For our very first episode of Healesville Tales, I'm joined by someone very special to me, my cousin's daughter, Grace Clinton.

Born and raised in Healesville and one of six children, Grace grew up surrounded by a close-knit family, with a love of gymnastics, dance, performing and, eventually, filmmaking.

At just 17, she took a huge leap and left home to study at the Australian Film Television & Radio School in Sydney. That decision has taken her from Healesville to London, working behind the scenes on some incredible productions, including Wicked: For Good, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Colin From Accounts and most recently Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

But one of the most exciting chapters is still to come.  Grace is now working on her own feature film, Tongue Tide, which will bring her back to where it all began, Healesville.

We chat about growing up in Healesville, leaving home so young, breaking into the film industry, working on huge movie sets, family, taking chances, and why sometimes you've just got to back yourself and chase the dream.

I'm incredibly proud to have Grace as our first guest, and I hope her story inspires other young people from our town to believe that where you start doesn't determine how far you can go.

🎧 Listen now to the very first episode of Healesville Tales.

And please follow or subscribe, we've got plenty more Healesville stories to come.

For this episode, we are joined by Healesville local, Catherine Nolan, who is organising the upcoming Connecting Community festival on March 10 at the Memo Hall in Healesville.

If you would like to be involved in the festival or know more, please contact Catherin on 0417 002 793.

The first edition of Healesville Tall Tales features an original tape cassette recording from Healesville’s first Tall Tales in 1993, where Keith Heritage interviewed six long time locals at the old Anglers Hall in Lalors Road.

In particular, this episode features my idol, my grandfather Albert Tubby Dennehy, who was born in Healesville in 1911 and sadly passed on the 21st February 2003.

He was a funny bugger and one of Tubby’s best skills was telling a tall tale, hence why we initially created Healesville Tall Tales. 

The old tape recordings were not the best quality, but thanks to my daughter, Nikita who has cleaned them up, we have been able to go back in time and once again listen to these tall tales.

Make sure you hit subscribe and follow the Healesville Tall Tales Facebook page to make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes.