Two Actors Survive the Pandemic - Two Unemployed Actors Ep80

Max Belmonte 00:12
A huge welcome back to Two Unemployed Actors. I'm Max.

Sam Folden 00:16
I'm Sam

Max Belmonte 00:17
And it's almost like it was just the other day when we were recording episode 79 Actually, I
think I was alone on episode 79 Episode 78.

Sam Folden 00:25
Yeah, just feels like yesterday.

Max Belmonte 00:28
These details. Welcome to 2022 pandemic. fantastic news, though we are back. I'm so excited.
You should be super excited. We've got interviews lined up already with the next few episodes,
full of amazing insights and information that's going to help other up and coming actors, but
certainly us

Sam Folden 00:51
100%

Max Belmonte 00:51
We know we need help.

Sam Folden 00:53
We do have some exciting guest stars.

Max Belmonte 00:55
I wait to share the guests we've got locked in, in super exciting, super exciting, so make sure
you subscribe. Today we're going to talk about some of the projects we've been working on
even during pandemic and how we survived the lockdown. And then let you know what's
coming up in the next few episodes. And then slowly but surely we will move away from talking
about COVID. I know... I know before... because we in Australia, well, I mean, in Australia, it's
like several different countries the way different states have handled lock downs, but we had a
big lock down towards the second quarter last year. So like, March, April, May, June is basically
winter here where we were locked down in Sydney. And I know I came in with three projects
booked for so let's go we're gonna shoot in the next few weeks. And then all hell broke loose
and it's canceled canceled canceled I for sure thought we'll never hear from them again.

Sam Folden 01:57
Yeah

Max Belmonte 01:57
And opportunity's gone, but actually, turned into four. When the lockdown lifted months later,
all of a sudden, the phone rang. Within three days of lockdown being lifted, all three jobs are
back on.

Sam Folden 02:09
Perfect.

Max Belmonte 02:10
And when I went to one of the jobs, they offered me another job. So turned into four. So I've
literally written them off, I hadn't even done invoices, and I'm like, that's not gonna happen.
Never needs to begin and wierdly, all to do with cars, like all of a sudden, everything. I know,
look, I was onstage as a tradie in a show that's very much not masculine. And the character I
played was definitely not a masculine tradie. It was a hell of a hell of a comedy. But having said
that, having said that, someone must have seen it and gone., 'this guy can be a tradie' because
I had a Ram 1500 It's a truck basically, I want to say to you, like we do in Australia that...

Sam Folden 02:55
For those of us who don't know cars like Max does.

Max Belmonte 02:59
It's huge, and, and oh my god, that was a great... In fact, the guy who was organizing all these
car bits for the website is a former motoring journalist and editor of one of the motoring
magazines that I used to read avidly so I turned into like a teenage boy, I said everyone hold
fire for two minutes while I ask all these ridiculous questions. Have you been to Ferrari? Did you
get to test drive their cars around the racetrack? All that sort of stuff that the inner child just
loves to know. And Navara ute I was booked for, I ended up with a conflict and I couldn't do it.
But the company while talking to me about filming for this particular car, said we've got
another car job. There's no script or anything. It's just for the catalogue, but it was decent
money. So just walk around in a tradie get up lifting empty boxes into the van pretending they
were really heavy. It's a living; and it went well. And then another one non car related. One of
them was a roleplay, a corporate roleplay gotta love them. Diversity in the workplace...

Sam Folden 03:56
And you ended up being hit by a car?

Max Belmonte 03:57
I'll tell you what.... No, I tell you what happened. I put on my old corporate wardrobe didn't fit. I
had two lockdowns under my belt. And I spent so much on UberEATS and all those like I
basically haven't changed my diet one bit but but was inactive for quite a long period of time.
And then I've gone to put on, because I've just arrived and didnt even try them on. I just
chucked it in the car for corporate shoot no worries they want you know office pants office
shirt. Oh my God, it was the most uncomfortable shoot. And then the longest hallway in
corporate history. Can you just walk and talk all the way down there that hallway and then we
just have one more time just for lighting and I'm all the time just and I'm walking with this weird
sort of limp because my buttons are done up sotight and like my body is like these pants.

Sam Folden 04:14
Oh no. So you look like someone who didn't want to be there.

Max Belmonte 05:04
I looked like just your average guy who was severely constipated walking down a corridor.
Incredibly uncomfortable while trying to look like he was comfortable.

Sam Folden 05:13
I think a lot of people could relate to that though.

Max Belmonte 05:15
Anyway, so they went well it was the longest half day shoot ever. So I survived lock downs by
eating everyone that's kind of...

Sam Folden 05:22
That's good.

Max Belmonte 05:22
Yeah, that's why it worked well for me. I survived the lock downs. But yeah, it's funny how the
business just as soon as it went into where open for business again just switch flipped and Jobs
came in there.

Sam Folden 05:34
Yeah, yeah, I am I during lockdown. I was I was fortunate to keep continue working. Just before
lockdown, like I moved out and all that stuff. So that was good.

Max Belmonte 05:44
There's nothing like signing up for additional expenses.

Sam Folden 05:47
Oh, yeah.

Max Belmonte 05:47
Just as you're heading into a lockdown.

Sam Folden 05:49
I loved it. It was great. But um, I auditioned for Legally Blonde. The musical if you know me, you
know that I am not actually a triple threat. I'm just a double threat. I can't dance.

Max Belmonte 06:08
In an audition if they give you, do they give you like a few moves to do?

Sam Folden 06:11
I had to practice. Very complicated, quite difficult. choreography, okay. And I worked on it. And
I worked hard and I sweat it in our apartment with no aircon and I just recorded it. Got it done
sent it through. Actually, just before I sent it through...

Max Belmonte 06:28
Of course, it's self tapes, even for.....

Sam Folden 06:31
Just before I sent it through.

Max Belmonte 06:32
Yes.

Sam Folden 06:34
Because it was actually a friend of ours who was Directing it, a friend of Jess and mine. She was
like we canceling slash postponing it because of COVID. And we're not going to be able to fill
the theater. Hopefully we can do it again later. And I was like, I just learnt the hardest
choreography I've ever done.

Max Belmonte 06:52
Oh its hard.

Sam Folden 06:53
I still look like an idiot.

Max Belmonte 06:55
Like me dancing. You know, you know what happened?

Sam Folden 06:58
I still looked like Max walking down that really long hallway.

Max Belmonte 07:02
But set to music set to music. I found out that there was one Actor who got moved up from
Melbourne for a production, and it was a theatre production. I don't think it was a musical but I
can't remember might have been. But it was just before the last lockdown and Victoria closed
their borders. So he's unemployed and in another state and couldn't negotiate with the
Victorian Government to get back in. Like even the union had to step in to try and help and go,
you know, let's see what we could do. Because the poor guys moved up with the promise of all
the work. Yeah, a couple of rehearsals in and sorry, we're gonna cancel a production. And then
at the same time for the reasons they're canceling because of the new virus outbreak in
Victoria. Victoria is like, Oh, we're gonna put our borders up. Yeah. Keep the bad virus out and
also Actors.

Sam Folden 07:52
Was it a musical did you say?

Max Belmonte 07:54
I think I can't remember was it was in the theater. I can't remember if it was a musical or not. It
might have been but point is, like you've you've signed up for a production you've moved into
state...

Sam Folden 08:05
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 08:06
And like there's never a good time for it to go bad right when productions have to pull a pin for
this COVID thing?

Sam Folden 08:14
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 08:15
But to be in another state away from home and not be having your expenses met let alone
your income.

Sam Folden 08:22
yeah. No, that's dreadful.

Max Belmonte 08:23
Its just the worst. There's been some absolute horror stories. And I know we're going to exit.
With less theatre companies. It's just the way it is. Because so many were reliant on putting at
least a few shows together, and we're just unable to get one out the door. And without that
income.

Sam Folden 08:44
Yeah, it's hard. It's difficult.

Max Belmonte 08:46
Do you know what else helped me during lockdown to take my mind off stuff. And I'm thinking
to myself, how else can I because voice over business, it kind of increased?

Sam Folden 08:54
Yeah, it would have.

Max Belmonte 08:55
When the lock downs. Yeah, it's like acting stops. Voiceover stuff increases.

Sam Folden 08:59
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 09:00
But I was thinking of what else can I do? Because I really love the acting part.

Sam Folden 09:04
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 09:05
What am I going to do? So I started writing. I came up with the concept for this comedy
television series. And I'm keeping it under wraps because I haven't even started pitching it yet.
Like it's so raw,

Sam Folden 09:19
Confidential,

Max Belmonte 09:19
But I'm literally... I left the last two weeks of lockdown. I spent like every day, just hours in
there just writing and getting stuff out like. I could walk out and go, Oh my god, four hours just
went by and

Sam Folden 09:33
keeping your mind busy and creative.

Max Belmonte 09:34
Exactly. And focused on the output, which is ultimately another way for me to get some more
acting gigs. So I'll show exactly well. Yeah, exactly. I mean, like, like most actors, you know, to
get the work you got to push your own stuff to to help get your own work. opportunities. And I
think, for me with the unknown, we've talked a lot about how I've used all the industry
resources, whether it It's my AACTA AFI industry accreditation, whether it's just the union even.
Yep. And just as an example, there was one producer, Andrena Finlay who I heard on one of the
Union zoom talks. And it was about specifically producing as an Actor. So the relationship
between the business producer and the production company that's got the funds that knows
how to run a production.

Sam Folden 10:29
Yeah

Max Belmonte 10:29
That's what they do. And the creative producer, so you know, the artist, you've got the IP,
you've got the idea. But you need to marry it with a production company.

Sam Folden 10:38
Yeah. Right.

Max Belmonte 10:40
So that was really, really interesting. And off the back of that I organized towards the end of
last year for some of Andrena's time to pitch my idea to her as though she's like, what actually
got me go, here's what I've got.

Sam Folden 10:56
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 10:56
Here's how I'm working through scripts and stuff. And that went really well. I was because
that's the moment when someone who does this really mean he's gonna go you know what,
Max stick to other people's words. Or there's something in this or what you need to do it?

Sam Folden 11:12
Yeah. Yeah.

Max Belmonte 11:13
So I was super emboldened by I've got like, I've still got a page of stuff on thisTo Do List to get
done.

Sam Folden 11:20
Yeah. Well, you did a writing course. Right. recently?

Max Belmonte 11:24
Yes. Again, through the union,

Sam Folden 11:25
Because I have five unfinished scripts for actors just like writing and different stuff.

Max Belmonte 11:31
And Chris Corbett, I think his name was and very experienced when it comes to television
writing.

Sam Folden 11:37
Yep.

Max Belmonte 11:38
So you know, lots of notes about changes and all that sort of stuff. And how to manage multiple
stakeholders while you're writing and, and look, I think from his body, which is really
interesting. It's like, he's spoken to other writers who have gone to pitch, what they're working
on a project, and the production company's gone. Tell us about the journey of the actors.
Because it look what you really need, you need to have a solid pitch. Okay, so you gotta have
your logline, you've got to look at your hooks, you got to have some pictures, and you've got to
have the pitch down. But to be pitch ready doesn't mean you've got all the episodes written.
No, you need at least the pilot done to be able to show that you've you can write, and here it is.
And he said, he spoke with someone who's pitched and they've had just the the first episode, it
got picked up. But he's like, he made up something about how the act is going to do so that
whatever like down the track, you know, at the end of the day, if they're buying into the idea in
the world, that the character and habits, there's some room in there.

Sam Folden 12:34
That's why occasionally a pilot looks quite... could.... can look quite disconnected from the rest
of the series, it can look totally different story, or it's a story within itself, because you need
that hook at the pitch. Some people make the pilot and pitch the actual finished, done episode.
And then either they do reshoots to make it better quality or they keep that.

Max Belmonte 12:56
And another way is like a short film yet. So here's an idea of of the world I'm creating. And how
I'm going to represent it.

Sam Folden 13:04
A good example of that is the film Whiplash. It actually started as a short film. The director, I
forgot his name. He, he's awesome. And he did this short film and got JK Simmons to be in the
short film.

Max Belmonte 13:19
It's such an amazing movie.

Sam Folden 13:20
Yeah. And it's that's what he pitched because he needed more,

Max Belmonte 13:23
because we've got to like the tension in the short film how to get that and hold it for a short
amount of time. It was a translating into a full hour and a half.

Sam Folden 13:31
It was brilliant short film, like and it technically the short film was actually, it wasn't the whole
story, he actually just picked a scene out of the full script he'd already written. But he just
needed the money to create the film.

Max Belmonte 13:43
Well, Chris helped when it came to, you know, as an Actor, you've got an idea, but how to
translate that into a pitch how the business works.

Sam Folden 13:52
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 13:53
You know, down to the last thing you do, which is words on a page, problems that are common
in building a story. What are the essential elements of a story, how you even start, because
standing in front of a blank piece of paper is writer's block. Yeah, it's could be intimidating. I
think, for me, the way I worked, I've got the idea in my head. And it's sort of working through
different ideas for the character. By the time I sort of, I've got huge butchers paper on the wall.
Each page represents an episode.

Sam Folden 14:22
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 14:22
And then I've got these little scenes written down on other posters. And then I sort of start postit
noting that, yeah, and moving things around.

Sam Folden 14:29
I think my struggle with writing is that I tend to jot down every camera angle, I can think of all
these cool technical things, which has nothing to do with the script, but it's all in there. So I
remember, but I guess that's okay. Because you just kind of have to get rid of it when you keep
going, but I've got all these ideas that I just want to get out of my head. But I emerging risks
great

Max Belmonte 14:50
because you risk distracting people from the story, because every time you've got some
technical note, it's visible. Yep. You're pulling them out of the story.

Sam Folden 14:58
You could write that note down. And then connected to that scene just not within the script like,
yeah, yeah, actually on the topic of other creative endeavors during lockdown and stuff I think I
was talking about before I started a photography business and I actually had my first client
recently,

Max Belmonte 15:14
Right.

Sam Folden 15:15
So I did head shotrs

Max Belmonte 15:15
Congratulations.

Sam Folden 15:16
Yeah, thank you very much. I did. I did headshots for, for an actor, friend of mine and Jess' it
went really well. And I've started... a friend of mine has started his own business, where he's
kind of the middleman between clients and dog breeders and shelters for animal shelters. So
he so finding...

Max Belmonte 15:37
Matchmaking for people?

Sam Folden 15:38
Yeah, exactly. people and pets, If you've have a pet you can...

Max Belmonte 15:42
Do you swipe. You swipe. Swipe left or right. If you like the.... do the dogs swipe?

Sam Folden 15:48
Yeah, they can do that.

Max Belmonte 15:50
I don't like this owver, this owner looks too bossy.

Sam Folden 15:53
Yeah, so the dogs pick.

Max Belmonte 15:54
and it looks like somebody who'll give me a big portion so thumbs up.

Sam Folden 15:57
Yeah. No. So it's if you know, if you have a pet, you probably know that it can be quite a tedious
process, finding the right pet.

Max Belmonte 16:04
Lookin at you Fred.

Sam Folden 16:05
Yeah, Freddie. But and a lot of people don't have that time. So he's the middleman. And he's
got a it's called Pet Seeker,

Max Belmonte 16:14
I was going to say Pet Finder

Sam Folden 16:17
And he's doing really well. And he's actually asked me to do photos.

Max Belmonte 16:22
Because you like animals,

Sam Folden 16:23
I like animals and I have a business now

Max Belmonte 16:25
Or do you photo the owners and he puts them in front of the animals?

Sam Folden 16:29
I took some. I took some promotion. Yeah, you better stop. No, I took some promotion photos.
And then also we take photos of the dogs with the adoptive owners.

Max Belmonte 16:40
Oh, that's cute.

Sam Folden 16:41
Look, happy family. Here we go. If you'd like a pet and then info underneath, but I've been
taking some awesome photos. I think I'm gonna move into animal there's a market in animal
portraits. Yeah,

Max Belmonte 16:52
I know, owning a Daschund, it's quite an interesting group of people on social media. And
there's a lot that take their pride and joy to get professionally photographed.

Sam Folden 17:05
And you know, it's funny. The owners are generally the ones that look the most awkward out of
the owners and the dog when you're trying to get a photo with a pet. Oh, I don't understand the
dog....

Max Belmonte 17:14
Working the camera

Sam Folden 17:15
The Dog is candid, its action shots. The families just say - if you're watching on YouTube -
they're smiling like this, like really awkward.

Max Belmonte 17:27
I mean, I know having witnessed firsthand some people on set, there are some that are better
at taking direction than others. And I There were moments where I would have happily put
even my dog in their place on set.

Sam Folden 17:39
Yeah. I remember that story.

Max Belmonte 17:44
And Bloody hell. Yeah, no, that's great. Because at the end of the day, you want your survival
job to be rewarding. As much as financially rewarding.

Sam Folden 17:52
And if your survival job can be within the industry that you love in this case, in my case, the
creative industry, that's a bonus, you know,

Max Belmonte 17:58
that's great, but okay, so people and pets. Update your CV, update the website.

Sam Folden 18:04
Yeah, I'm gonna delete my CV and only write people and pets it's gonna be my own thing.

Max Belmonte 18:08
Its all you need to know.

Sam Folden 18:09
I think it's a way to go to be honest

Max Belmonte 18:11
Bit more you need to know but

Sam Folden 18:12
No, that's all you need to know. People get that

Max Belmonte 18:17
I got offered.... I'll tell you a job I got offered and I didnt end up taking, Home and Away.

Sam Folden 18:26
You've done Home and Away before.

Max Belmonte 18:26
Correct several times. So the last time I was on Home and Away was January 2020. As, or was it
2019, no 2020 and it was Yeah 2020, it was as a Lifesaver. That's right, lifeguard Jack. And I
kept asking if they wanted me to run in slow motion and all this extra stuff... nup. I had to run
into the fire and put it out with the last few seconds of the fire extinguisher. And unfortunately
the wind did change direction during one take and I nearly lost my eyebrows but that's okay.
That's alright. I mean, how big you want the flames so anyway, so my agent calls me and says
Maxie they want you to play debt collector, because you know how big and intimidating I am.
And sure thing, and we've got to the stage where we're to'ing and fro'ing about how actually go
about getting a COVID test to allow me to then work on set and in that period of time.

Sam Folden 18:27
Yep.

Max Belmonte 18:27
Someone's connected the dots at production HQ and gone, whoa, it's too close to lifeguard
jack. So I have to put the - nup can't do it.

Sam Folden 19:42
Yeah

Max Belmonte 19:43
I mean, on the one hand, I'm disappointed because it'd be great to work with them again, I had
so much fun, but on the other hand, you know, one of the biggest casting agencies cast for
Home and Away for network television here in Australia and and have them just reach out to
my agent go 'can Max do this?' rather than have me audition and everything like that. I'm
stoked.

Sam Folden 20:07
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 20:08
A the production team wants to work with me again.

Sam Folden 20:10
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 20:11
So I just said to my agent, I remember the last bit of communication was like, see, they just
want to make me a series regular.

Sam Folden 20:17
Oh, of course, it's slowly... they're playing hard to get.

Max Belmonte 20:20
It is, very hard to get, very, very well, very, very well. So on the one hand, I'm bummed, but on
the other hand, I'm like, that's pretty good. Yeah, they're reaching out just to say, Hey, can you
do this?

Sam Folden 20:30
Similar thing happened to me with my agent reached out to me and said, you have been
recommended by a casting agent. Chicken and Chips. Who I know very well.

Max Belmonte 20:42
Yes.

Sam Folden 20:44
Recommended to a Director for this role. And he said, Yes. So I didn't have to audition for that.
And I got it. It was for a new TV series called 'Founder'.

Max Belmonte 20:55
Okay.

Sam Folden 20:56
Documentary TV series. It's about the founder of Finder.com.au and a bunch of other
companies as well.

Max Belmonte 21:01
Right.

Sam Folden 21:02
You know how they have kind of re-enactment flashback scenes?

Max Belmonte 21:07
Yeah.

Sam Folden 21:07
So I play the younger version of the main guy, Fred, the founder. I think it says.

