| South African Old-Time Radio NEW PRODUCTIONS "THE FOREIGNER" WRITER |
| The Pumamouse Website Presents... |
Welcome to the "THE FOREIGNER" WRITER webpage of The Pumamouse Website! The following essay was kindly written and provided for inclusion on The Pumamouse Website by Justin Shaw, writer of "The Foreigner". |
| Early on in my life it looked like I’d grow up to be an Olympic gymnast and I was well on my way before I stopped. I grew up with a great love for movies and music and I remember watching the same movies and listening to the same songs over and over again until I could act and sing them out better than perfect. But it wasn’t until the end of my high school career that I began considering the arts as a viable career choice. I started out small with my eyes firmly set on becoming a Hollywood legend, never being one to set my sights low. My first love was always acting! |
SQUEAK OF JOY!!! "The Foreigner" will air on Thursday 19 February 2004 at 7PM as part of the VINTAGE RADIO program on Radio Today 1485AM. Special thanks and congratulations from The Pumamouse to all of those involved in this historic event! |
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| But I soon learned that having talent in a country with such a small and narrow entertainment industry was going to be a problem. You can’t be a successful actor when there’s nothing for you to audition for. For a long time nothing happened. No one gave me any chances! I didn’t get any lucky breaks! Couple that with zero support from most of the people around me and voices constantly telling me that perhaps I was wasting my time. I just got more determined. I’ve always been a dreamer and I know that I would never be content with what others perceived to be a normal life. I know where I want to be and I’ll never stop ‘till I get there. So what did I do when acting became a waiting game? I started looking for plan B. I began work as a photographer at a local casting agency and from there branched out as a freelance cameraman and subsequently became a casting director as bits and pieces of acting work came in. At the same time I began work at Radio Today as a producer, which not only opened my eyes, but more doors. There I met a respected film critic and film industry veteran in the form of one John Ferreira who made it possible for me to take the screenplays I had been writing in my head for years and make something real of them. It also opened up the door for those in charge of Vintage Radio to learn about me as a writer. It was then that Frans Erasmus offered me the opportunity to take one of my movie ideas and turn it into a radio play. However, growing up in the era that I did, I had very little knowledge of radio theatre. I’m a child of motion pictures and had never even heard a radio play before I started listening to the old Springbok Radio plays. Having my first play ‘Foreigner’ produced for radio is indeed both an honour and very exciting - being a part of something I would otherwise have missed out on if it weren’t for chance. Justin Shaw Johannesburg 29 January 2004 |
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