The Late Bloomer Actor
Welcome to "The Late Bloomer Actor", a monthly podcast series hosted by Australian actor David John Clark.
Join David as he engages in discussions with those that have helped him on his journey as a late bloomer actor, where he shares personal stories, insights, and wisdom gained from his unique path as a late bloomer actor and the lessons he has learned, and continued to learn, from the many sources available in the acting world.
Each episode features conversations with actors and industry insiders that have crossed paths with David who generously offer their own experiences and lessons learned.
Discover practical advice, inspiration, and invaluable insights into the acting industry as David and his guests delve into a wide range of topics. From auditioning tips to navigating the complexities of the industry, honing acting skills, and cultivating mental resilience, every episode is packed with actionable takeaways to empower you on your own acting journey.
Whether you're a seasoned actor, an aspiring performer, or simply curious about the world of acting, "The Late Bloomer Actor" is here to support your growth and development. Tune in to gain clarity, confidence, and motivation as you pursue your dreams in the world of acting. Join us and let's embark on this transformative journey together!
The Late Bloomer Actor
The Right TYPE of Actor: Training for Success
Text The Late Bloomer Actor a Question or Comment.
S03E09 is with instructors and students from Type Talent in Adelaide, South Australia.
In this episode of the Late Bloomer Actor podcast, host David John Clark engages with a diverse group of guests from Type Talent, an acting and performing arts school in Adelaide. The conversation explores the journeys of both instructors and graduates, emphasizing the importance of personal growth, community support, and the business side of acting. The guests share their experiences as new comers in the industry, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities that come with pursuing acting through an industry focused training regime. The discussion also touches on the significance of real-world application of acting techniques and the value of building connections within the creative arts community.
Takeaways
- Type Talent fosters a supportive community for actors.
- Personal growth is essential for success in acting.
- Networking and building relationships are crucial in the industry.
- Real-world application of techniques enhances learning.
- Diversity in age and experience enriches the learning environment.
- Understanding the business side of acting is vital.
- Self-taping and practice are key to improvement.
- Creating your own acting language is important.
- Embracing vulnerability leads to better performances.
Check out Type Talent for further information.
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Please feel free to contact me at thelatebloomeractor@gmail.com with any suggestions for future shows, or just to say hello.
David John Clark (00:00)
Welcome back to another episode of the Late Bloomer Actor podcast. I'm David John Clark, your host, as you know. In today's episode, we had the pleasure of sitting down with a fantastic group from Type Talent in Adelaide. Type Talent is a local acting school here and of which I've done some mentorship with new students. We have a chat with Mark Cherrett the founder of
Type Talent and instructor Nick Launchbury and some of their talented graduates and students. We dove deep into the world of acting, discussing not just the craft, but also the broader challenges and opportunities that come with building a career in this industry. What's particularly valuable in this episode is the emphasis on regional training and how local opportunities can be just as rich and rewarding as those in bigger markets.
You'll hear insights on how Type Talent focuses on personal growth, adaptability and practical real world application. Skills that are essential for any actor, no matter where they are on their journey.
For any actor or creative ones out there, whether you're starting late like me or fresh to the industry, this episode is packed with useful tips on the importance of hard work, continuous learning and networking. We also talk about the business side of acting, which often gets overlooked, but is key to building a sustainable career. I talk about this in my podcast a lot. So there's some very valuable information. We have a great chat about that in this episode.
Stay tuned as we explore what it really takes to thrive in the acting world.
David John Clark (01:33)
All right, so now the pressure's on guys, we're all recording. Anything you say will be used against you according to law.
David John Clark (01:43)
today's conversation about the school, their journeys and the acting industry, I'd love for each of you to introduce yourselves so that our listeners can match a voice to the name and get a quick sense of your background. Let's start with you, Mark, as the founder of Type Talent. Then we'll go around to Nick and our wonderful graduates. Just a quick introduction.
Tell us a bit about who you are and your background in the industry. And after that, we'll jump into a deeper discussion. Mark, fire away.
Mark Cherrett (02:10)
Awesome. Hello. Hello. First of all, thank you so much for having us on your podcast, David. And also hello to everyone else. Sorry. pleasure. Pleasure. Thanks to the rest of everyone else. It's good to see all these faces that I've not seen for a while. So good to see everybody and good to hear from everyone as well. So yeah, my background is I've always been in the arts as a, I suppose, a child actor.
David John Clark (02:14)
And thank you for being on the podcast. And thank you for being on the podcast.
Mark Cherrett (02:33)
few issues, I'm only joking, I've got issues. It's been an interesting journey for myself. kind of been lucky enough to be what we call the word greedy in the industry where I've kind of played all roles and all parts and traveled the world in the performing arts realm. But more recently, you know, my passion is more directing, producing, filmmaking, but also championing new Talent to believe in themselves and ultimately work out pathways for them to kind of break into the industry
Jane Ford (02:36)
Yeah
Mark Cherrett (03:03)
or find their own landscape to be in the creative arts.
David John Clark (03:06)
How long have you been running Type Talent?
Mark Cherrett (03:08)
Yeah, so tight silence kind of evolved over the years. It started with actually just a children's performing arts school about eight or nine years ago. And a friend of mine said, can you do some adult classes? And I was like, do you know what adults I'm not too sure about, but I like working with the kids. They're fun. They've got good energy, but adults could be a bit difficult. So I said to my friend, said, you know what, you get eight people together, eight adults, and I'll put a class on. And about three days later, my friend said, I've got the eight people we're ready to go. And, and that was it. kind of launched. And I found that, you know, I think for me personally,
It was something I really felt connected to straight away and something I thought, you know what, this is actually an area of performing arts that I want to kind of delve into more and not just about the craft and about the skill, but I think maybe even saw like more like building confidence in community. And I think that was something really important from like the early stages. I think as we kind of evolved, you know, we got a lot more serious about, you know, actually wanting to connect actors with the right
people and, you know, doing programs and bringing other facilitators who have got experience because in the early stages, just myself and maybe two other instructors, whereas in now we've got, you know, up to, you know, 20 different instructors who have insight and their own experience they bring into Type Talent, which I absolutely love. And I think that's probably one of the most positive things about what we do is there's so many different people with so many varied experiences, whether it's stage screen, a voiceover, you know, they bring this wealth of knowledge to a group of people that can kind of learn from it and hopefully then connect to it after once they've done a course with us.
David John Clark (04:32)
I love it, I love it. And a lot of that we'll certainly be talking about today. So let's move on to one of your instructors and fellow actor that I've been fortunate to work with a little bit on the side and got to know over the years. So Nick Launchbury welcome.
Nick Launchbury (04:47)
Thanks for having me. Yeah.
David John Clark (04:48)
Pleasure. A little bit about yourself, go for it. Who is Nick and how did you get involved with Type?
Nick Launchbury (04:49)
Just do an intro here. Yeah, sure. So my name's Nick. I've been acting for a little over 15 years now. Done all the short films, features, TV shows now. Trying to break into the Sydney market, which is another story for another day.
David John Clark (05:10)
yeah.
Nick Launchbury (05:11)
And I've been working as a coach for Type for about three years now. And I absolutely love it. It is, you get so much from it, even not just from an actor, but from a person. And yeah, it's awesome.
