Be Well — Sit Down, Shutup & Watch!

To live in a world where learning disabled people achieve their creative dreams and screen their work in Times Square, on iPhones and on every screen in-between.

Mission

Form a community of like-minded learning disabled screen and new media artists who can teach others

To have our voices heard and to be taken seriously

Get other learning disabled people to express themselves creatively through digital arts and technology

Encourage other learning disabled people in the wider Australian and global community to connect, making physical location far less significant for our social relationships
To become a force for social change

Meet the SDSW 2026 Steering Committee.

Photo of Sara - she has long light coloured hair and is smiling.

Photo of Tyson, he has dark hair and is wearing a chain.

Photo of James, he has short hair and glasses, he has a big smile.

Photo of Kate, she has dark hair and is wearing lipstick and eye liner.

Sara Egarr

Steering Committee Member and Chair Person

I like creative storytelling because it brings out the creative in me. I like writing, I can get things out on paper and then communicate them to others. I have fun. I have made three shorts: Games Night, Cookie Kidnap and Sara’s Film. I am currently making one called Zombie Cowboy. I love getting behind the camera but more than anything I like directing, I like being in control.

I joined SDSW in early 2017. I am a female force on the committee and a presenter with the SDSW Roadshow. We need more women in the film industry and my voice is important. I am now studying for my Certificate 3 in Disability and with the support of Tutti Arts, I am training to be the assistant workshop leader for the Barossa Film Club.

Tyson Pienaar

Steering Committee Member and Cinematographer

Born in Clare, South Australia, I am 27 years old and my name is Tyson or Ty. I am new to Sit Down, Shutup and Watch. My dream is to be an actor. My favourite movie is the Fast And Furious, I love thrillers or anything to do with action and cars. Becoming involved with Sit Down, Shutup and Watch has been a great experience, it’s a nice way to see what others do when it comes to making or directing.

It’s important that people with learning disabilities engage in creative storytelling. We all have the right to do something great, use our heads and come up with something that we did ourselves. SDSW promotes the idea that anyone can be involved in screen, you don’t need loads of equipment or studio lighting and my motto is ‘if you live in a tent, use a flash light’.

James Kurtze

Steering Committee Member and Award Winning Creative Storyteller

I started making screen productions when I was still at school. I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Phillip Griffin and Pavlos Soteriou at Tutti Arts. Phillip and Pavlos helped me develop my screen skills morphing my photos of my cat Dexter to create fantastical new media images.

I won my first award for Eye TV at the 2013 Oska Bright Film Festival. Since then I’ve won two more- SDSW 2014 and Picture This Canada 2015! I’m now working on Eye TV 2!

Kate Wauchope

Steering Committee Member and Cinematographer

My name is Kate Wauchope but I go by Katie Rose. I am the newest and (so far) youngest member on the committee. I am a very creative person, especially with screen, music like K-Pop), art and fictional storytelling. My favourite genre is fantasy, action, adventure such as Merlin, Lord of the Rings, NCIS: LA and Marvel Avengers among others... in short, Epics.

Although I do not know everything about screen, I look forward to learning more and sharing what I already know with others who wish to gain the skills to make their own digital stories. Yeah!

Suzanne Merrall

Suzanne Merrall is a respected, highly-focused and established arts professional with over 30 years’ experience. A confident and inspiring leader, Suzanne is an initiator of creative spaces, projects and festivals and has worked within a variety of roles. Suzanne thrives on new challenges; she can rapidly develop a firm understanding of new or unfamiliar areas. Suzanne is experienced in managing and producing all aspects of artistic media, from screen to dance, music, theatre, visual arts to multi-disciplinary.

Suzanne has been working with Tutti Arts Inc since 2017 and is the Coordinator of Sit Down, Shutup And Watch. Suzanne’s role is to support, coordinate, facilitate and empower rather than dominate and lead. However, she is ultimately responsible for the logistical and financial framework. Since joining Tutti she has taken their creative footprint further and further into remote and regional South Australia and in light of both the demands and the successes was appointed Regional Development Project Manager. She is all about supporting and connecting disabled artists living in regional South Australia.