Max Belmonte 21:13
Do you know the first television commercial I did was for Finder?

Sam Folden 21:16
I know. That's how we're connected. We're connected in that way. That's cool. So that was
really cool as well. Similar situation. You can feel honored that you don't have to audition and
you've actually just been recommended.

Max Belmonte 21:28
Great. Isn't it? Feels great. I mean, it gives you some confidence that you're doing something
right when that happens, because you get so many no's all the time for things that you know,
aren't right, for whatever reason. It's great to know that they actually acknowledging the work
you're doing.

Sam Folden 21:41
Yeah. Its nice to get something like this every now and then because you get so many no's.

Max Belmonte 21:45
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Sam Folden 21:47
Unless you're Max, and you dont get any no's..

Max Belmonte 21:49
No, it's just all about how much money, how much money does Max want, lets have him
tomorrow?

Sam Folden 21:55
Too much. Too much.

Max Belmonte 21:57
So it's like it has been, although it's a lot of industry upheaval, the last year, you know, some
stuff got done. My CV got updated. What can I say? I had a few jobs that went well. Now I've
paused all my online platforms.

Sam Folden 22:17
Yep.

Max Belmonte 22:18
I'm just taking stuff through my Agent. Any opportunity comes with Agent because I'm, I'm so
focused on writing now, this has become my main project. I mean, once Andrena sort of said,
thumbs up, and my to-do list grew, I increased my voiceover rates again. And I said no to all
the other platforms. And it's just through agent now that I can sort of focus more on writing this
and getting it pitch ready over the next couple of weeks or so.

Sam Folden 22:49
Yeah, right.

Max Belmonte 22:50
It's the business end where you know, all the ideas are great. But what does the script look
like? And I'm working with a location to get permission to film.

Sam Folden 23:02
Yep,

Max Belmonte 23:03
So I'll be able to turn up and say, here's the world. Here's what's all about, here's the story.

Sam Folden 23:08
You're already doing that.

Max Belmonte 23:09
Yeah. And and by the way, I've got permission, we've got permission to film there. So which
takes a big headache out from it, especially when it's the first production with a series of first
the pilot.

Sam Folden 23:21
Yep.

Max Belmonte 23:22
You dont have to create this whole world in studio saves money and and believe it or not, that
can be another factor that helps get get things off the ground.

Sam Folden 23:30
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 23:31
And, you know, even at some of the AFTRS, TV talks where seasoned network production gurus,
the producers, for the network's would say, sometimes there are moments when someone
comes into the office, and they just land the idea, like it's great but they haven't made anything
in the past, there is no track record of them actually delivering the product.

Sam Folden 23:58
Yeah, right.

Max Belmonte 23:59
What they will then do is partner them with an existing production company that they've
worked with all the time. So they know it's going to turn up. And it's going to be somewhat like
what was pitched.

Sam Folden 24:10

Right.

Max Belmonte 24:10
And the production company has got another job. And the person, the Creative Producer, and
this is again, the relationship between Creative Producer and Business, because this is one way
where the connection can make something very original survive.

Sam Folden 24:25
So then, who do you get in contact with when you're ready to sell when you're ready to pitch?

Max Belmonte 24:30
That's a very good question. I workshoped with Andrena about half a dozen or more production
companies that have delivered.

Sam Folden 24:40
Then you just email them do you?

Max Belmonte 24:42
Well, now me personally, I don't like the idea of pitching via email. I'm more likely to say look,
I've got this idea. I ran it past person X in the industry. I think it's got legs, words to that effect,
and can we make an appointment or are you receiving pitches at the moment?

Sam Folden 25:02
Yeah. So you'd email that to them? And then...

Max Belmonte 25:05
Then I wouldn't send scripts, I would'nt send loglines i'd do it all in the room. I just want to say,
Are you receiving pitches? Yes, no? Okay, then let's go. Because Person X industry, so
someone's given a tick, which is more helpful, because sometimes they don't take unsolicited
pitches either. So you can't contact them out of just anyone, you get the website and going,
Hey, I've got an idea. But because I've got an agent, I can use my agent as well. So some of
them that a bit more particular, in when when I say receive pitches only from you know, people
who have got the nod from industry, so my agent can refer me.