David John Clark (05:15)
Nice.
Love it. Thank you. And we'll certainly chat about your journey as an actor, well as a coach and instructor with Type Talent. So thank you very much. Now I'm going to take some, educated guesses here and go from, I was just about to use the word oldest, but I didn't mean that in any way, Jane, of course. I was chatting with Jane just before we started, think.
Jane Ford (05:41)
Ha!
Nick Launchbury (05:43)
Ha ha.
Jane Ford (05:44)
Well, if it quacks like a duck, you know.
Nick Launchbury (05:48)
Ha!
David John Clark (05:49)
I think Jane's the closest to being a late bloomer like myself. So if I'm right, Jane, you graduated last year, is that correct?
Jane Ford (05:56)
That's great. Yeah, I, well, I wouldn't even say I'm a bloomer. Let's just say a late blossom or something. But yes, I did Type last year as the intensive. I did some acting many years ago and kind of thought that train had left the station and had been working as a consultant. You know, I've got a background in economics, politics and journalism originally.
And I hadn't really done anything creative for a long time. And my kids had sort of almost grown up. I've got one in year 12. And I was sort of thinking, well, what am I going to do now? Like, who am I now? And my sister saw the ad from Type about, you know, acting. Did you act a long time ago? Is it something you'd be interested in? And I thought, hey, I would. So I did a couple of night classes.
And, absolutely loved it. And I think what Mark was saying and Nick was saying about the community and, you know, the sort of connection with creative people, that was something that was really apparent from the first moment. And that's kind of what drew me in.
David John Clark (07:09)
I love that story. It's very similar to what I have as a late bloomer and that's what's going to be good about this chat with everyone is that we've got such a mix and varied amount. So moving on to Mr. Ryan Walton, welcome.
Ryan Walton (07:21)
Hello, hello. I see you definitely went in the age order, like trickling down. That's fine. You have to accept it at some point. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because I think I probably saw the same ad as Jane. I was working for a lot of time, like loved drama in high school. Did a lot of that and then sort of like took a break, worked for a bit. And then I think I saw the same ad where it said, you know, did you used to like acting? Has it been a while sort of thing?
Freya Young (07:26)
you
David John Clark (07:27)
you
Very dangerous game, a very dangerous game.
Ryan Walton (07:51)
And that really, you know, like I was like, you know, I'll see how it goes. did their intro to acting course for a few nights. Started doing that week by week and then the opportunity came up to, enroll in their intensive course. And it was one of those moments where you probably only get a few in your life where it was. Do I do this and quit my day job or do I just continue doing what I'm doing? And I think I made the right choice. And, yeah, six months later, here we are.
David John Clark (08:17)
Awesome, awesome, I love it. And moving on, Mr. Callum Saville. Have I your surname right there, Callum?
Callum Saville (08:24)
Savile, Seville, yeah, it's either or. Cheers, thank you for having me. So yeah, I guess I just finished with Type Talent in August this year with Ryan. And in terms of like being in the industry, this is the first year I've ever been an actor or an aspiring actor. I never really had an interest in it, but I did have an interest in saying yes to everything. And so I was given an opportunity to come to a one night course and
David John Clark (08:26)
Beautiful. Welcome.
Callum Saville (08:49)
also given the opportunity to come to the six month intensive course. And so I just said, yes, it was addicting. And yeah.
David John Clark (08:56)
Love it. And you have a bit of a background in modeling as well, is that correct? So is there any photos of you topless with your abs showing out on the internet? that how the modeling works for blokes?
Callum Saville (09:00)
Yes, that is correct.
Yeah, there is a couple somewhere.
David John Clark (09:11)
I have to go for the man bod look at the moment. So, and last but not least, Freya Young, who I believe is a current student at Type Talent.
Mark Cherrett (09:11)
Yeah.
Callum Saville (09:15)
Yeah.
Freya Young (09:23)
Yes, I am. I'm about three months in to the six month course. I started off being a dancer. I was a dancer for years. And I loved that, that, that, being on stage and performing, entertaining people. And I got to a point where I thought I'm not going to continue with my dance, but I still want to be within the industry. So after high school, I went to uni in Queensland and studied film.
More from like a screenwriter, cinematographer side, so behind the camera. And during that time, I realized that I didn't want to be behind the scenes. I wanted to be in front of the camera. So the more I was, I guess, getting involved into this uni course, the less interested I was in behind the scenes. So I called it quits and moved back home. And I got back to Adelaide and felt a little bit lost, because I had this idea that if you wanted to go and be in that,
entertainment industry had to go elsewhere in Australia, the big cities in Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland. And so I thought, what's there in Adelaide? I'm not really sure. I haven't heard much of the industry here. And then one of my friends from work suggested Type because they'd done the intro course and I was like, okay, I'll, I'll see how I go. You know, I didn't think much of that. I hadn't heard of Type before. I was like, it's all right. might as well give it a crack and just fell in love with the intro course. Like the people you meet.
The knowledge of the instructors, I was blown away. So I thought, how can I continue this? And saw this six month course and I thought, you know what, now's the time, got no responsibilities. I'm back home. I can figure my life out and just go from there. And it's been the best decision I've ever made.
David John Clark (10:58)
And I love the no responsibilities back at home. Thanks, Mum, feed me. That's awesome. Welcome, welcome everyone. And thank you very much for that. As I said, this is the largest group I've done on a podcast. So for our listeners out there, bear with us. Hopefully we'll get some good chats without cutting each other off. So I have some direct questions and then some cross questions. So feel free if I'm asking Mark a question, guys, as students.
Freya Young (11:00)
Yeah, thanks mum and dad.
David John Clark (11:23)
This is where you can talk over the top of him, you're allowed to, so you're not going to get in trouble. I wanted to just go on a little bit with where Freya just finished off with us there. Mark, she was talking about the industry being local and thinking that as an actor, we need to leave Adelaide. And I know Nick was mentioning that he's starting to reach out now for the Sydney market. And as you know, in discussions I've had with you, I've...
I've reached out now and have a Sydney agent, but I'm still based in Adelaide. as a fellow actor and the owner and teacher at Type Talent, where do you make Type Talent work in that concept of trying to make our actors know that they can make it regionally? And this is quite pertinent because this podcast goes around the world. So we have, who knows how many other Type Talents around the world,
that have the same situation. So, on that perspective of being regional and training in a regional area, how do you approach that?
Mark Cherrett (12:24)
Yeah. So I think, I think for myself, I'll talk about myself personally, and then maybe some, maybe more so from Type Talent and I think personally for me, I think I've been very fortunate that, you know, I've had global mentors, like, you know, I've lived in different countries around the world. I've worked on cruise ships. I've lived in America, lived in Canada. I've had some amazing people who I think give me more, have given me more of a global outlook on things. So,
David John Clark (12:46)
Mm.
Mark Cherrett (12:47)
I think always, I always think big. I think that's a personal thing. And that's something I want to kind of deliver or pass that onto people within the industry that you can think big. And I think the other question is to ask actors or performers about the scope of work that's out there. Because, I mean, some actors just be like, right, going to, I just want the screen work. I just want the screen work where, you know, they could be closing doors in other areas. They could be character work. They could be...
you know, that could be even working in crew roles. It could be other aspects of the industry they could still feel connected to and want to be able to, try all different realms of the creative space. So I think for us, that's a big thing for us is to try as many different things as possible because you can consistently work in the arts, wherever you live, as long you're happy to pivot and adapt and try different areas and work in different realms of the creative space.
