Hi, I'm Keshia Pettit, executive producer of this podcast, and this is Not an Overnight
Success brought to you by Shure and Partners Financial Services.
In this podcast, our hosts Gus Wallins sit down with some very successful people from
the world of business, entertainment and sport, and they chat about their life's journey and
what got them to the position that they're in today.
In today's episode, we are chatting with Brian Walsh.
Brian is the behind the scenes man of some of the most successful superstars in Australia.
Now, he's really humble about it, but he has played a major role in the success of Australian
TV shows like Neighbours and the career launches of people like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman
and Kylie Minogue.
Plus, he was also responsible for getting Tina Turner to be the voice of the rugby league.
Brian has always had a way of identifying talent and nurturing their careers that is
He is passionate, he has a true love of entertaining people and bringing joy to their life.
He's always loved being the one who makes things happen, but he's never wanted the spotlight
This chat is a really refreshing take on what it takes to be successful in the entertainment
Thanks for all of these podcasts.
Shoreham Partners have generously donated $10,000 to the charity of choice of each of our guests.
We discuss who that money goes to in this chat.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoreham Partners Financial Services with production
assistance from Kelly Stubbs and Brittany Hughes.
Let's get into our chat with Brian Walsh.
G'day Gus, great to see you.
Great to see you too, mate.
What were you like as a kid?
What was I like as a kid?
Well, you probably have to ask my three sisters what I was like as a kid.
I think as a kid I was starting to sort of frame how I would be as an adult.
I had a great passion for entertaining others from a very young age and that was literally
in the backyard, in the shed down the backyard, putting on shows for my family and for my
sisters and for the neighbours.
So I think as a kid I was curious and I think I had an entertainment gene in me that came
from somewhere but mum and dad could never work out where it came from.
So when you put these shows on were they sort of singing and dancing?
Was it you speaking?
What sort of stuff was it?
It was a bit of everything really.
It was Christmas shows for all the kids in the neighbourhood.
My younger sister was, she was a lot more out front than I was so I was behind the scenes.
I always saw myself as the producer of other talent, not myself.
I think I've got a good head for radio.
No, that's not true but you have made it your career, haven't you?
Being able to pick up on people, pick up their skills, pick up their nature and being able
to elevate them to be entertainers.
I think I've been fortunate to have come across some exceptionally talented people through
my life but I think if you were to ask me what drives me it would be entertaining others
and that's where I get the greatest pleasure from whether it was when I was a young kid
at home down the shed, whether I was at school organising film nights for fundraising, whether
it was at university when I was showing surf movies down the south coast.
It was that notion of putting on a show that other people enjoyed.
That to me is the greatest reward, you know, to spend your working hours making other people's
leisure time more enjoyable.
Yeah, so let's say, let's pick one of those nights, you're doing the surf movies at uni,
are you at the back of the room with a big smile on your face because you see that the
room is full and the people are looking up and being entertained, is that feeling of
pride and happiness and success for you?
Yeah, that's the bow on the box at the end of the night.
The beginning of the night is stressing out that there's going to be enough people to
fill the hall or in some of the venues where I showed surf movies they were open air theatres
so you just pray that it didn't rain or if it did you just grab the money box and took
But yeah, no, it was that notion of seeing smiling faces that I got the greatest pleasure
Were you good at school?
Were you academic?
I was good at school.
I had a great passion for history and geography.
You know, I think I was just the average student.
I applied myself through study.
That was very much encouraged by my mum and dad and it was expected I'd go to university.
So you know, just like a lot of other young blokes who are growing up in Australia, parents
who wanted to see their kids do well and I was the only boy so I think there's a heightened
Back in those days, you know, mum and dad hoped I'd go into law or I'd go into a school
teacher or do something noble so the notion of entertainment freaked them out a little.
Were they thinking entertainment's not a proper job?
They said it's not a proper job.
It's full of insecurity.
You've got to have a job for life.
All of those qualities that I'm sure you were also encouraged to look to, right?
And it takes a certain mum and dad to sort of let you go away from those dreams because
you know that from a young age they look at you and go well that's what my son will be
or what my daughter will be.
Did it take them a while to come around or did you feel like you had their support once
you sort of made your decision to go not law and entertainment?
No, it took them a while.
I was running a business from the lounge room at home which didn't go down well.
