On 28th of August, 2019 The Weekly Times wrote an article about ‘Toni Fitzgerald’s Cult Following’. See below!
Sydney
Toni Fitzgerald’s Cult Following – Preview Screening
On Wednesday the 1st of May 2019, Toni Fitzgerald’s Cult Following had a preview screening for cast and crew at Golden Age Cinema in Sydney, Australia. It was followed by a Q&A with me and producer Harry Reid, hosted by The Music Arts Editor Hannah Story.
Below are some pictures of the night.
Facon gets special mention at Flickerfest and is included in Flickerfest National Tour!
Two updates from the festival front! Facon got a special mention at the Flickerfest Green Flicks section. Joshua Dang, Barbara Ings and I were thrilled to hear it, since there were really really good films in the section. Greenflicks was judged by Costa Georgiadis, Gregory Miller and Kate Harris. The judges praised Facon for its sense of humour dealing with environmental issues.
We’re also really happy about how well the film played at all the screenings. The Short Laughs Comedy sessions were sold out and it was great to be alongside such hilarious company!
Shaun Colnan, who starred as Travis, makes a short speech after Facon receives an honourable mention at the closing night awards ceremony.
The other great news is that Facon has been chosen to tour nationally. The full tour dates can be seen here.
Me (Writer / Producer), Barbara Ings (Producer), Jane Watt (Tia), Costa Georgiadis (Greenflicks Judge), Shaun Colnan (Travis) and Kate Harris (Greenflicks Judge) at the Flickerfest Closing Night. Facon director Joshua Dang was sadly unable to attend.
Shaun Colnan (Travis), Barbara Ings (Producer), Me (Writer / Producer) and Jane Watt (Tia) at the Flickerfest Closing Night. Director Joshua Dang was sadly unable to attend.
Facon At Flickerfest!
I’m thrilled to announce that the film I wrote and produced Facon is having it’s World Premiere at Flickerfest. It’s an amazing accomplishment for the director Joshua Dang, producer Barbara Ings and the whole team to have achieved. Come along to support the film and laugh enthusiastically at the jokes.
Flickerfest 2017 Festival Trailer from Flickerfest on Vimeo.
Facon is being featured in the Short Laughs Comedy screenings and GreenFlicks 2017, so there will be three screenings that you can attend:
Short Laughs Comedy – Fri 13 Jan, 8.45pm
http://flickerfest.com.au/programme/short-laughs-comedy-2017/
GreenFlicks 2017 – Sat 14 Jan, 4.30pm
http://flickerfest.com.au/programme/greenflicks-2017/
Short Laughs Comedy 2017 (repeat) – Sat 14 Jan, 6.30pm
http://flickerfest.com.au/programme/short-laughs-comedy-2017-repeat/
Tickets are $20 and it will be held at the Bondi Pavillion. Come along to watch some great comedy/environmental ideas and support the film!
REVIEW: The Audience Is Present by Belinda Anderson-Hunt
On the Friday the 14th of October 2016 ‘The Audience is Present’, a new work by performance artist Belinda Anderson-Hunt, was presented as part of Verge festival at the Cellar Theatre.
‘The Audience Is Present’ by Belinda Anderson-Hunt aims to expand on the themes of Marina Abramović seminal performance art piece ‘The Artist is Present’. In ‘The Artist is Present’, Abramović invited spectators to sit opposite her for 5 minutes or less with her full attention and direct eye contact, leaving them to sit comfortably or uncomfortably in her gaze.
In ‘The Audience is Present’ the audience is shifted from their position as safe spectator and left feeling exposed. When I arrive at the Cellar Theatre we are instructed to turn off our phones and are led into a darkened foyer. In the foyer Anderson-Hunt performs a series of stretches and encourages the audience members to join her. Next she takes the spectators by hand, and one by one leads them into a second space with two seating banks opposite to each other. Then, she leaves.
The spectators are left for 30 minutes and the results are intriguing. Each audience member is left to sit uncomfortably in each others presence. Some refrain from direct eye contact, preferring to stare directly at their shoes. The eyes of a whole seating bank is intrusive. Some audience members embrace the eye contact with welcome, while other eyes dart away from the intimacy. The duration of the work is certainly what made it so powerful, as noone is quite sure how long the piece will go for.
Without phones, without distractions and without any indicator of time, there is nothing left to distract us but the fact that we are in presence of other people. How often are we left to socialise without any of the social cruxes we cling to: a drink, a joke, polite banter, a phone?
A comfortable silence, is often thought of as something that can only be achieved with a true friend. Surrounded by this wall of strangers, constrained to silence, I felt that we were forced into such a friendship. No talking, no excuses, no laughing, the audience was only able to drink each other in. The long duration led, me at least, to take in every detail of the audience, to construct their personalities by only what I could see.
