TALENT COMPANY

OF AUSTRALIA
NEWS Term 3 - August 2009

Term Three is here and there are exciting things happening at the TCA... Exciting new workshops,
new staff and heaps of new projects!

HAVE FUN THESE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS AT THE TCA’S SCREEN ACTING WORKSHOPS WORKSHOP DETAILS

The TCA will be holding a series of two-day workshops in September and October so look out for your Dates
chance to work with some of Melbourne’s leading Actors, Acting Teachers and Casting Directors. Learn 1. Tuesday 29th &
audition techniques and acting skills. Wednesday 30th September

Workshops will cover: 2. Thursday 1st &

Friday 2nd October
TV Scenes, Monologues, TV Commercials, Professional Casting, Professional Headshot
3. Saturday 3rd &
Package includes: Sunday 4th October
Two full workshop days
Professional Headshot Times
Professional Casting Masterclasses 9:30am - 4:15pm daily
All participants will be offered a free annual membership with TCA*
Total Cost
*Open to all current members of the Victorian Youth Theatre, Young Australian Broadway Chorus, Beginners $220.00 including GST
OnStage and TCA. (covers both days)

Ages
More details including how to book will be distributed to all current TCA members over 8 - 18 years (divided into
the next few weeks. group based on age)

News - Full Length Feature Film

Coco-Jacinta Cherian
scored a role in the feature
film “TAJ” She took the
time to tell us all about her
experiences.
What is the film “TAJ”
about?
TAJ  is a full length feature movie made in
Melbourne, about a writer (VJ) who finds
he may not have long to live and is on a
rollercoaster ride with the ups-and-downs
in his life.  He tries to mend a neglected
relationship with his daughter (Priyanthi).  How did rehearsals differ from the filming?
They discover a box of Lego at a garage sale
and decide to build a model of the Taj Mahal
together, which is why the film is called “TAJ”.
Could you tell us about your character
“Priyanthi”
Priyanthi (“Priya”) is VJ’s 11 year old daughter
She brings out the best in her Dad. Priya is full
of hidden depths and surprises, like being able
to speak Hindi and play a bamboo flute.  She
is torn between loyalty to both her mum and
her dad and is usually calmer than both.
What was the hardest scene you had to
film and why?
Priya had just caught her dad VJ doing drugs
and ran to the park. It was extremely difficult
to have to get into the mood and keep my
emotions the same every single time. It made
it even harder when it started sprinkling rain
while we were filming!  We had to watch out  but they were all really nice and hardworking.
for continuity and make sure that raindrops
didn’t show on me and that my hair was
blowing the right way.
Did you have rehearsals?
I had rehearsals for Priyanthi with VJ for
two weeks during the school holidays.  We
practised with three of the main actors and two
directors.
Even though I knew all my lines, when we
started filming there were script and action
changes because of the unpredictability of
some locations, like Melbourne Zoo or walking
down Lygon street with the trams.  There
were also 30 adults watching me including
the art department, hair, wardrobe, lighting,
sound, continuity, three directors and the
cinematographer!
How long were you filming this movie for
and did you have to take time off school?
I had to take time off from school because
filming was for six weeks, five days per week.
I had to be on set at 6 am some days for my
Wardrobe, Hair & Makeup call. On my days
off I went to school. The movie producers
arranged a tutor for me before we started
filming
What were the other actors and crew like?
I only met the actors who were in my scenes
 
My screen dad and mum were very easy to
get on with and one character called Akram
was always funny.  They had all worked in
filming before which helped.
Have you had a screening? and what was it
like walking the “Red Carpet”?
We haven’t had a screening yet but TAJ
screened some rushes (the first bits of filming
before the editing and music is scored) it
was very weird to see myself on screen. We
walked a red carpet at the TAJ After Party, it
was fun! The TAJ producer was also invited to
my school to talk about “behind the scenes” to
the acting students. 
Did you enjoy your experience working
on a film and would you do another if the
opportunity arose?
I loved working on a real film set and I am
extremely lucky to have got to experience it.
I would love to do it again.  It was great to
work with all different types of people and
understand the different jobs they have. 

head office talent company contacts websites

PO Box 111, Moreland Vic 3058
Phone: 03 9384 2963
CONTACT Fax: 03 9384 1533
details Email: agency@cpca.com.au
TONY NIKOLAKOPOULOS www.cpca.com.au/talent-company-australia
Chief Casting Consultant
AT2: www.at2.com.au
NERISSA JAYASINGHA
Senior Talent Agent Showcast: www.showcast.com.au
ALLY REYNOLDS
Associate Talent Agent