So I was always wanting to be entrepreneurial and I don't think mum and dad kind of processed
what that meant until I'd achieved a certain amount of success in business life.
But no, it wasn't a matter of okay well you've got a leaning towards entertainment, go for
It wasn't that at all.
It was a bit of a struggle to get them there and I think I was to a certain degree a bit
I kind of pushed the envelope a bit.
For you to have the confidence to go for that against your mum and dad at the end of the
day, what was that drive that made you go you know what this is for me?
I think it was the encouragement of others actually.
So I sought out mentors and I sought out people in the industry.
I wanted to convince myself first of all and then convince my folks that it was the right
industry to pursue.
And so those mentors have been an integral part of my life and absolutely essential to
And we used to go on holidays up Gold Coast and one of the family friends ran a Queensland
company Birch Carol and Coil who were a big cinema chain and so I got him to encourage
my dad that the entertainment industry was okay and he was a success.
And then of course I think probably one of the greatest mentors that I was blessed to
have in my life was John Brennan who came into my life when I was still at school.
So he really encouraged me for a career in radio.
So I knew that I was going to move into entertainment whether it was going to be radio or film or
television or cinema or film production that was undecided but I just knew I wanted to
be in entertainment.
So John Brennan if he was here now we'd be interviewing him, he's such a legend isn't
he and I came across him through a family friend and I remember him just always saying
just keep going, you know one day you'll be able to get there and I always remembered
that and he was always very kind to my mum and you know just an absolute pioneer I suppose
of entertainment and radio in particular in Australia.
Oh absolutely I think probably the greatest influence in broadcasting in this country.
The only person I know who has mastered so many different formats, I mean he brought
to Australia the Top 40, he brought to Australia the Good Guys which you're too young to know
who they were but the Good Guys were broadcasters on Radio 2SM and it was the likes of Mike
Walsh and Bob Rogers and all these great names that Brenno was part, an instrumental part
And yeah Top 40, Top 40 Radio Good Guys introduced Talkback, then he did sports when he was at
UE and then of course he was the person who identified Alan Jones and is responsible for
I mean quite an iconic figure in the industry and for me a mentor throughout my life and
we lost him and it really was the end of an era.
The one thing that Brenno instilled in me and the one thing that stood out amongst all
his qualities I think was his moral compass and that demonstrated to me that you could
work in this cutthroat industry but still have integrity, authenticity and be fair and
honest and they were all the qualities that defined John Brennan.
How did you come across him?
You said it was before, it was still at school when you came across him.
So one of my mates at school, his mother's sister was married to Kevin Humphreys who
was the head of the Rugby League and had a big association with the Balmain Tigers and
Brenno was a number one Tigers supporter so he knew Kevin Humphreys.
So my schoolmate said to his mum, Brian Walsh wants to get into radio, do you think the
family would be able to organise an introduction to John Brennan?
So it came about through the, Paul Sheehan was his name, through the Sheehan family and
the Humphreys family and they got me the introduction to Brenno and I went into 2SM which was in
Clarence Street, Sydney at the time and I was still in high school and I said to John
Brennan I wanted to get into radio and he took me under his wing, told me, encouraged
me to complete my high school certificate, go to university and then come back and see
So I did and I went to university, got the degree and then I turned up and I said well
Yeah, that's how Brenno got me started.
So when you were doing a degree at uni you knew that you were never going to use that
degree for that reason as such, it was more about ticking a box and a bit of a rite of
Well you know dad insisted I do business studies so I did that for 12 months and then they
introduced the communications degree at what is now known as the University of Technology
and so I switched degrees and I said to dad look this is tailor made for me, you know
I can major in media and media studies and sociology and I'll still come out with a degree
So he couldn't say no so I moved over to the communications degree.
