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Matt Baker says he was given a 'false start' straight out of drama school, performing in an international production for two years with great pay. 

"When I came back to New Zealand I wasted a lot of time waiting for the next big thing."

Today the 32-year-old juggles his day job in admin at the University of Auckland with his creative work as a director and theatre critic, often pulling 15-hour plus days when a show is on.

In the latest NOT my day job series highlighting creatives in New Zealand with multiple jobs, Matt tells us how he decided to diversify to create more opportunities.

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Qualifications:

Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts majoring in Acting
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts with Merit specialising in Drama

Tell us about your day job (how long you’ve been doing it and why)?

I work as a Group Services Administrator for the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences’ School of Medicine and School of Medical Health.

It’s purely an administrative role and I’ve been doing it for five years now. Regular income is the only reason for this.

Tell us about your creative work when you're NOT doing your day job?

I trained as an actor, but work more predominantly as a freelance director and even more so as a theatre critic for Theatre Scenes.

How do you manage juggling both?

Poorly. When I’m directing a show I’m essentially pulling 15-hour days at a minimum. Sleep, diet, and exercise are the first things to go in those circumstances.

Tell us about your creative background.

I never made the conscious decision to become an actor, my life was simply always heading in that direction.

With the lack of opportunities and over-population of the industry, I decided to diversify.

Directing began via the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival. Critiquing was completely random and has proved an unexpected pleasure and success.

What has inspired you? Who or what keeps you going?

To quote Arthur Miller “…a fierce moral sensibility…”

Would you like your creative work to be full-time (why/why not)?

Without a doubt. I already spend all my “spare” time on my creative work, so I’d more than happily do it 24 hours a day if was able to earn a liveable income on it.

What would help you achieve this?

Funding so I can support myself while focusing on promoting and consequently building my own network of both audiences as a director and readers as a critic until that generates its own income.

If you had the chance to start your creative career or path again, what would you do differently?

I would be more proactive in developing and promoting my product in my earlier days.

I was given a 'false start' straight out of drama school performing as Ed the Hyena in The Lion King with an international production for two years and great pay. When I came back to New Zealand I wasted a lot of time waiting for the next big thing.

What advice would you give to someone pursuing a similar creative career or pathway?

Know your niche.

Tell us about your recent or upcoming creative projects.

I’m currently directing The Lesson, an absurdist play by French-Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco, at Basement Theatre, which opens Tuesday 27 October and plays for one week. After that it’s into pre-production meetings for Diplomacy, another French play, with Michael Hurst and Theatre of Love.

What’s your big idea for 2016?

The Lesson and Diplomacy are both steps in finding and securing an audience base. There’s no point on putting on theatre if no one comes to see it. If I plan to advance as a director, which I do, I need to develop an audience. I also have two large scale projects planned for 2017 and 2018.