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SPARTACUS STAR GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN! R.I.P. ANDY WHITFIELD I will never forget the day when I opened the door at Screenwise and there stood before me Andy Whitfield, an Adonis. He said in his beautiful Welsh voice, 'Hi I'm not an actor, but I've got this audition for All Saints and I was wondering if you could help me with it'. I sat him in front of the camera, and I knew then this man was going to be a huge movie star. A week later he came back and said 'I got that role thanks to you, so I think I'd be very foolish not to take your classes'. That was the beginning of an extraordinary journey for Andy Whitfield. While studying at Screenwise an Agent spotted him, and from there he scored the lead role of the Arc Angel Gabriel in the Sci Fi thriller Gabriel. The roles then started gushing in, but Andy was very careful on what he chose to do and how long he chose to do it for, he was hanging out for the big one. And then it came, Spartacus Blood & Sand which propelled him into TV Stardom. Sadly at the height of his stardom, Andy was struck down with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and he lost his final battle. Andy was a beautiful soul, who will be sorely missed by his family, friends, fans and anyone who was lucky to know him. RIP dear friend.
Starring, Gary Sweet, Steve Bisley, Brooke Satchwell, Bruce Spence and Denise Roberts and directed by the great Sue Brooks (Japanese Story, Road To Nhill).
http://www.subdivisionmovie.com.au/
By David Knox on March 17, 2010Filed Under News
Roy Billing, Gary Sweet and Denise Roberts have all joined Channel Nine’s new drama COPS L.A.C.
The series, which focusses on “the fast-paced working life and complicated relationships of a diverse range of uniformed cops and plainclothes detectives” begins shooting in May.
Gary Sweet will play Superintendent Jack Finch and Denise Roberts is cast as Inspector Diane Pappas. The two veteran actors join Kate Ritchie as Detective Senior Constable Samantha Cooper and Martin Dingle Wall as her partner, Detective Senior Constable Rhys Llewellyn. Tom O’Sullivan stars as Senior Constable Nathan Holt, with Ria Vandervis as Senior Constable Roxanne Perez, along with Kelly Paterniti as Probationary Constable Priscilla Smith and Graeme Squires as Probationary Constable Daniel Vandermark.
Roy Billing is Senior Sergeant Graeme Sinclair and Damian de Montemas is forensic expert Matt “Matilda” Hilton.
Nine has released more details on the show, first revealed by TV Tonight last November:
These police officers working in a busy Local Area Command are the new frontline of law and order. The territory of COPS L.A.C. covers the inner city, the harbourside and the eastern beaches of Sydney, from lowlifes to high society and everything in between. Their brief is to fight and control crime on their turf. From shoplifting to murder, small-time drug deals to major organised crime, these cops see it all every day.
At the L.A.C. dedicated officers work and play side-by-side. They are passionate cops on the beat, the first ones at the crime scenes; savvy plainclothes detectives marked by their gut instinct and tenacity; naive recruits uncertain if they’ll make the grade; daring undercover officers flirting with danger; ambitious superintendents juggling politics with policing; and forensics experts with hi-tech toys.
It’s a competitive, pressure-cooker environment where the line between professional and personal relationships is easily blurred, and it takes plenty of grit, grunt and humour to get these cops through the day. Theirs is a tough and unpredictable job where some succeed beyond their wildest expectations while others fall by the wayside.
Jo Horsburgh, Head of Nine Drama says, “We are really excited about COPS L.A.C. It has great scripts, a fantastic cast, and all the ingredients for another exciting Aussie drama series from Nine.”
Significantly, the series will be produced in-house by the Nine Network, which hasn’t been attempted since Canal Road.
It will screen later in 2010.
Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) statistics show that 85% of an actor’s career-long income will be derived from television. The majority of renowned acting schools in Australia focus on ‘theatre’ with very little time given to skills and knowledge required for acting on screen.
The 2 year full-time program covers the full spectrum of skills training needed to produce a high calibre and successful screen actor. Based on the “Roberts Method”, it mixes a strong academic element with a hard-nosed professionalism.
For more info: http://www.screenwise.com.au
Animals on fur farms spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers use the cheapest and cruelest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gassing, and poisoning. More than half the fur in the U.S. comes from China, where millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, hanged, bled to death, and sometimes even skinned alive for their fur. Chinese fur is often deliberately mislabeled, so if you wear any fur, there's no way of knowing whose skin you're in.
