus, and we banged this out in two days and it's getting a bit of steam behind it. So I'm just extremely proud of it. I think there was eight of us, eight crew, sometimes six, so it was really really skeletons crew. We had an amazing team, idop Angus Lowe, whose film is the Beast Inside that's also floating around the festival circuit right now. He was amazing. Everyone, I could name them all and then, yeah, so about six to eight crew two days we did that in. So it was a school project as well, yeah.
Speaker 2:Just two things. One so, what's something you would like to change about the industry and something that you find that I'm happy we have this in the industry?
Speaker 3:Change I would say. I mean, I'm only, you know, a few months into it, but we have really us, our crew, our company have sort of hit the ground running. So what I'm finding in the last three months for the industry change-wise, australia's tough for opportunities for emerging. For instance, you know there might be a grip or a gaff that has been working on set for 50 years so he's still getting those regular roles. So I think it's like emerging roles. So I'd say, yeah, emerging roles would be nice, like giving the younger people a chance on some things, or maybe scholarships or emerging programs, more of those. And then funding Like mentorships as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mentorships, yeah, that's the word. Mentorships. That's what Thor. When they filmed Thor, that's what it was supposed to be.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I don't know how that worked. How did that work out? Do you have anyone that worked on it?
Speaker 2:I know a few people worked on it yeah yeah, yeah, I mean, I watched the film.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But essentially that's what it was good for. That's what Chris Hemsworth and Takawai Hattie like. That's what they wanted to give back to the crew and have mentorships to more people here in Sydney For us.
Speaker 3:For us in Australia. Look after our own is a big thing of mine. Same with the West. I want to do that ideally for the West. If we can make a big budget film in the West, that would be amazing. Do what Chris does at Fox Studios or Disney Studios, whatever it is, but West, that would be great so they had mentorships and stuff going. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I mean, that was the whole. I think that was a big investment.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that, yeah, emerging artists, who could work on other already, who are professionals, had been in veterans in the industry, could learn from that. Yeah, learn from like I'm not sure, like maybe special effects or maybe in lighting, sound makeup, because it was massive, massive production. Yeah, that's right so like it was great for everyone.
Speaker 3:I remember when it was happening he had. I had friends like be extras and stuff on it yeah, yeah I was doing a showreel, um, at this, like the studios, the building that there's the casting building, that people. I was doing a showreel in there and there was obviously all the vans and I didn't know what was going on. And one of the guys said, oh yeah, they had security blocked up and they were like, yeah, it's Thor. I was like, oh okay.
Speaker 3:Because you weren't allowed a certain part. Obviously they're keeping everything secret, yeah yeah, everything secret.
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, it was all blocked off yeah, that's right, it was big.
Speaker 3:It'd be great to get on one of them, yeah as any role, filmmaker or actor or whatever actually we had.
Speaker 2:Hopefully, when he's, when he's free again, he'll come on, because he's Neil Sharma, who was a director's assistant to Takeaway Teddy oh, wow yeah, yeah, yeah and then, and he also worked on directing on Heartbreak High yeah, yeah, the new Heartbreak High yeah, yeah, did you grow up watching the old one.
Speaker 3:I did, I did, yeah, yeah, I did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did, but like I was, I was still an ethnic, I was still new to the country when I was there. So that whole, that that I was still new to the country when I was there, that whole that was still like foreign to me at the time in the 90s.
Speaker 3:Because you were in Canberra, is that right?
Speaker 2:I was in Melbourne and then Canberra, and then how long until you came to Sydney. I came here in the 2015.
Speaker 3:Oh, really Okay yeah. Right, and that was to pursue the arts really right, yeah. Because Canberra is. I mean, I worked with a girl, uh, in it might have been a short, that was from canberra and you know the act or something, and she was getting to that point where it was move or don't move, you know like pursue it or not pursue it, like I mentioned his name three or four times, but, um, my dop for places, please, angus, he's from canberra yeah, and he made that decision like I've got to leave Canberra, came and joined film school and I think he lived in his car for like the first three or four days before he found a share house.
Speaker 3:Oh, I've done that here as well. Yeah, did you do that. Yeah, yeah. So that shows commitment, that shows drive and passion. Yeah, I think he just parked the car in front of the school for the first three or four days that's how I met him back in the car but yeah, like actually Canberra is a great place to film.
Speaker 2:Canberra has some really if, if there's filmmakers out there listening like Canberra is a has a lot of great little aesthetics out there. You can make it look old, new like you can look like a European, make it look old, new, like you can look McGill European. I think there's some funding there as well for Canberra to film in Canberra. I interviewed who gave my first job, che Baker. I interviewed him as well and he promotes Canberra quite a bit.
Speaker 3:He actually promotes Australia quite a bit, so he's very good um, I find that the aussies do that, so he sounds like he's doing quite well. Yeah, yeah, but he's he's done.