David John Clark (13:17)
Mmm.
Mark Cherrett (13:36)
Also, local connections in any creative space is really important. So to make sure that you are listening to the landscape of what's happening inside of your area and what's happening in maybe your local awards or what's happening with who's getting funding, who's making content that's a bit original. So think having your ear to the ground locally is really important to be able to connect to those people and bring it back to wanting to support and help emerging actors.
Ryan Walton (14:02)
you
Mark Cherrett (14:04)
And I have to say that to be honest, David, including yourself, most people that we reach out to have got experience in the arts and they want to be able to tell their story and give back. I think that's really important locally to go, this is what we've done here. And I've always said this, I've everywhere I've lived in the entire world. I do believe that Adelaide for me is one of the best places to cut your teeth in acting that I've ever lived in anywhere. There's so many opportunities to get connected. There is a small pool here that you can really kind of
buy into and get connected with if that's something you're interested in doing. But I think ultimately it always come down to trying a bit of everything and seeing what parts of this industry you love the most to be able to get success and grow, develop and meet the same like -minded people to go on and make even better projects.
David John Clark (14:46)
Mm.
And to the graduates and the current student in the group, how does that resonate with you? Did you get that from the outset of joining Type Talent?
Jane Ford (15:01)
One of the things that I think is really unique about Type Talent is this sense of possibility and also don't wait for it to come to you. Get out there and create it yourself. And, you know, since doing the course, I've worked with, various people who've been in the course who are out there creating their own stuff and just forming those connections has been
such an integral part of the whole process, I think.
David John Clark (15:30)
Ryan, how does that resonate with you on your journey? Starting with Type Talent this year and sort of moving through.
Ryan Walton (15:37)
Yeah, absolutely. Like the amount of people that I've met just continues to grow every day. But it was that initial stepping stone of sort of not knowing where to start and having no networking skills or anything. So the whole journey really has been like an intense six months of just basically becoming a new person and learning the industry.
Like I wouldn't even know where to start. The amount of people I've met is probably well over 250 I think I have on my Instagram account now. it's just getting intense, yeah, of people.
David John Clark (16:07)
Beautiful, And Nick, coming from both sides as as an actor, and now as a teacher with Type Talent, what sort of background did you have in the training that's got you going as an actor? And now that you're in with the Type Talent, how do you see that as furthering your journey as an actor, but also as passing that on to the younger people or the late bloomers like myself and Jane?
Nick Launchbury (16:30)
I guess my background in learning to be an actor was just the slow hard way, I think. I had no networking skills back in the day and it was just doing course after course after course trying to improve. And then one day I went, you know what, this isn't working for me, sitting waiting for my agent to call me, who never called me back then.
Because they didn't know I could do the job. So I went, you know what, I'm gonna self tape. I'm gonna self tape every week. And I still continue to do that now six years down the track, self taping every week. And you know what, that has done so much for my craft to getting better at my craft. I think that's what I try and push onto the, to the people that I coach at Type is,
David John Clark (17:03)
Beautiful.
Nick Launchbury (17:16)
training and learning learning fundamentals is really important. You need you need that. But then you can't just do that and then go home and go, well, all good now. You know, it's go home and work like the work is at home as well. It doesn't end. So I think that's what I've hopefully passed on if I've passed on anything. It's work, work, work, work.
Jane Ford (17:27)
Hmm
Mm
David John Clark (17:38)
I love it.
Jane Ford (17:38)
Yeah, I think you really have because some, you know, there's now a self taping group, at least one, if not many of those, most of the people that you've taught have really had that drummed into them. And we're all out there desperately self taping, not improving necessarily, but you know, doing the work.
Nick Launchbury (17:53)
You
That's great.
Hey, every tape is, every tape is that you improve on. You know, even if you don't see it, it's incremental.
David John Clark (17:58)
I'll send Ed.
Mark Cherrett (18:01)
Hmm.
Jane Ford (18:01)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
David John Clark (18:02)
Most definitely, most definitely. And Freya and Callum being the younger actors in the group, there's so many different avenues for actors to go into training. So my son is in his first year at Flinders Drama. So he's doing the formal three year degree. You guys are coming into, with Type Talent to do the six months training, but the diversity of the actors that you work with in ages and experience,
do you see the positives of that? Do you think you're coming out of, even though it's a six month course compared to a three year degree, are you seeing the benefits of learning the business side of acting and that acumen of doing the self tapes and being continuously practicing, so to speak?
Callum Saville (18:44)
Yeah. So like working with a bunch of Flinders students, I've definitely found that finishing this six month course, it's like your comfortability in front of the camera when like hammering in these self tapes every night or once a week has definitely brought about more comfortability in front of the camera compared to someone who's done a traditional course. And as well as just like the professionalism in onset or like around set and compared to other people who are still very new to it or just beginning their Flinders course.
David John Clark (19:14)
Beautiful.
Freya Young (19:15)
Yeah, definitely. think as well for uni, well, when I was in Queensland, a lot of it is online and you do have that option of being in front of a computer and doing a lecture. I'm not sure if it's the same at Flinders with the acting, but obviously here being practical, you have to rock up to class. You have to do what's been laid out for you for the day. Like you can't escape, you're there. So you've got to do it. And that's great as well. Cause when I started initially, I was so frightened.
Scared people are gonna judge, but obviously you're all in the same boat and you're all in that same position and you'll grow together as well. Which I did struggle with at uni, having that, I guess, virtual side to it. Well, this is purely face to face, which is great, obviously socially as well, and having those connections with people and then growing from there.
David John Clark (20:05)
And what do you think is the approach in Type Talent? For all of you, obviously with a three year degree, they go through a whole gamut of different training techniques, et cetera, et cetera. Do you feel that there's a focus in any particular areas in the classes or is it about hard work, about being a good actor and getting that almost like onset experience?
Callum Saville (20:25)
I think it's about ethic, personally. It's just about showing your drive to being committed to yourself and to others. When compared to a Flinders course or another university course where it's just, you just rock up to the class and do the theory and then barely do any practical work, where this is just all physical.
David John Clark (20:42)
That's nice. And Mark, how does that sound for you coming from one of your actors? You know, Type Talent focuses on personal growth and developing these communication and emotional intelligence tools, which these guys are all displaying right now. Why do you think these aspects are essential for aspiring actors today? You know, especially in this industry that's, you know, can be quite unpredictable.
Mark Cherrett (20:56)
Mm.