My first job in the semester break was working at the Whitewings flour factory in Campsie
catching a flower in these bags that would go along on a conveyor belt and I thought
god this is not for me and I phoned a couple of the guys who used to distribute surf movies
and I used to hire movies from them when I was at school for fundraising as I mentioned
and I said look if there's any work going during the semester breaks showing movies
keep me in mind and as it happened there was a certain run that became available which
was the south coast and so I started and I showed movies from the southern suburbs of
Sydney down to the Victorian border and all those towns along the coast all the way and
with a couple of girls from uni who I went to uni with we you know packed a combi van
with two 16mm bell and how projectors a glue bucket brush a loud speaker system and we
showed movies in all the major holiday resorts down the south coast and I think that's where
I learnt a lot of my skills it wasn't so much the university degree although that really
helped shaped my writing and my academic skills for sure but when you hire out an empty hall
and you've got to stack the chairs put up the screen then you've got to print the little
pamphlets that you put under windscreen wipers at the beach where everyone's parked and then
drive up and down the main street with a loud hala promoting the movie that's where you
learn how to be a showman yeah I think and then of course the great pleasure is when
you flicker that projector onto the screen and everyone's paid their admission and you
know you make a tidy profit so I learnt most things through doing that and I did that for
three years and I would do it right throughout the year down that south coast and then every
summer I would drive in that same van throughout Victoria South Australia across to WA and show
surf movies all the way from Albany in the south up to Esperance in the north so I did that for
three four years and that paid your sort of well easier than catching flour and paid your
way through uni and just your life yeah and also I think then confirmed to me that's what I wanted
to do yeah I'll show surf movies for the rest of my life but be a showman yeah and you certainly
have created and produced and been able to look at talent and turn them into showmen over your
life at what stage do you go from you know talking to Brenno and doing your surf movies to actually
getting involved in being a manager being someone who's now running Foxtel like what
was that process like for you well I don't run Foxtel but I certainly thought you do come on
you flatter me no there's there's a very skilled CEO who has that title I like to think that I've
played a significant role in the creative output at Foxtel I've been with the organization for
26 years in a in a senior management role and I'm very grateful for that how I decided to get
into talent I guess goes back to when I worked in radio really so when I finished the university
degree and went and saw Brenno I was fortunate to land a role at 2SM which was then the number one
radio station in Sydney I was promotions and publicity manager so all the skills I learned
at uni for writing came into play doing publicity radio is a great training ground for promotions
as you know you get amongst your audience when you're out doing those field promotions and I
certainly learned a lot there but working with those broadcasters and we're talking Mike Gibson
Ian McCrae and the lineup of DJs I mean that's where I first got involved in managing talent
for the radio station and then when I moved from 2SM to Channel 10 because I have a great love of
sports and I was asked to move over to 10 to do the LA Olympics in 84 I then got immersed in
television and that's where I really got to understand how important it is to identify talent
and I really got a lot of enjoyment out of nurturing talent and I got that a lot in television at 10
I had a fantastic decade at the 10 network through the 80s and you know I guess most people would
look at my tenure there and identify that the success of Neighbours and Kennedy Miller miniseries
has been the standouts I suppose of all the work that I did. Yeah Neighbours is you know much loved
all around the world and you were there right at the start of it I mean at what stage do you look
back on that with just big you know an appreciation I suppose of that opportunity? Yeah well it was a
challenge because the show had actually started on the seven network it wasn't working in Sydney
it was popular in Melbourne not in Sydney and so seven were going to drop it and 10 saw the
opportunity and commissioned the program and then gave me the challenge to make it work
and I identified that the people or the talent who would sell that show were the young kids
on the show who were then largely unknown so you know we're talking Guy Pearce, Jason Donovan,
Kylie Minogue, Peter O'Brien, Annie Jones and the show launched and again it was successful in
Melbourne not in Sydney so I flew them to Sydney every weekend for gosh four months five months
and put them out at shopping towns around Sydney to do personal appearances and I had them at the
opening of an envelope of an envelope Gus they worked hard those kids and there was such excitement
for that show that there were hundreds of kids who would turn up to see them and mob them
and I remember I shot some of that footage at the time on a small camera and I sent it to
the then editor of the Sydney Daily Mirror and I said look his name was Roy Miller I said Roy or
Rocky as we called him I said you know the ratings don't show it but this show Neighbours is a huge
success look at this footage that we've captured at Westfield Parramatta and he looked at the
footage and he rang me the next day he said I went home and spoke to my daughter and I said
do you know about this show Neighbours and she said yeah dad all the kids at school are talking
about it so he phoned me the next day and said I'll give you a front page if you can give me a good
angle on the show and so that's what really kicked it off and then you know everybody knows the
success story that Kylie and Jason are responsible for I mean they were just phenomenal
success stories attached to that show and I really looked after them for those years and
that's when I knew that I'd found my calling I think. And I know you've done that with some
other big stars as well which we'll get onto in a moment what's it like because your face just lit
up when you started talking about remembering those moments where you put together with your
relationships an opportunity for that show to go well in Sydney but the true thing about you
while she is your heart around those stars who are now stars now and how much you I don't know
give them confidence and work with them and work hard with them to give them that opportunity
that to me is your greatest asset is that sort of personable stuff what do you think?