Speaker 2:He's done the hard yard, but he's he's done it like he and he's still doing it like he a lot of his film. That he's fun. He's self-funded and um and uh, yeah, he, he worked, he's worked on a lot of Hollywood films and whatnot.
Speaker 3:I find that our Hollywood crew, they do promote us really well. The. Hemsworths, the Cate Blanchetts, you know, the Russell Crows, joe Hidgson, all those I can name them forever. I feel like they represent us so well and, you know, it's a win for everyone. When I see someone like Margot in Barbie I'm not sure if you watch the Actor Awards oh yeah, she gets up there and she's just so charming and lovely and it's a win for us. When she does so well, part of us feels like, yeah, it's one for the team.
Speaker 2:It is good because you know what, we have such great actors, I think. Look, I'm obviously biased, but I think we have better actors than the States, like we have yeah we've got a slate of actors yeah, yeah Ben.
Speaker 3:Middleston. I could go on forever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they all do us so proud and whenever I hear interviews or award winnings, they always shout us out in Australia, this Australia, that. And I mean I listen to Do you listen to Mark Merrin? No, so he's the og podcaster. He's before rogan. Yeah, yeah, he's. He's does all the artists and stuff. He's a comedian and he had tony collette on and he was like so where are you from? Like what's, what's your background? And she's like oh, I'm what they call a westie. You know what I mean? This is tony collette, who's been in everything and who's amazing in everything. So they really they drive australia and they drive Australia and they don't forget. That's what it's all about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. And every time I go in any of the, if I do an acting course or I go to, yeah, all through Sydney, man, it was so good, everyone's so good. I feel like, man, we have so much talent here. There really is yeah. And I think it's also because we have our lineage is from.
Speaker 3:England, england, yeah, england, ireland, scotland.
Speaker 2:Yeah, where it's like theatre space.
Speaker 3:Yeah thespians, yeah thespians, sort of thing.
Speaker 2:And like, for example, like I don't even know this, I'm sure a lot of people have been in this predicament where I was given an audition. It was like a 10-pager it was a 10-pager. How long did you have to learn? Two days, but it was in the States.
Speaker 3:Oh well, you had to go there. No, you were doing self-tape, self-tape. Yeah, sure, sure.
Speaker 2:And I didn't know that you can have it in front of you.
Speaker 3:Oh what.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Isn't that frowned upon In Australia? It's frowned upon to have it in front of you.
Speaker 3:I've always been too afraid. Yeah, cram it in that night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've always been too afraid. Yeah, cram it in that night. Yeah, I crammed it in. I crammed it in, and then I Got found out like In the States Page in hand. Yeah, because they're doing Like. I guess they're doing a, they want to look, they want to see how you look like. Yeah, for sure, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:Page in hand. Wow, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I didn't know that. And I'm like Most Australian actors, yeah, are so diligent with the work. Yeah, I was just about to say diligent, diligent with the work. They'll do it, yeah, and they'll read it, they'll do it, even if they have four hours, they'll do it. They'll do it 100%.
Speaker 3:Yeah, heaps of friends and myself I've done it before, yeah, because I thought they won't accept me. Like you know, sometimes I've done the classic stick it on the tripod but you can see my eyes reading yeah, you know what I mean. The dialogue, yeah. Or I did the Brando thing once for my partner where, you know, in Godfather wearing staples, she was holding a huge whiteboard, you know, and I was like so she's obviously to the right of the camera or whatever, and I'm reading it from the whiteboard.
Speaker 2:But whoever's viewing that self-tape can see my eyes going you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:It was a last minute thing, but was it a spec? Saves that, I think it was a like a tbc for like a insurance company or something. My kid just went to bed and, um, she, the wife, comes in and says, um, you know, you could be around a little longer if you just got life insurance. And I go, and then I have a passage about life insurance and looking after Billy, my kid.
Speaker 3:That's hard to do the hardest I find with acting. I'm not sure I'll ask you. The hardest ones I find are those TBCs that have nothing in it. They're just complete plastic. Yeah, Nothing to attach to. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You just come off. Know I struggle with that. Yeah, I struggle with ones where they uh oh, this is flying. Uh, uh out of the, out of the floor, and oh yeah, the sky, yeah, yeah like oh, okay, you gotta see all that in this 30 seconds you're going.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I've done that man. I don't remember I was. I was a footballer and I dressed up like as a rugby league player in the strangers and I didn't even have a football at the time. I used the pillow and I had to run through the room and throw the ball around like it was a football and it was just silence and me going. It was uncomfortable.