Sam Folden 25:42
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 25:43
And I can get in the door that way.

Sam Folden 25:44
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 25:45
But again, picking a successful industry producer to run my idea past initially gave me the
confidence to invest even more time and park some voiceover stuff, to be able to get it pitch
ready for some of the companies that were sort of shortlisted, but you know, whether it ends
up on a streamer or whatever, it may be great, because yes, it's me creating work for myself,
and for many other actors. But you know, when you've got, it's like, when you've got a really
good script for a play you're in. And you know how you got to live with that script for so long.

Sam Folden 26:20
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 26:21
And you've got to work at making it fresh every time you're performing it.

Sam Folden 26:25
Yep.

Max Belmonte 26:26
It's kind of how I feel at the moment in amongst..

Sam Folden 26:29
Yeah, but you're writing it.

Max Belmonte 26:30
Yeah. But I'm writing it.

Sam Folden 26:31
Cool.

Max Belmonte 26:31
So I still want to, I'm still motivated to get back in the room and, and write more, which is a test
that, you know, I'm enjoying the experience. And I'm going to have fun continuing it and seeing
it through. But it's just great to get the nod from industry to go. Yeah.

Sam Folden 26:48
Have that under your belt yep.

Max Belmonte 26:49
I got a cousin who taught Creative Writing at Australian National University for a while. And he
sent me a book because we were talking about it during the first lockdown when I was catching
up with friends and family via zoom. Yeah, these little zoom parties.

Sam Folden 27:05
Yep.

Max Belmonte 27:06
And we got on at one stage we were having a chat, because he talked about how normally he'll
write the play and be there in the room throughout the journey. So right to opening night.

Sam Folden 27:20
Yep.

Max Belmonte 27:21
And there was one time when he gave the production, the play, and didn't check in again, until
opening night.

Sam Folden 27:30
Yeah, that's exciting.

Max Belmonte 27:31
And he said it was just amazing how they took it in all these different directions that you would
never even imagined.

Sam Folden 27:38
Yep.

Max Belmonte 27:39
But was floored by that. That, you know, they could turn the script that you can give it to
someone else in another room and the'll turn it into something else. So that the amount that's
actually involved in that in bringing it to life, I think any appreciation for but it was great to sort
of have another pair of eyes to sort of look over things to make sure I'm on the right track. So
because I haven't been like there's no, as far as I know, you know, is there's no right way to
write a script. Like if everyone... if there was a 'way' to do it.

Sam Folden 28:11
Yeah.

Max Belmonte 28:12
Everything would be getting made.

Sam Folden 28:13
Yeah, true.

Max Belmonte 28:14
So there's no 'one right way'. Yeah, it's a fun journey. I'll keep you guys updated as to how it
goes. Because it's certainly central to my journey now as an actor. Yeah, I'm, I can't wait.

Sam Folden 28:26
I'm excited to read it and be the main character.

Max Belmonte 28:34
Ha Ha and be the main character... nice try, nice try.

Sam Folden 28:34
Yeah, at least at least supporting, at least something Max. I'm you're unemployed... I'm your
second half of unemployment.

Max Belmonte 28:43
We'll do the podcast from set.

Sam Folden 28:45
Yeah. No, honestly, I'm excited to read it though. Because it sounds super cool.

Max Belmonte 28:49
What's exciting is there's so much coming up for us. We've got some interviews. We're
recording one next week with an Australian Actor who's great again at creating his own work.
So certainly be interested. I've already got questions. I'm like ready to go.

Sam Folden 29:05
Figure out who that is by tuning in.

Max Belmonte 29:07
Another huge director as well. We've got other actors and artists, Casting Directors like it's
basically all the people that I've gone, 'I'd love to know how that industry works' or 'how that
role in the industry works' and how it can help me as an actor, and we're getting them. We're
getting get excited. It's great. I'm so excited. So make sure you like and subscribe so you don't
miss a second of this year's journey because it's going to be huge. You've been listening to Two
Unemployed Actors, I'm Max.

Sam Folden 29:35
I'm Sam.

Max Belmonte 29:36
You'll hear us next week