Dear Readers,

Happy New Year and welcome to 2017. And what a year it will be! I had an incredible 2016. I had just finished travelling for 6 months around Europe which ended in America and returned home to Sydney early February 2016. And a lot had changed. Well… I had changed. Just about everything else in Sydney had stayed the same.

2016 for me was the year where I stepped out of that bubble of optimism that told me opportunities would present themselves… that if I waited long enough auditions would be plentiful. But the time away gave me the ability to reflect on my past few years in Sydney and I came back from a trip knowing that my career is not going to be made by paying for more casting director workshops or classes. It is going to be made by being proactive and paving my own way.

I spent 2016 working my ass off to fund a little feature film called Zombie Bro I wrote. I spent the year working pretty much full-time for a party company during the week and then doing kids parties on the weekends and so the year went pretty quick. If you need money, all you have to do is put your foot down and do the work. And I couldn’t be more proud of myself. Here is a product I had back in 2013 that just sat on the computer gathering megabyte-dust, something that back then I didn’t have the brain power, guts or knowledge to produce myself. And in 2016, I had the time, money and passion to get it done. I highly recommend doing it for yourself.

This year will be much the same as 2016. A year of more personal growth. I’m taking a step back from pushing myself so hard in an industry that is so based on luck. I am spending this year doing the things I always wanted to pursue but didn’t because I needed that flexibility for possible auditions.

This year, I am getting my Certificate III in Child Services so that I can do social work with disadvantaged kids, something I’ve always had a passion for. And when that’s done, I’m moving to Montreal, Canada so that I can live and breathe French, a language that I’ve been infatuated with since I don’t know when. I am also going to work tirelessly to gain funds for the completion of post-production on Zombie Bro and by the end of the year have a product I can take to film markets, snatch a really awesome sales agent with and submit to festivals.

It’s a big year, with some big goals but goals that will make me unbelievably happy in the end.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2016: 1. Sitting in my ground floor hotel room staring at celebrities on the red carpet during the Golden Globes. When Channing Tatum and Will Smith saw each other, their energy was so awesome, I stood up and was like "wassup" to the window. Thank god it was tinted.

2. Starting my own kids party business. Go me!

3. Winning an award for a short film script titled "Race" at the Stranger With My Face Film Festival down in Hobart and then flying down for it.

4. Directing my first feature film that I also wrote, directed and produced! 

5. Being the bridesmaid for my best pal Xanthe and then doing an impromptu MC routine. So 2017 friends and fans. Now go out and pursue your dreams. xx May Grehan