A vocal, sophisticated fan base, working harmoniously with a major studio, in the name of old-fashioned story telling? Sound like science fiction? Not to English born actor cum filmmaker David Hewlett, star of indie hits like 'Cube' and TV series 'Stargate: Atlantis'. Venessa Paech spoke with Hewlett about harnessing the pop-culture brain for his own master plan.
31 Jan 2007 12:00
Venessa Paech
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Performing Arts
As a child in England, David Hewlett was a big fan of Doctor Who. A young man, he became a self-taught computer whiz, happy to nut away at his PC in Perl and play with dancing one’s and zero’s. These days he attends sci-fi conventions around the globe, attracting legions of fans who clamour for his autograph. In his rare down-time, he writes screenplays, less Perl.
You see, Hewlett has joined the pantheon of his childhood heroes, taking on the role of brilliant ‘and he knows it’ astrophysicist Rodney McKay, a cult favourite on Stargate: Atlantis. The show, a spin-off of America’s longest running sci-fi series Stargate: SG-1, is winding up a third season, with Hewlett a major drawcard for its surging popularity.
Venessa has worked as an actor, singer, producer, choreographer, director and writer in New York and Australia. She earned a BFA in Theatre from New York University (Tisch School of the Arts) and an MA in Creative Media from the University of Brighton (UK). She was head of Community for Lonely Planet for several years and is currently Lead Community Manager for Community Engine. She is a published social media scholar and regularly speaks and consults around online communities: clients include Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Live Performance Australia, Ad:tech, Eye For Travel, Media140, Australian TAFE Marketing Association, SitePoint, Social Media Club Melbourne, Print NZ and more. Venessa is the former Editor of Arts Hub Australia.