We so often stalk each other online. Hours are spent staring at someones pictures, making guesses at who they truly are, but in civilised society we are never allowed to just stare, to purely take someone in without fear of being labeled a creep.
By the end of the performance I felt like I knew a little about each person; the one who adverts their gaze; the one who smiles; the performer; the one who shifts in their skin. A study conducted in 1989 by Kellerman, Lewis, and Laird posited that with enough direct eye contact anyone can fall in love. It was this strange thought that lingered in my mind, as I walked out of the performance and heard these peoples voices for the first time. The experience was one of isolation and intimacy, and one I was glad to have caught.
I’m excited to see what Belinda Anderson-Hunt comes up with next.
24 Hour Party Playwright – Bondi Feast
Eleanor Roosevelt once said that you should one thing a day that scares you. Well on Friday the 18th of July this year I did something that frightened the hell out of me. I participated in a 24 Hour Playwright Party as part of Rocksurfer’s Bondi Feast. The event involved writing a play in 12 hours that was then performed by a team of actors the next night.
It was petrifying, exhilarating and a great exercise in learning to just let go and not self edit.
The resulting play was Object, a play about an advertising creative being taught a lesson from a man acting as a table at a trendy party. It was wacky and strange and I had so much fun. A massive thanks for Rocksurfers for letting me participate!
I was sadly unable to see the play as I was in Adelaide helping out with Playwriting Australia’s National Play Festival.
See below for some snaps from the performance!
Facon is being made into a film!
In 2013, I went to ATYP’s National Studio and wrote a monologue called ‘Facon’. In 2014, the monologue was performed at ATYP in the show Bite Me and published by Currency Press. In 2015, ‘Facon’ is going to made into a film directed by Joshua Dang!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working tirelessly to adapt Facon (which was an all-rhyming monologue) into a screenplay. After lots of hard work we’ve finally got it polished.
It was always a dream of mine to have ‘Facon’ made into a film so I am thrilled. Please watch the crowd funding campaign video above and donate if you can spare any money.
I’ll keep you updated!
Fully Furnished SBS Comedy Runway Pilot
Last year I was lucky enough to be a Production Assistant on the set of Fully Furnished, an SBS Comedy Runway Pilot. You can check out the final video and more info in this link. Share away! Make it go viral.
Luke Lloyd Alienoid @ ATYP
Luke Llyod isn’t like other boys at school but luckily he knows exactly why he doesn’t fit in: he’s half alien. Being half alien comes with many benefits: he can talk to animals and can become invisible. But when the school ‘fathers vs students game’ comes up, the school bully insists on meeting Llyod’s father. However, contacting aliens is never easy.
Luke Llyod is a great twist on classic story of a boy who is struggling to fit in. While the story is definitely geared to younger audiences, it’s a production that anyone can take something away from. The acting is great, especially from such a young cast and stand out performances are made by the Bully and Luke Llyod. The production uses three projectors that are seamlessly integrated, for a production that feels entirely modern in both themes and technology. I recommend it.
Tickets
Full: $20
Earlybird tickets: $15
Times
Wed-Sat 7:00pm
Sun: 5:00pm
Matinee: Wed and Fri 11:30am
Bookings
atyp.com.au or 02 9270 2400
Venue
ATYP Studio 1 – The Whair
Pier 4/5 Hickson Road
Australian Directors Guild Awards
On Friday the 2nd of May the Australian Directors Guild Awards were celebrated at the Powerhouse Museum. The black tie event is held annually to honour the exceptional work of Australian directors. The awards were hosted by writer and comedian Claire Hooper.
Best Direction in a Music Video went to David Barker for Nightingale Floor. The music video, featuring Kate Miller-Heidke, was created to bring attention to the destruction of orangutan habitats due to Palm Oil.
Best Direction in a Student Film went to Melissa Anastasi’s By This River.
Best Direction in a TV Comedy went to Mathew Saville for his episode ‘Portuguese Custard Tarts’ in series 1 of Please Like Me.
Best Direction in a TV Mini Series went to Khoa Do for Episode 4 of Better Man.
Best Direction in a TV Drama Series was won by Rachel Perkins for her work in Series 2, Episode 2, ‘Starting Over’ in Redfern Now.
Daniel Nettheim took home the Esben Storm Award for Best Direction in a Children’s TV Program for his direction in Dance Academy, Series 3, Episode 12, ‘A Perfect Storm’.
Best Direction in a Documentary (Stand Alone) went to Corrie Chen for her direction in Suicide and Me.
Best Direction in a Telemovie went to Rowan Woods for his work in The Broken Shore.
Nick Robinson won the Best Direction in a Documentary Series for his work on Kakadu, Episode 4.
Best Direction in a Documentary Feature went to Sophia Turkiewicz for Once My Mother.
Best Direction in a Feature Film went to Kim Mordaunt for his work in The Rocket.
The Unreliable Narrator 