Ian Darling, film maker, appeared on Sunday night at the Sydney Film Festival to present the new documentary that he has directed and produced, In the Company of Actors, which follows the Sydney Theatre Company’s preparations to tour the production of Hedda Gabler to New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Darling, also an investment services professional, described himself as new to the world of film and failed to mention to a packed State Theatre that he is now Chairman of the Sydney Theatre Company. He runs his own film company, Shark Island productions, and told the audience that it was a privilege to have been allowed into the rehearsal room to film the documentary. At the presentation Darling announced that a charitable organisation, The Caledonia Foundation, an arm of Caledonia Investments of which he is Executive Director, had generously decided to provide a grant to donate a DVD copy of his documentary to “every high school in Australia… to encourage a deeper understanding of theatre”.