Equity Foundation Podcast

• In Conversation with US Casting Director Meg Morman

  Meg Morman, award winning US Casting Director will talk to QLD Equity Vice President, Sophia Emberson-Bain about the US casting process, the actor/casting director relationship, her advice for actors and what she has learnt along the way. There will be plenty of time for audience questions. Meg Morman, CSA is an award-winning casting director and a partner at Morman Boling Casting. Previously a manager of casting in the Feature Film Department at 20th Century Fox, she also spent four years as an associate and then casting director at Walken/Jaffe Casting. In 2004, Meg cast the acclaimed films Me and You and Everyone We Know (Sundance & Cannes 2005) and Steal Me (Sundance 2005), and soon after, she launched her company with partner Sunday Boling Kennedy. Since then, she has cast over 100 films, including Omaha (Sundance 2025), Green and Gold, Waitress, Hello, My Name is Doris, Aporia, The Ballad of Lefty Brown and Suze. Her television and streaming credits include The Baxters, Sneakerheads, Ish Hashuv Meod, The Dead Girls Detective Agency, In the Vault, and Relationship Status. She has also worked extensively in narrative podcast casting, with notable projects such as Star Trek: Khan, DC High: Volume Batman, Blackout, Ad Lucem, 13 Days of Halloween (Seasons 2 & 3), Last Known Position, and Narcissa. Meg has been nominated for 11 Artios Awards for excellence in casting and has won twice. Currently the VP of Governance for the Casting Society, has also served as an advisor for Film Independent’s Directing Lab and the Global Media Makers project.

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• Relocating to a Major Market with Kym Jackson

  Relocating to any "major" film & TV market is a vital step to pursue your acting career. While self tapes have enabled established actors to remain remote, it's important for developmental talent to be where the COMMUNITY is. This enables you to attend in-person networking, educational, and social events on a regular basis to build trust, contacts, and become part of the 'tribe'. In this class, you'll learn how to choose the best market, the steps to prepare in the months leading up to your move, and what to do once you arrive. Kym Jackson (This Is Us, S.W.A.T., N.C.I.S., The Secrets She Keeps) is an actress credited with 60+ feature films & TV episodes and is the author of the Amazon best selling textbook, The Hollywood Survival Guide For Actors, a comprehensive 300+ page guide to navigating the entertainment industry. She is the founder of the Secret Actor Society app and website, which boasts over 3000 classes and Q&A’s, with 50+ industry experts and casting directors, that reveal strategies best used by actors to obtain success in their career. As a coach and regular speaker for organizations including SAG-AFTRA, MEAA, WIFT, Spotlight, Kym has taught thousands of actors to navigate the business of acting. Her coaching sessions incorporate mindset work and techniques to help artists develop and maintain the mental fortitude required to successfully pursue a career acting professionally in the film & TV industry.

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• The Long Game: How to Sustain an Acting Career in an Uncertain Industry with Damien Strouthos

  How do you not just succeed once, but keep delivering for a lifetime? In this 90-minute session, Damien Strouthos - actor, coach and founder of The Resilient Actor shares the 5 essentials to perform at your best, stay resilient, and thrive in one of the toughest industries in the world. Drawing on high-performance principles and years of professional experience, Damien offers practical tools and strategies that help actors align craft, career and well-being for long-term success. Damien Strouthos is an award-winning actor, best known for his work in the Foxtel series The Twelve and HBO Max/BBC’s The Tourist, with a career spanning film, television, and theatre. On screen, he’s appeared in Heartbreak High(Netflix), One Night (Paramount+), Last King of the Cross (Paramount+), Home and Away, and Pieces of Her (Netflix). His feature film credits include Transfusion, directed by Matt Nable, I Am Woman, and Peter Rabbit 1 and; 2. Damien is also an accomplished theatre performer, having worked with Sydney Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Belvoir, and Sport for Jove, most recently appearing in Death of a Salesman opposite Anthony LaPaglia.

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• Riding the roller coaster, navigating the risks and hazards of the acting life with Dr Julie Crabtree, PHD

  With the current heightened uncertainly within the performance industry and the broader global instability, any kind of ‘tick the box’ approach to our wellbeing is just not working as it used to. This podcast delves into next level strategies to help us navigate the risks and hazards of the industry at this time. We will be discussing: - Understanding our negative emotions and how to manage them - Forming a strong, personal identity. Developing a coherent identity which is not based on our success as an actor, whether we get a call back or get offered the part - Exploring being emotionally ‘detached with love’ from the industry. Caring enough to invest deeply in our work but not caring so much that it impacts on our mental health - Creating new narratives for defining success - Discovering how to anchor ourselves in the midst of personal and global uncertainty Dr Julie Crabtree M.A. Dip Ed, FCHP, FCCOUNP, CCLP, MAPS, MBPSs, CPsychol. Clinical and Counselling Psychologist Secretary APS Arts and Performance Interest Group Director Zebra Psychology As an experienced clinical psychologist, Julie has worked extensively with a range of people and is experienced in treating complex issues. Also through her doctoral research into creativity and mental health, she is at the forefront of our understanding of how to be both healthy and creative and has a unique approach to treating the concerns of those within the performance industries. In her practice, she regularly sees performers, creatives and their partners who are experiencing anxiety, depression, relationship issues, performance anxiety and the range of concerns that face those in the creative industries.

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• AI and the Actor: Protecting Creativity with Lilia Anderson, Matt Byrne and Michael Balk

  Seventy-one percent of MEAA members are deeply concerned about AI replacing human-led creativity. MEAA is campaigning for strong regulation through an Australian AI Act and for big tech to pay a levy for using artists’ work to train AI. Join MEAA’s Policy team, Lilia Anderson and Matt Byrne and Industrial Officers Miles Hunt and Tess Chappell with MEAA President, Michael Balk chairing, for a vital briefing on AI and performers. They’ll unpack how AI threatens the creative industries, the risks for performers, how MEAA is pushing governments and companies to act, and what safeguards could protect your image, voice and data.

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About Equity Foundation Podcast