Yeah, I think the people on this podcast will know this very clearly about me is that I think I have a strangely weird obsession with people's awareness. and I think that people's awareness and culture, those two things combined can really, level you up in this industry. And I think that the more you think about, like, I think even for myself, even as someone who directs or coaches is that I'm not really, which is an interesting thing to say, but,
for me, I'm not really focused on the outcome of the performance. I'm more focused on the awareness of the actor when they receiving information and how they process information. For me, that is probably the most interesting part. And I think we do talk about that a lot at Type Talent. But what I love, I think, this course in particular for the industry course is that when we first designed it, when I was doing research and it was actually a student that planted the seed and said, maybe you should do like a, a nighttime course, but a
a six month intensive course where you can really put together voiceover, VR, fight choreography, Shakespeare, you know, all these other elements to kind of put together. And that's where the idea kind of formed from a student is to kind of have this opportunity to obviously try everything as much as possible, but also to grow as a person connected to the work and the industry. And I think that what I love about the instructors is we're all so different and our goal and actually culture values at Type Talent is that
every instructor needs to contradict each other. I think that's quite weird to have that placed inside of our industry. Cause everyone's like, do it this way, do it this way, because of their own experience, their own influence, their own, directors or their own, their own, their own creative works. Whereas for us it's very much like, which is all the group here would agree to is that, you know, you'll get me on a Monday morning telling you to try it this way. And then the afternoon you'll get Nick Launchbury, he'll be like, right, we'll do it this way. And I think that really
David John Clark (22:37)
Mm.
Mark Cherrett (22:55)
progressive maturity inside of the industry that we don't see that often where they have the opportunity to pivot because every director, every producer, also different in the creative arts that it gives the opportunity for them to be adaptable and manuable, which I found personally for me is quite rare. And that's kind of the forefront of what we try to do to bring that through in everything at Type Talent. And we embrace that, which is...
Nick Launchbury (23:14)
Yeah. I think it's great, Mark, as well that when there's so many different instructors that have their own way, it teaches the students to create their own acting language. So when you are on set and a director's talking to you in a certain way, you can translate that to your acting language because we all have our own acting language. And it's about discovering that and the different opinions that you get from the different instructors. sometimes, some of us are,
Mark Cherrett (23:29)
clear.
David John Clark (23:35)
Mm.
Nick Launchbury (23:42)
chalk and cheese, know, in the white bean art approach. And then you have to translate. Yeah.
Mark Cherrett (23:44)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
David John Clark (23:45)
Mm.
Freya Young (23:46)
you
David John Clark (23:48)
Mm.
Jane Ford (23:49)
Yeah, but that is great. Yeah. And I think that is great because when you, it really is about the application, isn't it? And about being adaptable and fitting in with what else is going on set. think we've had it drummed into us from day one that, you know, the acting part of it is just a small part of the whole process of any creative, you know, venture. And you've got to find the way to add your value,
working with other people.
David John Clark (24:18)
Hmm. That's interesting. Ryan, we had an offline chat before this podcast was put together and you were expousing your excitement about having traveled through with Type Talent. And you talked a lot about your interest in some of the methods. I think you mentioned Meisner and stuff like that. And you've had a bit of a background in training. So how has now that you've done your six months with Type Talent, how did you go through that and come out?
Did you, is it complete different expectation of what you expected? And how has that changed your direction if it has?
Ryan Walton (24:52)
Well, I think everybody like from Mark to Nick, they do teach you the fundamentals, which is kind of where they cooperate with each other. Obviously, they kind of like lean off in their own practices and their different meanings. I very much like Meisner in the way that he teaches you to listen, which is very similar to what Nick teaches you as well in a way that you affect your scene partner. So that's something like I've been able to, like Nick said, translate into your own language. But a lot of his practice comes with like Howard Fine
and Uda Hagen translating it as well with Meisner now, you can kind of see where they all correlate with each other, but it's up to you to take the elements that work for you and I guess deliver your best performance. And it's even improved in my physical life as well of just listening to someone, listening to people. Right now, I'm definitely engaged, whereas if I was watching TV, I'd be completely switched off. I think both, it's just improved me tenfold through both personal and professional.
David John Clark (25:42)
Hmm. And that's interesting because if you've got a formal drama course, they've got to tick all the boxes as a requirement to give you that degree. Do you find there's less focus on the theory in Type Talent and more about finding what tools work for you? So from all of you, from the teachers and graduates, is there a focus on what tool works for me? I'm going to focus on that now. If Meisner doesn't work
I'm not going to do my Meisner because I have to tick off the box to get my degree. Do you agree with that guys?
Nick Launchbury (26:13)
Yeah, I think that by the end, they're all speaking their own language, translating it. And at end of the day, it's about like, can you do the job on set or not? And I think what I think we do well here is that it's real world application. Sometimes you can't do all of the thing, the hoo -ha stuff that you're doing in training on set. If you've got to cry all day, you've got to cry all day. How can you apply that
Mark Cherrett (26:21)
Yeah.
Nick Launchbury (26:39)
to the real world situation. You have to use all of the techniques to keep that up all day. That's not an easy task. I think we translate to real world more so than just traditional training. So then when they leave, it's like, I know what it's like to be on set. I know what I have to do. I think more so than leaving drama school.
David John Clark (26:58)
Nice and the graduates have you seen that from your teachers that you walk away with that feeling?
Jane Ford (27:02)
Definitely. Turning up on a large set and you're a small part of it, sort of we have been taught since day one, you know, about that environment and how to stay out of the way and be ready when you're needed. And just all of those practical things that really matter when you are actually working on a set.
Freya Young (27:23)
We even did a exercise today that we got given a character, a backstory and what I guess the situation we were in with our partners that we were given in the group. And then Mark sent us off to different locations around Woodville and you had to be in that character in a real life setting. So we've been taken to, for example, Spotlight and I was there as my character. And obviously it's real life. Like you're not on a
movie set, but that's how it would be. It would be like reality. So you have to be in that character. And it was great. Like we all loved it. Really loved it.
David John Clark (27:53)
Nice.
I like that. I think my accent coach does that a lot is about sending you out in the real world and using the accent. And if you're not getting it a hundred percent, they're going to, someone's going to question you. So in that, did you find anyone looking at you like I'm calling the police, this girl's a freak or did it work?
Freya Young (28:04)
Mm.
Jane Ford (28:06)
You
Freya Young (28:14)
Well, who I was with had to, had ignored me initially, so I lost them. And obviously the fabric department in Spotlight is actually quite large. So I walked around a bit aimlessly at the beginning. And as we were talking, it was very awkward between the two of us. So we had some people look over and go, okay, they don't look very comfortable over there. One of them doesn't want to be in that conversation. But you just have to stay in character and just stay focused and kind of
Mark Cherrett (28:15)
What?
Freya Young (28:39)
ignore and be oblivious to everything happening around you and just stay in character, which was quite difficult, but you know, that's how it works. That's how happens.
David John Clark (28:47)
That's nice. That's nice. Callum, what's your thoughts on that?
Callum Saville (28:49)
I just thought that like at the very initial start of the course, it was definitely like extreme, learning different techniques from each, each instructor. But as the time went on and as Nick said, like you translated to your own personal language, I definitely picked out like the best bits that I found that would work for myself from each instructor and like made it as my own concoction to best help myself on set.
David John Clark (29:13)
Nice, nice. Mark and Nick as instructors for Type Talent and just bringing it back to the nature of my podcast in Late Bloomers. And we've already talked about it a bit, how you have that diversity in ages in class. How do you approach a new class when you've got that diversity? Now, I know I've had a big chat with you, Mark, about when you put a group together and it's not just about taking the first
group of people that have applied, you're looking at a group perspective, know, perspective in there, how they're going to work together. So do you guys look at that in choosing who's going to be in the group and how do you make those differences if you do have that diversity between Jane, for example, who's got real world experience and such a diversity of life experience to her working in a group with Callum, who's, you know, arguably straight out of high school and not a lot of life experience.
