Beyond the Template: The Soulful Creation Podcast

Season 1 of Beyond the Template in on the books!  With one final story of expansion and resilience, we finish up our last week of traveling in the southern hemisphere and culminate our creative work together.  Key Words:  Creativity, Creative Process, Creative Motivation, Motivation, Encouragement, Creative Success, Resilience, Expansion, New Zealand, Australia, Film and Television, Voiceover Arti...

From a reflective week in Kiama navigating endings, beginnings, and the discomfort of growth, this episode explores what success really feels like.  We will hear about Warwick Thornton, internationally acclaimed director who made a career by telling deeply personal Indigenous stories on his own terms.  Welcome to Beyond the Template! Key Words:  Creativity, Creative Process, Creative Motivation, M...

 Summary:  From a grounded week of work and connection before heading to Kiama, Australia, this episode explores transition and creative momentum while tracing how Jennifer Kent turned a deeply personal short film into one of the most globally recognized psychological horror films of the modern era.  Welcome to Beyond the Template! Key Words:  Beyond the Template podcast, Jennifer Kent, The Babado...

Summary:  This week finds me in a quieter place back in Lane Cove and stepping into the unfamiliar world of voice over recording, this episode reflects on creative expansion before tracing how Margot Robbie moved from rural Australia to global stardom while building her own production company and reshaping opportunities for women in film.  Key Words:  Beyond the Template podcast, Margot Robbie, Lu...

In a quieter week tucked into Sydney’s western suburbs, this episode reflects on identity, home, and creative stamina before tracing how Chris Hemsworth moved from Australian television to global stardom, expanding the cinematic road George Miller built and forging his own path into creative ownership.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.  If you feel like you have done everything possible to get goin...

From ferry rides across Sydney Harbour to standing inside the real world that inspired Finding Nemo, this episode traces the emotional contrast between freedom and captivity while exploring how George Miller rose from a small-town doctor to the creator of Mad Max and one of the architects of modern Australian cinema.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.   If you feel like you have done everything poss...

 An exploration of Catherine Martin’s rise from Australian theatre student to four-time Academy Award winning production and costume designer, and how vision, discipline, and design shaped some of the most iconic cinematic worlds of the past three decades.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.  Key Words: Filmmaking, Costume design, Set Design, Production design, Film Production, Theatre, Musicals, Fil...

Checking in from Sydney Australia, we will talk about travel surprises, the ease of companionship and we will hear the story of Baz Luhrmann, someone who rearranged cinema from the edge of the world. Welcome to Beyond the Template.   If you feel like you have done everything possible to get going and keep going with your work… including even taking courses or using coaches… but somehow you continu...

Today’s episode explores creative success through partnership, told through Suzie Moncrieff’s journey of building World of WearableArt and the often-invisible cost of being the one who creates the container.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.  World of WearableArt (WOW): https://www.worldofwearableart.com/  If you feel like you have done everything possible to get going and keep going with your work...

An honest reflection on creative partnership, visibility, and shared authorship through the lens of Tania Rodger’s role in building Wētā Workshop and why sustainable creative success is never a solo act.  Welcome to Beyond the Template!  If you feel like you have done everything possible to get going and keep going with your work… including even taking courses or using coaches… but somehow you con...

In this episode, we will hear an honest update from life in Wellington, NZ before exploring Taika Waititi’s journey from a messy, underfunded beginning to global success through long-term collaboration.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.  Reflection of the Week: Where in your life or work are you throwing logic over passion… where have you been trying to become “legitimate” versus embracing your tru...

Preparing for a “Take 2” of the renowned Wētā Workshop from the Auckland to Wellington tour, we will hear the story of Richard Taylor , co-founder and Co-CEO of a company that has built some of the most powerful worlds in cinematic history.  Welcome to Beyond the Template.  I want to hear about YOU.  1.       Send me Expander of the Week suggestions!  2.       What was your main takeaway from this...

