Vision Australia’s Telelink summer series webinars are back in 2024!
Join us for three special enteraining and informative webinars throughout January! Don’t miss out, secure your spot today!
Each webinar will last for one hour and all are held via Zoom.
2024 summer series webinars!
Hollywood producer and consultant Joe Strechay
When:
January 29, 2pm AEDT
How to join:
Via Zoom. Register today!
Meet Joe Strechay, today’s leading blindness consultant for some of the largest showtime production companies, like Apple and Netflix, in the entertainment industry worldwide.
Legally blind from the age of 19 (diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in his late teens), Joe is renowned for his enthusiastic advocacy and expertise for supporting people with disabilities seeking ‘inclusion & accessibility’ in the showbusiness employment sector, but overall is vastly versatile and provides many services, in the broad realm of Television and Film.
Joe’s resume of extraordinary achievements over his lifetime career pathways can read ‘endless’. From managing a government bureau, departments in film production, a web program, granted programs and services, to instructing blindness services in New Jersey, Florida and around the United States.
Joe did his master’s degree undergraduate work at East Carolina University in Public Relations and Media, and his graduate work at Florida State University in the Visual Disabilities Program: Teaching children who are blind or low vision - Orientation and Mobility, with a specialty in Transition from School to Work.
Joe brings to everyone, no matter who you are, his inspirational personal experiences; as a person who is blind and his understandings from the thousands of people who are blind, low vision, or with other disabilities that he has instructed into his work in film and television. You can read more about Joe via his website or this article.
Interested in what the Telelink program has to offer? Find out more today!
Best-selling author Steffanie Holmes (Steff Green)
When:
Monday, January 22, 2pm AEDT
How to join:
Via Zoom! Register now!
Steffanie Holmes is a USA Today bestselling author of dark, gothic, and sinful romance books. Her books feature clever, witty heroines, secret societies, creepy old mansions, and alpha heroes who always get what they want.
Steff is also the creator of Rage Against the Manuscript, an online community for writers to learn about self-publishing, finding their readers, and building a badass author brand. Steff's passionate about helping authors from all walks of life find their voice and tell their story.
In Steff’s own words … “As I've been legally blind since birth, I've dealt with rejection my whole life. Kids bullying me because I was different. Lecturers and employers locking me out of opportunities because they didn't want to "deal" with my disability.
I've been where you are now – thinking about self-publishing but overwhelmed by the options and in need of someone to guide the way. So, I kept writing and publishing and dreaming and doing. Now, I'm a USA Today bestselling author with a multi six-figure income. I write tales of the paranormal, dark, gothic, and fantastical for thousands of readers across the world who never tell me I can't write because of my eyes. I'm obsessed with helping other writers to find their voice, smash through the gatekeepers, and discover the badassitry of putting their work directly into the hands of readers.”
Steffanie received the 2017 Attitude Award for Artistic Achievement and was a finalist for a 2018 Women of Influence award. Her books are enjoyed by thousands of readers all over the world.
You can read more about Steff from her website.
Blind voiceover artist Alistair Lee
When:
Monday, January 15, 2pm AEDT
The webinar was a success and the recorded session available to watch soon.
Alistair Lee is Australia's only blind professional Voiceover Artist. Born at 27 weeks gestation and weighing just under a pound, he defied the odds just by surviving - albeit without his sight and with cerebral palsy. 43 years later he's a multi-instrumentalist with a degree in music, hobbyist car mechanic (regularly featured in Wheels Magazine), worked as an IT director, and represented the country in athletics and swimming. In addition to his amazing achievements, he’s also an avid cook with a love of camping, but overall says “becoming a dad was his greatest achievement”.
From accents and characters; to the quintessential man-on-the-street and everything in between – he does it all. He can speak the language of musos, rev heads, jocks, and office workers – because he’s been there and done it all. Alistair can seamlessly change his voice to match the surrounds of whatever creative scenario he finds himself in. He can quite literally take you on a global tour of accents and dialects, from tripping through the English countryside with all its regional nuances, boarding the Eurostar to Paris as a French citizen, interrogating a prisoner as a KGB colonel, or telling you to behave in South Africa. If American is more your sound, no problem! Take your pick from the Deep South – so deep you’ll swear you can hear them sounds of banjos being plucked in the background, you can head North if you prefer, or East or West Coast. It really doesn’t matter, let Alistair know and he’ll take you there. Give Al` your creative vision and he’ll bring it to life before your very ears.
Home-based in the beautiful harbourside city of Sydney Australia, Alistair can also independently deliver his talents to the world via Source Connect from his custom-built professional broadcast-quality home studio.
So, tune in for this exciting webinar chat with Al’ Lee.
For a preview listen to some of Alistair’s voice talent via his website.