Suzanne is an experienced mentor and has worked across four continents, creating and delivering mentorship projects in Scottish housing schemes, South African townships, Turkish cities and regional South Australia. Suzanne ensures that goals and aspirations are met within a safe, supportive and inspiring environment. She has nurtured some of the world’s leading arts professionals across a variety of media. Suzanne is inspired by the creative potential of us all and values Art as integral to life.

Suzanne was awarded a Lifetime Millennium Fellowship by the British Commonwealth for cultural contribution to community. In her role as co-founder and leader with art space Higher Ground, she was the recipient of the inaugural Adelaide Fringe ‘Spirit of The Fringe’ and her space was awarded subsequent ‘Best Established Venue’ and ‘Best Visual Arts Space’.

Suzanne is a qualified BeWell trainer and supported SDSW to work with and advise The Office of the Public Advocate, SAHMRI and UNI SA on disability inclusion and access – building resilience in community. Suzanne is also part of the Barossa Council Wellbeing Alliance Group and Agile Stakeholder Group advising and contributing to the design, function and accessibility of the new Barossa Creative Industries Centre.

Suzanne initiates creative spaces, projects and festivals; internationally experienced in managing and producing experimental cross media art, her current role is to develop, coordinate, facilitate and empower.

Samuel Rosenzweig

Samuel’s love for story telling drew him to study a Bachelor of Film and Television at the University of South Australia, graduating in 2021. During his tenure, he was awarded 5 subject awards, ranging from excellence in Narrative Film, Experimental Film, Science Fiction Film / Television and Digital Compositing.

Under the constraints of a global pandemic, Samuel wrote and directed a non-dialogue short entitled Blown Away. It explores Samuel’s interest in ‘slice of life’ stories that explore an essence of the human experience. It details an individual’s experience of grief, their connection to land and resilience, all without any dialogue. Blow Away saw Samuel win ‘Best Young Filmmaker’ at the 2021 Fleureu Film Festival.

Samuel has been working as an Integrated Creative for a local Creative Agency, specialising in video. This role sees him produce, film and edit a variety of video products and campaigns.

In 2022, Samuel began work with Tutti Arts, in the role of Team Leader for the Barossa Screen group. In the role, he aims to equip and encourage artists to not only develop their practical screen skills and digital storytelling abilities, but also their self-expression and confidence. Through Tutti Arts, he has additionally been involved with the Sit Down Shut Up and Watch screen festival as a technical and writing facilitator.

In 2022, Samuel was also involved in the Adelaide Film Festival as a previewer, supporting the curation and selection of unsolicited submissions.

In his spare time he continues to write for future projects including shorts, but has a particular and growing interest in sharing stories through documentary, with a focus on the arts, culture and local stories.

Testimonials from artists/creatives involved in previous festivals and workshops

"I guess there wouldn’t be any disabled artists like myself to show their work to the world. I have seen a lot of artists put their heart and soul into their work. I did earn enough money to pay for a new computer, The second time, I got enough to buy a new I-pad. I now use that technology in all my screen making.” Michael Need

"If it didn’t exist, I would never have learnt how to use the internet, and how to mix music on the I-pad. In SDSW in the early days we did gaming, and virtual reality making with headsets. It was a different sort experience for me, I was worried that I would have seizures, but I didn’t get have a seizure and no longer do because of flashing lights. I still do have them but not because of lights. I struggle making a playlist but that’s my brain damage, I have built up confidence to mix music and play it on the DJ deck without one-on-one support. When I started, I needed support. I don’t anymore. I’ve grown confidence and independence.” James Bull

“Through SDSW I learnt making friends. I learnt video games and digital storytelling. If there wasn’t SDSW there would never been any disability-led SA screen festival. Through the festival I went on to win awards at international film festivals in Berlin, Canada and the UK. I love winning awards. It made me feel great. Through this I got to travel to Canada and UK and meet other makers who are now good friends. We talk and share ideas by Facebook. I still make productions and now make video games and explore 3D and VR. All this is because of Tutti and SDSW” James Kurtze

SDSW Video

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We acknowledge the Kaurna, Peramangk and Ngadjuri peoples on whose lands our events and activities are imagined, planned and held. We celebrate the history and contemporary creativity of the world’s oldest living culture and pay respect to Elders past and present.