Susanna Freymark
Writer, actor, director Wayne Blair was in Kyogle on Wednesday, July 8 as part of NAIDOC celebrations.
About 50 people gathered in the supper rooms at the KMI Hall to hear what Wayne had to say about his career.
He had come from Lennox Head where he currently lives to talk about the film industry and how he was involved in films such as The Sapphires, Top End Wedding and the Goolagong series for TV.
“I’ve been acting for 29 years,” Wayne said.
He grew up in Rockhampton, Queensland and went to film school at QUT.
“My old man was in the army and we moved around a lot,” he said.
Wayne was shy as a kid but he was “okay” at rugby and cricket.
“Sport gave me a voice,” he said.
He worked at Sizzler and Video Ezy before joining his cousin Scott in a comedy routine called Didgeridont which they performed around Australia and in South Korea.
“It was my outlet to perform,” Wayne said.
In the early 90s, Wayne studied drama and discovered that there “was something about this acting game I love.”
From acting in theatre and touring plays such as Cloudstreet, he managed to get a $2000 grant to make a five minute doco called Fade to Black.
He was thrilled to see how people responded to his film.
Before he came to direct The Sapphires, he starred in the play version with Debra Mailman.
He went from $2000 funding to $9million to make and direct the film The Sapphires.
“I was 38 when I did The Sapphires,” he said.
“Sometimes you have impostor syndrome and second guess yourself.”
For Wayne the script was the key.
“You have two get that right,” he said,
He told the audience about how good it was to get Chris O’Dowd to play the make lead in The Sapphires.
For a man who has had such success in films, Wayne was humble and almost surprised about his success.
After his talk, Natasha Ferre, Chris O’Reilly and David Waddington shared a screening of a documentary they’ve been working on for years Darby In a Life Time which tells the remarkable story of Indigenous man Darby McCarthy – one of Australia’s best jockeys in the 1950s and 60s.
The film can be seen at Kyogle Cinemas for $11 per person.
Sunday, July 12: 1pm, 3:15pm
Monday, July 13: 1pm
Tuesday, July 14: 10:45am
Wednesday, July 15: 1pm