Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wendy Wilkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Wendy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I would have to say the most meaningful would be the feature film Death on the Border. I wrote, directed and by default produced this movie that initially I wrote with the idea to play the lead role. This movie is inspired by true events from when I was a young cop in Melbourne, Australia and shines a light on domestic violence and trafficking of children ( the fastest growing crime in the world). I was talked into directing this movie and consequently dropped down to a smaller but important role, Adele, the house shelter mother and got to play opposite Academy Award nominee , Eric Roberts. This is my directorial debut and I found that I like to direct and am honored to say veterans like Danny Trejo and Eric Roberts gave me the stamp of approval. It is a team effort to create a movie and people like Tom Colley, the DP and Jen Wilson, Composer, music supervisor and Errol Sack, a filmmaker himself , came along for the ride all the way to ensure we were able to complete this movie despite an initial sabotager we had to terminate in the early days. So yes I ended up producing it also. In hindsight having to “do it all” down to the negotiating distribution was a crash course in filmmaking. It really was a “pulling back of the curtain” being on the other side of the camera, having been an actress for years was quite the eye opener. I have some major director/actor/filmmaking friends who all laugh and say “Welcome to Hollywood”, with some of the crazy obstacles that have to be overcome. It was meaningful in terms of how much I learnt in such a short time. It was of course meaningful in so many other ways, for example in the pre production days our wardrobe supervisor said “I hope you don’t mind but I sent your script to a girl I know who had been trafficked twice”. I received an email from her shortly after this thanking me for writing and shining a light as it helps in the healing process. This helps me to keep going.

Wendy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a little girl I “play acted’ putting on shows and made my reluctant brother and sister be a part of them. I also charged my Grandfather (my biggest supporter) an few coins entrance fee! Who does that at eight years old? I loved seeing the reactions from my Grandfather, and hearing the laughs was a joy to my ears. Though I was brought up that acting was not a career so I pursued other work. I became a policewoman because I wanted to make a positive difference in the world. I learnt so much but in the end felt I was just putting bandaids on mostly due to the way the system works. I left the police force because I didn’t feel I was making much of a difference and I was young and not sure how to stand up for both myself and others. I was talked into doing real estate by a developer I met and was excited about the prospect of helping people build their own wealth through property investment. He taught me about the power of leverage etc. I became very successful in this area ( the Number One realtor in Melbourne) but it wasn’t feeding my soul. I had been taking acting classes and auditioned for one film , funnily enough playing a mafiosa type real estate agent and I booked the role. I remember my sister watching it at a cinema and getting quite upset that in the end I die in the movie! I finally took the plunge and left Australia to pursue acting in London, as a fresh start. I was fairly well known as a realtor and wanted to kind of start over with fresh eyes on me. I loved living in London, going to the theater regularly, studying acting and intensive shakespeare at RADA . I also did some fringe theater, playing the roles of Queen Christina of Sweden , Lady Macbeth.

I enjoyed theater but I wanted to pursue film and television so eventually moved to Los Angeles but of course had to apply for my green card and in the interim was studying acting and immersing myself in the craft. I studied at various places but mostly with Ivana Chubbuck and Katt Shea, Katt also writes and directs so I love that as she also coached me on the directing side.
Because I started my acting career relatively later compared to most I was competing for roles against well known actresses ( understandable ) and so eventually I began to create my own work, making short films and web series. My first short film , Big Bully Bank , (inspired by true events a dark comedy about trying to close my bank account to disastrous results) had some success on the festival circuit and we even got to screen at “Occupy Sundance’ not part of the main Sundance festival but screened at the same time so that was a lot of fun.
I have other screenplays and projects I have been working on, but Death on the Border was the one that quickly came to be. I entered the screenplay in one screenwriting competition, “the emerging screenwriters” and it reached the quarter finals which started the momentum. I found the investment money through like minded passionate people wanting to make a positive difference in the world.
I think the fact that I have had such a varied career path to bring me to here has helped me be a better filmmaker. I am very good at ignoring “No’s” and taking rejection ( ha ha ) To be a good cop, a good realtor and a successful filmmaker you have to have a combination of good listening skills, negotiating skills, be a bit of a chameleon and at the end of the day have a strong sense of self. Not everyone will “be your people” and also not everyone has to have a similar personality to you.
I suppose I am most proud of not giving up yet! There has been so many obstacles and pretty much every filmmaker from Scorsese to Jane Campion will tell you it is a miracle to make a(n) movie. I remember years ago attending a film event with Nicole Kidman talking about the making of Rabbit Hole, a movie based on a well known play, which she starred in and was a p(;)roducer on, and how difficult it was to get greenlit and raise the funds. I thought wow if someone with such a fabulous resume had a hard time what hope is there for me?
I also remember going to a Q +A with Margot Robbie talking about the making of I,Tonya , which she also produced and was so impressed by how much she knew about the “behind the camera technical side” of the making of a movie. She really knows her stuff! I had only known of her as a series regular actress on Neighbours. (PS I had a fun guest star on this iconic Australian TV series a few years ago as the role of Sue Thomas).

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I am not sure if I can explain but I do feel that there is a huge gap between the top and the bottom (pretty much in every industry ) but let’s talk specifically about the creative arts. A studio movie, or an indie movie with a large budget for example will spend almost the same amount of money on marketing and advertising. For example 50 mil to make and 50 mil to promote. How can a low budget indie compete? And it may be a better story or viewing experience but to “get it out there without being lost in the system is a real battle.”. To even lobby for the awards season is a costly exercise in competition. It is unlikely to get distribution without name actors and “name actors are normally expensive”.
The Festival circuit was a way to get attention but even the main players are now mostly closed out.
I support major movies/ productions / tv shows and indie filmmakers and my fellow creative artists from their very first films etc however I feel that there is not much support at the lower end of the game. We need to make it more equitable to compete.
I would love to see re social media etc ( post a little less about famous people they don’t know and a little more about the creatives in their own back yard).

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I lost my younger sister to cancer a few years ago. She was beautiful, feisty and quite a force. A fashionista and people noticed when she walked into a room . She also knew the names of pretty much every actor and quoted many obscure movies. I went through a mini depression. I didn’t really understand people suffering from depression before this because I was always “a glass half full type” and a “just get up and do something” type. But when this happened. I started to feel like “Why her instead of me? ” She had a young child, my wonderful nephew. I felt that even though I had moved countries twice, left all my loved ones to pursue my career, I hadn’t “got very far”. What was my legacy? I don’t have children or a career of note, I haven’t changed the world. Who would care if I got up out of bed or not? if I was here or not? I just couldn’t move. I sat not doing very much for almost a month and then one day I saw a quote “What is the point of life? Life is the point.” Somehow this helped me put one step in front of the other again and take it day by day and my mission in life is to make the world a better place, even if it is for one person at a time. I value that I have my health and ability to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wendywilkins.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendywilkinsoz/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WendyWilkinsactress/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendywilkinsofficial/
• Twitter: WendyWilkins (@wendywilkinsoz) / X
• Youtube: Wendy Wilkins @wendywilkins