Essential Talent is also home to Ricarp Productions and International Spectaculars which was established in 1985 as the 'brain-child' of Richard Laidlaw. Having traveled extensively though-out Australia with several Ice Skating shows as a principle skater, Richard, backed by his experience and a burning desire to express his natural flair and talent, decided to produce his own Ice Skating show. The name Richard gave to his first production was Kapades On Ice. This production signaled the introduction of Ricarp Productions.

Ricarp began to produce shows for the club and disco circuit in his home town and the larger Las Vegas style productions began touring Australia before in 1987 entering the International market. With the Asian tour circuit secured, Richard again expanded Ricarp Productions by developing the local market in Australia to include entertainment designed for shopping centres and corporate functions. As so The Aussie Adventurers was born. This concept involved the design of character suits, writing scripts and developing them for a television series directed towards children.

The beginning of 1999 saw Ricarp Productions expand again with the purchase of the very well known and highly respected entertainment agency, Essential Talent which enjoys a talent listing of over 500 of Australia's finest performers.

2001 was another time of growth with the purchase of Actors Ink, Adelaide's leading actors agency and academy. Home to over 5000 actors, Actors Ink brags Adelaide's largest listing of actors. Richard again expanded in 2002, this time purchasing well known leading dance school, Creative Souls. This expansion enable Richard to commence Essential Talent Performance Academy which enjoys offering serious performing arts students a choice of over 70 classes conducted in 5 state of the art rehearsal studios.