A global pandemic may have decimated the performing arts but a group of young University of Wollongong graduates are optimistic about their futures and hungry to carve their names in the sky.
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Now is the time to shine, they say, as more and more film and television productions move to Australia because it is relatively clean from COVID-19.
Just on Monday it was announced filming would begin in June for the the long-awaited Mad Max prequel Furiosa in NSW.
But with increased opportunity brings increased competition so selling yourself is a must for these Bachelor of Performance grads.
"We're quite lucky because [the film industry in the US are] struggling to film quite a lot of their projects because of COVID so they're bringing all their projects over here," Ella Capobianco, 21, told the Mercury.
"It's like our time to shine and get our name out there."
To keep going is the hardest part, to keep pushing yourself for the fact you are the person that will make your dreams come true.
- Samuel Litvensky
Naoise Champion, 21, agreed and believed acting roles were becoming "more accessible" for Australian performers due to "globalisation because of COVID-19 which noone expected".
"There's not an expectation that we have to go to America anymore, I think the industry is moving here which also means probably more competition," she said.
"You need to be your own brand ambassador."
Ms Champion said the pandemic threw many curve balls at their final year of university - such as online learning in a very practical course - but that just may have helped her for what was to come.
"I feel as though this industry is ever changing so agility and being able to go with the flow and adapt who you are and what you have to offer is pivotal, so it was a really good lesson," she said.
Like many in the group, Ms Capobianco and Ms Champion were getting a "show reel" together (a collection of scenes on camera) and finding an agent to represent them - their next priorities in a "daunting" new world ahead.
Samuel Litvensky, 21, said while there may be the perception of more opportunity for performers, casting agents were not "just going to hand it to us".
"It's really up to you to make your career viable and successful," he said.
"It's very easy to get down and out about the industry and about this being a viable career ... to keep going is the hardest part, to keep pushing yourself for the fact you are the person that will make your dreams come true."
Fellow graduate Billee Paige Harris decided her calling was for the stage but rather than attend audition after audition she created her own theatrical company, Paige 9 Productions, to foster her own dreams and those of her classmates.
"I wanted to be able to create a place where different people can create different types of art and really foster the skills sets that they've spent three years and God knows how much money making," Ms Harris said.
"I love creating theatre and love creating art so it was easy to have my own company to do so rather than having to beg other companies to employ me or send in resumes here there and everywhere to be rejected.
"It gives me control ... and allows me to do what I want to do on my terms."
The group are currently rehearsing for the company's debut production, 10 Days and Counting, which premiers at The Phoenix Theatre in Coniston on Friday.
It's written by Ms Harris and follows the lives of four strangers whose fates intertwine when they are each told they will only have 10 days to live.
Some may say a more tangible career choice like a law would have beem better, something Ms Champion was actually accepted to, but she doesn't agree.
"It could have been a really easy decision because it's a safer choice, but the idea of doing it for the rest of my life did not excite me," she said.
"It's not even about becoming this big, Hollywood-famous actor, even if that never happens there's nothing else I'd rather spend everyday doing. Nothing excites me like acting does."
'10 Days and Counting' is at The Phoenix Theatre in Coniston from April 23 to May 1. www.facebook.com/page9productions