The Blank Canvas Podcast

Episode 42 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Hugh Stewart.

Hugh Stewart is an acclaimed portrait photographer, probably the closest thing downunder to Annie Liebovitz.

Grew up on a diary farm in New Zealand. Left For Europe straight out of school and was living in a notorious London squat in the early 80s when he first picked up a camera and started taking portraits of his friends.

Hugh’s a down to earth and unassuming guy, however his intimate portraits have lead to an incredible body of iconic images with a roll call of the biggest names in arts and culture; Johnny Cash, Michael Caine, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Kenneth Branagh, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Catherine Deneuve, Clint Eastwood, Naomi Watts, Julian Schnabel, Rod Stewart, Ian Mckellen, Leonardo Dicaprio, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Robert Redford, Emma Thompson and Five Australian Prime Ministers.

He’s shot for mags like Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The Face, I-D, British, French and American Vogue. Commercial Clients; Australian Tourism, HBO, Netflix, Warner Bros and Chanel No.5

Hugh is a long time collaborator with Baz Luhrman; Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge and his forthcoming film About Elvis.

Currently based in Sydney, Hugh’s creative output hasn’t waned, his lockdown video call portraits have connected broadly across the globe, with more than 300 thus far.

Hugh shares some great stories, which bring home the fact that there’s no rule book when it comes to creativity and often the barriers bring out the best you in you. Just keep creating.

hughstewart.com

https://hallslane.com.au/

 

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

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Episode 41 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Sean Sennett.

Sean Sennett is one of talented and curious characters you find in the music business. He studied history and literature at university but spent most of his time poring over every issue of American Rolling Stones magazine penning gig reviews for Brisbane music mag, Time Off. He bought the magazine a few years later, taking it out if receivership. Ran it for twenty years and published over 1000 issues.

Today Sean is one of the go-to music writers for many of the biggest acts in the world; Springsteen, U2, Bowie, McCartney…literally 1000’s of interviews.

As a singer/songwriter Sean’s released three indie solo records. He’s written songs with the likes of Ross Wilson, Mark Seymour and Sean joined Midnight Oil co-founder Rob Hirst to create the indie-rock album Crashing The Same Car Twice.

In 2020 Sean teamed up with iconic musicians Kate Ceberano and Steve Kilbey and released one of the most acclaimed albums of the year The Dangerous Age, achieving Album of Week in The Australian, The Herald Sun, The Music and more.

Sean is wonderful story-teller with a turn of phrase that reels you in and has you gagging to hear more. Enjoy.

The Dangerous Age - Listen/Download: https://usm.lnk.to/ThDaAg

Time To Talk: https://tinyurl.com/t6p29jc2

IG: https://www.instagram.com/seansennett/

 

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Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

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Episode 40 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Hunter Leonard.

Many people and businesses have been smashed over the last few years. There’s millions of people out there trying to reinvent themselves to survive this brave new world. Also, as a population we're living longer, there’s more and more mature age people looking for work and needing to be productive for longer.

This weeks guest is business coach, author and ageism activist - Hunter Leonard.

Hunter has written seven books including two Amazon Bestsellers, Generation Experience and The Experience Equation. In a common sense manner, Hunter lays out his vision to end ageism and gives practical steps everyone can follow to reinvent themselves, whether starting a new business, getting a new job or helping to overcome age discrimination.

It’s a mile-high goal, but Hunter is a man on a mission for the mature age worker. And let’s face it, none of us are getting any younger, this is coming down the line for us all!

As Founder & CEO of Silver & Wise - Hunter delivers business coaching to everything from small and large businesses to various government agencies . He has surveyed more than 10,000 businesses owners in the course of developing his coaching strategies, has delivered over 700 seminars and presentations and contributed to over 2 billion dollars in sales growth for more than 500 clients.

In fact, I’m one of Hunter’s success stories. Over a coffee a few years ago, I shared a career crisis and that I needed to reinvent myself. I left with a copy of Hunter’s book Generation Experience, not long after I had the idea of to create a Podcast. The rest as they say is history!

www.silverandwise.com.au

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunter-leonard/

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 39 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Kathrin Longhurst.

There’s an elfin and puckish energy to artist Kathrin Longhurst, she looks into the heart and soul of each subject and has the technical ability to draw that out of the eyes of every portrait she paints, making her canvas’s feel as though they have come to life.

None more so than her dynamic portrait of Kate Ceberano, which is a finalist and won the Packing Room Prize for this years 2021 Archibald Prize, Australia’s premier art prize, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Kathrin is a child of the cold-war era, growing up behind the iron curtain in East Germany. Much of her work captures the contrast between war propaganda imagery and the glamorous promises of the other side of the wall. However in place of the fearsome male figures of power are female warriors. The current phase of the digital revolution is delivering a chilling new wave of censorship and propaganda, making Kathrin’s style and work all the more compelling and relevant.

