We Interrupt This Broadcast

Director Hayley MacFarlane joins Robbie Miles to talk about building a career across unscripted, scripted series and features, from Big Brother to Wonka's The Golden Ticket and Dive Club for Netflix and her new feature Beauty from Surrender. Hayley shares how reality taught her to tell a story in seconds and make decisions under pressure, and learn about character by watching people for ten ho...

Loani and Kirsty catch up to discuss a busy October across the Australian screen industry. They share their takeaways from Screen Queensland's In the Frame event and the podcast's Adelaide Film Festival breakfast, before diving into a huge range of topics from here and overseas. Tune in for all the details on a warning that regional cinemas could be lost due to projector replacement costs,...

Loani Arman sits down with Mandy Walker AM ACS ASC, the Oscar nominated cinematographer behind Elvis, Hidden Figures, Mulan and Tracks, and the first woman to lead the American Society of Cinematographers in its 106 year history. Mandy talks about breaking into camera departments when few women were there, the mentors who backed her, and why wants to open doors for other women in camera. --- Liste...

Kirsty Stark sits down with the team behind Leviticus: Writer/Director Adrian Chiarella, Producer Sam Jennings (Causeway Films), and Distributor Marc Wooldridge (Maslow Entertainment) for Part 2 of a two-part conversation about what it takes to make a million dollars at the Australian box office. If you missed Part 1, head back to last week's episode, #77. The queer horror feature reached almo...

Kirsty Stark sits down with the team behind Leviticus: Writer/Director Adrian Chiarella, Producer Sam Jennings (Causeway Films), and Distributor Marc Wooldridge (Maslow Entertainment) for Part 1 of a two-part conversation about what it takes to make a million dollars at the Australian box office. The queer horror feature reached almost 1.5 million dollars domestically, and in this conversation the...

Loani and Robbie cover all of your screen industry news from September, digging into the Screen Queensland funding cuts, 46 production jobs going at the ABC, and what it means to lose an internal champion on a project. They discuss the reboot-heavy upfronts, the reversal on the ABC Indigenous department, and the new Shared Ground initiative. Plus the Emmys, the Tilly Norwood “interview”, the cance...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠Getty Images⁠⁠⁠ , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- Aven Yap speaks with Arran Birchenough from our podcast sponsor Getty Images in the show’s first deep dive into archive. Busting the stereotype that archive is only relevant for historical documentaries, Arran explains why it matters for...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Getty Images⁠⁠ , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- Loani Arman speaks with Shonee Samia: actor, stunt performer, motion capture performer, producer, game developer and national powerlifter. Ten years after a brain tumour diagnosis and being told she had six months to live, Shonee shares ho...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠Getty Images⁠ , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- In this episode, Kirsty sits down with Sue Maslin AO, the producer behind films including The Dressmaker, Japanese Story and Road to Nhill, to work through one of the biggest questions currently facing the industry: why aren’t good Australia...

This episode is sponsored by Getty Images , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- In this episode, Robbie Miles speaks with Jairo Alvarado, manager and co-founder of Redefine Entertainment, about building a career and a company on your own terms. As a Literary Manager, Jairo has progressed from a junior executive job at War...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠Getty Images⁠ , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- Aven and Loani wrap up all of your screen industry news from August, starting with the funding threats facing Screen Queensland and Screen Tasmania, and what deep cuts could mean for productions, crews and small businesses. They cover the AB...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠Getty Images⁠, home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. http://www.gettyimages.com --- In this episode, Loani Arman speaks with Rachel Maxine Anderson and Rae Choi about their work on Ina, a six part online series, and how they built an audience without waiting for anyone to green light the series but...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠Getty Images⁠, home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. http://www.gettyimages.com --- In this episode, Aven Yap speaks with Lyanna Kea, a Malaysian Chinese creator, actor and producer with over 15 million fans, about building the viral world of Aunty Kea and turning content creation into a genuine pr...