I like to think that I am someone who is authentic and honest and I feel that when you're
with talent you have to have that kind of relationship where they entrust you with
their careers and to make the right decisions and to give them the right advice and I've always
seen myself as being someone very much in the background but age is an interesting thing because
in the entertainment industry some people argue for youth I would argue that I think experience
counts for so much and I think because I had a lot of experience with media I knew what to look
out for and therefore to help others recognise what they need to look out for I think is important
and that's where I saw my contribution to careers was just guiding them and encouraging them what
to look out for at the end of the day the decision is theirs I don't I think a good manager or a good
agent empowers the artist to make the right decision but you've got to give the artist all
the factors that go towards making an informed decision so channel 10 like you said a decade
you loved it loved it I loved television but that time at 10 was a successful era for them and I
talk about Kennedy Miller so Kennedy Miller is a company that's now of course responsible for
Mad Max movies George Miller's such an accomplished director you know Happy Feet I mean he's done so
many great things but back in the 80s he was responsible Kennedy Miller were responsible
for some outstanding miniseries like Vietnam Dirtwater Dynasty most famously I guess the
Bangkok Hilton which was Nicole's big television series and so yes as well as doing Neighbours
working on those Kennedy Miller miniseries was quite something and sports that's where I really
continued my passion for sports so working on you know two Olympics in LA and Seoul in 84 and 88 and
then rugby league was front and centre the number one sport for the 10 network during that time and
that's where I really got introduced to rugby league and as it played out and as I was getting
towards the next career move I knew that rugby league was going to be a big part of what I did
next and it was just quickly interrupting the episode to say a very big thank you to the sponsor
of this podcast and that is sure and partners financial services sure and partners are an
Australian investment and wealth management firm who manage over 28 billion dollars of assets under
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partners.com.au that's s-h-a-w for sure sure and partners financial services your partners in
building and preserving wealth and let's get back into the episode can we talk about that now because
Tina Turner yeah so the boss of the league John Quayle said to me look if ever you decide to
leave 10 I've become good friends with quietly and we used to go out for dinners and he said if ever
you decide to set up your own shop rugby league would love to work with you and so I did set up
my own shop I created a business called the promotions department the client that I signed
on first was the New South Wales rugby league at the time so we're talking 1989 the game wasn't in
great shape there was a lot of a lot of issues with on field thuggery I guess if you will
and most importantly a lot of parents weren't letting their kids play junior rugby league and
that was a concern for the likes of John Quayle and Ken Arthurson and so my job I mean on the
field activity John Quayle was focused on developing the judiciary which was introduced at that time
and off field my job was to improve the image of the game and improving the image of the game meant
selecting as it was then half a dozen first grade players who we felt would project a positive
image about rugby league and that was my job to identify who those players were and market them
and take them under my wing and I did so Wayne Pierce, Andrew Eddinghausen, Bradley Clyde,
Laurie Daly all became part of the machine that promoted league and the advertising agency that
was attached to the rugby league Hertz Walpole had come up with a brilliant campaign idea
involving a song called what you get is what you see that was the first commercial and they
went and shot it in the UK and they signed Tina Turner to that campaign halfway through that year
Roger Davies who's Tina's manager made contact and said I think I've got a song from her next album
which is perfect for rugby league I'll send it over so Roger sent a copy of Simply the Best
to me and to John Quayle and to the agency how did you receive it back in the day was it like
a tape in the post it was a tape it was a tape and you sort of checked it in the tape recorder
and they say listen hear everyone and press play yeah it was literally that it was a cassette
but as soon as we all heard it we just knew that we found the song for the game and that then
was the catalyst for I think the most impactful sports campaign in Australia for some time and
even when I look back at the commercials now I think they still hold up and we shot a number
of commercials with Tina both here in Australia and then over in in Europe and John Quayle,
Jimmy Barnes and I and Paul Mackay from the ad agency went over to Amsterdam where we shot
the commercial we actually recreated the Sydney football stadium or parts of it
in an aircraft hangar outside of Amsterdam and Tina drove down from Cologne where she lived
and we shot two days of commercials and I've still kept a lot of the footage and
I did an interview with Tina at the time which I've still got and I look back with great fondness
and if someone said to me well she that's 30 years ago I just think no it feels like last year
yeah but um you know what was she like she was fantastic and she loved the she loved the
