Category: Interview

INTERVIEW WITH PALACE CEO BENJAMIN ZECCOLA AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I didn’t intend to go away for over a month, there’s been things I’ve been doing and I planned to post often but it just got away from me, overtime shifts, an impromptu getaway and feeble attempts to improve my health and sleeping patterns. So here we are and it’s been more than a month. I feel very frustrated that I’m not getting to write and read as much as I used to but the first thing I had to do was write about Kelly. Now that I’ve done that I will try to catch up on some things I’ve gotten published in the past month.

A few weeks back I jumped at the chance to interview the Festival Director of the Italian Film Festival which tours around Australia at this time of the year. Alas she was ill and last minute I got to speak to the CEO Of Palace Cinemas himself Benjamin Zeccola. Interviews are still a relatively new thing for me and often listening back to the tapes I hear a nervous interviewer building to his questions. How the hell was I gonna go with a CEO?! Well Mr Zeccola was so charming that I grew in confidence during our conversation. We spoke for about 30 minutes about how I met my wife at a Palace cinema, the changing landscape of media and how to program a film festival. It was a truly fascinating conversation with a man who revealed himself to be very grounded, a hopeless romantic but also a savvy businessman. It gave me a great deal of confidence coming out of it and made me realise what a dream it would be for me to do this for a living full time. Alas due to word count restrictions we were only able to print his thoughts on the 2017 Italian Film Festival which you can read here http://scenestr.com.au/movies/lavazza-italian-film-festival-coming-to-a-cinema-near-you

Later I attended the return of the Brisbane International Film Festival where his father Antonio Zeccola was acknowledged for his work in bringing back my favourite hometown film festival. I had thanked Benjamin and Palace for doing so during our interview and I feel eternally grateful for the privilege of being able to do that as a writer for Scenestr.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scenestr magazine in print every month and I was lucky enough that this featured in all the September issues published across the country. In the Queensland issue it featured alongside another interview I conducted. A digital copy of the printed magazine with two interviews I did for the Queensland September issue can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2017/1095-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1095.html#p=63

Scenestr18Scenestr focus mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.

-Lloyd Marken

INTERVIEW WITH ‘UNCLE VANYA’ DIRECTOR MICHAEL BEH AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I tackled my second interview for Scenestr magazine a few weeks back and it was published in print in my hometown. The first professional production in Brisbane of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in 86 years is being done by director Michael Beh. A veteran of theatre productions, Beh spoke with passion and thoughtfulness for over twenty minutes and I hope I have done justice to how interesting he was to listen to. A digital copy of the Queensland edition can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2017/1094-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1094.html where the print version of the interview is on Page 44 Scenestr12.jpgand the full version went online here yesterday http://scenestr.com.au/arts/anton-chekhov-s-uncle-vanya-returns-to-brisbane

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scene magazine in print every month focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.

The interviews create more nerves, take more work and prove more rewarding. Doing this work remains a privilege and I hope I prove worthy of it. The Brisbane International Film Festival returns next week and I can’t wait to share some highlights with you.

-Lloyd Marken

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INTERVIEW WITH THE LEADS OF ‘GREASE – THE ARENA EXPERIENCE’ AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I did a Work Elective subject in my final undergrad year in 2004. There were about five of us and we did the Brisbane Writer’s Festival Newspaper in 2004. I was hardly the star of the team but I did get to interview some people which was a real thrill for me. Perhaps one day I’ll recap some of that. Almost 13 years later I downloaded a free app onto my phone to record interviews I might do for Scenestr.

Two weekends ago I finally landed a gig and interviewed performers Meghan O’Shea and Drew Weston who are touring Newcastle this month as Sandy and Danny in Grease – The Arena Experience. I spoke to them one at a time for less than 13 minutes each while struggling to contain nerves and excitement throughout. They couldn’t have been nicer and more thoughtful on what they see as strong points about the show, their co-stars and the arts in general. I’ve tried my best to honour that and to put across how charming and articulate they were over the phone onto the written page.

In addition to being the first interviews I have done for Scenestr, this piece has been printed in their Sydney magazine as well on the website. A digital copy of the printed magazine can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/NSW/2017/13-NSW/scenestr-NSW-13.html#p=27 where the piece is located on Page 27. The online version is here http://scenestr.com.au/arts/grease-is-the-word-in-newcastle and includes an extra paragraph that took us over the word limit for the printed version. It concerns a story Drew told when I was inspired to ask an impromptu follow-up question after listening to one answer. That was a nice little moment for me, Parky eat your heart out. I’m grateful my editor decided to keep it for the online copy.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scene magazine in print every month focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.

What doing these things for these publications does for me, your continued support…. After I finished the first interview I walked up and down the living room for a few seconds and took some deep breaths. Then I focussed on doing the next one. I am not a brave man but not for the first time it occurred to me that the things that have scared me have always been the things that have been the most rewarding to have done. I am on a journey I guess, no idea where it will end up and that’s okay. Because it is the journey itself that I am eternally grateful for and I’m just enjoying it in and of itself. And…….. I am happy you are with me.

-Lloyd Marken

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