If you were an emerging producer, just imagine how invaluable it would be to be able to pick Michael Cassel’s brain. If you were a young director, how exciting would it be to spend time with Simon Phillips or Wesley Enoch or Mitchell Butel. A young lighting designer would have so much to learn from Trudy Dalgleish, while many a young choreographer would love to make moves with Kelley Abbey.

Shaun Rennie has just launched a new mentorship program called Sparrow Mentors which makes all of the above, and more, possible.

Shaun Rennie. Photograph supplied

With the support of a Cultural Resilience Grant from the City of Sydney, and guidance from leading mentorship-training business Art of Mentoring, Rennie has recruited 11 industry leaders from across disciplines and designed a pilot program that will provide potentially career-changing mentorships to promising young artists.

The 11 industry leaders taking part in the first Sparrow Mentors program are: choreographer, director and actor Kelley Abbey; actor, director, writer and artistic director Mitchell Butel; producer Michael Cassel; lighting designer Trudy Dalgleish; stage manager Alex Duffy; director, writer and artistic director Wesley Enoch; actor, writer and creator Virginia Gay; writer Benjamin Law;...