physicality of rugby league and she identified with it she got on great with all the players
who were involved in the commercial she's an exceptional performer and she gave it her all
and then she ended up coming to Sydney and performed at the grand final and that was
tying the bow on the box that moment I think for that campaign and yeah so that time for me was
incredibly rewarding and I went on to manage Wayne Pierce and ET throughout the rest of their
football careers and they are lifelong friends and two legends absolute legends and two absolute
champion players on and off the field yeah where were you when Tina was performing at the grand
final at the Sydney football stadium where were you were you sat were you yeah yeah I was sat
because that was a that was a huge major production yeah um one of the jobs that we had my company had
was producing all the entertainment for the rugby league grand finals and state of origins
and so there were many many moments gusts that I had on the sideline and some grand finals where
I had some very what I look back on now to be very funny moments the Tina Turner performance was
you know that was top-notch that was you don't get any better than that but in previous grand
finals when you know the parachute team would land anywhere but where they were supposed to land
or famously we had the cast of the musical 42nd street came out to perform but they brought the
wrong music so oh dear that wasn't a great moment but it's uh it certainly shapes you
that's for sure when it's live yeah I still get blamed for the optus tv debacle when the
television got stuck halfway across suspended on a wire going from one side of the football
stadium to the other and it got stuck halfway through and I wasn't responsible for it because
I was associated with foxtel so they brought in another production company to do it
but when that moment happened I was the one who got told to go up the players entrance and and
let the bulldogs know they weren't to run out for the second half that wasn't it wasn't a great
career moment either you've had so many highs and lows I assume I mean if you stick in a business
long enough it's yeah highs and lows but I loved I love doing those grand finals I mean they're
just the buzz of sitting on the ground with you know we're packed stadium and look we're all there
for the footy right we're not there for the show but the show is part of the footy and grand final
day I mean there was always journos who'd have a swing you know what are they what debacle are
they going to do this year yeah all that kind of stuff but yeah they were great I mean you know
I love it comes back to what I was saying before I just love putting on shows and for me doing the
rugby league grand final was such a great honor I mean I think for me with all of those live shows
the football the moment of greatest apprehension excitement nervous energy is when the national
anthem is about to be performed because I'm always freaking out that that the music cue
will be on time that the microphones working that the artist hasn't forgotten the lines
because there's no more it's like a religious moment when they sing the national anthem right
and there have been times when it hasn't gone so well so yes I feel at those moments it's when
the energy is incredible really is and you've got to find ways to come down on that I remember when
I started doing those tours those music tours I would have huge withdrawals when an artist had
finished a tour because you know you're on the road the whole time going and you're working with
some incredible superstars and they get on a plane leave the country and you think oh I've
got to go back now and worry about my next client who might be you know Spanish olive oil or something
and it's not going to be quite that's not going to quite match Mariah Carey but yeah you just look
at it and go god that's another another great moment I can chalk up yep you did it so well
while she do you have a team you support canola sharks because of et yeah so did junior get upset
you weren't about main tiger uh no he didn't actually all the camber boys are blowing up that
you're not a raider well I never disclosed my team of choice I was neutral in those days but
okay if I if I was asked I mean I grew up in the St George area so my dad was a you know he was an
absolute St George supporter and I think maybe part of being rebellious when I was growing up
I decided to go with the sharks that was before et came into my life actually yeah but then he
came in your life and then they win it you know in 2016 so what where were you that night I was
out there watching them win and uh that was awesome it was such an awesome win that night and down to
the wire right down the wire and I yeah and I was so happy for et he I'd even though he wasn't an
active player then the pride that he showed I'd you know meant the world he had that moment didn't
he et where he was able to hand over the the premiership trophy to gallon it was yeah that
was something beautiful yeah that was something of course there was the win they had in super league
but this was the win that mattered absolutely this is the real deal when all the all the teams were
available in terms of success stories is there anyone bigger than jacko anyone bigger than
Hugh Jackman in terms of you having that initial part in in giving him his break but also just
always being there for him and being a you know a mentor for him there's no one who comes close to
Hugh Jackman he is everything you see everything you hear about Hugh Jackman is true he's the real
deal you know when I read that report a couple of weeks ago the survey that said he was the most
popular celebrity in Australia none of that surprised me he is without peer the most authentic