And this boils down to being on set and being with other actors. How do you guys as teachers make that all work?
Mark Cherrett (30:08)
Hmm.
lot of it is for us is obviously culture. And each year we have generally a theme or tone of a group of people that come through that we feel like can work together and push through because it's not really just about the course. It's about, it's called the industry course because we want these people to accelerate into the industry. And I mean, I think if you look at Jane's group,
because I get messages from the group all the time and they'll, they'll say what they're doing, what they've been in. I would say that Jane's group that was with us last year, think collectively the group has left now. And I would say they, as a group, they would have, you know, well over 150 credits as a team complete. There'd be actually be more than that. There'll be more than that. And the reason for that is because of the culture and value system we have at Type Talent. So on the second day, what we do is we sit the group together and we all decide what our values are going to be like for the group and our boundaries.
David John Clark (30:53)
Wow.
Mark Cherrett (31:05)
And we do that. don't, I don't come up with that. Nick doesn't come up that our other instructors don't the actual group come up with it. And then from there, we're all on the same playing field. And I think that that's something that translates well, even to be on production sets is to have a group of values, just like any other company, business or brand. And, you know, we do, we do talk a lot about branding and business at Type Talent, because I think that that gets a lot, that gets lost a little bit in traditional methods of craft. So we do like that branding business aspects of things. So I think that for us, you know, it brings it all together
David John Clark (31:11)
Nice.
Mm.
Mark Cherrett (31:34)
with the culture, with the business side of it and then also the other arms that connect you to the industry once you're complete.
David John Clark (31:43)
And Nick is working under Mark, so to speak, and becoming a teacher as well as being a working actor at the moment, which I think is a big thing in this industry is about having someone that is doing the work as well. There's so many teachers or instructors or gurus out there that if you go and check their IMDB, there's nothing there. Now that doesn't mean that they're not a good teacher, but
I think having that real world experience is a big thing. So how have you come in with that belief system that Mark has just talked about and worked as an instructor as well?
Nick Launchbury (32:17)
Initially when I started coaching, thought, who am I to tell these people what to do? I'm on my own journey. I'm trying my best to do my thing. But then the more, yeah.
Jane Ford (32:24)
Thank
David John Clark (32:29)
Is it that, that, that imposter syndrome thing? I've talked about this a lot with Mark when he gets me in front of your group as well. I go, well, who am I to be here and tell you my journey? Is that what you're talking about?
Nick Launchbury (32:41)
Yeah, for sure, for sure. Massive imposter syndrome. But then at the end of the day, I just go, you know what? I'm just going to impart my experiences and my knowledge for the hope that that will assist the next person. And that's all I can do. You know, I can only share my experiences and hope that helps. And that's kind of my approach. And when you're talking about the late bloomer and age differences, and I don't think it matters when someone starts their journey. And I think if you do start it,
Freya Young (32:42)
you
Nick Launchbury (33:06)
later, think that real world experience really helps to translate quicker. Because you've got that, if you've like, I've been in that situation before, I can relate to that, you know, so I can apply that to the work. I forgot who said it, but they said like, acting takes 30 years, you know, because you need that much experience in your life to at least you
Mark Cherrett (33:13)
Hmm.
Jane Ford (33:20)
but I also think...
David John Clark (33:26)
no.
Jane Ford (33:27)
Yeah, I was going to say the great thing about that culture that is at Type is there isn't anybody there who thinks, I know better than you or, know, we're all sort of colleagues together and we're all learning off each other all the time. And, how well you are doing
Mark Cherrett (33:28)
Yeah.
David John Clark (33:30)
Sorry, Jane, you were going to say?
Jane Ford (33:50)
changes from hour to hour and we have some days when things everything goes wrong and some days when things go better and I think we all share in those experiences for ourselves and for each other and that's the joy of it. It's really empowering because I think Freya was saying it's quite terrifying in the beginning and it doesn't matter how old you are it is quite terrifying to bear yourself
in such a vulnerable way and the only way you can really do that successfully is if you have the sort of support of your colleagues around you and that's what Type does really well.
David John Clark (34:24)
Awesome. And as a group of actors, Ryan and Freya and Callum, how do you find yourselves taking something from everyone else? I'm guessing a little bit, Ryan, again, I don't want to talk about ages, but we've almost got Ryan, I'll put you in the middle of the age group. So you get to look up at some people with more experience as well as have people under you who are much younger. So how does that work
for you as an actor and being in this environment where you're panicking sometimes about your own journey.
Ryan Walton (34:58)
I, yeah, I'm always panicking. I'm like, where to go? What to do next? How do I fit in with the young kids? do I relate more to the older people? but no, there's, it's nice being in that middle ground. Like, I feel like I have a lot of experience, but there's always things to learn and like the ethics of the group do push that as well. That like, we are all on this journey together. We're all learning from each other because....
Nick Launchbury (35:00)
you
David John Clark (35:00)
We all are.
Callum Saville (35:02)
You
Jane Ford (35:02)
We all are.
Freya Young (35:03)
Thank
Ryan Walton (35:18)
For some reason, I spoke to Callum before and I don't know how he managed to cry before me. But, you know, like in a scene that we were doing, was like, I'm very jealous because it's just like, it's one of those things where part of my life might be holding me back from, you know, not wanting to cry in public. But then like, I guess, younger people may have that sort of like, they haven't learned how to like, I guess, kind of, suppress some of that sort of themselves. They can be more natural with their emotions. So I think, you know, you can work in both favors of being older
and being younger.
David John Clark (35:47)
That's awesome, awesome. No, no, no, it's beautiful. And this is what I'm trying to get. We have such a good diversity in the group here. And I'll switch to Freya and Callum now being the younger of the group. When you come into this environment and you've said already that you hadn't done acting before and you hadn't thought about it sort of thing. How did that work when you found yourself
Ryan Walton (35:48)
I don't know if that answered your question or just kind of...
David John Clark (36:11)
questioning who you are and being in such an environment where you had to open up in roles and having these more senior members with you. Did you find that daunting or did you draw on it in some way?
Freya Young (36:23)
In my intro class, I think I was the youngest by about five or six years. And they would always be able to relate to certain characters or situations. And I couldn't, because I didn't know what it was like to be in a situation like that. So sometimes I found it quite difficult to, I guess to relate, but then I'd watch them do theirs, see how their character developed. And I guess also imagine what it would be like if I had been through something like that
as me, just as Freya, just in my regular life and how I would have responded to that. And then obviously mirror that in my acting for a certain character. So it was, there were both, yeah, some parts were challenging and some was inspiring, I would say.
Callum Saville (37:05)
Yeah, I found it very difficult at the start and even now I still find it quite difficult to like get feelings or emotions from certain situations that I've never experienced before. And so what I did throughout the course was like delusional is the solution. Like being the delulu is the solulu is how I kind of lived throughout the six months. Just because I haven't experienced much throughout my whole life, especially for like just coming out of high school and then just going straight into uni.