I am extremely proud to be a part of the Australian Peta advertising campaign next week. I will be shooting the campaign with fellow actors Martin Dingle Wall, Jessica Napier and Annalise Braakensiek. We are doing this in the hope that we can bring awareness to the plight of animals all around the world that are tortured and slaughtered for various reasons. I am not a vegetarian, I do eat meat. But I am extremely conscious of how those animals came to be on my dinner table. Animals are God's creatures and like us they deserve to be respected in life and given dignity in death. I am vehemently opposed to the fur trade, and I believe that if people were to see what these poor animals are exposed to before they die they too would feel like me. If you care about helpless creatures at all, then please visit the Peta website and do what you can to help stop the torture. Every little bit helps, including bringing awareness to others. http://www.peta.org/issues/Animals-Used-for-Clothing/default.aspx
It’s a real eye opener for someone like me, who has worked mainly in live theatre, to attend a class like this. Quite apart from reminding me just how much talent of all ages there is in Australia, the learning aspect I found to be without parallel in my experience. I don’t think I have ever seen character and motivation broken down quite so comprehensively and in a way that is so readily usable. At the end of it, I couldn’t help wondering how many of those present looked back, like me, to screen auditions they had done in the past and cringed at how wide of the mark they had been.
I came away realising that the gap between screen and stage is much wider than I had previously thought, particularly in the case of film, as opposed to television. Which raised another question for me; do I continue to concentrate on theatre or do I retrain in an attempt to expand my career at this late stage in my life. There is a lot of work to do.
Each of us was given a dvd of our work at the end of the day, and when I look at mine I see a performance that is far too big for the screen and has all the hallmarks of someone performing for a 500 seater theatre. In a cinema it would be close to grotesque. Changing all that would not, I realise, be easy. It would take a lot of guidance and a lot of hard work on my part. That level of training would also cost.
One thing I am sure of; if I do decide to pursue this path it will be to Denise and her Screenwise operation that I will turn. There is no room for second best when it comes to the performing arts and I have just experienced, if not the very best, then certainly something very close to it.
If you would like to know more about Screenwise and why I think it is the ideal training ground for aspiring screen actors, visit their website at http://www.screenwise.com.au/
13 July 2011
Sydney -- Venerable actor Denise Roberts has nothing against sex -- unless you're talking about cats and dogs. That's why Roberts eagerly agreed to shoot a brand-new ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Australia just in time for National Desexing Month (July). In the ad, Roberts is holding her little dog, Bugsy, next to the caption "Love Them. Desex Them". The ad goes on to read, "More than 200,000 animals are euthanised in shelters every year. Please do your part -- always desex. And never buy an animal -- always adopt."
"Unfortunately, cats and dogs don't practice birth control, so it's up to their guardians to be responsible and always have their animals desexed", says PETA Asia Vice President Jason Baker. "And every time someone buys a cat or dog from a pet store or breeder, a homeless animal awaiting adoption in a shelter loses his or her chance to find a loving home."
In six years, one unfixed dog and her offspring can produce 60,000 puppies. One unfixed female cat can produce 420,000 cats in just seven years, and an unfixed male cat can father limitless litters of kittens. Every year, countless dogs and cats are dumped at severely crowded animal shelters, where most must be euthanised. The less fortunate never even make it to a safe haven; they are abandoned to fend for themselves on the streets, where they often suffer from cruelty, starvation, diseases or injuries. Also, spaying and neutering makes animals happier and healthier. The simple surgery reduces aggressiveness and the risk of certain diseases, including reproductive cancer.
Roberts has worked in theatre, film and television since 1980. She gained initial fame when she played Julie Winters in the ABC-TV medical drama G.P. from 1989 to 1996 and also appeared in Channel 7's Packed to the Rafters. Roberts is best known for her starring roles as university registrar Jessica Andrews in Channel 7's HeadLand, town matriarch Isabelle Turnbull in Always Greener, and Inspector Diane Pappas in Nine Network's Cops L.A.C. The ad was shot by ace photographer Danni Nix. Denise's make-up and hair was done by Lisa Cotterill.
For more information about desexing, please visit PETAAsiaPacific.com.