the most decent person who I think has ever stood behind a microphone and performed
appeared on television appeared on stage he's just an extraordinary as you know you're his
best mate he's an exceptional person and value that friendship so much what did you see in him
while she when you first gave him that cracker I think it was the fashion show I think rove and
he were doing it together two pretty successful guys yeah obviously jacko has gone on to mega
stardom but what was it about Hugh and rove in terms of that timing for you to go I'm going to
back those guys well I was always looking for talent I mean that's part of my work with foxtel
was nurturing and developing talent and I went and saw the stage musical beauty and the beast
and Hugh was playing Gaston that production and I thought who's that bloke I don't know who he is
but gosh he can sing and gosh he can perform my first question is why aren't these people on
television they're on stage even to this day there is so it frustrates the hell out of me
that I go to see a lot of theater there are so many exceptional performers on stage who never
get a look in on television and the industry is very divided that way and some casting agents
tend to look at actors who just do film and television when they're casting a show they
don't kind of look out at who's also treading the boards which frustrates me but I went and saw
beauty and the beast saw this young fella Hugh Jackman I thought he's an incredible talent so
I'm going to find out who his agent is so the next day I did and I grabbed my colleague who
was the head of production I said we're going to go and meet this woman Penny Williams she manages
Hugh Jackman so we went to her office in Glebe I'll never forget it walked up these creaky stairs
in the office was a shoe box and she had all these photos around the wall of all these performers
she was puffing away on a cigarette she said you want to see me about Hugh Jackman why
and I said has he ever done television she said well he's a performer and I said look I'd like to
meet him I think we can find something for him on television so that's how that came about and we
were doing a magazine show called fashion with Melissa Hoyer and we were looking for a male
co-host and so I put him into into that show you know was he any good yeah he was he was terrific
he was great I mean he's you know he was young and television was a new medium but I said to him at
the time look it's on pay tv so not many people are going to see it so you can stuff up and it'll
be okay he didn't stuff up but he you know that warm engaging personality that he has came across
and you know the camera doesn't lie you know we went on to do
specials when he moved to the UK and Deb moved to the UK I got him to do tv specials and it was
Hugh Jackman's West End I think was one of them and he went and interviewed some of the successful
Australians who were playing in Phantom of the Opera and some of those musicals you know little
did we know that a few years later he'd be one of those people yeah but yeah that's where the
friendship really started to bed in and I'm proud that I can still call him friend absolutely yeah
no he loves you mate he absolutely loves you and you know always very very fond of us talking about
you and giving him his first start in terms of your life as you get older now what are you doing
at Foxtel and where do you see sort of pay tv and how that all works now with all these different
streaming services and stuff because it's been a difficult time for the industry yeah it has it's
been a challenging time a challenging time for Foxtel but I'm thrilled that they've turned the
corner so you know the business recognised that the world was moving to streaming and
if you can't beat them join them so the business launched very successful streaming services the
first being KO which has now got over a million paying subscribers then in entertainment they
launched Binge which is hugely successful and most recently a new streaming service called Flash
so combined Foxtel's now bigger than it's ever been it's reaching 50 percent of the population
and it's got a very healthy business moving forward so I was there from the very beginning
when we christened the name Foxtel and have been very fortunate to have been part of the
of the business for all of this time and I am now moving to a different position
in the sense that I'm still responsible for the creative output and the commissioning of all of
our scripted dramas and comedies and local productions but I've always wanted before I
I never use the word retire but I always wanted to get back into talent management at some point and
I've shared that ambition with the management at Foxtel and with the shareholders and the directors
and they've always known that that's what I I still want to do and they've been terrific in
allowing me to change up my my contractor arrangement so that I can continue to look
after the output but also have time to go and set up a talent management business which is
what I'm in the process of doing. Great so that's back to where you started really. Back to where I
started yeah I want to do it because I think that you know one of the things as you get on in life
you realize the importance of giving back and I do want to give back and my way of giving back is to
identify and nurture careers and I guess you could say that I do that at Foxtel I do but I want to
do it more organically from the ground up so I want to go to the graduation classes of
NIDA and WAPA and VCA and I want to I want to find the next Hugh Jackman the next Nicole Kidman
and and help those careers that's just something that I have a burning ambition to do.
