Where creativity meets wellbeing.
With Marianne Buchanan
About Starlet Creative Industries
Creativity with heart. Art with purpose.
Starlet Creative Industries is a Queensland-based creative social enterprise that uses the arts as a powerful tool for wellbeing, connection, and self-expression. We offer engaging puppet and drama classes, workshops, and theatre masterclasses designed to nurture confidence, creativity, emotional literacy, and community connection across all ages.
Our work spans classrooms, community spaces, festivals, and professional stages. Starlet Creative Industries has proudly taken original productions to one-act play festivals and to the Empire Theatre, creating opportunities for emerging and established artists to share meaningful stories with audiences.
At the heart of everything we do is the belief that storytelling, play, and creative expression are vital to human wellbeing.
Our Founder – Marianne Buchanan
Starlet Creative Industries was founded in 2016 by Marianne Buchanan — artist, educator, playwright, author, counsellor, and creative leader with over a decade of experience in arts education.
Marianne toured Australia and New Zealand for two years with a professional drama team, receiving extensive hands-on, on-the-ground training in directing, stagecraft, producing, and performance design. She has worked as a singing and drama teacher with Showbiz Talent School, and has a strong background in creating, directing, and mentoring performers across a range of ages and abilities.
Her formal training includes Writing for Stage and Screen at Griffith University, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology, and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. In addition, Marianne spent five years working as a telephone counsellor, deepening her understanding of human connection, listening, trauma, and emotional resilience.
All of this experience is woven into Starlet Creative Industries’ signature programs — particularly its puppet programs, which beautifully capture Marianne’s lifelong love of storytelling alongside her deep respect for human connection, emotional expression, and wellbeing.
Marianne is also a breast cancer survivor, a published playwright with Maverick Musicals, an international award-winning visual artist, and the author of Becoming. She is available for motivational and keynote speaking, sharing her lived experiences of resilience, creativity, grief, healing, and hope with warmth, honesty, and compassion.
In loving Memory of Stephen Buchanan & Ben Spencer.
Why Starlet Exists
Starlet Creative Industries was born from profound personal loss. In 2016, Marianne lost her brother Stephen Buchanan (23/10/1990 -6/5/2016) to leukemia and her cousin Ben (30/4/1990-8/10/2016) (Stephen’s best friend) to suicide. Out of this heartbreak came a clear purpose: to create spaces where people feel seen, heard, valued, and connected.
As a result, Starlet Creative Industries operates as a social enterprise, placing mental health and wellbeing at the core of its mission. We are a proud member of the Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC) and actively support Amity Place, contributing to positive mental health outcomes within the community.
What We Offer
- Puppet and drama classes and workshops
- Theatre and performance masterclasses
- School and community-based creative programs
- Original theatre productions and festival performances
- Motivational and keynote speaking
- Arts-based wellbeing and mental health initiatives
“Where creativity becomes connection, and stories become strength.”
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Our Commitment
Starlet Creative Industries is committed to creating safe, inclusive, and nurturing creative environments. We believe the arts can save lives — by fostering connection, encouraging expression, and reminding people that their stories matter.
Through imagination, empathy, and courage, we strive to make a meaningful difference — one story, one workshop, one performance at a time.
Testimonials
“Marianne was invaluable to the operation of our school musical ‘Doctor Who’. She ran lunchtime sessions and drama activities in the classroom, generously donating her time to attend rehearsals and performances.”
— Primary School Teacher, Northern Suburbs, Brisbane, 2014
“I appreciated and valued Marianne’s informative and friendly delivery of drama tuition. She was both fun and nurturing, skilled at identifying and fostering individual creativity while encouraging effective expression of ideas and emotions. Marianne’s commitment to these sessions was 100%.”
— Community Member, Brisbane, 2015
Starlet Creative Industries supports Amity Place and is a Social Enterprise and proud member of the Queensland Social Enterprise Council and Queensland Artsbook.
0466 660 773
director@starletcreativeindustries.org
Starlet Creative Industries 