HI: The Podcast

Susan Stevenson is not only an award winning talented actor, but also a doctor who has traveled around the world to help and heal others. On top of that, she also helps run a farm, tending to over 200 animals on a daily basis. 

Susan hails from rural Western Australia and decided to pursue her lifelong, but forbidden, passion for acting in her late 40’s. Becoming an actor was her childhood dream and now she is living it. 

‘Dr. Susie’ is the consummate artist as she lives life to the fullest and enjoys every moment. She will be seen in the Australian feature film “How Do You Know Chris?” and has been racking up numerous awards for her work in short films including Best Supporting Actress at the Best Indie Short LA Film awards for “Darkest Age” along with an Honorable Mention Best Actress at the Top Shorts Film Festival in Indie Film (Darkest Age), Best Shorts Competition Leading Actress (Dollhouse) the Indie FEST Film Awards Winner Award of Merit Best Leading Actress (Darkest Age) and The Accolade Global Film Competition Award of Merit Best Leading Actress (Darkest Age). 

She has done extensive training both in Los Angeles (with the Hollywood Immersive Program and the Beverly Hills Playhouse) and in Australia. Her private acting coach, Myles Pollard, said of her “Susan has a unique ability to connect with her rich personal experiences and commit fully to the emotional stakes her characters demand. She makes bold choices and has the confidence to take big risks emotionally and intellectually to create characters with real heart and believability. Her love for the craft is obvious, her commitment palpable and professionalism second to none.” 

Dr. Susie has traveled to many different continents, collecting life experiences as she went. She would often to volunteer work as a medical doctor in some rural and remote regions. She enjoyed a short stint in the military and thoroughly enjoyed playing soldiers.  She never lost her sense of adventure, her larger than life personality, or her sense of humor.

When not in front of the camera or operating on patients, Susan enjoys riding her horses and camels. She also works as an animal trainer and is currently working on a children’s book, which she hopes to have published soon. Susan is the proud mother of two children and considers this to be her most important and rewarding job. 

Holly is a seasoned performer as well as someone who has attained many skills working in the field of Mental Health. Holly has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in Drama and a minor in Criminal Justice as well as a Masters of Social Work degree at Flinders University. 

Holly has now taken on a new exciting role working as the Production Manager for Achieve Video Marketing and is the Co-Host for “SA Wine Weekly”. Holly is also Co-Producing her first short film called “Decore” and is the Co-Creator for the feature film “Matte”. Holly has also continued her studies in Improvisation at the Upright Citizens Brigade online and has since developed her own comedy sketch “Vicky Lastrange.” 

Holly’s previous experience has seen her performing in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival GreenRoom Speakeasy program, Co-Producer of a play in the Fringe World Festival, performing in Disneyland, Managing and Presenting in an iconic live children’s stage show as well as working as a Community Mental Health Practitioner and Case Manager in the areas of Youth Homelessness, Psychosis and Indigenous Foster Care. 

In 2019 Holly took a leap of faith and decided to follow her passion of acting and audition for Hollywood Immersive. Holly was the first participant to take part in the one on one Immersive program and since then has been working on achieving her goals in acting, producing and storytelling.  

This episode features bestselling author, marketing executive and television producer Josh Sabarra.  Josh appeared regularly as a correspondent on Twentieth Television’s The New Ricki Lake Show, where he was also a consulting producer. In addition, he is a frequent on-air contributor to CNN Headline News and the executive producer of the hit Hallmark movie series Hailey Dean Mysteries.  His debut novel, Enemies Closer, as well as his first book, Porn Again: A Memoir, are available worldwide. His writing can also be found in outlets including the HuffPost, The Advocate, Out and Gay Times (U.K.). 

A veteran marketing, publicity and corporate communications executive with comprehensive management experience in theatrical motion pictures, television and home entertainment, Sabarra is highly skilled in all aspects of entertainment public relations. With an extensive network of filmmaker, talent and press contacts across trade and consumer outlets (print, broadcast and online/social media), he is expert at handling corporate and crisis communications, media training, personal/product publicity and image development through his firm, Breaking News PR ®. 

