People Create

Our first series takes us to Kinross in Scotland to meet Unorthodox Roasters to learn about coffee and get a sense of hope on the high street. Links to support the show can be found here: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/its-roasted Click ⁠here⁠ to go to the show.

We have a new show. Introducing It's Roasted: a show about independent coffee roasters helping transform British high streets. Links to support the show can be found here: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/its-roasted Click here to go to the show.

One of my fondest memories from the National Film and Television School was to run a screening for the Screen Arts program.  There I was, a former corporate guy, introducing, watching, and leading a discussion on a film without a doubt that I belonged there. This was because of Sandra. She is the head of screen arts and film studies, programming, and curation at the National Film and Television Sc...

People that study creativity are interesting. The right ones will make you realise, and rightfully so, that everyone is creative. Sara is one of those interesting people.  She is the Director of the Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice at City, University of London, and Course Director for the Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership.  Here we talk about her journey and how techn...

I once made an animated movie for a class in Business School.  Mary Ann was my adviser for this project. Till today I view her as a mentor. By the time this comes out, she will likely have retired from a variety of roles at City, University London. Here we talk about how she got where she did and what it means to nurture individuals towards their goals. Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https://www.diege...

Guy was my first instructor in film school.  He was the bridge for a one-time management consultant to find his way in a new world. But Guy is so much more — he’s a CEO, he was once an audio engineer, and before all of that he was a bike messenger. Here we talk about his journey, about leadership, about the governance that good leaders can use to enable a team to come together. Produced by Diegeti...

Andy believes in Creative Problem Solving.  Through his work as the joint founder of Perspectiv with Kate Stuart-Cox and as Senior Fellow at Bayes Business School, he wants to increase the quality and quality of creative problem solving in the world. As a student of his, I was shown the texture of the creative process. As a teacher of mine, he made me realise that everyone is creative.  Here we ar...

In a past life, on Fridays at 7:30 I would obsessively go to spin class. Arianna was the instructor. From her raised podium she managed a collection of riders in front of her — some struggling, some absolutely flying, and some wearing a hat she handed out to her front row riders. A hat that still sits on my desk. We talk about what she’s up to now and the view she had from that podium with some cr...

To me, the Games Department at the National Film and Television School will always be the merry band of misfits that adopted me. Alan was the leader of this band — he used to be the Head of the Games Development program. Here we talk about his path to the film school, his love for games, and — something that always amazes me — just how vast the world of gaming is. Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https:...

Two years ago, today, I went to the National Film and Television School.  Jon Wardle is the Director of the National Film and Television School. He has this remarkable ability to remember every student’s name, something that always made me feel seen.  We talk about his journey to becoming head of the film school and what it means.  Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/ National...

We’re back. This time we speak to people who have, in their own way, been there, done that.  We speak to creatives, we speak to academics, we speak to business people, we speak to business people that became academics.  Now, having climbed their mountains, the question remains the same - what does creativity mean to you? Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/

A look back at Series 1 of our show. Series 2 coming soon! Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/

John is a screenwriter and I have seen two sides of him. He can be a snake on cocaine. During improv he has the ability to create sensory whiplash with his bolting around from one idea to another. I would know. I was his hands. But John is also a lilting Irishman, taking his time in his distinctive drawl to tell his very specific, very human truths. I didn’t often get to see the second John. I was...

Matthew lives for the screen. He thinks in the three act structure, life to him is an album he’s writing. I met him at the National Film and Television School. We did improv together. His ability to create has taken him to the best film school in the world, who knows where else it will take him but, for now, it has brought him here. Produced by Diegetic Jazz: https://www.diegeticjazz.com/

Sydney follows her heart. She has moved on from a stable career in journalism into making documentary films of her own. To make the leap and then to float in the great unknown can be both incredibly freeing and also unbelievably scary. I know I’m using a lot of big words but it really can feel that big. And yet, there’s a great sense of humour, a goofy playfulness, underneath that fear. It’s the k...

Parham makes games. He’s good at it, too. His most recent game was nominated for a BAFTA. Pretty big stuff. He’s also a goofball full of awful dad jokes, a love for How I met your Mother and horror movies of the psychological variety. In a world of shifting sands and changeable attitudes, I have found him remarkably stable. I respect that and I can see the benefits of it in what he has accomplishe...

Lili is a chameleon. When I met her, she was in marketing. When we recorded this, she was a baker. When we say everyone is creative, she embodies it. She has created universes while standing for 9 hours baking bread with her co-workers. She knows how to use a chainsaw to hack a piece of wood into something beautiful on her own. For her, it’s all about the feelings.

Tom is a bastard. On the one hand he is The Bald Bastard, a meme lord influencer committed to building a well meaning, supportive community around those that have lost their hair. But on the other hand, he’s Tom. A marketing student at the National Film and Television School. He’s a live wire, he’s the man that got me into doing improv, and he seeks outlets for his vulnerability. I wonder if Tom i...

Marcus is ambitious. During the week he’s a TV producer but during the weekend he’s a wedding videographer. I love his ambition. It’s one of those unspoken things that everyone in the industry has but no one talks about. Being liked is often more important than being honest. This person wants to take on the world and has his own way of doing it. You may like it. You may not. But you have to respec...

Ben is a technical designer for games. He loves to code. Does that sound creative to you? It doesn’t matter because the iterative process of coding is where he finds his creative voice.  He’s also an Arsenal fan and when we recorded this, Arsenal were leading the premier league. He predicted they wouldn’t win. They didn’t. We always found ourselves talking in podcasts long before I made this show...

Flavia is an animator. The desire to be a story teller struck her surreptitiously during a class in school and she ran with it. I respect that in people. Honouring that deeper calling within you to follow that dream no matter how irrational it may seem. I wish I was more like her. Recently graduating from film school, she now finds herself where the rubber meets the road and the realities of a bru...

Farooq makes games. Like me, he made a career change. Unlike me, it was from being an assistant director to a games designer. We’re both trying to find a greater sense of balance and meaning in the work we do. How does that conflict with the very real requirement to earn a living? Does anyone want to hear the songs we have to sing? Maybe it doesn’t matter as much as we think it does. Maybe it matt...

Julia makes games. Talking to her gives me the impression that you’re talking to someone who knows they are where they’re meant to be. And that they know how they got there but they don’t know what’s next. The weight but also the excitement of that unknown next step. And yet, the belief that what’s most important is that you just…try.

James is witty. He’s a television director and he was once a stand up comedian. Another friend from doing improv at the National Film and Television School, we share a common dislike for the perception of a creative class. What does it even mean? Is it a way to diminish your sense of self? Does it change what creativity means to us?

Introductions are hard. Maybe I should start with what this podcast is not.  This isn’t trying to sell you something. There may be a merchandise store but that’s it. I won’t try to sell you a beer or introduce you to some new gambling platform. There is no fancy studio setup, there is no Youtube channel. I’m not trying to advance the human consciousness, whatever that means.  This is an exploratio...