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 Talent Company News
Meet the new staff at TCA head quarters!
Nerissa Jayasingha
Nerissa will be taking over
as Senior Talent Agent
for the TCA, developing
new strategies that will be
implemented as part of the
companies re-structure.
Nerissa joins TCA direct
from Lambert House Enterprises in Sydney
where she was Associate Agent. She has
completed an Arts degree in Music Theatre
Performance and an Advanced Diploma
in Events & Music Management. She has
worked on many professional musicals,
special events and awards nights in areas
from ticketing to production management
and artist management. We are very
happy to have Nerissa with the TCA.
Ally Reynolds
Also back on board with
the TCA is Ally Reynolds,
who has been associated
with the CPCA for many
years.
Ally ran the TCA during 2007/2008
alongside Tony Nikolakopoulos and now
returns to the TCA as the Associate Agent.
We say good bye to Paula Selway as
head Talent Agent with the TCA, Paula is
remaining with the CPCA however she is
now taking on the exciting role of Venue
Administrator. We thank Paula for all of her
hard work over the last 12 months and wish
her luck with her new position.
TCA Member Profile - Spotlight on Chervil Tan
Chervil recently traveled
to Singapore to film a new
childrens televison series
“Chatroom Chicks”
We spoke to her about her
experiences on set.
Can you tell us
about your character?
My Character Chelsea, is a
mean, rich, spoilt, daddy’s girl
whose passion is also in dance. She loves
winning and will do anything to make sure
that everything is done her way. She uses
her father’s fame in real estate to get
her out of all her icky situations and also
relies quite heavily on her daddy’s lawyers
in order to threaten those who go against
her. She is the girl that everyone loves to
hate.
most recent Term 3 Talent Compan2 2
There have been many exciting projects
happening at the TCA with many of our
members securing lead and support
roles in television series and television
commercials.
Disney’s As The Bell Rings Series 3
We would like to take this time to
congratulate Rowan Hills who secured the
role of “Marcus’ in series 3 of Disneys “As
the bell rings” Returning to the series for
the third time is Aleksa Kurbalija who will be
reprising his role of “S.A.M”
Many of our talent will be appearing on the
series as extras and featured extras. Keep
an eye out!
Congratulations Billy Elliot Performers!
We had three TCA members involved in
the musical production of “Billy Elliot” As
the production comes to a close we would
like to say a huge well done to all the boys
and we look forward to seeing more of our
talent up on the stage!
Snake Tales
Last year TCA member Lucas Tang filmed
the new childrens TV series “Snake Tales”.
The series will be premiering September 5
2009 at 9 o’clock, every Saturday morning
Mary Poppins Coming to Oz
We have had many enquiries regarding
auditions for the musical. At this stage
we know there will be open auditions
happening in OCTOBER . We will keep you
posted when we receive the brief for this
and will let you know specific dates for the
audition and what to prepare.
City Homicide
Many TCA and CPCA staff members will
be featuring in the latest series of City
Homicide. City Homicide is on channel 7
every monday night.
What was it like travelling to Singapore
to film “Chatroom Chicks”?
Travelling to Singapore was an excellent
experience, as a Singaporean myself, it
was nice to be back home and to be able
to get in touch with my family and culture.
It was also nice to experience being in their
acting industry.
How long were you in Singapore for and
did anyone go with you?
I was in Singapore for approximately
10 weeks. My mum came down to
Singapore with me for 4 weeks and went
back to Melbourne after that.  
Where were the other girls in the series
from? did you all get along?
Two of the girls from the series are from
Melbourne, Australia and one of the girls
is from Berlin, Germany. We all got along
really well and even spent some of our free
time together in Singapore!
AT2 Unpaid Projects
A lot of TCA talent are receiving briefs
for unpaid projects on AT2 which is
fantastic. Just a reminder about the AT2
and Showcast briefs that are forwarded
through to you. Although you may click
‘submit’ when putting forward your child
for the unpaid projects, the filmmaker
who receives this may not necessarily
get in touch with you. The best thing for
parents to do is look for a contact number
or e-mail on the brief and if one is stated,
give the filmmaker a call and find out if
they are interested in seeing your child
for an audition. Usually with these unpaid
projects, the filmmakers always welcome
seeing new talent and if the talent is
suitable for the role they will let you know if
they are interested in seeing your child for
an audition.
Update Your Details
Please remember to keep the TCA
up to date with contact details and
measurements. It is really important for us
to have the most up to date information.
Please remember the TCA does not update
AT2 or Showcast with any new details. It
is very easy to update your profile once
you login to the website. If you need your
login details for either of these sites, please
email agency@cpca.com.au.
New Contact Number for TCA
The TCA now has a new phone number:
9384 2963. Please update your records.
The office hours for TCA are Mon - Fri,
10am - 6pm.
Were the days long?
Sometimes. It usually depends, sometimes
the days were long and sometimes they
were shorter days, depending on the
number of scenes and the location.
 
