Don't Be So Dramatic

With a career spanning over 40 years and multiple geographies, Tom McSweeney is an internationally renowned casting director, teacher and director. As one of Australia’s foremost casting directors, Tom McSweeney has cast over 200 Feature Films, Mini-Series and Episodic Television Productions, across three continents. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his outstanding work on The Starter Wife i...

Alyssa Stevenson is the founder and manager of ASM (Alyssa Stevenson Management). Lyss started in the industry as an actor and has since found a love for producing and management. She has work with such companies as First Option Pictures, Stan and Morrissey Management. Lyss aims to use the array of skills she has acquired from working with the industry's best in order to best represent creatives i...

Carlia Capozza is an Actor, Producer and Director based in Melbourne. Carlia currently works as a producer and crew member for multi-ARIA nominated company, Visible Studios, and has produced multiple successful and viral projects with them over the past few years. Carlia is also the co-director of my own series which is currently in development with Visible Studios. Instagram: www.instagram.com/ca...

Simon Williams is a Mindset and Performance Coach who works with highly successful Artists, Athletes and Business Leaders. Simon was a successful athlete early on in his life and after realising his career was not giving him the satisfaction he desired he then pivoted and found his calling in helping others to achieve their biggest dreams and goals. Simon is the founder of Motivation and Performan...

Rachel talks about how comparing your own journey to those around you and those you look up to, when uncontrolled, can have a negative effect on your own creative career.  Email: rachellaurenbaker@outlook.com Insta: @rachel.lauren.baker See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Strong is an award-winning theatre director and one of Australia’s most successful and influential arts leaders. Sam is currently the Chair of Melbourne Fringe and was previously Chair of Circa. Sam has also been Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre, Associate Artistic Director of the Melbourne Theatre Company, Literary Associate at Belvoir, and the founding dramaturg in...

Noni Hazlehurst is one of Australia's most iconic creatives. After finishing her degree at Flinders University, Noni started out on shows 'The Box' and 'The Sullivans' before presenting on the children's TV show 'Play School' for 24 years. She has also presented for many years on 'Better Homes and Gardens'. Noni is known for her work in the films 'Candy', 'Monkey Grip', 'Ladies In Black' and most...

Emily Joy is an actor and coach based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the founder of Joy Studio where she has helped countless actors book high profile jobs such as Amazon's 'Lord Of The Rings,' Lifetime's 'American Princess', 'Secret Bridesmaid's Business', 'Picnic At Hanging Rock', and 'The Family Law'. Recent feature film projects include Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Elvis Presley film, 'Babyteeth',...

Danielle Beckmann is an American actress, filmmaker and coach currently based in Los Angeles. Her most recent film 'Liza Anonymous', that she both starred in and produced has been accepted into the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival and will be screened as part of their 2021 program. Danielle's coaching focuses on empowering creatives to take charge of their storytelling abilities and to work throu...

Founded in 2015, Chicken and Chips Casting is a full service casting company for Film, Television, TVCs & New Media with offices in Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne led by Principal Casting Directors Alison Fowler & Stephanie Pringle. Recent credits include Australian pioneer film 'The Flood' directed by Victoria Wharfe McIntyre, 'Ellie & Abbie' (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt) directed by Moni...

Melanie Zanetti is a Brisbane- born actress who has done a wide variety of work both in Australia and overseas. She is currently the voice actor for Chilli on the popular kid's cartoon 'Bluey' and is also the star of the erotic romance series 'Gabriel's Inferno'. Mel also worked on the post-apocalyptic comedy adventure film 'Love and Monsters', currently streaming on Netflix. Instagram: @melanieza...

As creatives, we are known for our constant hard work to achieve what we want from our creative career. But sometimes the stress and consistent "hustling" means we lose sight of why we even started pursuing this career in the first place. I think it's important to take a step back from your work and take the time to fall back in love with your craft; to find the joy in your classes, projects and w...

After graduating from NIDA in 2010, Michael began his career leading on stage at the Sydney Opera House in roles such as King Henry in Shakespeare's 'Henry V', and Valentine Coverly in Tom Stoppard's 'Arcadia'. Since turning his attention to screen, Michael has played roles in 'Hacksaw Ridge', 'The Luminaries', and 'The Nightingale'. In 2019, Michael was nominated for an AFI/ACCTA Award for Best S...

