COME TOGETHER
Australia’s foothold in Hollywood is stronger than ever, thanks to an organisation that continues to support our most talented exports.
Australia’s foothold in Hollywood is stronger than ever, thanks to an organisation that continues to support our most talented exports and recognise them with an annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles. By Danielle Gay.
had one of those clear-cut moments of knowing he was doing something right. As executive director of Australians in Film (AiF), he was in the crowd at the organisation’s eighth annual AiF Gala and Benefit Dinner, held in October in Los Angeles, when one comment hit home. Actor Sarah Snook was on stage accepting a Screen Australia Breakthrough Award and revealed that winning felt like having the country in her corner.
“That was really beautiful in my eyes, that it feels like a whole country is behind her, and supporting her,” Ritchie says. It was particularly poignant, he says, because at its very core that is the purpose of AiF – to lend support to Australia’s creative talent and bring them together on the other side of the Pacific.
Snook was one of a number of our most talented stars awarded at the gala hosted by AiF, an organisation, now in its 18th year, that continues to provide a landing point for Australian creatives and actors looking to expand into the US market.
“There’s a lot of opportunities here and it can get overwhelming for Aussies who come over for the first time, and even for Aussies who’ve been here a lot,” Ritchie explains. “So what we do is we provide, essentially, a home base.”
The organisation offers everything from networking events to screenings and even the world’s first “creative embassy”, called Charlie’s (after Charlie Chaplin). “It provides a home away from home for Australian storytellers who want to tell their stories to the rest of the world. It’s an office and a sense of belonging in a city like Los Angeles, which can be challenging and difficult to navigate when you first get here.”
For Adelaide-born Snook, who has catapulted to international fame as Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy in HBO’s Succession, the gala felt like a “big ol’ reunion”, thanks in part to the camaraderie fostered by AiF. “It was especially fun seeing people I didn’t know were in town,” she says. “It felt like a celebration of both our commitment to our friendships and to the industry.”
Although Snook has previously found success with films such as Predestination, The Dressmaker and Steve Jobs, 2019 has been considered a particularly big year for her. “Yes, in some ways [it’s
a breakthrough],” she says, “but I always feel like you never quite get perspective on things while you’re in the midst of it all. I prefer to get a little distance from something to be definitive.” As for how she currently views her career, Snook quips: “I feel like I’m right at the beginning, in the middle of it all, and hopefully a decent way from the end.”
Ritchie says Snook is “an incredible force” who is gaining quite a lot of traction. “Succession has absolutely exploded here in the US. We’ve known about Sarah for a long time – her work is amazing, and I think her performance 100 per cent qualifies her for a breakthrough. She completely shines.”
On the same evening, Naomi Watts received the highest honour, the prestigious Orry-Kelly Award, which Ritchie says is awarded to someone who provides “inspiration and motivation” to their peers. “It’s always someone who has given back to the industry. Naomi has been working a lot out of Australia in the last number of years, and she’s just done Penguin Bloom, the first film she produced in Australia. She’s an amazing ambassador for the local screen industry, and she’s incredibly dynamic and talented.”
Watts, who was born in the UK, says accepting the award was very special. “Being an honorary Aussie is a wonderful privilege in and of itself, and to have such a special organisation acknowledge my work is an even greater honour,” she says.
Watts hasn’t forgotten the support she received as an emerging actor and wants to pay that forward. “I got my start in Australia and I feel like people should honour and respect where they came from. It continues to be my strongest community. We all come together on every occasion we get – we will find a way to celebrate even if there isn’t an obvious reason. I think everyone knows they’re a long way from home and desperately need that sense of familiarity as well as reality.”
Ruby Rose, who was awarded the Create NSW Annette Kellerman Award, agreed. “Australians have a strong connection and we always support each other. Maybe because when we’re in America we are so far from home. I feel lucky to be part of such a close-knit community.”
That sense of camaraderie is something AiF has in spades, too. Ritchie says aside from the fellowship among those Australian creatives living and working in LA, AiF receives support from organisations back home, including the Bird in Hand Foundation, a charity run by winemaker Andrew Nugent and one of the big supporters of AiF. “It’s great to partner with like-minded Australians who are supporting our mission,” Ritchie says. “It’s kind of like rising tides. I think if you do help others, that will come back to you tenfold.”
Making it in Hollywood isn’t easy, even if our recent exports make it seem that way. “It takes a certain type of Aussie to come over here and want to succeed,” Ritchie says. “They’re ambitious. They’re extremely talented. So to compete with the world’s best, you have to have your A-game on.”
“It takes a certain type of Aussie to come over here to Hollywood and want to succeed”