Most recently, Sabarra served as senior vice president of corporate communications and publicity for A&E/Lifetime Networks, responsible for the high profile and successful launches of such series as Project Runway and Sony’s hit comedic drama Drop Dead Diva. In addition, he oversaw top-rated movie projects including Coco Chanel (starring Shirley MacLaine), Living Proof (starring Harry Connick, Jr.), Prayers for Bobby (starring Sigourney Weaver) and Georgia O’Keeffe (starring Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons). As senior vice president of marketing communications and publicity for New Line Cinema/Home Entertainment, Sabarra spearheaded campaigns for blockbuster films including Elf, The Lord of the Rings, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers and Hairspray. Previously, as vice president of media relations at Miramax Films, he handled a variety of special projects and film launches including Kill Bill, The Station Agent and Cold Mountain. 

Prior to his executive role at Miramax Films, Sabarra was director of publicity and communications for Warner Home Video, where he oversaw campaigns for the Harry Potter franchise and studio classics such as Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and Giant. 

Beginning his career with Buena Vista Pictures Marketing (Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures), Sabarra worked on theatrical publicity campaigns for box-office hits Hercules, Mulan, Armageddon, Toy Story 2 and The Sixth Sense, among many others. 

Josh Sabarra graduated from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, with a dual degree in Motion Pictures/Communications and Psychology. He resides in Los Angeles, California.

This episode features actor Matt Testro.  

Matt joined Hollywood Immersive in 2012, and as a result of an introduction, he was signed with Untitled Entertainment in the US.

In only a few short years in the business, Matt has made a name for himself in feature films and television, and continues his pursuit through hard work, training and a strong dedication to his craft.

Matt has most recently stared in the new Stan Australia/ABC International drama series THE GLOAMING as lead villain, ‘Freddie Hopkins’ and Seth Larney’s Sci-Fi Thriller 2067, opposite Ryan Quanten and Kodi McPhee. 

He recently appeared in the Seven Network drama 800 WORDS, David Caesar’s feature NOWHERE BOYS: BOOK OF SHADOWS and the web series LEGENDS, for which he won Best Actor in a TV Series at the 2019 Seal Beach Film Festival.

Matt made US feature film debut in Shyam Madiraju’s survival thriller, EDEN.

In 2013, Matt made his television debut in the ABC drama, NOWHERE BOYS in which he plays the lead role of ‘Jake.’ NOWHERE BOYS received the 2014 AACTA Award for Best Children’s Television Series and the 2014 and 2015 Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Children’s Program. Matt’s other screen credits include THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES, NEIGHBOURS, MISS FISHER MURDER MYSTERIES 3, the award-winning ABC drama GLITCH and short film’s THE VOLUNTEER and BLUFF.

His training has included the Stellar Adler Academy of Acting, master classes with Larry Moss and Cameron Thor, as well as short courses at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). 

Luke Cook is an actor whose star is on the rise.  Luke can be currently seen playing ‘Lucifer’ (AKA the Dark Lord) in Netflix’s hit show, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” and the recurring role of ‘Guy LaMontagne’ on the CW’s “Katy Keene”. Luke made his major feature film debut in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”.  

Hailing from Sydney Australia, Luke made his first appearance on a major network TV with a hilarious guest spot playing opposite RuPaul on “Mystery Girls.” His other TV credits include “Baby Daddy”, MTV’s “Faking It”, “Modern Family”, “Major Crimes”, “How To Get Away with Murder” and was ‘Dorian Gray’ in the “Librarians”.  

Luke has a lot of theatre credits to his name, but most notably he played opposite Al Pacino and Judith light in Dotsan Rader’s “God Looked Away” which made it’s World Premiere in Los Angeles.

Besides acting Luke is a writer and director who has contributed to a number of short films and web-series including the hit “Zach & Dennis: How It All Began” streaming on Amazon Prime, and has also been viewed over 2 million times on YouTube.  

Luke's other credits include the voice of 'Sorc Tormo' in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game, and a number of upcoming films including the Australian feature "How Do You Know Chris?", where he stars in the title role, directed by Ash Harris. 

With his penchant for celebrity imitation and creating original characters, Luke has built up an impressive Instagram following of over 700 thousand subscribers.  