It's quite hard to get emotions or get memories from certain things that I've never done. So I found it very cringe at the start and was very internal in myself, but after breaking free from that shackle, I've definitely become more experienced and more accepting of being able to take in things.
David John Clark (37:50)
Nice, nice. Guys, just as we start to wind up a little bit, I'm amazed how quickly the time goes. It was great chatting with you all. I wanted to bring it around a little bit to some of the stuff that Mark gets me to talk about when I come in and chat to you. So for everyone, how important do you think it is to understand the business side of acting? And do you feel like this is something Type Talent prepares for you adequately?
Mark, we'll start with you because you bring me in and to chat to the group, so to speak. What do you, what's the benefits that you see in bringing me in and chatting to the group? What are you trying to elicit from me that's going to pass on to everyone that's starting the course?
Ryan Walton (38:16)
Yeah.
Mark Cherrett (38:31)
Yeah, I we've had conversations before about this, but I think that, I do believe in branding. Like it's just my own belief in the industry. And I think that, you you having something that stands out compared with other, other actors or other performers, because ideally we're all trying in this industry, even us as directors and producers, we're all, all trying to be front of mind for the people we're trying to connect with.
And I think that the best way to do that is to (a) have some sort of business idea of how businesses navigate, how you can have your own brand identity, how you do your social media, how you're seen on platforms, but also I suppose how you network and create. I think that, which we've talked about before is, know, and I love, I love your brand, David, because I think that it's really good what you represent and what you stand for. I think that it's non -threatening.
When I think about your platform, think, if I think about your archetype, you're definitely someone who's willing to give up information and help. So you're like that help support network, but also in a non -threatening way as well. And that's kind of how I remember you as a brand, not as an actor, because I think that's separate to being a brand or being a business. And I think that what we do like to talk about is how those two fuse together.
And look, not everybody takes to that. Some people just want to focus on the craft and the self tapes and that's fine as well. But I do think that there's a really missed opportunity to be front of mind and always be poking that person you want to connect with or you want to work with without being there 24/7. And I think, which I've said to Nick before, I Nick does an amazing job at being everyone's front of mind. I mean, know, his social media has always got self tapes. He's always got images on set. And for me that,
David John Clark (39:51)
Of course.
Mark Cherrett (40:14)
is Nick's brand saying, I'm always here, I'm around, I'm not going anywhere, I'm consistent, like I'm ready to go. If you contact me, I'm gonna put my hand in the air, because like I'm ready to go, I'm here. And I think that that is something we really do wanna bring in and infuse into Type Talent to have those instincts or have that motivation to be able to go on forward and create that for yourself as your own personal brand within the arts.
David John Clark (40:42)
Nick, how does that work as a working actor and now teacher? Mark alluded to you having that business sense as well. So how do you bring that in as an actor? How do you utilise it and how do you pass that on to your students as well?
Nick Launchbury (40:57)
It's always posting things on social media gives you a bit of the anxiety, you know, it's not it's not a comfortable thing to put yourself out there. But yeah, to me, to me, it is a brand in a way. And and and to me, it's like, it's just a way of saying, hey, I am still here. Like Mark was saying, I'm here, I'm willing to work. Will act for food. I'm ready. Just just have good set food, you know.
Mark Cherrett (41:17)
Yeah
Callum Saville (41:17)
You
Jane Ford (41:17)
you
David John Clark (41:21)
I like that. I used to ask at the end of my shows, what t -shirt quote would you have? I'm going, Nick Launchbury is going, "Will Act For Food!" I love it. We'll go with that one.
Nick Launchbury (41:29)
We're like for food for sure. And you know, I have some good quotes. My brain doesn't like to turn on sometimes, but it comes out. But Ryan knows now, so he knows that so good. What I'm trying to pass on is,
Jane Ford (41:32)
And on the back it says just don't be a shit person because that was another Nick Launchbury fell on wood.
Mark Cherrett (41:37)
Hahaha
David John Clark (41:42)
I've
Jane Ford (41:42)
Hahaha!
Nick Launchbury (41:46)
how can I teach you if I'm not willing to show you my work? You know, if I'm not willing to put myself out there with them, how can I tell you to? So it's kind of like, I'm doing it, you can do it. And we're in it together, I'm no better than you. We're all actors, all on the same page. Our page is just a...
David John Clark (41:49)
Nice.
Jane Ford (41:51)
Mm
That is a very empowering message, Nick, I think. It's a really great message and it's really, yeah, I find that really helpful.
David John Clark (42:10)
So the graduates that are in the group, do you, what have you learnt on the business side of acting from, from that day one where you've met me, I'm not sure if all four of you have been in there when I've been there or from what Type Talent has got you. Now that your course is finished or Freya as you're in yours, what's your scope on the business side of acting? What do you think the positives of that are?
Nick Launchbury (42:12)
Awesome.
Ryan Walton (42:34)
It works showing people that you're constantly active. It really does work. I know a other graduate from our course gets mentioned on sets that I'm on. It does make me a little bit jealous, but obviously happy for them as well. But it does work. Even myself included, people think, I've you doing that before. Maybe it's this other actor though that they mention.
Callum Saville (42:44)
Yeah.
Ryan Walton (42:54)
Yeah, it does work, really does. So you do have to stay on top of it and you do have to put yourself out there and just be vulnerable in so many ways, whether it's on set or business where, know, be clever about it, but you kind of, yeah, do have to look past that anxiety and say, this is what I'm doing and I love doing it.
Freya Young (43:09)
definitely. We've had a few guest speakers come in and they've all got different techniques and different experiences and roads to success, but they've all said the same thing about putting yourself out there because the opportunities aren't just going to come to your doorstep. You do have to go out there, make those connections, build those relationships. Obviously, don't be a shit person. Be a good one. Go out. So, there's, yeah, so no matter what they've said in terms of
Jane Ford (43:29)
Thank
Freya Young (43:35)
their path yet to into the industry. They've all mentioned that you do have to put yourself out there and I'm sure every actor and producer, screenwriter, everyone will say the same thing in the way that if you don't put yourself out there, don't expect anything to come to you.
David John Clark (43:49)
Callum, how are you seeing that? I think you said before, recently out of year 12, so it can be a daunting thing, the business side of it.
Callum Saville (43:58)
Yeah. So I found that from finishing the course, like the three takeaways I mainly got was to observe, absorb and appreciate. Because like you want to observe like your surroundings. So like in the Adelaide industry and want to see who's doing everything and who's creating content and where to go and then absorb those connections and like the experience you've gotten. And then like lastly with the appreciate, you want to appreciate like people you've met because you'll be on the back of their mind for further
David John Clark (44:07)
Nice.
Callum Saville (44:26)
or future rows and stuff like that.
David John Clark (44:28)
Nice.
Jane Ford (44:29)
And you have to take the risk, don't you? Like whether you're creating it or whether you're participating in it, you've got to take the risk and you've got to appreciate the risk. You've got to appreciate when somebody else is taking the risk and try and get around them and appreciate what they're doing and help them.
Callum Saville (44:32)
Yeah.
