FROM ASIA AND THE PACIFIC TO KEITH WILLIAMS AND NICOLAS CAGE
NEXT Thursday the amiable John Morris s (pictured with h wife Meg), , general manager at RACV Royal Pines s Resort, bids s farewell to his s job overseeing g the sprawling g golf and hotel l hot spot.
He left t teaching to start his hospitality career in the early days of Hamilton Island with Keith Williams and has been on an upward climb ever since.
“I’ve worked in Asia and the Pacific before my appointment here, where I have been for 11 years,” he said.
“At one stage I was responsible for all eight RACV Resorts but eventually that meant a move to Melbourne so I opted to stay and focus on this one.”
He has played host to the world’s heaviest monarch, which necessitated the building of a special seat, and Hollywood stars such as Nicolas Cage, whom he described as a real gentleman.
John is keen to state that he is not stopping work, just taking a break and getting a better work/life balance.
“I have been a director for seven years on Destination Gold Coast, and want to seek other directorships and some fun projects.
“I will miss a great team of colleagues at the resort plus the broader business community on the Gold Coast.
“There are some great characters here, as I see in this paper every day,” he laughed.
He will be sorely missed.
MELISSA STILL HAS GOOD NEIGHBOURS AFTER 31 YEARS
THE final episode of Neighbours has been filmed and for now Melissa Dickinson (previously Bell) it brings to an end a 31-year association with the iconic soap.
“I first joined the show in 1991 as a 19 year old and have had a recurring role as Lucy Robinson ever since,” she said.
“I feel so blessed to have been asked to be a part in the final episode because the cast and crew have been like a second family to me. It has been the great consistent in my life and career working with such wonderful people.
“It is so sad that it has finished because it was a launch pad for so many careers, both on screen and behind the cameras.”
Melissa, who has starred in Paradise Beach, E-street, Water Rats and others, marvels at the way showbiz life has changed.
“We were always flying somewhere to do interviews and promotions but now you can do most of that from home. My role on Neighbours also gave me a great introduction to the UK market so I could go over and do plays and Christmas pantomimes.”
Her home now is the Gold Coast and we can thank Paradise Beach for that.
“I’ve always loved spending holidays here with my children and then filming Paradise Beach here meant I really got to know it.”
She also has a particular memento from Neighbours to remind her of the show: “My great wish was to get married on TV which I did and when the last episode was done the costume department presented me with my wedding dress.
“It is something I will always treasure, along with the memories of one of our iconic TV shows.”
ALL ROADS LEAD TONIGHT TO CROSSWAY
TONIGHT will be the culmination of a dream for filmmaker Joshua Walsh because he will be at HOTA for the premiere of his short film m Crossway.
“I am a self- taught t filmmaker r who is s passionate e about the e creative process and d this has s been a dream of mine for years,” he said.
“My production company is Eastmount Studios and we do a lot of corporate videos for the fashion and motor industry plus, of course, commercials.
“The film has been entirely self-funded with next to no budget, but with the help of a lot of mates in the industry and it has been the most insane thing I have ever done,” he laughed.
The idea for the script came from a holiday to Miami, Florida, during which Joshua was struck by the similarity in beauty with his home town.
“The idea was to do a film which would really show the magnificence of our surroundings. I wrote the script because I wanted to create it myself and added some cool cars, guns and other bits and pieces.
“The entire process taught me a lot about patience, persistence and as the producer having to work out a solution to all the problems that happen on any film shoot.”
Another one of many talented local filmmakers making a name for themselves.