CREATIVES OF THE COAST • Alex Alexander
A LONG STORY SHORT: Alex Alexander
How an international film festival was born from a move to the Central Coast
So what makes a guy born and bred in the inner city hustle uproot his family of five from uber urban Surry Hills to the laid-back Central Coast enclave of Pearl Beach? ‘Well it was a no-brainer really,’ says film producer and on-screen storyteller, Alex Alexander. ‘Let me start with a little story first ...’ That doesn’t surprise me, after all you’re a storyteller! ‘When our first child Kat was born I was 28 and like most 20 somethings I was self-obsessed, thought I knew it all and was adamant that having a child would not change the status quo, compromise our lifestyle, or change my love for the energy and electricity a big city has to offer. I had a very serious conversation with my wife, Joanna, that our child would simply have to fit into our lives.’ Ha! Well the old adage: life is what happens when you are busy making other plans, could not be more true. A few things happened when she was born: One: Absolutely everything changed. Two: I, in fact, knew absolutely nothing. And three: It turns out babies have a mind of their own and would not willingly and peacefully come to cafés and restaurants when we felt like it.
And all that was ok because I had never experienced a love quite like the one I felt for my daughter. It was absolutely unconditional. So much so, that I never thought I could possibly love another child as much as her, I was done ... thank you.
So … long story short? ‘Hey, that’s my line … but more of that in due course. ‘We loved living in the inner city but found ourselves immersed in a bit of an urban bubble both living and working in Surry Hills. As our family grew — the need to burst that bubble a few times a year was ever-present and we found ourselves holidaying in the Central Coast to escape the city grind.’
And that's when you discovered Pearl Beach? Jo and I felt it was a little piece of paradise there, the kids loved the beach, nature and above all the space. When the opportunity came up we bought a small holiday home at Pearl with the intention of setting up an Airbnb, and slipping in and out between short-term renters and maybe retiring here.
You look far too young for that. ‘Thank you. I meant eventually.
63