David John Clark (44:47)
That's a beautiful segue into finishing up
with a quick chat to each of you about just two quick questions. What do you feel the future for
Type Talent is for Mark and Nick, where do you see yourselves going in the future with it and your hopes for the future? Nick, you'll be able to enter the acting question a bit because you're working actor as well. And then for the graduates, what did you take from Type Talent if you had to tell a prospective actor who wants to come in, what's the biggest takeaway that you got from it and
where are you looking to go in the immediate future with your acting journey? So Mark, if you want to throw it first, your goals for Type Talent coming
Mark Cherrett (45:29)
This course has been running only for four years. And I think every year it evolves through the people that do the course. learn from them. I mean, they're learning from us. We're definitely learning from you all as well. Like we're taking away how quickly some of you pick up things, how your work ethic is. So I think for us, we're always evolving, but I think for us in the future, I think the big goal for us is, definitely strategy for actors.
is actually having a strategy, which Freya at the moment has been, we actually did some work on strategy this morning and how that looks. And I think that's going be a big component us moving forward is that, you know, sometimes you can get, once you finish a course in anything you do in the arts, you know, sometimes you can get a little bit lost and you need to kind of get back on your way. But I think if you've got a clear strategy in mind and planning and structure and you're ticking off a list each month of five or six different things you have to do to make sure you're consistent,
then really that's kind of our goal is to get that mindset into the next generation of actors. And I think ultimately, we just want actors to be adaptable. I think that's the goal and to listen, really listen to direction, but really take on board direction and have the awareness to go, how do I take on, how do I take on the direction compared with, you know, Nick or Freya? How do I take on the information and where's my focus when I'm taking direction? How's that output actually into my performance? That's really where we kind of,
moving into the future and then the other end of it, which we started to a while back, but it's hard to find these editors. And so if any editors are listening that do VR, we're very much into the virtual reality filmmaking space. And so for us, we really want to go into VR. And I think that I think we will move more into immersive content, which is like a hybrid model of screen and stage, which apart from Freya, the other group members have had a chance to play in that space and learn about it. I think that's something that
we'll really will push in the future because I think we could possibly going into that headset where we're inside of the film and we can make our own choices. And so we're really as a production company, we're very much focused on that. And we really want to bring that in. Nick was in a film with us last year as a lead role and, you know, put it onto the film festival circuit as a virtual reality film. And so for us, that's kind of where we're where our minds are at the moment. But we want to innovate. And I think it is good that we don't have the red tape around us to go, we've got to have
15 different people to ask whether we can buy a virtual reality cinema camera. We went and bought one and now we're using it. It's, those kinds of factors that we want to keep innovating and moving forward. And bringing on really passionate instructors who are in the industry. Like we're in it, but we do it, this is what we do. And I think that that is really good for the people who do the course and know that we're doing it, you know, we're doing it every day. We're doing this. And so that that's just something we will continue on. We love the course. We're all very passionate about it,
all the instructors are the same. I think hopefully all the people on this podcast can identify with how passionate we are about getting you into the industry and wanting you to, you know, really grow and develop and have longevity. Cause that's something that's not talked about enough is the longevity in the arts.
David John Clark (48:27)
Of course. Beautiful. And Nick, I'm sure you probably agree with all of that. So as a, your actor's perspective, what would you tell anyone that's interested in joining Type Talent or joining a similar course anywhere in the world? Because there's thousands of opportunities to do short based acting courses. And where are you going to take your acting from in the future now that you've got this background as well as an instructor?
Nick Launchbury (48:50)
I think people should do this course or should come to Type because like Mark was saying, the instructors are in the industry, they're not some self -proclaimed guru. They're working in the industry and then passing that straight on. This is what happened to me, I failed here. Have that lesson so you don't fail or don't hit the ground as hard.
I think it's a place where you're going to learn real world application and it's going to help you on set where you're actually going to do the work or on stage. There's lots of lessons passed on, not so much from me for stage, but from the other instructors.
David John Clark (49:24)
Awesome, awesome. And where's your journey going now, Nick? I think I mentioned to you on Facebook a little while back that you're just smashing it. And that's how I see it how I feel. Is that how you feel things are going for you now and you're excited about the future?
Nick Launchbury (49:38)
Yeah, well, that's just my social media strategy. I'm actually doing nothing now. No, look, I'm trying hard. I'm trying really hard to level up. And I'm not really doing short films anymore. I'm trying to hit the Sydney market, got a Sydney agent, and, I'm taking work over there, auditioning over there.
David John Clark (49:41)
Love it.
Jane Ford (49:41)
Yeah.
David John Clark (49:57)
Nice.
Nick Launchbury (49:57)
And just seeing what comes, just, you know, trying to work as hard as I can to be an actor. The same as the rest of us, I suppose.
David John Clark (50:02)
Beautiful. And the younger guys in the group of the graduates, I'm sure they've taken something away. Ryan, what have you taken from Type Talent and where do you see this directing your journey from here on?
Ryan Walton (50:14)
There really is just a plethora of information throughout the course, but it really does set you up to like hit the ground running. You've obviously got to put in a lot of the work yourself, but there is so much there that you are accountable for as well. You do hold yourself accountable as you go
day in, know, three days a week and you were just, you're just constantly learning and absorbing. So it is a good avenue as to like, for myself, like I just didn't have a direction or an idea on how to do it. You just, you just meeting these people, you're networking, you are, you know, infiltrating, if anything, the, industry and just, you know, really, you really do hit the ground running and you just by the end of it, the outcome is
limitless to be honest. I want to stay in Adelaide. I had a chat with Mark about it throughout the course and I agree that Adelaide is blooming in itself and I think he kind of, I've just got to stick here and help grow the industry and be a part of it. So it's going to be a good five or 10 years.
David John Clark (51:10)
That's awesome. And that's big for anyone anywhere in the world. There's a lot of talk about the regional actors and can you make it in a region? I've listened to numerous podcasts where the big actors make in their region and going into state when they have to, but they're making it work by staying at home. So that's fantastic that you are confident in knowing that you can stay in Adelaide and make it work. And then we look at Nick, who knows he can
reach out to Sydney and get work there as well, still have his, still be based in Adelaide. So that's fantastic. Jane, you're again, I've done this three times now in the conversation, sort of alluded to age and that, but I think we're on, we're on the level here together and you might be approaching that time in your life where you can start to set back and retire from all that hard work that we do in our real world. So are you looking forward to
the journey as an actor without the constraints and is that the approach you're taking?
Jane Ford (52:06)
Well, I just set up a new business last week, so not quite yet. But, yes, side hustle. What I'm looking to do is to integrate it more and to be able to continue to do the work. I guess if I've learnt nothing from Type Talent, I've learnt that you need to continue to do the work. And I think Mark said to me at a particularly prescient point last year,
Callum Saville (52:10)
you
David John Clark (52:13)
Side hustle, side hustle.
Jane Ford (52:33)
it's a numbers game and you've got to keep auditioning, you've got to keep doing the self tapes and working with other people. I've created a few things myself with the other graduates from my year. I've managed to land a role in the University Theatre Guild's production of the Penelope next year on a Penelope. So I feel like, you know, there's stuff happening, but it's easy,
David John Clark (52:51)
Nice, Hey, that's cool.