Happy New Year from a new place in the world… Auckland, New Zealand.  This week is the first of transitioning away from the research, preparation, and deep thinking of the past several months into actual creation.  We will hear the story of Peter Jackson , beloved son of New Zealand, and legendary creative, who chose to build legacy right where he was already rooted. Welcome to Beyond the Template...

This week we will reflect on a BIG issue for creatives: how to balance work and media.  We have all felt the emotional strain social media places upon us.  I will share three ways I have learned for better self-care as a creative online.  Welcome to Beyond the Template... the more than "just talk" podcast! SPECIAL TO THIS EPISODE: If you are following along and implementing changes, make...

Today we are talking about designing our creative work to align with everything we have researched so far and prepare us for the work to be done in 2026. I will also tell you the story of Isamu Noguchi . Reflection Questions: •What are the best ways to approach expressing your concept, idea, emotion, story? •How can you be sure that what you create offers meaning to your audience and makes an impa...

 It’s our 12th episode as we head into the last month of the year.  December is an excellent time to check in on progress started in the earlier months, so this episode will serve as a reminder of what this podcast is all about, who it’s for and reflect on how each of us are doing.  We will then recap everything we have covered so far this season to feel fully energized to move onto the next phase...

Let’s dive into the deep of “sequencing” as both a creative tool and an audience experience strategy, framed through life’s chaotic realities. We will explore how intentional ordering transforms your process and your final product and the story of Katherine Mansfield .  Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  More on Katherine Mansfield, Expander of the Week:   The Collec...

This week, as with the 5th episode, this episode is a special one!  It will be more storytelling focused, connecting the concept of creating a space for your creative “voice” to make a positive change in the world…with the story of Hiroshi Yamauchi .  Welcome Beyond the Template- the more than “just-talk” podcast.  About your host: www.cameliedesigns.com  On our Expander of the Week: Books- Game O...

This week, we will consider the power of voice and how calling out into the world might change everything. And we’re taking inspiration from the incomparable Eartha Kitt , a woman who never stopped speaking truth, no matter the cost.  Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  The Spooky Song (maniacal laugh at the end!) GOOD NEWS of the WEEK!  Lockdown drills are a fact of...

News, moon and goals! I’ll share personal wins and pivots in creative work and objectives, and tell the story of George Washington Carver .  Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  George Washington Carver The Man Who Talks with the Flowers The Scientist Who Saved the South  “An Uncommon Life”  NEWS  Teens start an after-school club to read banned books 'Screen-free...

This week, I’m sharing good news, unpacking our evolving relationship with AI and how human insight and technology can actually work together to build creative communities. We will define why creative objectives matter… Plus, the story of Estée Lauder : a woman who turned belief, beauty, and relentless action into legacy.  Welcome Beyond the Template- the more than “just-talk” podcast.  Substack: ...

Under the full moon and a mountain of to-dos, let’s find light in good news, the story of surrealist Remedios Varo , and the creative process of turning ideas into something real… even when the world feels heavy.  Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  More on this week’s “expander”:   National Museum of Women in the Arts – Artist Profile Tate Museum – Surrealism Beyond...

Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  Slow and steady meets the GOAL this week as we start moving out of our initial assessment of purpose for our projects and move into analysis of strategy, and we will hear the story of someone who’s biographer called “the most dramatic rags to riches story ever told”… Charlie Chaplin. More on this week’s “expander”:   Charlie Chaplin...

This week I will share what’s winning in education right now, we will check in on how our projects are going, I’ll discuss how to narrow down the characteristics and traits for our audience through considering context, and we’ll hear the story of someone who surpassed all odds against him to bring innovation into the world Frederick McKinley Jones . I hope this episode will inspire and uplift you...

Welcome Beyond the Template - the more than “just-talk” podcast.  It’s week 3! And it might already be time to reassess where we are heading (Already? Sigh.).  We will hear some good news (so needed), design takeaways from a surprising (but seasonal) source, and hear the story of someone who put her own bias aside to care for those on both sides of a war- Clara Barton . Check out MORE on this week...