The Berlin Wall came down and Kathrin left East Germany. She fell in love with an Aussie sailor and lives with her husband and two teenage children in Sydney, where she is well-respected member of the Sydney arts community. She served as vice president for Portrait Artists Australia and was the founder and director of the innovative Project 504.

Kathrin’s work is highly sought after and is collected across the globe. She completed her 18th solo show in 2021 and has been a finalist in numerous awards including the Archibald Prize, the Doug Moran, the Darling Prize, the Sulman Prize, the Percival Portrait Award, the Mosman Art Prize, the Portia Geach Award, the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Prize and the WA Black Swan Prize.

http://kathrinlonghurst.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kathrinlonghurst/

https://www.facebook.com/kathrinlonghurst

https://twitter.com/katlonghurst

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrinlonghurst/

 

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Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

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Part B of the two part conversation with master filmmaker Fred Schepisi AO. 

See episode 037 for Part A for the beginning of the conversation with Fred.

https://fredschepisi.com/

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 37 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Fred Schepisi.

One of all time great filmmakers. Fred Schepisi steered Meryl Streep to an Oscar nomination for A Cry In The Dark, so too for Stockard Channing in Six Degrees of Separation.

In fact, the worlds finest actors have been clamouring to work with Fred for 45 years; Helen Mirren. Donald Sutherland. Kirk Douglas. Michael Douglas. Will Smith. Meg Ryan. Michael Caine. Geoffrey Rush. Sir John Gielgud. Ian McLennan. Ray Winston. John Cleese. Jamie Lee Curtis. Kevin Cline. Tim Robbins, and the list goes on.

Fred started out in the advertising world in Melbourne, directing both commercials and documentaries. His first feature-length movie was the semi-autobiographical The Devil’s Playground which won 6 AFI awards including Best Film. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith , in 1978, won a few more AFI awards and was nominated for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Fred then began working internationally, highlights include; Plenty (again with Meryl Streep), Roxanne (starring Steve Martin & Darryl Hannah) The Russia House (with Sean Connery & Michelle Pfeiffer), Last Orders, Eye of the Storm, and Words & Pictures starring Juliette Binoche & Clive Owen.

The HBO movie Empire Falls, starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Wright, won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture made for Television.

Fred has worked across most genres and is a master at adapting books to screen. Appropriately, he was awarded the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian film industry as a director, producer and screenwriter.

Fred is a real character and a great conversationalist, he delivers a veritable master-class in film-making in this podcast, so much so, I’m releasing this chat over two episodes.

https://fredschepisi.com/

 

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Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

 

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Episode 36 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Mark Isham.

Classically trained. Pioneer of electronic music. One of the jazz greats. Combine this with his willingness to create new musical worlds, working in virtually any medium or genre, well, it’s the perfect alchemy for a film and television music composer.

Originally from NY City, Mark Isham studied piano and violin, but the trumpet captured his imagination and became his signature instrument. By the age 15 was playing in jazz clubs, while performing San Francisco symphony.

In the early 80’s Mark began experimenting with electronic music and quickly gained notoriety for his work in the new age genre, the self titled Mark Isham album won a Grammy award and Grammy nominations for the follow up albums Castalia and Tibet.

Mark collaborated with the likes of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock; his Blue Sun album and Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project and the ARIA award nominated Bittersweet album with Kate Ceberano, are regarded with awe in the jazz world.

Mark Isham’s signature trumpet sound is heard on albums of music icons including Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Ziggy Marley, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Chris Isaak, and Van Morrison.

Mark has scored films for the most acclaimed directors; Robert Altman, Robert Redford, Jodi Foster, Sydney Lumet, Frank Darabont, John Ridley, Gavin O’Conner and Brain De Palma

Movie highlights include Oscar-winning movies Crash, A River Runs Through It, Warrior, Judas and the Black Messiah. Along with Golden Globe winning Bobby and The Black Dahlia.

Recent TV highlights include Once Upon a Time, American Crime, Little Fires Everywhere (which he garnered Mark's sixth Emmy nomination), Godfather of Harlem and HBO’s The Nevers.

Prolific doesn’t even begin to describe Mark’s creative output; Over 400 movies & television series scored, 4 billion $ box office gross of movies scored, created over 200 albums, over 200 nominations and 57 major awards.

This is an insight into the mind and process of a musical genius. Mark shares his experience working with Robert Redford, Jodi Foster and Aussie directors Gillian Armstrong & Scott Hicks - and we get to play some of his music!

ISHAM.COM

The Nevers - Binge / Foxtel (Australia)

Godfather of Harlem - Stan (Australia)

Bittersweet - Mark Isham / Kate Ceberano (all major music platforms)

 

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

 

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Episode 35 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Lindsay Fox.