Jane Ford (52:57)
to sit at home and have the self doubt creep in. And so what you have to remind yourself of is you've to get up and get out there and keep those wheels in motion. So that's my objective.
David John Clark (53:08)
Awesome. And Callum, where are you at now? You've come out of Type Talent recently and you've got that focus that you're almost at the start of your journey.
Callum Saville (53:18)
Yeah, so my focus right now is just to keep climbing. Like just audition for everything, build up my resume, even though like if I get like setbacks for getting denied, but there's still so many opportunities just to keep climbing in Adelaide or even in like the other states. I would say though, it's pretty hard, juggling uni work and the acting course and then just also a social life as well.
It's a passion of mine that I want to continue so it's definitely something that I'll work towards.
David John Clark (53:43)
That's good. Yeah, and it's about finding that balance. And we talk a lot about young people because acting is such a hard industry to get into. You've got to find that side hustle sort of thing that I mentioned to Jane about finding that balance of, I focus on acting a hundred percent or do I have something in the background? So that's great that you've got that mindset and the lessons that Mark and Nick have taught you and that I bring in as a industry guest is about
finding that balance of making it all work. So that's beautiful. And finally, to finish up, Freya, current student, learning everything new, as she goes, how excited are you and where do you think you'll be at the end of the course and what direction do you think you'll take?
Freya Young (54:22)
Yeah, well, absolutely loving it. Obviously we're only three months in, so there's still a lot to learn and a lot to do, but it's great when you, I think when you finally find what you wanna do, it's great, because I was so lost after high school, and then when you finally get into that rhythm and into that routine, and I love going to, I guess, school, you can call it, and having that.
David John Clark (54:27)
Mm.
Freya Young (54:47)
that passion, doesn't feel like you're working as well, because you love it so much that you want to do well, you want to audition, you want to put yourself out there. It's not a burden because you want to do it because you love it so much. And the more I get into this course, the sadder I am that it is, it finishes in December, but it's creeping up so quickly and we're already starting our showcase. So it's sad in that sense that it is going so fast, but you've just got to stay on your toes and everything, you absorb everything, take it in, go home
David John Clark (55:03)
yeah.
Freya Young (55:14)
work on that. never, it's this, just this constant cycle in your head. And you're always thinking, what's next? What have I done? What's happening? Where do I go from, from here? And I'm hoping by the end of it, I, I'm wanting to stay in Adelaide and build, I think a foundation, start here, kind of get my networks, start local and then see what happens. I guess it's hard to predict this industry. It's something that you can't really pan out. It's, it just happens and you've got to adjust and adapt and
go from there. So I think that's my mindset at the moment is to just take it as it comes.
David John Clark (55:46)
Thank you very much guys. We're to wind up now. Mark, what's three things that as the CEO and the lead of Type Talent that you would give a prospective actor looking at getting training, whether it's at Type Talent or anywhere?
What's three things you would pass on to them?
Mark Cherrett (56:02)
Gosh, that's a really good question, David. I think that for people who are listening, possibly looking to get into it, I do think that when you find an instructor, it is a bit like a relationship, a partnership. When you do find that school or that place you go to where they get you and you get them, that is a really good starting point to build confidence because I think you're
of a similar mindset. So you want to try, you try different places where you do feel like there's a good fit for you and that you're a good fit for them as well. I do think when it comes down to the skill level, which I've mentioned before, is that it's it's a having the adaptability and the awareness. Those two things are very important for me of working with, you know, hundreds of actors on set is something I've found as a director I've struggled with. And something I think that actors should really try and focus on and get their training and development in
their own personal awareness situations as well as adapting. And then I think the third part is it's really important to find your people who are like -minded and motivated. I think I had a conversation with the group yesterday, and myself included, I think we could all probably understand this.
We're so much lazier than we were four or five years ago where we've got our phones and socials. We just scroll, we scroll and try and take away some of that time and get motivated into making connections. Like think about, if you're three hours a week on your phone scrolling, why would you not try and do a self -tape or try and a connection with the director and have coffee together? So they're the three things I think that the industry is looking for right now.
The long game, but people see the bigger picture, not just the short, I didn't get that audition, they think big, think big. I think that's a real key component. And I think a lot of people at Type Talent that do the course, let's do that very well. They think big afterwards, which is the goal.
David John Clark (57:46)
Beautiful. That's a perfect way to end the podcast. So that's fantastic. Guys, thank you very much for coming on. This is, as I said, been the biggest group that I've done as a podcast. And I really liked the diversity of what we've had and be able to bring you all in and chat about acting and the journey that we're all taking together. So thank you very much. As my final word, I'd like to say I'll see you all on set, guys. Thank you.
Freya Young (58:08)
Thank you.
Nick Launchbury (58:08)
See you on set. Thank you so much for having us. Really appreciate it.
Callum Saville (58:09)
Thank you.
Jane Ford (58:09)
Thanks David, it was amazing, thank you.
Ryan Walton (58:10)
Thanks, David.
David John Clark (58:11)
Cheers.
David John Clark (58:12)
Wow. Wow. That was just fantastic. One of my largest groups that I've done on the podcast and it went very, very well. A couple of technical aspects, but all good in the end. That's fantastic. And the joys of being a podcaster. After speaking with Mark, Nick and the graduates of Type Talent, there are a few key takeaways that really stood out. Firstly, the value of regional training cannot be understated. It opens doors to local industries while providing a strong foundation
in practical hands -on skills. So whether you're in a big city or a smaller community, the opportunities are there if you're willing to put in the work. That's probably one of the biggest lessons that I'll take away from this episode. As well as personal growth and adaptability came up time and time again. As actors, it's not just about the technical skills, but about constantly evolving and staying open to learning. It's clear that Type Talent is preparing its students for the realities
of this industry. Sometimes these realities can be tough and will drive a lot of people away. So if you're aware of them from the outset and you know how to make them work for you, it's going to be positive. You're mastering the craft to understand the importance is things that we need to learn and the importance of branding and networking. Something I think all actors, especially late bloomers should keep in mind.
Finally, the graduates shared some inspiring stories of growth, confidence and excitement for the future, which was just great to see. It's a reminder that no matter where you start with dedication, hard work and the right support, a fulfilling acting career is absolutely possible. So I hope you found as much value in this conversation as I did. And if you're looking to push yourself further in your acting journey, I think this episode will offer you plenty of motivation and practical advice to take with you.
So, no matter where you are in the world listening to this episode, there is a Type Talent in your area. So if you're looking at getting some training and getting back into acting or continuing your acting journey, look up the Type Talent in your area or if you're in Adelaide check them out. Links will be in the show notes. It's a fantastic opportunity for you to get that grounding and some networking and to...
to find like -minded individuals to commence your journey or to continue your journey. So I thoroughly do recommend you reaching out to your local school and doing it. You don't need the three year degree if you can't do it. Of course, I thoroughly recommend if you can do the three year degree, brilliant, because that is three years of you focusing on your craft and learning about every aspect and being able to draw and find your toolbox, so to speak. But that doesn't take away anything from
every other opportunity that you can get in the training environment. So certainly look into that and continue your journey. I hope you got something from this episode because I know I did. It was great chatting with such a diverse group from Type Talent. It was fantastic. And as I said to them and as I say to you, I'll see you on set guys.