David Black interviews Timothy Courtman for The Australian Short Film Network Journal
Timothy is an enthusiastic and hardworking actor in Melbourne, Australia. I first met him on the set of Blue, so it feels like we have been working our way up together. We’ve only been on that one set together though, so our experiences within the same little film scene vary because he’s always been where I wasn’t, and he was rarely there where I was.
Today, I’m glad to be comparing notes with Timothy.
DB - Thanks for taking the time to chat to me today Timothy. It seems that we both got active in the local film industry around the same time. Can I ask you what got you so enthusiastic about acting and what sort of study you have done, or are doing?
TC – Thank you for having me. I have had an interest in performing/acting when I was in year 11 drama classes and my drama teacher at the time taught us about the dramatic arts and the process of creating characters, stories, drama, tension, and motivations of characters among other things etc. I studied a diploma of theatre arts at Melbourne Polytechnic where I learnt a lot about the creatives arts and then I went onto study and am currently studying Bachelor of Creative Arts (Drama) at Deakin University.
DB – Your IMDB starts off with a first listing in 2016 with the role of an extra. It seems to me that you worked your way up from extra to cast to lead roles. Can you tell us a bit about this journey?
TC – In 2016 when I was doing my Diploma of Theatre Arts I decided it was time to really take acting seriously so I retained an agent and started doing extra work on Neighbours plus other tv show. I felt that it was important to start from the bottom and work my way up to gain a respect for the overall industry.
Timothy in Breathing Wild
DB – Your first cast roles seem to start around 2018. Which ones really stand out to you, and why?
TC – Well actually my first cast role was in 2017 with “Breathing Wild” playing one of the leads called Fella#1, which was a great starting point for me because I was able to learn more about this this called acting through other fellow actors and really explore my depth and range as an actor.
DB – You have a few big roles coming up in features such as “The Kids Grove” and “Sea Full of Tears”, as well as a spot in the series “Luna Seven.” Can you tell us a bit about these?
TC – Yeah, The Kids of the Grove was a great experience for me, working with great actors and an extremely talented crew and director Damien Giglietta who was the captain of that ship. My scene was shot over one afternoon and was a great learning experience. And I was the lead in the Indie Feature film Sea Full of Tears which is currently incomplete and on the backburner at this moment in time.
I was very fortunate to get cast as a support role in this series (Luna Seven) that started off as a Indie Feature film but is now is being converted into TV series and there is plans I hear that it will hopefully start production sometime in 2022.
Timothy being a bit zombified on set
DB – It’s been a busy 5 years for you so far Timothy. Can I ask you what your future plans are?
TC – My plans are to continue to learn and grow as an actor and working on getting a breakthrough in the industry. It can take a while and a lot of hard work to get a constantly working level within the industry and so that is my plan and to continue to work hard for my craft and make it count and make the most of every moment and not to take it for granted.
I am working on a few projects now and I am branching out to producing projects and learning about that department as well as dipping my hands into a bit of directing and see how that goes.
DB – Where can our readers follow your work Timothy?