Ciannan fulfils his ambition to appear on tv
"My advice mostly is just get out there and have a go!" - Ciannan
Taking his own advice is what has landed Ciannan a spot on Season 2 of ABC’s The Assembly.
Following the success of the first season, Season Two features a new and bigger cohort of 20 Autistic journalism students, including budding actor Ciannan, who is one of only two people chosen to represent WA.
As part of the latest group of broadcasting students to feature on the show, Ciannan was given the chance to interview some of Australia’s most famous celebrities and was selected to be the first person to interview Award-winning actor, Richard Roxburgh, in episode 1.
“Just get out there and have a go, that’s what I would do mostly,” said Ciannan when asked about providing advice to anyone wanting to follow in his footsteps.
Being cast on one of Australia’s most popular shows was no easy feat and involved a rigorous application process which lasted over two months. It was a goal of Ciannan’s to appear on the show and with the help of his support workers and coordinator, Ciannan submitted a written application and following this being successfully accepted, was then required to film and submit a video application.
Together, they filled out the required forms, filmed his video application and prepared for interviews by practising questions in advance. This meant Ciannan was able to prepare what he was going to say and think about any questions he wanted to ask The Assembly crew.
After attending several Zoom meetings with the show’s Casting Director, Series Producer, Executive Producer and the series psychologist, Ciannan received the good news he’d been hoping for – he was headed to New South Wales to film the series.
Speaking about his success, Cassandra, who supports Ciannan, said: “It’s an amazing opportunity for Ciannan. His goal is to be an actor so when this opportunity was shared with me, I knew it was something Ciannan would be excited about.
“He had a team around him to support him on this journey, including helping him through the tough application process, particularly supporting his preparation for all the Zoom meetings, as well as the video application.
“Knowing how important this is to Ciannan, it’s been nice for his support team to look back on his journey to get to this point and see what he has been able to achieve.”
As well as the experience of interviewing six of the country’s biggest stars, Ciannan and his peers were offered introduction to journalism training sessions – which took place online and at Macquarie University. During this time, the students learned about the fundamentals of journalism in classes taught by a Macquarie University lecturer, covering a range of topics including television, radio and interviewing.
To ensure a supportive learning environment for everyone, Autism specialist staff were on hand during the classes, and everyone on the production set had previously participated in training to better understand Autism and what to consider when working alongside people with Autism.
Following this time spent in classes, six Australian icons – Richard Roxburgh, Guy Sebastian, Ray Martin, Julia Morris, Steve Waugh and Maggie Beer – were interviewed by the student journalists, with filming taking up to six hours a day. Prior to every interview day, there was a mentoring session with Leigh Sales, who was on hand to assist with the preparation for the interview.
“She’s got over 30 years of experience, so she was able to help me out by explaining what was going to happen,” said Ciannan about being mentored by the experienced reporter.
Away from filming and enjoying tours of both the Triple J radio station and ABC studios, Ciannan – who is originally from Sydney – spent his downtime with his family and visiting familiar parts of the city, such as Circular Quay and China Town.
When reflecting on his lifetime accomplishment of appearing on national television, Ciannan said: “The best thing I learned was to ask a lot of questions and just getting up there and having a go. It also gives me a foot in the door to get into my acting career.”
Congratulations on this incredible achievement Ciannan and for fulfilling your ambition of getting to mingle with celebrities on television.
Check out Cianan’s tv debut and learn more about ABC’s The Assembly here.