Did you like what you got to wear for the
series?
 I had very interesting costumes and
elaborate head pieces from time to time
and I certainly liked all the outfits that
they picked for me, although they weren’t
necessarily the colours that I would wear
everyday.
Do you have any advice for other TCA
members for any upcoming auditions?
Just be yourself and have fun! Its important
to show the directors and producers who
you really are.
Chatroom chicks will be screening early
next year on channel 9.
Keep an eye out for Chervil.
25/8/09 9:20:15 AM
 Spotlight on TCA Members

Recently we spoke to Chandu On my second audition I went in with 5 Lewis Chatz

Senevirathna, Thomas Frawley & Georgie
Hawkins about their experiences on the set
of Are you smarter than a 5th Grader? We
also spoke to Lewis Chatz about filming his
first television commercial for TAC.
Chandu
Senevirathna
What were the
differences in the casting
for “Knowing” and “Are
you smarter?
The difference was that
Knowing was a movie and 5th Grader is
a game show. It was different because
5th Grader had knowledge tests and in
Knowing, it depended on if I was a good
actor.
Did you have to study a range of
subjects or did you concentrate on
one?
I had to study a lot of subjects such as:
Maths, English, Grammar, Spelling, History
and General knowledge.
What was your favourite subject that
they quizzed you on?
I liked Maths the most because I knew
was not going to get the answer wrong if I
worked it out correctly.
What were some of the things you had
to do on set?
I had to do a lot, like giving my clothes
sizes to the stylist and tell the hair-stylist
what I do with my hair everyday. I also had
to get my ear moulded for an earpiece it
felt really weird. And I got to meet all the
people on the set of 5th Grader. I was
playing the game show for a whole day
with Rove McManus.
What was your favourite part of the
whole process?
Well that would be doing the non-live game
show with Rove and meeting everybody
on set. My favourite part of Knowing it
was being on a movie set with Nicolas
Cage and getting to see myself on the big
screen.
other kids, there was also Cameron and 2
other producers. On my last audition there
were 18 kids left. This audition went for the
whole day. We were all excited because we
were going to meet Rove and we knew that
we had a good chance of getting on to the
show Fifth Grader. Then in groups of 5 we
would go into the room where we did the
Are You Smarter Then A Fifth Grader
game. Rove asked us how our day was
and we got an autograph and a photo. I
had so much fun that day I didn’t want to
leave.
Meeting Rove was a great experience, he
was really funny and he knew all about us
before he came into the room. He
interacted with us and was just like a big
kid. He did the time-warp with me. We all
screamed when he came into the room. He
got onto the table pretending he was
skydiving. I had an awesome time meeting
Rove. I learnt how the audition/call back
process works. How many people are
involved in the decision making process -
casting director, producers, T.V network
executives etc. I had a fantastic day and it
was one of the best!
I learnt a lot from this experience and I will
never forget it. I am proud of how far I got -
one of the last 18 from 2100 kids! I am still
only 11 so I have got lots more
opportunities ahead.
Thomas Frawley
This was your first
audition, how did you
know what to expect?
I didn’t really know what to
expect. It was really
exciting to have the
chance to audition.
Were you nervous before going into the
first audition?
I was a little bit nervous at the start, but
once the Production Assistant Cam arrived,
he was very good at getting us all to
relax.  I knew I just had to be myself.  Cam
was really hip and fun!
Lewis recently filmed his first
television commercial for a
TAC drug drivers campaign.
He shares with us the
process of the shoot.
As this was your first Television
commercial, how did you know what to
expect?
My mum told me all about it, when she
explained I would be on television to teach
others about good driving, I was sort of
excited.
Before you started filming, you had to go
to a wardrobe shoot. Tell us about this?
I had to choose some clothes from home
& take them with me. When I got to the
wardrobe lady’s house, she said I had to try
everything on. She then took 2 photos of
different outfits. It was fun...I met the girl who
was my ‘sister’.
Can you tell us what you were required to
do on set?
I was a little tingly & nervous because I
thought I would have to be in the car when
they crashed, but they crashed the car
before I was in it. I just sat in the car which
had a broken window & had to pretend I was
scared seeing my pretend ‘mum’ with blood
and glass on her. Then I had to look back to
see the “dead” person on the road, hiding
my hands in my face (this was expressed by
way of actions rather than words). We had
to wait to be told when to pretend and act.
Everyone was nice. I had no tingles after a
few practises. It was fun because I got to read
my book and play with my pretend ‘sister’.
They even had a big lunch, hot chocolate and
muffins for us.
What was your favourite part of the whole
experience?
There were lots of cameras & police. My
favourite part was being in the car and
pretending to be shocked and scared.