Steve Jaggi is a Canadian-born Australian Film Producer, Director and Showrunner. Steve is most recently the showrunner and producer for the teen series 'Dive Club' for Netflix and Network 10. A few of his producing credits include the teen films 'Swimming for Gold' released by Universal Pictures and on Hulu, 'Back of the Net' which premiered at the 2018 CinefestOz film festival, and was acquired...

Pip Edwards is a professional actor, filmmaker, acting/career coach, and entrepreneur. As an actor, Pip’s television credits include Home & Away, Les Norton, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, ANZAC Girls, Wonderland and Forever Young. Her film credits include A Few Less Men, Little Black Dress, Who’s That Boy, upcoming feature films June Again, Carmen, and Death Doula, as well...

In this episode, Rachel talks about how years of small decisions and happenings led to booking one of her favourite guests on the podcast, the renowned Mark Morrissey. Success always seems to happen so quickly but what we don't realise is how many connections, events and decisions lead us to getting to where we want to be. We will never know what will or won't get us there until it happens and we...

Bec Charlwood is a stand up comedian and podcast host based in Sydney. She has supported comedians such as Josh Thomas, Wil Anderson, Zoe Coombs Marr and Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharaoh. She has also performed stand-up at Splendour in the Grass, and was a feature act on Rove McManus’s live variety show The Popular Experiment. Bec’s reputation as one of best young comedians in the country saw her...

Roger Mason is a musician and composer based in Australia. Although most wouldn't necessarily know him by name, you would certainly know Roger's work. He has played and recorded with some incredible musicians and bands over the years such as Gary Numan, Models, Divinyls, Icehouse, Jenny Morris and Johnny Diesel among others and wrote Wendy Matthews hit song Token Angels. He has been inducted into...

Ali Taylor is one of the founders of the mental health organisation, Listen Up Music. Ali and his family have a lived experience of suicide and so he has made it his life’s work to combat the stigma and provide a meaningful impact in people’s lives through the power of music. The organisation aims to empower every musician and music industry professional to develop and maintain positive mental hea...

Damon Herriman is an Adelaide born actor who has had success both nationally and internationally in film, TV and theatre. In the past 10-15 years, Damon has become known for playing bad, creepy, unsettled and quirky characters, but this wasn't always the case for him. Early on in his career, Damon couldn't even get an audition for these types of roles until he was able to change the industry's per...

Andy Edmunds, Director of the Virginia Film Office, is a Virginia native and an accomplished musician and songwriter. After studying music at VCU in the mid 80s, Edmunds produced a music video of one of his songs that was broadcast on MTV. This experience introduced him to the film production industry where he ultimately settled in as a location scout until landing a job at the Virginia Film Offic...

Mike Moreno is an actor and podcast based in New York. Mike is the host and creator of The Actor CEO podcast where his aim is to equip actors with the tools and resources to be the CEO of their own business/ acting career. Mike has released countless episodes speaking to some of the industry's most successful creatives to learn the tips, tricks, and best practices to help actors focus on what they...

Matt Rudduck is an actor and composer currently based in Sydney, Australia. One of Matt's earliest acting roles was on the hit TV series Blue Water High where he played Joe Sanderson. Matt has some fantastic advice when it comes to auditioning, specifically in regards to owning your choices and worrying less (something we all need reminding of sometimes). Matt is also a composer and has worked on...

Miranda Harcourt has such an amazing body of work to show for her creative career. As an acting coach, actress and director, Miranda has worked on such films as 'Lion', 'Aquaman', 'The Lovely Bones' and worked with directors such a Peter Jackson, Taika Waititi and Jane Campion to only name a few. Miranda's career started out on the NZ soap opera 'Gloss' before she became one of the first practitio...

Do you truly believe you can have the career you desire? Or do you just hope that one day you'll get a "lucky break" and things might fall into place for you? In this episode I talk about why it's important to first and foremost believe that you can have what you want and how that is different to being ego driven. Instagram: @rachel.lauren.baker Email: rachellaurenbaker@outlook.com See omnystudio....