Elliot Kotek, Leah Curtis, Jodea Bloomfield
by Nathalie Latham Courtesy of the artist

Interview with Elliot Kotek

When you finished qualifying as a lawyer in Melbourne, you went to live in New York. Were you writing at that time?
I'd always been writing, I was writing short stories as a little kid. When I got to New York everything bore fruit. I felt freer to show my work to complete strangers. And then on the back of that I applied to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, which was such a life changing experience. I was able to write there and have actors read my work. The immediate feedback of having those words come to life was just so inspiring. I learnt how to trust my writing, also how to trust the actors themselves, which was an important step for me. The most important lesson up until that point, was bestowed by one of my acting coaches: 'It doesn't matter if you give an Oscar winning performance, some people will think what you do is brilliant, some people will think it's okay and some people will think that it's a load of crap. If you make your own choices then you'll be who you are and give the performances you're supposed to give'.

Then that led me to some independent and some short film work. I ended up doing lots of films with the guys from New York University Graduate Program and won an award for one of them at the New York Film Festival. This was pretty amazing considering where I'd been two years before: in some law firm on Collins Street in Melbourne... it was a moment when I really took stock of where I was at.

Do you have a plan to return home?
I find Australians still intend returning home and the only thing keeping us from going back is having the opportunities to do the work that we do here and making a living from being creative. So if we were able to move back to Australia and still make a living out of being creative, I think a lot more people would move back. But the fact is that unless you're at the top of your game when you can go back to Australia and make demands, until that time comes or you decide you're retiring from it or go back to doing it as a hobby or being able to make that kind of sacrifice creatively... I think that's why people end up staying away from Australia longer than they intend to. Hopefully one day I will move back...

Interview with Leah Curtis

What experience first took you abroad?
My first trip overseas was when I was 18 to England as Young Shakespearean Artist of the Year. I saw a glimpse of what was possible internationally. It was vibrant and I wanted to be part of this global creative culture. Later I studied composition and conducting at the University of Illinois. The number and calibre of composers on faculty was phenomenal, and they pushed me technically and creatively.

What has Los Angeles meant to you as a composer?
Los Angeles has been my most significant international experience. The driving force was to expose myself to a bigger musical landscape that allowed me to refine my conducting, writing and technical skills as a composer, and to surround myself with the musicians, scoring stages and recording studios where so much incredible music was being made. It was also to work with creative directors scoring for cinema and interactive arts, and experience film scoring from some of the master film composers. Los Angeles has allowed me to take my wings in composing and conducting music. There have been many shifts since arriving here for the first time. The first would be increased intensity in work that I have done. I have orchestrated two Hollywood feature films and experienced the incredible deadlines and masses of music that need to be produced with total perfection for the awaiting orchestra on the scoring stage.

What is your relationship to Australia since you left?
I have always stayed connected to Australia, so I feel that it is more of an international career rather than a 'leaving'. I often work with Australian artists and performing groups, creating websites for each project and transferring work via the internet. I feel energised when I'm in Australia.

Interview with Jodea Bloomfield

What opportunity took you to London?
I pitched an idea for a film to a writer called Andrew Davies who did Bridget Jones' diary and Pride and Prejudice, he really liked it and so I spent that last year of film school finishing up and writing the first treatment for the idea and then he accepted it. I went to back London to work with him on developing the screen play. I learnt more screen development working with Andrew, someone of his calibre, than I did at film school, it was very production-management-finance oriented, it wasn't focused so much on the creative producer.