From one man and a truck to a sophisticated multinational operation, Lindsay Fox isn’t your average truckie.

In 1956 Melbourne hosted the Olympics Games and in that same year, 19 year old Lindsay Fox purchased his first truck - for 400 Pounds. He began carting coal in the winter and soft drinks in summer. He purchased his second truck the following year and the now iconic slogan, ‘You are passing another FOX’ was born.

In 1958 a contract with soft drink manufacturer Schweppes saw him expand his fleet to ten trucks and hang up his boots from playing AFL for St Kilda.

More than 60 years later, Linfox has grown to become Asia Pacific’s largest privately-owned logistics company, involving more than 24,000 people across 12 countries with more than 5000 vehicles, operating 3.8 million square metres of warehousing and with 3 Billion annual revenue.

It sounds like a fairy tale, from truckie to billionaire entrepreneur, but the trucking biz is no picnic. Lindsay is known as being tough but loyal and true to his word. He’s also a big hearted bloke and his philanthropic work is legendary, most of it is done on the quiet, without seeking the self-congratulatory PR.

Plenty of milestones in this blokes life, including being awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2008. Family is clearly important to Lindsay, he and his wife Paula have been married for 62 years and have 5 living children (Michael deceased), 14 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

Lindsay’s story is fascinating and offers plenty of hope for those who struggle at school: "I was lucky I was an academic failure. I would say of the supposedly top 20 richest people in Australia, 14 of them never graduated (high school), but they learned their skills and honed in on them by practical experience.” Lindsay Fox

https://www.linfox.com/

 

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

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Episode 34 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Mandy Walker.

The first cinematographer to appear on The Blank Canvas, Mandy Walker was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. She started out as a clapper loader and worked her way up through the camera department on documentaries, feature films, commercials and music videos, and shot her first feature film, Return Home, at the age of twenty-five.

Mandy has since notched up 20 feature film credits as director of photography and has filmed over a hundred high end international commercials, including the commercial-films for Chanel No. 5 which were directed by Baz Luhrmann and feature Nicole Kidman, and more recently with supermodel Gisele.

Mandy is a sitting Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the American Society of Cinematographers. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Australian Cinematographers Society. She was the Kodak Artist in Residence at UCLA film school and in 2015 she received the Kodak Cinematography Mentor of the Year Award.

There’s no doubt Mandy is very talented but I believe what makes her so sought after by the top directors is her strength as a storyteller, of course being a joy to collaborate counts for a lot too! She works across a broad array of genres in everything from small character based ‘art films’ to the the 200 million dollar Disney epic MULAN.

Other credits include Academy Award nominated Hidden Figures, The Mountain Between Us (Kate Winslet, Idris Elba) Truth (Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford), Red Riding Hood (Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman), Jane Got A Gun (Natalie Portman), the Aussie classic Lantana, Baz’s Lurhman’s movie Australia and Mandy is currently shooting Baz’s latest movie “Untitled Elvis Presley Project”, which stars Tom Hanks.

https://www.mandywalkerdp.com/

 

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Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

 

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Episode 33 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Simon P Lock.

Simon P Lock is the visionary entrepreneur who put Australian fashion on the map when he founded Mercedes Australian Fashion Week.

He was the champion of Australian designers, well before it was fashionable and he showed the world that that sophisticated fashion could come out of Australia. The success of this event lead to Simon holding senior management positions in a number of other international fashion weeks that sprung up following the Australian success; Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Pakistan, India and the long established - New York Fashion Week.

When the GFC hit in 2008, and Australia’s Fashion Week experienced a dramatic decline in attendance of international retail buyers, Simon embraced new technology to deliver fashion week digitally; this included the world’s first live stream fashion show, the first website for a fashion week and early adoption of bloggers ands social media channels

The impact of the digital revolution and other global economic factors disrupted to traditional business channels and the Fashion week schedules. Ahead of the curve once again, Simon, along with his wife Kirstin, created ORDRE - an online platform to facilitate the management of luxury wholesale networks globally through the presentation of designers seasonal collections via virtual showrooms. Simon developed 360° data capture technology as the cornerstone of the platform.

They knocked on doors for 4 years, slowly building the platform and clientele, then once Covid hit in 2020, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing - pretty well all the major luxury designers have come on board - Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Chloe, Loewe, Balmain, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and many more.

Simon says the company is on track to generate revenues of around $13M Aussie $ annually and contribute to generating hundreds of millions of dollars of wholesale orders for its clients.

The fashion world is a fickle one but Simon has certainly navigated path a successful path and take a lot of other people with him.

https://www.ordre.com/en

https://www.instagram.com/simonplock/

https://www.instagram.com/ordreofficial/

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THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM

Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald.

Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc

Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.