This episode is sponsored by ⁠Getty Images⁠ , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- Online strategist, writer and producer Alyce Adams joins Robbie Miles to explore what it takes to identify and build an audience for your work in an algorithm-driven world. Drawing on eight years in Screen Australia's Online Department a...

This episode is sponsored by Getty Images , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- Have thoughts to share about this episode or want to come and chat about everything going on in the industry? Join Loani, Aven, Robbie and Kirsty this Thursday 30th July at 8:30pm for our monthly Instagram Live: https://www.instagram.com/weint...

This episode is sponsored by Getty Images , home to market-leading creative and editorial content from the world’s best photographers and videographers. --- In this special video episode, Kirsty Stark speaks with Grainne Brunsdon, COO of Screen Australia, and Ian Murray, founder of 113 Partners, about the recently released Private Investment Toolkit from Screen Australia: the first resource of its...

YouTube strategist Nico Lockhart, founder of Team Falco, joins Aven Yap to pull apart what it really takes to build kids’ IP on a digital-first platform. Nico has a decade of experience across traditional and digital platforms, and facilitated the inaugural Kids IP Incubator run by Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. He explains why creativity and distribution are...

Access coordination is fast moving from ‘nice to have’ to non-negotiable, and Stephanie Dower is one of the people building that shift from the ground up. In this Deep Dive episode, Loani Arman speaks with Stephanie about her work as an access coordinator, producer, and CEO of Dower Productions and what it takes to make screen productions genuinely accessible for cast and crew. They also get into...

Have thoughts to share about this episode, Screen Forever, or anything else happening in the industry? Join Loani, Aven, Robbie and Kirsty this Thursday 2nd June at 8:30pm for our monthly Instagram Live: https://www.instagram.com/weinterruptpodcast --- Robbie and Kirsty catch up to discuss everything that happened in the industry in June, from the release of “YouTube feature films” Backrooms, Obse...

In this episode, Robbie Miles speaks with producer and director Michael Schwartz of Deeper Water Films about the realities of packaging films, attaching cast, navigating Hollywood agencies and building a sustainable producing career. From his unconventional entry into producing through to working with talent including Sam Worthington, Russell Crowe and Luke Bracey, Mike shares hard-earned lessons...

In this episode, Kirsty Stark speaks with Ian Murray, Founder of 113 Partners, about private investment for feature films, and what investors in Australia are looking for when they invest in a project or slate. Ian discusses the challenges of finding private investment, what we can do to make our industry more investable, and where to find potential investors if you don’t have rich parents or frie...

In this episode, Aven Yap speaks with Showrunner David Hutchinson about creating hit kids animated YouTube series Boy & Dragon, which has surpassed 6 billion views and 7 million subscribers. David dives deep into the creative process, industry insights, and the evolution of kids' content on YouTube. Listen to hear David talk about: Creating successful kids’ content on YouTube The creative...

In this episode, Loani Arman speaks with Jodie Bell, CEO of Goolarri Media Enterprises and Ramu Productions in Broome, Western Australia, about what it really takes to build a First Nations media organisation from the ground up - and keep it there. For 35 years Goolarri has been doing something the Australian screen industry still hasn’t figured out - owned by community, accountable to community,...

Have your own thoughts to share about this episode or anything else happening in the industry? Join Loani, Aven, Robbie and Kirsty this Thursday 28th May at 8:30pm for our second Instagram Live: https://www.instagram.com/weinterruptpodcast In this monthly round-up episode, Robbie and Aven discuss Screen Well’s new Mental Health Action Plan and why conversations around leadership, safety and sustai...

Fresh off of winning Tropfest 2026 with her short film  Crescendo  and taking home the Rebel8 Award for Most Outstanding Emerging Female Director at Flickerfest for  Tuesday Tuesday, Lianne Mackessy reveals her process and reflects on the experiences that have shaped her creative voice. She chats to Robbie Miles to explore the pressures of creative ambition, motherhood and hustle culture, the impo...