Speaker 3:I did another one actually this is a funny one. I did one where it was I won't say the place, but it was for a huge beer company and they wanted they said come as a historical figure, as dressed as a historical figure, and obviously I'm a movie guy. So I went as Charlie Chaplin's. What's his character? You know his main. Like Charlie Chaplin, his main character. I forget what it's called, but you know I had the face paint and the mustache and the hat and the overlong pants and the huge boots and I had to park in the city and then I couldn't find parking and I'm rushing around, my hat's falling off. People thought I was doing a bit on the street, that I was playing the character. That would have been great.
Speaker 3:All I was doing was running late to this casting stick and my huge shoes like a clown and, um, what a cool entry point, yeah, for a character. Well, I went, I went so hard into it. Got into the casting room, there was a girl dressed as one woman, which is easy, and there was a guy dressed as, like, I guess, tiger woods, who's just in golf here, and all we had to do is go in and say one line, which I did, and didn't get it. Obviously she was like wow, you went really hard at this. It's an amazing costume and wardrobe. I was like, thank you, you know, sweating all this white down my face. And then I was at the drive-ins and I'm like on my phone and I hear on the ad on the screen. I look up and the Wonder Woman girl got it and I was like I did all that. So, like you know, you feel like a bit of an idiot, but you also, you know, yeah, I suppose the passion comes through. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Have you got any nightmare audition stories, like in person or even self-tape that made you do something. You just felt so ridiculous. No, like I don't know. No, that pushed you out of your comfort zone.
Speaker 2:You're like oh, I had one, like a year ago maybe, where, like I had to do some, I guess, some yoga movements and stuff. So it was like a full body shot, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know what the worst thing is? It's like that I guess this is more superficiality Like in our business, like if you have to stay in shape, right, just because and that's just the industry, and it's rubbish that you have to, yeah, right, it's like you have to look good and whatever, like which we were just normally. But people watched movies to see Brad Pitt or like something that's fantastical, something which is like, yeah, which is aspiring, whatever it is, you know, like that's what they watch. So like I'm not always in shape, I'm not me either, yeah, and it's hard to keep up with that. And so you get roles where like, oh, I got to have a shirt off, whatever and set the other Like oh well, you know.
Speaker 2:Six days to get trim. I call my agent like look, I'm not in that shape at all.
Speaker 3:Stopped eating for six days, didn't you? And just did push-ups every day before you got on that.
Speaker 2:It's a tough look. Honestly, it can be a tough gig. Man, yeah, yeah, and there's actors out there who are very beautiful and well, male and female, and they have to stay that way because they get modelling jobs as well, all the time, yeah, and that's their niche in a way. You know, yeah, yeah, I'm a good-looking guy who is a beach guy or a neighborhood whatever. You know.
Speaker 3:I'm a home and away type.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like you have to upkeep that. That's hard, it's tough, it is yeah. But that's their business and that's their thing they got to do. You know, and I do struggle with that man. I do struggle with like, hey, you, you know what's my niche in this industry?
Speaker 3:you know what's my character.
Speaker 2:But I feel I go, I go to self tapes, I go to auditions and I just do the best I can, you know, and whatever happens happens, you know, and we know that, we all know. Yeah, it's good. Sometimes it's got nothing to do with the audition. Literally it's got nothing to what you say you know, are you one of those actors?
Speaker 3:I mean, I did this where I would. I mean, actually, first of all, are you sad about not going into the offices much anymore, that everything you know during COVID and post-COVID has become self-tapes, because I don't know when the last time I went into a casting room once. Are you sad that you do? You prefer the casting room or the self-tapes? I like casting room. Same. I like doing what we're doing now.
Speaker 2:Even if it's for the two minutes before the end. Yeah, I fear the casting room and that's why I like it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a great end date at the end isn't it, yeah, it's like well, I've been going now.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's coming, it's coming back, but it's not going to be there forever. I think it's going to be. I think it's self-tapes now.
Speaker 3:It's much more easy for cast and directors to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, sure, it's less waste of the time. There is obviously the benefit of having a self-tape where you can try, try, yeah that's right, yeah, but I do like I guess I'm in a good position where my partner she's an actor as well, yeah, lucky she will give me directions.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or I get angry at my partner. Oh, really you know she's not reading it the way I want to read it. I'm like it's your fault I won't get it, but really it's me. You know I'm just being a bastard.
Speaker 2:But there's people out there who don't have people to read for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh yeah, I get them as a director, yeah yeah, they leave the space in between the other person's dialogue and they'll. You know, it's just nothing, and then they'll read it. Yeah, I feel so sorry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually I where, like I asked a friend, hey, can you record this last for me and send it out and live in space, and then after, like, go on, like I'm movie or whatever, and, yeah, edit it in, and that's so annoying but, yeah, it's hard to react to it. So in that way, I wish that we get to go see, uh, casting directors. So you prefer it, like me, yeah, and also, like you know, also, if you go see a casting director, you have a conversation with their personality and they get to know you like you're not just, I mean you may had an off day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they can probably tell hey, he or she or they or had an off day and a good chance on the day they'll be different. Yeah, for sure they're bringing something different. Yeah, and they can give you the directions which is great as well.
