Want to be a writer/director? Joy Hopwood says ‘start on short-term projects’

From becoming the first regular Asian presenter on Play School, to having a feature film broadcast on Channel 9, Joy Hopwood talks us through her life as a 'slashie'.

Hi Joy, can you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?

I’m a creative ‘slashie’, I’m a filmmaker/writer/director/producer/actor. I started acting as a teenager. My first paid job was in a play called Catch a Comet and my parents were worried that I’d take this profession seriously because ‘the entertainment industry is unstable’.

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Silvi Vann-Wall is a Melbourne-based journalist, podcaster, critic and filmmaker who loves frogs and improv comedy. They were the ScreenHub Film Content Lead from 2022 to 2025. Twitter (X): @SilviReports / Bluesky: @silvi.bsky.social‬ / Website: silvireports.com