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Daina
Reid
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Before
moving behind the cameras, Daina
Reid regularly cropped up in front of them along side Shaun in Full
Frontal, Shaun Micallef's World Around Him special, and the
third season of The Micallef Pogram.
Daina is now one of the busiest directors in Australian
television, having worked on shows such as skitHouse, MDA, The Secret Life
of Us, and Blue Heelers. She also has directed several
successful short films. |
We wanted to know more
about Daina's transition from successful actress to successful director, and she
set the record straight. "What
I really want to do is direct"
has been her credo all along. Or as she tells us....
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You
majored in Performance Studies at Curtain University in Western
Australia. Could you fill us in a bit on your background and what
sparked
your interest in acting/performance?
I was doing film and television
studies not performance back then. I enrolled in the acting course
because we were told you needed experience with actors to become a good
director. It was after Curtin that I went to W.A.A.P.A. (Western
Australian Academy of Performing Arts) and studied to be an actor.
Was
comedy an early love?
Not
really. But if I cast my mind back, I remember telling lots of
jokes at
school. I don't think anyone laughed though.
Who are your
comedic influences?
Germans.
Was
directing always an interest or did it develop out of your experiences
with directors when acting?
I always wanted to be a
director. The comedy/acting thing was an accident
born out of wanting to be a director.
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How does
your acting experience inform you as a director?
It 's the place
where I start from. For me, it's all about script and
performance. The rest is just an added bonus.
What is it
like to direct individuals you used to act along with, such as
Roz Hammond?
You get to
appreciate their talents on a whole other level. Working with Roz
is an absolute joy. She is an extremely talented comic actress. I love
playing around with that kind of darkness.
How do
directing comedy and drama differ? Do you have a preference or do
both offer you something?
With comedy, the
punchline is more obvious and everything drives toward it. Comedy is drama with the volume turned up.
I love doing them
both. I like
doing a comedy job then a drama job. Both genres inform each
other. I like
to find the heaviness in comedy and the lightness in drama.
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Do you want to focus
solely on directing or do you still enjoy acting?
I try and do a
bit of acting once a year.
Did working on Full
Frontal and The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) teach you or
prepare you for anything you find you use now in your directing,
writing,
and producing roles?
I can't even begin to list
everything. I'd have to write an essay.
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Roz Hammond
mentioned on The Micallef Programme DVD that writers on
skitHOUSE were encouraged to keep their sketches to less than a page. Do
you find the short form rapid fire sketches more/less challenging or
enjoyable than longer form sketches, such as many of the interviews
segments or fake documentaries on The Micallef P(r)ogramme?
Long stuff, whether it be
in comedy or drama, is always more time consuming because the actors
have a higher probability of fluffing a line. Which means we have
to start again or pick up the scene in the middle which can interrupt
the flow of the scenes. As a viewer, I like a bit of both.
Besides episodic
television, you've directed several short films. Do you have
ambitions for future feature length film directing?
I
want to make science fiction movies. I am a nerd.
How hard was it
to keep a straight face during the Roger Explosion sketches on Full
Frontal?
Yes. I
was hopeless. Milo Kerrigan was harder though. Once we did a
live Milo sketch on Full Frontal and the punchline involved the entire
set collapsing. We had one take. If I laughed, I would have blown
it. The
director, Ted Emery gave me a very stern talking to before we shot it.
I had to dig my thumbnail into my palm so hard, it almost bled.
What's
your favourite Micallef P(r)ogram(me) sketch?
The one
with all the horses galloping toward camera.
Do you worry
about the state of the Australian film and television industry?
Yes.
(See
Daina's letter to the Senate Select Committe on the FTA between
Australia and the USA)
What current
music, television shows, and films do you enjoy? Any that you
dislike with a passion?
I would
like to say I despised reality shows but I watched Survivor last
night.
Any hopes to
collaborate with Shaun again in the future?
No,
he's a wanker.
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A very
special thanks to Daina for participating in the Q&A. We greatly look
forward to what you may bring to our screens, small and big, to watch in
the future!
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**A selection of
Daina's credits
Film
(Directing)
- Right in the Middle of Your Forehead (2001)
- A Margherita With Hot
Salami (1999)
(Acting)
- Love and Other Catastrophes
(1996) - Woman in White
- Love in Limbo
(1993) - Brenda
Television
(Directing)
- SkitHouse (2003 -
-The
Secret Life of Us (2002)
- MDA (2003)
- Blue Heelers (2001)
-
Numerous television commercials (Acting)
- Welcher &
Welcher (2003) - Heather Zabiglione (episode 1.8)
- Kath
& Kim (2002)
- Kylie Boulton (episode 1.3)
- The Micallef
Pogram (2001)- Various Characters
- SeaChange
- (2000) Astrid Moore (episode 3.11)
- Shaun Micallef's
World Around Him (1996) - Various Characters
- Full Frontal
(1995 - 1997) - Various Characters
- Jimeoin
(1994) - Various Characters
- The
Comedy Sale (1993) - Various Characters (also a writer) |
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