Director’s Q & A : LIZ COURTNEY

Q: What was the inspiration behind this documentary? And/or how did it come about?

A: I heard the music from Angels while I was recording a voice over for another documentary. This led to a chance meeting with Marcus Cheong and Ken Lai an introduction to the project and the opportunity to follow two Sydney boys who had an amazing dream to take their musical Angels all the way to Broadway. It was a chance meeting that turned into an amazing opportunity and a wonderful project. The inspiration of their dream, their raw talent and their fresh approach to taking on the biggest theatre challenge in the world inspired the series.

Q: What do you like about making documentaries?

A: The opportunity to tell important and inspirational stories that can shape the world in a positive way.

Q: Did you encounter any challenges in making this documentary and, if so, how did you overcome them? 

A: There were huge challenges to overcome re obtaining the permits required to film on Broadway as it is a heavily controlled community. It took over 4 months to arrange all the various permits we required. Also the production needed to film over a long period of time which required careful planning to ensure the key elements were covered. The solution was to set-up a second unit in New York that we could call on when we were not there, and at short notice.

Q: How does the documentary relate to your past work, if at all? Was this film a natural next step or a radical departure from your previous work in film, TV etc?

A: As my background is in music, and I share a great love of the arts, this project was a natural follow on from my recent HD series for Discovery International – Monumental Vision, an arts/adventure series.
 
Q: Any other production anecdotes/stories?

A: Marcus and Ken are definitely the Odd Couple! Marcus is the perfect producer, neat, tidy and always on-time Ken is the quiet, conservative, jean and T and we always had to find a comb for his hair and he is not a morning person at all! Marcus studied to be an Architect. Ken studied to be an Aeronautical engineer. It was Ken’s sister who introduced Ken to Marcus through the University drama club. Ken was one of 30 people chosen from around the world to study at The Broadway school of music for 4 years in New York.

Q: Apart from "it's a masterpiece" what would your ideal viewer response to the doco be!?

A: This is an inspirational story about two boys who followed their dreams and were not afraid to fly!

Q: Did you learn anything through making this documentary, about either yourself or your subjects?

A: About the endeavour of the human spirit to keep going and to dream big dreams.
    
Q: What is your next project or what are you working on now?

A: “E-Camp 2010” - Taking 40 indigenous teenagers to Antarctica in 2010 to attend the first international Youth Summit in Antarctica to look at new solutions to our global energy crisis.