Speaker 3:There's only so much you can see in a slate from a person's personality in a self tape. You know like hi, I'm Paul Ryan 175, that I mean, I'm like you. I like to be in the room. My part two question for that was once you leave that casting room, are you done with it in your mind or do you think about that audition forever? And who's getting the job? Um, because I, I myself walk out, I forget about it and if I get a call, I get a call.
Speaker 2:Uh, that's the way I do it, yeah, I, I, I forget about, I think, yeah, yeah, I think that's the best way to do it I think I don't go and dwell in it. I used to dwell on it and I go. Oh so now I would end game like I'll go to the audition. I'm going to the audition like I've really, really helped. Now I know the industry so well now yeah, there's nothing to do with me, yeah that's right.
Speaker 3:I'm going to do the best I can, so you don't take it personally. No, I don't. That's the way to do it. Not, I don't take it personally.
Speaker 2:Um, I take it personally if I didn't do the best I could.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unless it's one of those shirtless ones you're talking about and then you take it real personally yeah yeah, well, there's not that many jobs for a dab balls anymore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, bro, I'm with you, uh, but yeah, I guess, yeah, you don't take it. I walk away and just know that you do the best you can and if you get the job, great, if you don't whatever, but you got to keep moving, and that's the other thing. Like outside of acting, you got to have other things going on, 100% you have to, otherwise it becomes quite miserable because there's so many rejections and there's so many letdowns and whatnot.
Speaker 2:So you have to find avenues so you don't fall into a negative headspace. And I see this a lot because everyone in our industry is so sensitive. And it's natural to be sensitive because that's our job to be emotional, to capture different emotions for different characters and empathize, and we do that as our job.
Speaker 3:That's our job mate.
Speaker 2:So if you feel down, it's because that's our job and please, I hope there's folks out there who either, of course, 100% go see a therapist and if you can find someone, find a mate.
Speaker 3:So worth it.
Speaker 2:So worth it, or, you know, also try. You know I stay active, as active as possible, yeah 100%. Find other hobbies that you can do. Yeah, Surround yourself with a really nice, positive people. And sometimes in our industry acting industry especially in Sydney I find that a lot of people are not as nice. So try and find those people who are nice and positive.
Speaker 3:Yeah, On that casting thing, I think another aspect that helped me be an actor and become a filmmaker is when I do all these castings. I know how you feel, so I know how to talk to you on the day, I know how to respond to you. You know pre, pre-audition, post-audition, all that sort of stuff, because I've been in those shoes and that's why I suggest as many filmmakers to do even go take acting classes, do something, so you know how that person feels, instead of standing behind because it's it's extremely hard to stand in front of that camera and give your soul. So I want you to feel both ways and, um, so I I love the casting process, I'm huge on it. Um, and because, yeah, like I said, I've been in your shoes, I know how it feels. I think that's helped me heaps as a filmmaker yeah, yeah, yeah, look, let's.
Speaker 2:Let's end it there on a sure, on a positive note. Yeah, but yeah, look, thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 3:I loved it.
Speaker 2:It was great yeah, a good combo.
Speaker 3:I think I've taken Jimmy's spot.
Speaker 2:I'm a new co-host.
Speaker 3:Once you hear this, come out, jimmy. You had a good run, buddy, let me tell you one thing, james would be more than happy.
Speaker 2:He's got so much on, yeah, he's got so much on. I have to like drag him sometimes like mate nah, I'm just joking, he's wonderful like look, yeah, he's supposed to be on today but like last, I was going to cancel the interview because we were filming last on the weekend. We just I was helping on the show.
Speaker 3:Would you like to give the show, the pilot, a plug right now?
Speaker 2:well, I can't. It's not me to give a plug. All I can say is that I'll feel like we've swapped roles.
Speaker 3:Now give it a, give it a plug down the back.
Speaker 2:Well, the people who listen to the podcast already know, like so my partner, uh, they're doing fangs and fur and they just started their web series, um, so it's good, yeah, it's really good. So, um, the weekend was quite busy, yeah, um, and so I just thought that maybe today could not work because we finished so late but called you and you were like oh, you're here, are you?
Speaker 3:yeah, it was early, it was good early.
Speaker 2:Those 10 minutes every guys you know, if you're not early, you're late. That's our rule in this world. That's right. That's right thanks man.
Speaker 3:No, it's been a pleasure. Yeah, I'll be back on folks, episode 2 most definitely alright, guys.
Speaker 2:See you next month. Thanks, take care, folks. Bye, thank you.