Who's Who - Equity Diversity Showcase

The performers, writers and directors who will participate in the 2021 Screen Diversity Showcase have been selected by a series of independent industry judging panels from an impressive field of more than 450 applicants. The showcase is a chance for emerging talent to be uncovered, mentored, nurtured and exposed to those who make decisions about what ends up on our screens. The selected creatives will collaborate on five distinct projects, all to be filmed as five-minute proofs of concept. The projects are Small World, If Wishes Were Horses, Bast, Radical Honesty and Biting Dust.

Evan Adam (Small World)
Evan is a young transgender illustrator and actor from Western Sydney. He has practised art since a young age and in high school developed a passion for entertainment, playing the antagonist in a fellow student’s short film for the HSC in 2016. Since graduating from high school, he has continued to pursue the arts at college — he spent two years at the National Art School − and through extracurricular means, such as cultivating an interest in special-effects makeup and vocal impressions.

“I want to see more dynamic queer inclusions. Many queer people have gone through very difficult times, but that is not a universal experience. Queer tragedy is not a blanket concept, and not every queer character needs a tragic backstory and a dramatic coming out. Every story is valid, and more of them need to be told.”

Evan is a member of Western Sydney’s PYT Ensemble and hopes to grow into a professional actor who can use his skills to bring laughter to people who need it. He has a fascination with anatomy, and enjoys experimenting with bodies in his art, exploring the role anatomical anomalies play in one’s identity, inspired by his experiences as a transgender man.

Tamara Lee Bailey (Small World)
A Sydney-based multidisciplinary artist, Tamara began her studies at The University of Sydney with a BA in Literature, and Theatre and Performance Studies, then went on to Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Acting. During her training, Tamara performed in a variety of roles, including Desdemona in Othello (directed by Budi Miller), Canary Mary in Fucking A (Candy Bowers), Varya in The Cherry Orchard (Helen Trenos) and Cindy in Fefu and Her Friends (Sapidah Kian).

In 2019, Tamara co-devised and performed a poetically driven, physical-theatre work, Assimilate, alongside three women of colour. They sold out all their shows and won the Young Creatives Award at the Melbourne Fringe. In February last year, Tamara appeared as Ash in The Great Australian Play (directed by Saro Lusty-Cavallari).

She is also a vocalist and composer for a Sydney-based, all-female ensemble, The House That Dan Built, for whom she has devised and performed in new works.

“I want to play roles that are about the Australian experience — roles that resonate, but also conflict, with what is normally seen as the ‘Australian identity. As a young Australian-Filipina, my experience is undeniably ‘Australian’ to me, but I don’t see myself as the norm on screen.”

Tamara has acted on stages in both Sydney and Melbourne, including ATYP, Riverside Theatres, Theatre Works, Genesian Theatre, Sport For Jove (Bella Vista Farm Park) and Victorian College of the Arts.

She has also played leading roles in short and feature films, including in her most recently released short, Idle (directed by Bridget Doyle, 2019).