Make Your Own Fun forum - Monday 30 April

Theresegirl said: > Before i fork out any dosh,what are the credentials of each > of the panel members ?? > I know who Reg Cribb is, but I am not sure about the others. > Perhaps a bit more details about these people would be good. > thankyou Wow - I'm guessing you haven't been in the Perth industry very long? No matter! It's a good question and I'll give you a quick rundown, simply based on what details I know of these people. (I'm not officially attached to the project in any way, other than Don Smith forwarding me the info to post here because he could not get access to the website). Sam Longley An actor and comedian who initiated the comedy improv show "The Big Hoo Haa", which has been running weekly in Perth to responsive houses for almost 5 years. Sam's previous comedy projects were MSG and Shining Wit, both independent collectives which became very successful. He's also becoming well known as a TV presenter, has done commercials and film, as well as continually working in theatre for companies like Deckchair's Shakespeare In The Park and Barking Gecko. Alison Van Reeken Graduated from WAAPA, has worked in Television and with major theatre companies in Perth and around Australia, soon performing in the next Black Swan production. With her husband Benj D'Addario she formed Red Ryder Productions, and independently produced their shows 'Dealer's Choice', 'A Moment On The Lips' and 'The Mozart Faction'...all three of which were critical and popular smashes. Reg Cribb You probably know him as an award winning writer...'Last Cab To Darwin', 'The Return', 'Ruby's Last Dollar'...he's won the Patrick White Award amongst others, and these shows have toured nationally and I believe internationally. He acted and toured in 'Face To Face', and 'The Chatroom'. 'The Return' has been made into a feature film 'Last Train To Freo'. He's also a pretty good singer and guitar player if you get him going... Zak Hilditch Zak recently won Best Director at the WA Screen Awards after being nominated for the past four years. Among his other awards he was recently named WA Young Filmmaker of the Year. Zak's debut feature The Actress was selected for the Slamdance film festival in early 2006 after playing at a number of Australian festivals in 2005. Jansis O’Hanlon Is the General Manager of the Performing Arts Centre Society (in other words, The Blue Room) which is responsible for assisting almost every independent artist in Perth get off the ground with their theatre project. She's also worked as an actor and as a director for several professional theatre companies. Don Smith Is the Equity Union representative for independent Variety artists. He's been a stand-up comedian, actor, clown and musician in Perth for 20 years. He recently wrote and produced a one-man show at the Blue Room, "The Trouble With Don'. His previous one-man show toured the state successfully. Steve Shaw Is the guy at ArtsWA who is in charge of funding Theatre Projects. When I produced a show several years ago, Steve's information was extremely valuable in writing our application successfully so we got all the funding we asked for. During the 90's, Steve was one of the most-employed actors in Perth, and with his wife, prominent director Marcelle Schmitz, produced several independent shows. He was also the Equity WA Branch Secretary for many years, so if you want to know about arts contracts, he know his stuff. (Also another good musician - we used to play in a band together). To answer your doubts, this is one of the most credible panels I can imagine to speak on the topic of getting your projects up and running...so yes, even the non-Equity member price is a Bargain! (better yet, join the Union!) My apologies to the people concerned if I've omitted or bungled anything...this is all remembered off the top of my head. Cheers, Craig ~<8>-/====\---------