Margot Nash, Director "Call Me Mum," "Vacant Possession"

The two week workshop I did with Joan provided me with invaluable practical tools for both script analysis and working with actors.  I returned to the university where I teach enlivened by the experience and the insights I had gained into the creative process.  My next film 'Call Me Mum;' a low budget (just under a million) feature-length series of highly theatrical interlinked monologues about race relations and motherhood in Australia, was always going to be a challenge.  I was directing two completely untrained Indigenous actors and three highly trained white actors. I had my trusty 'Joan' book of notes from the workshop on set and consulted it often.  We received three acting nominations in the 2007 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards and the Indigenous actress won Best Supporting Actress in a TV Drama. Joan gave me tools to deal with problematic situations as well as practical tips for a director during rehearsal and on set. Wonderful.