Addison is a producer, commercial actor, teacher, and talent representative. He produced and directed ”Three Short Plays”, and produced and directed his first feature, ”Around the Bed” in 2017. He has coached thousands of actors for television and film roles for more than 20 years.  Addison provides a wealth of knowledge about the entertainment industry and coaches his students on career administration.

In 1998 he became a talent manager. For two decades he was a career maker for dozens of actors known throughout Hollywood, including actors from; ”Breaking Bad”, “Transparent”, “The Lovely Bones”, “Miss Bala”, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, “Sideways”, “General Hospital”, ”Community”, “Awkward”, “Lost at Home”, “East of Normal; West of Weird”, “Marvel Agents of Shield”, “This is Us”, “Shameless”, “The Mindy Project”, “Romantically Challenged”, “The Peter Dinklage Show”, “Ant Farm”, “Switched at Birth”, “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “Fresh off the Boat”, and ”Girls Cruise”.

In 2006, Addison was one of the stars on the American reality series, "Off the Leash”,the first TV show dedicated to working canine actors and the people who represent them. His second show was Canada's "Reality Obsessed”, and the third series was shot in England, "Top Dog Model”, a competition series pitting dogs and their owners against each other to compete for the ultimate top dog winner. Other reality series include "New York Goes to Hollywood” and “Swedish Wives of Hollywood”. Hollywood," and "Swedish Wives of Hollywood." 

This episode features Gary Grossman.  Gary is the Producing Artistic Director of the multiple award winning Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Gary is a veteran actor, teacher, writer, director and the recipient of the inaugural Henry Ong Award for Leadership in the Los Angeles Theatre Community.  In 2016, he was awarded Stage Raw’s Career Achievement Award. 

His career began in New York, owning  two theaters and a theatrical lighting company by the age of 23. Gary worked at the Public Theatre, Café La Mama, and Sheraton Square Playhouse before joining Los Angeles’ emerging theatre movement in the 70’s. Producing over 300 stage plays and more than 65 world premieres, some of his celebrated productions are Rotterdam (3 LADCC Awards including Best Production and 2 Stage Raw Awards 2018 - performed at CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2019), Church & State (performed Off-Broadway 2017), The Wrong Man (3 Ovation Awards; performed Off-Broadway 2019), Bronco Billy – The Musical (2 Ovation Awards 2019),Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea  (Steinberg/National Theatre Critics Citation with Lower Depth Ensemble), El Grande CIRCUS de Coca- Cola, Obama-ology, Pray To Ball  (1 Ovation Award),  Years to the Day, Hermetically Sealed, Bullrusher,  Mad Women  (LA Weekly Award),  Romeo and Juliet, directed by Milton Katselas (3 LADCC Awards), Dylan (3 LADCC Awards), AIDS/US Portraits In Courage, Influence, America Adjacent, The Madres, Dream Man, Beautified and Never Is Now.

Gary’s TV and Acting credits include: Bachelor Party starring Tom Hanks, Night Court, Desperate Housewives, Mad About You, Everybody Loves Raymond, Judging Amy, Push Nevada and many more. 

This episode features Amber Doig-Thorne.  Amber is a social media influencer, a digital producer, actress and presenter with 3 million online followers. Her comedy videos have received 100 million views online. Her popularity has garnered the attention of major film studios who invite Amber to travel around the world to create content and interview Hollywood's biggest film stars for their upcoming film releases. 

Amber is a skilled actress, with several lead roles in upcoming feature films, including: “The Seven”, “This Time Next Year I’ll Be Famous”, “The Night House”, “RIA” and “Fanged Up”. 

She has competed nationally in several sports, and performed as a dancer in West End musicals. 

Amber also has a BSc degree in Theoretical Physics from University College London. She is most proud of her interview with former US Vice President Al Gore about climate change. 

This episode features Lynn Gilmartin - an Australian actress, television host and poker player, best known for her role as anchor of the World Poker Tour on Fox Sports.

Since 2009, Lynn has traveled through more than 30 countries producing content for a range of online and televised productions, most significantly in her current role as anchor of the World Poker Tour which she has been a part of since 2013. 