Georgie Hawkins
My first audition went for 3
minutes with the casting
director Cameron. Before
the audition I filled in a
sheet with questions about
school, favorite food, sport
and things like that.
Cameron asked us questions relating to
the sheet. He was filming while he did this,
he also took a picture.
Did you get more relaxed the further you
went in the auditions or did you find it
more challenging?
I found that I was more relaxed once we
got further because I recognised faces and
knew what to do.
Were there any funny things that
happened on set?
In the final round, Rove was constantly
making jokes and it was really funny when
he made an impression of Lady GaGa and
her hairstyle!

most recent Term 3 Talent Compan3 3 25/8/09 9:20:17 AM

 Look who’s working it...

The TCA is constantly submitting talent for every job that comes in and has successfully placed talent in the following
jobs over the past few months:

Beyond Blue – TVC Eden-Rose Dunn My Father is a Wonderful Man-

Christopher Sciberras Biran Egan Short Film
Natalie Falconer Remy Pugh
City Homicide - TV Series Aden Ferreira
James Aridas Elizabeth Gapper TAC – TVC
Natalie Artis Zarah Glover-Sullivan Lewis Chatz
Emily Borozan Asher Griffith-Jones
Alex Cullen Georgia Haywood Tennis Australia – TVC
Paige De Vanny Rowan Hills Siena Pryor
Shannon Glover Jordana Kornfeld
Zarah Glover-Sullivan Aleksa Kurbalija The Accident – Short film
Anjelique Ioannou Jesse Liebelt Billy Doyle
Toby Mansell Jorja Lindsay
Kate Murphy Joshua Mulcahy The Guardian – Short film
Jake Spiteri Catherine Nadel Mitchell Taylor
Michael Walker Jeremy Nakulski
Taylor Panayi Race Relations (ABC Network)
Disney’s As The Bell Rings Nicholas Rosenthal Fraser Terry
Elena Adams Dean Schulz
Jeremy Adams Adam Scott Vanished
Vivienne Awosoga Sophie Seyd Victoria D’ambrosio
Kimberley Beck Jesse Tabone
Cassandra Bleechmore Lucas Tang Walk With Them and Beatrice
Cristina Cafasso Karissa Taylor – Short films
Jason Cheetham Josh White Alexis Liberg
Alex Cullen
Kiana Daniele Entertainment Store
Stephanie Di Ciero Timothy Addicoat

Auditions and submissions...

Are you smarter than a 5th Grader? K Mart ‘Spring Apparel’ Shock Records
As the Bell Rings Lachlan & Freddy Ski Yoghurt – TVC
Beatrice – Short film Last Beautiful Friend Suzuki - TVC
Before I knew you Let them dream TAC – TVC
Beyond Blue – TVC Medibank - TVC Tennis Australia
Big M - TVC Melbourne International Film Festival The Accident
Cadbury – TVC Trailer The Guardian
City Homicide My Father is a Wonderful Man Tomorrow when the war began
Dead Normal My Sister Triple Zero Heroes
Don’t Be Afraid Neighbours Universal Studios, Japan
Entertainment Store Pinata – Melbourne Film Festival Vanished
Ford Territory & Mondeo – TVC Race Relations Wauchope - Feature film
Holden – TVC Red Rooster - TVC Walk With Them
Home & Away Repco - TVC Woolworths ‘Fresh Food Kids’ - TVC
Home Court Advantage – TVC Rush
James Young She’s My Baby

Visit the Talent Company website www.talentcompany.com.au

most recent Term 3 Talent Compan4 4 25/8/09 9:20:17 AM