Former Concordia student aims for the stars

YOUR STORY: Gemma Bird Matheson is following in the footsteps of Mindy Kaling and Tina Fey.

As a Melbourne-based actress, Gemma has branched out and is now studying an Advanced Diploma in Professional Screenwriting.

"I didn't want to wait for someone else to give me the opportunity to play a role," the actress said.

Gemma remembers when she first decided she wanted to pursue acting.

"I was always the kid who wanted to read out loud in class or be picked to play the leads in drama class." 

"I wasn't always outgoing and would get really nervous reading out loud, but I knew that was just what I wanted to do," she said.

Gemma grew up in Brisbane, before moving to Toowoomba where she attended Concordia Lutheran College.

She is currently co-writing for Shifters, a series produced by New Golden Age Productions that gained a following in their first series with Mad Anth'm Productions.

The series has been commissioned to air in the US later this year.

She is is also co-writing and starring in a short film destined for Tropfest.

Gemma has been auditioning for major US and Australian series and films and is currently down to her third callback for a feature shooting in LA later this year.

Having studied at NIDA, Gemma has been acting professionally for three years and made her feature film debut as one of the lead roles in Canadian horror film The Drownsman by Breakthrough Entertainment and Black Fawn Films.