Lynn is also an actress who began her film career in 2018 with the role of 'Gemma' in the film Museo, alongside Gael García Bernal. She has since appeared in such Australian productions as Paul Hogan's latest, “The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee”,  “Trauma Center” starring Bruce Willis, and "How Do You Know Chris?" directed by Ashley Harris.

Alongside her roles of producing, hosting and acting, Lynn is also an ambassador for the WPT Foundation, regularly co-hosting fundraising events for beneficiaries such as TGR Foundation, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Education Reform Now.  She is also a global ambassador for Wildlife Warriors, a charity that supports the protection of endangered wildlife. 
 

 
 

This episode features actor and model, Bruce Herbelin-Earle.  Bruce is best known for his role of "Marcus" on the multi Emmy Award Winning, Netflix original series, "Free Rein".  He has modeled for top designers such as Burberry, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Topman. 

Bruce already has some notable jobs on his CV and can be seen playing the young farmhand ‘Marcus’ in the Netflix Original Series “Free Rein”.  Filmed in the countryside of Wales, this family oriented show follows a young group of friends as they cause mischief around the stables of 'Bright Fields'.  For its first two seasons, “Free Rein” was nominated for 7 American Daytime Emmy Awards. The cast and crew walked away with 2 wins: Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Children’s Program.

Bruce's first foray into screen acting was in the role of 'Snake' in the 2015 feature film “Open All Night”.  His featured performance captured the attention of the prestigious Luber Roklin Management company, whom he signed with shortly after. His other credits include BBC Soap-Drama “Casualty", the Channel 5 mini-series “15 Days”, and LGBTQ feature film “Wretched Things”.

In 2016, Bruce won a world-wide competition to join the Hollywood Immersive acting program in Los Angeles, beating out thousands of other applicants.  

Alongside acting, Bruce is an advocate for Champion Chanzige, a foundation created in 2013 that supports the development of primary schools in Tanzania.

This episode features power couple Brianne Davis and Mark Gantt.  They are actors, writers, directors and producers.  Together they run the film and television company "Give and Take Productions". 

Brianne Davis is one of the most electric talents to storm Hollywood by force. Brianne starred in one of the most highly anticipated new dramas with History Channel’s military series; “SIX,” is an ambitious drama that follows Navy SEAL Team Six. Brianne jumped off the screen as 'Lena,' a teacher and wife of lead SEAL Team Six commander 'Joe Graves'. 

Davis has also proved her talent as a big screen actress. Her first lead role came in 2005 with the blockbuster hit JARHEAD, a drama centered on the life of U.S. marine sniper Anthony Swofford, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. During the Gulf War, Swofford struggled to cope with being away from home and feared that his girlfriend, played by Brianne, was cheating on him while he was away. 

She also starred in horror film PROM NIGHT alongside Brittany Snow, Kellan Lutz and Idris Elba, as the flicks somewhat comedic relief.  

Not only is Brianne an actor, she is also an accomplished director and producer. Thriving behind the camera, as much as in front, she has produced five films with her production company Give & Take Productions, and has directed three features: The Night Visitor 2: Heather’s Story, Psychophonia and Transfer. She is currently pitching a TV series she created with Jana Kramer and Lakeshore Entertainment. 

When not in front of the camera, or in the director’s chair, Brianne’s undeniable passion is in supporting our troops. She can often be found traveling the world on various USO tours and has so far visited 15 bases. 

Mark Gantt has had a diverse, 20-year career in the industry, he has learned the business from the ground up, and had the good fortune of collaborating with top directors, including Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, Sam Raimi, and Robert Rodriguez.  He is an actor, writer, director, producer and photographer.  

His feature directorial debut, Murder In Mexico, starring Colin Egglesfield, premiered on Lifetime and was well received by both critics and audiences. He also directed a dark action/drama pilot for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s New Form Digital called Intricate Vengeance. 

As a writer and producer, Mark is best known for co-creating, producing and starring in the ground breaking, Streamy award-winning series, The Bannen Way for Crackle and Sony Pictures Television.  Mark has created successful spots for ESPN and Nissan’s Heisman House campaign, along with popular and effective branded campaigns for GMC, AOL and Lifetime.

In January of 2020, Mark released his second feature, indy thriller "Model Citizen" which was shot in New Mexico. He’s also hard at work on a number of TV and Feature properties in various stages of development.