Young talent going to waste
BY JOSH BLAU. There are plenty of talented young actors in Australia today, but they are starved of opportunity. We have great training institutes such as NIDA and WAAPA, but the actors who graduate have virtually no jobs to go to.
A few lucky ones get a break on Home and Away or Neighbours, but whenever a new TV show comes out trying to be different, the same old actors are cast in it, not giving any of our young talent an opportunity.
Casting directors, agents, film and TV producers generally don’t go out to cutting-edge indie theatre, where so many talented young actors are working, so they don’t know about the amazing talent that is out there.
The result is that so many talented young actors are forced to go overseas to get work and develop their careers. What I simply can’t understand is why the government hasn’t realised that there’s a pool of talent in this country and needs to invest more money into the industry.
In my own case, after working in the entertainment business for half-a-dozen years, I decided to establish my own company, RoundSquare Productions, to ensure that I could continue to be involved in creating, acting and directing stage productions.
I have taken charge of my own destiny, but there is little financial support from the government, making it a risky business.
Earlier this year RoundSquare Productions staged Neil LaBute’s provocative play, The Shape of Things, at a great venue, the No Vacancy Gallery, in Melbourne’s CBD.
It was a mammoth task, as I was producing on my own for the first time and also playing the lead role. This decision had both advantages and disadvantages.
On the plus side, I was able to control and oversee everything, make most of the executive decisions and also make sure everything went smoothly – which it did.
The down side to solely producing a show and starring in it was that I could never fully switch off and dedicate myself to the role. This was upsetting for me, because the reason I entered this business was to explore acting to its fullest. I was not able to achieve that with the show because my mind would always be on ticketing, bar, numbers, stage managing, etc.
Having said all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience and was able to really grow as both an actor and producer. This has now made producing the next project much easier.
Coming out of school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I guess we are all told when we are kids that we can achieve anything we want as adults. The only bit of information that gets left out is the work ethic that is required to succeed in any field – I had to learn this the hard way.
Only a few years out of school was I able to really evaluate my life and say, “Well, if I want to be successful, I really have to work my *#& off!” It was a good lesson to learn.
Of course, there are many amateur theatre companies around that are staging one or two shows a year, but actors need regular paid work to develop their careers.
We are killing the talent here rather than nurturing it. There are many Aussie actors who go abroad and become very successful. And it’s happening for a reason. The artists are not nurtured and work is not created for them.
Josh Blau, 26, a former Mount Scopus Memorial College student, has appeared in the TV series Neighbours and Offspring and on stage in The Trial, Vieux Carre and The Zoo Story. He has also produced and directed short films including The Deso. Last year he established RoundSquare Productions to produce stage shows and screen productions. Earlier this year he produced and starred in the play The Shape of Things.
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