Our Facilitators
NICK GELL
Founder & Facilitator
Nick is an actor, narrator, musician, drama educator and founder of The Place. A NIDA graduate, Nick has worked continuously as a performer since graduating, across television and stage -most recently as narrator on a natural history series for SBS and Sky Nature UK. He played Konstantin in The Seagull for Queensland Theatre Company and has performed with the Australian Shakespeare Company across Sydney, including many years in Wind of the Willows at the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and with Poetry in Action in schools. He is a musician and MC who regularly hosts events for Inner West Council and various creative arts organisations across the country.
Alongside his performance work, Nick has taught drama and related subjects for over a decade - at NIDA Open, SCECGS Redlands and Darlinghurst and Burwood Girls’ High School. He holds a current WWCC.
kala ellis
Founder & Facilitator
Kala is a screenwriter, director, producer and founder of The Place. With over twenty years experience across scripted comedy, drama, factual and children’s television, Kala has written for Australian and international broadcasters including the ABC, BBC, Paramount+ and Channel 4. She is the creator and AWGIE Award-winning writer of Spreadsheet (Channel 4) and has worked with a wide range of directors, producers and broadcasters across genres. She recently collaborated with director Nash Edgerton, writing a short film ‘Party Tricks’ which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2026.
She currently has a feature and two television series in active development, and works full-time as a Producer in Australian screen. She has guest tutored in Screenwriting at AFTRS.
OWEN LITTLE
Facilitator - Clowning
Owen is a theatre maker, performer and movement specialist. A graduate of the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris - one of the world's leading schools for physical theatre - and Actors Centre Australia, Owen has worked professionally for over fifteen years across theatre, clowning, physical comedy and Shakespeare. He has performed with Bell Shakespeare, the Australian Shakespeare Company and ATYP at venues including the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Arts Centre and the Enmore Theatre. His career has spanned classical theatre, contemporary performance, touring productions, and devised physical theatre.
His teaching style is inclusive, supportive, and highly engaging, encouraging students to build confidence, develop their imagination, and discover the joy of performance.He holds a current WWCC.
KIeran clancy-lowe
Facilitator - art
Kieran is an actor and visual artist originally from Perth. His art practice spans watercolour, oils and work across multiple mediums - process-driven, observational work that is as much about looking as it is about making. As a performer, Kieran has appeared in Home and Away and performed with the Australian Shakespeare Company in Wind in the Willows at the Sydney Botanical Gardens.
His sessions are built around curiosity and making - giving young people the space. to develop problem-solving, imagination and the satisfaction of starting and finishing something real. He holds a current WWCC.