I remember talking to you a few years ago and it was a tough time a challenging time for the
industry and you were quite upset you know because you were having to make big decisions
with people that you had brought into the business 15 20 years earlier I remember you
tearing up I was tearing up and I remember sending Jacko a note saying hey just reach out
to Walshy he needs a little bit of love at the moment it shows how much you're passionate for
and I'm tearing up thinking about that moment it shows that you're in it for the right reasons I
reckon you know and that's why you're good at what you're doing and this tele management stuff will
be give you a new lease of life. That was a really tough time my dad who I loved and very much was
made redundant and he was close to 60 and I remember the impact it had on us as a family
because back in those days when you were made redundant it was a little bit of shame attached
to it maybe shame's not the right word but it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't healthy at that stage
of life and I know it hurt my dad very much. It sort of felt like the end. Yeah it really impacted
on me so when I was in the position where I had to make others redundant like I always remembered
what that time was like when I was a kid at home and the impact it had on my dad and the impact of
what I was about to say to my colleagues many of whom had worked for me 15 years 20 years I mean
it's really tough receiving the news it's also really challenging to give it and I had to do
that with my deputy and a lot of my senior managers and you know I know it goes with the
territory that's that's what you're expected to do and none of it was personal it was all
commercially driven and I get that but it hurt. Sure did. A day in the life of Brian Walsh are
you a get up early guy are you a exercise guy? I get up early when I have to get up early but
yeah look I get up I devour emails because it's important that I'm up to speed with what's going
on in the rest of the world so while Australia's asleep the northern hemisphere is on the go so
it's important that I wake up read all the trade mags read all the emails take the dog for a quick
walk start my day and the day I love the variety of my life so there's a lot of different things
that happen during any given day I could be on set I could be in the office I could be
having coffee with an agent so every day is different and I love that variety
exercise is an important part of my life I don't think you can have the kind of lifestyle that I
have without exercise so I've had a personal trainer who's a great mate I work out with him
at least a couple of times a week but also I do a lot of walking I love walking it's a good think
time too yeah so I just get frustrated that the dog wants to keep smelling poles all the way on
the walk I like to keep a bit of pace up the dog's the boss the dog's the boss yeah look I've got a
little cottage up the central coast so I get away there when I can on weekends so I have a good life
I have a blessed life I give thanks for my health and for my family and the company of great friends
you know it's a life that I don't take for granted I'm very blessed Gus. We're sitting at
the Shaw and Partners office today but if we're sitting at your office at Foxtel it's
awesome just to walk around your office and see you know the little notes from the Nicole Kismans
the Hugh Jackmans the Guy Pearsons you know because they remember where it started right and
they've sent you a note or the latest show playbill or whatever it might be it's a lovely museum of
Aussies that have done well and you've been a big part of that well that must make you feel really
proud yeah I do feel proud I don't I'm not one of those people who sort of stop and reflect I
just want to keep moving I don't look in the revision mirror a lot until I sit down and have
talks like this yeah but you're not comfy talking about yourself are you you'd prefer to be
producing something that would give someone else the center stage yeah yeah absolutely I always
like to be behind the artist you know those years when I started my own business we talked about
the rugby league but I also was fortunate to land a deal with Paul Dainty and I did all of
his concert tours so being on tour around Australia with Michael Jackson U2 Barbara
Streisand they were you know I look back on those moments and think wow how sitting in the Sydney
football stadium when Barbara was rehearsing the night before her show and I'm just there with
a girlfriend of mine and we just looked at each other and said how good is this
how did we get here how do we get here the two of us and Barbara's performing it's lovely that you
can make friendships out of your work situations and I don't regard workers work this is my life
and my love and my passion and I'm just incredibly grateful someone said to us in the in the podcast
series find something you love and see if there's a job in it and you'll never work a day in your
life and it seems like you've been able to do that yeah like I said at the beginning you know
to think that my working life is making other people's leisure time more enjoyable there's
no greater reward than that right absolutely let's finish off with the top five Walshy have you got
a favorite holiday destination I do Hawaii any particular island Maui beautiful just a couple
of weeks on the beach there yeah can you actually relax so Walshy oh I can actually Maui I love but
I also love Kauai Kauai because the walks you can do there up on the Nepali coastline are just
