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Shane
Hewitt has been in the entertainment industry for more than five
decades, enjoying success on both the performance and management sides
of the business. During his career Shane has also held numerous honorary directorships with not-for-profit organisations and has served on the Boards of the Australian Performing Arts Centres Association (now PAC Australia); Venue Management Association; Melbourne International Arts Festival; Green Room Awards Association; and Australian National Memorial Theatre. Along the way there have been a few unusual diversions, such as being the chef in a Sydney restaurant (in partnership with his brother and sister-in-law); running his own house-painting business; and being a freelance producer and project manager for some of Australia's major theatrical entrepreneurs. However, Shane's passion for singing and songwriting has never been far from the surface. In 1997 he established his own record label, Middle Eight Music, and released his first solo CD called Hopeless Romantic, a 12-track collection of easy-listening ballads, swing standards and two of his own songs. Later that year he released The Fats Waller Project, a CD with violinist Tony Conolan, featuring 18 popular songs from the 1920s and 1930s. In 2002 his song New Habits appeared as the title track on the debut CD by John Ellis, and a song for which Shane co-wrote special lyrics with Mark Jones was performed as a duet by cabaret and theatre stars Melissa Langton and Kane Alexander on Melissa's debut CD released in October 2002. In the same year Shane also co-wrote with Mark Jones a specialty song, My Name Is Enda, for Irish performer Enda Markey, who is now a leading theatrical producer based in Sydney. In 2004 Shane's song Swing Still Works For Me, co-written with Craig Schneider, was the title song for Craig's fourth CD. In the middle of all these activities, in 2000 Shane became involved with The Dramatic Group Pty Ltd whose Directors, David Eedle and Fiona Boyd, established Arts Hub, in which Shane was a founding shareholder. From a small start-up it became a world leader in the provision of information services to the arts and cultural industry. In 2006 it was sold to a syndicate led by Simon Baker, who at the time was Managing Director and CEO of realestate.com.au In early 2004 Shane was asked to do a short-term stint as Chief Operating Officer of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image
at Federation Square in Melbourne. However, when the Chief Executive
Officer resigned, Shane spent much of that year as Acting CEO while the
Board searched for a replacement. It was certainly a challenge,
juggling the responsibilities of the role whilst continuing to run Middle Eight Music. In May 2005 Shane welcomed Max Peterson, a veteran of the music retail industry, as a partner in Middle Eight Music
and in July 2005 they opened a CD and DVD store at 145 Osborne Street,
South Yarra, in Melbourne, which became a popular spot for music aficionados for nigh on five years.
In April 2010, due to changes in the economic climate, they closed the
shop and reverted to online mail-order only. In
June 2017 they made the decision to close the business. They are
very grateful to all their loyal customers and suppliers for 20 years
of support! In
addition to his involvement with Middle Eight Music, Shane worked
for many years as a registered BAS Agent, providing bookkeeping and payroll services to
small and medium sized business in Melbourne, until his retirement from
that role in March 2019. He continues to work part-time as a
consultant in the arts and entertainment field, and he enjoys regular
volunteering activities including being a tutor for migrants and
refugees who are learning English through Melbourne AMEP. |
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