spectacular and you know Kauai is where they shoot so many great motion pictures because it's the
scenery there's quite incredible yeah I always thought I'd would love to retire in Hawaii I'm
not I don't think I will but that's my favorite holiday destination I mean I don't think you'll
ever retire no I won't retire but I love the ocean that's why I've got my place up the coast
I love snow skiing love snow skiing so but for me holiday destination would be Hawaii
and you can switch off I absolutely can switch off you can not take the phone to the beach you
can literally have a day of Mai ties and chilling without worrying about what's happening in the
world you can't have a mobile phone on a boogie board out the back perfect your favorite quote
or saying that perhaps you live your life by when you give you get back more than you can receive
yeah all about giving yeah favorite movie my favorite movie you can have a tv show too if
you like yeah my favorite movie it's a mad mad mad mad mad mad world it was just I think one of
the greatest comedies ever ever shot and I loved it and I saw it with my dad and that movie means
a lot to me I think favorite tv show gosh they're just way too many you know my life is tv of course
so there's no it'd be like saying your favorite child is you just can't do it can't do it okay
I watched uh last night I watched succession yeah so good I'm only just catching up Jaco told me
to get into it is that a is it a comedy because how can that guy with so much power have so many
idiots in his family that he allows to run around I just don't get it but the idiot cousin and you
got the tom the brother-in-law like you wouldn't give you wouldn't put him in charge of a raffle
and he's in charge of the whole bloody tv yeah we'd be surprised our business operates wouldn't
you confused by that are you a reader yes um and what have you got a favorite book that you know
that you read over and over or one that went oh that really you know that's a good one I read
a book I read over and over there's two great books one's called blockbuster and the other's
called hitman and no surprise to you blockbuster is about the film and tv industry and hitman is
about the music industry about the record industry I like those two books I read I can read those
over and over otherwise I spend my whole life reading scripts some really bad ones
and some great ones I mean you know when you're making and commissioning shows as I do it's all
in the writing it's all in the writing and all in the development and I think that's that's what
has distinguished foxtel dramas over the years we put a lot of time into development so that
means reading a lot of scripts and you just never know when you're going to get the next
blockbuster is it really obvious like when you do that like do you literally go oh I can't wait to
read the next like the next line the next yeah but you know I mean if you can't grab an audience in
the first five minutes the show's totaled right yeah you've got to get them got to get them early
so the same goes with reading a script if I flipped over I'm on to page 10 and hasn't grabbed me
I know it's going to be a long read right it's a six out of ten and probably won't get the
the money required yeah yeah it's a lot of power for you isn't it like a lot of dreams of people
they write something they send it in they're waiting for the response and it's you that could
make or break it that's a that's a lot oh there's I don't know if it's me that I mean there's a lot
of people involved in the process of okay making a film or tv show so you're not sitting up there
like the godfather I don't think so no I don't profess to be the person that has all the skills
to bring the show to the screen I'm just part of the conveyor belt really yeah good on you Walshy
and a favorite charity to give ten thousand dollars to because Sean partners are promoting
and looking after us here on the podcast so we just wanted to give all I guess that opportunity
to give ten thousand dollars and what would those people do with that money I think for me
mental health for me it's a real focus in terms of what I'd like to support and particularly
amongst young people and for me if I was and I do contribute that to me is where I would put
all my energy and drive into youth mental health we can certainly do that yeah good on you Walshy
you're a champion mate thank you so much for your time I could have talked to you for another hour
but um it's just so good to see you again and thank you for being so open honest and vulnerable
with us today you're a champion Gus Wallant and I've known you for many years and I've seen you
grow from a fella who was selling Toshiba laptops in the north of England to the role you play today
in encouraging us all to think more about others and to care more and you're a beautiful man with
a big heart and it's been right on thanks Walshy a big thank you to shaw and partners financial
services who have generously supported this podcast and also donated ten thousand dollars
to the charity of choice of each of our guests to thank them for their time shaw and partners
an australian investment and wealth management firm who manage over 28 billion dollars of assets
under advice with seven offices around australia shaw and partners act for and on behalf of
individuals institutions corporates and charities for more info you can check out
their website at shaw and partners.com.au that's shaw for sure shaw and partners
financial services your partners in building and preserving wealth