Story x Story

In this week's episode of Story x Story Nigel and Tazziii welcome Woo Long Talks podcast co-host Rich Reviews for a deep dive into Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. We talk about the Master of Kung-Fu's debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film's Millennial themes and what it all means for representation in Hollywood blockbuster cinema. This week's storytelling tip is about deliver...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome Founder and Project Director of Spritewrench Studios, Glen Henry. Glen pulls back the curtain as he tells us about his journey in creating his own micro-studio and what the video game culture is like in Jamaica. We also discover what he has learnt from making games independently with a focus on narrative, and his favourite manga titles! Show notes: https://maya...

In this week's Story x Story episode Nigel and Tazziii welcome mayamada co-founder Lao back to the podcast for a deep dive into the video game inspired film Free Guy. We get into all aspects of the story, from its many gaming references to narrative themes and what the story says about the current state of the video game industry and its players. This week's storytelling tip is about the value of...

In this week's Story x Story episode Nigel and Tazziii welcome up and coming cosplayer Snickerdoodle Chan to talk about her journey and the craft of cosplay! We learn how Snickerdoodle got into cosplaying and the way she uses social media to showcase her unique spin on popular anime and video game characters.  We also discuss challenges cosplaying as a person of colour and how to deal with ne...

Nigel and Tazziii welcome manga creator Inko Ai Takita for a deep dive into the feature-length anime Your Name in this week's Story x Story episode. We explore the emotional rollercoaster of the narrative, as well as the incredible visuals and themes put together by director Makoto Shinkai. We also get into our favourite characters and moments in this journey across time to find a soul mate. The w...

In this week's bonus episode, you can listen to the full replay of our Twitch livestream interview with Michael Chu, Narrative Director at 31st Union a previous lead writer of Overwatch. Nigel and Tazziii sit with Michael to talk about his journey into the games industry and the process of writing for some of the world's biggest video games including Grounded, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic...

In our latest Story x Story episode Nigel and Tazziii welcome VTuber and Voice Actor, Tiffany Witcher to talk about the world of virtual Twitch streaming. Tiffany lets us how she came from studying theatre to livestreaming through a virtual avatar. We also get into her work in voice acting, charity streaming and advocating for better accessibility in gaming, offering tons of advice for aspiring cr...

You can now listen to all 5 segments of our Story x Story Twitch livestream in your podcast feed. In our fifth and final segment of the stream, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with indie video game developer Graham Reid to talk to us about his game Super Space Club. You can hear how Graham got into the video games industry, what games he is looking forward to and the process of making his a game as a s...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome comic creator Robert Luckett to a deep dive into James Gunn's DC film The Suicide Squad. Part sequel, part remake, we discuss where this new entry to the DC Extended Universe improves on the first effort (the importance of "The") and our favourite members of the squad! This week's storytelling tip is about making your story's protagonist an antihero. Stories we...

In this week's episode of Story x Story Nigel talks to Game Designer Rosa Carbó-Mascarell about her journey into the video games industry! She reveals how Portal led her to discover gaming as a career option and moved from architecture into a freelance role and gives advice on getting into games and how we can make the industry more inclusive for all. Show notes: https://mayamada.com/story-x-story...

Story x Story is back from our mid-season break, bringing you more story deep dives until the end of the year!  This week Nigel is joined by Daniel Morris aka Dan's Distillery for a great conversation about Disney's animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. We talk about the incredible animation, the story's themes, character representation and the difference between Disney and Pixar animati...

It's a mid-season podcast special! You can now listen to all 5 segments of our Story x Story Twitch livestream in your podcast feed. The third segment is brought to you in collaboration with Broken Frontier. Nigel is joined by Editor-in-Chief Andy Oliver alongside comic creators Shazleen Khan and Nic Mac. We talk about the comic stories we're reading right now as well as our own comic projects tha...

It's a mid-season podcast special! You can now listen to all 5 segments of our Story x Story Twitch livestream in your podcast feed. In our fourth segment, Tazziii chats with Andy from Streamcast and Twitch streamer Mikayla Jones about the video games they're playing, expectations from the summer of games and whether Luigi is the better of the Mario brothers!

It's a mid-season podcast special! You can now listen to all 5 segments of our Story x Story Twitch livestream in your podcast feed. In this second segment, Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Alan from Melanin Gamers to talk about the stories we're enjoying so far this year. We get into our thoughts about Netflix's anime series Yasuke, the first few Marvel shows on Disney+ and some video game news to...

It's a mid-season podcast special. You can now listen to all 5 segments of our Story x Story Twitch livestream in your podcast feed!  In part 1, Nigel and Tazziii are joined by mayamada Co-Founder Lao K and Illustrator Pinali.  We talk about the making of the new Serious: Through The Fog manga, and who's mayamada character resembles them the most.  We also get into some of our favou...

In this episode of Story x Story Nigel and Tazziii sit down with indie developer Neil Jones aka Aerial_Knight. We discuss his journey into the video games industry...from failing to find a job to releasing the breakout debut Aerial_Knight's Never Yield. Find out what it takes to create your own lane in gaming as we go behind the story with another creative talent! Show notes: https://mayamada.com/...

In this episode of Story x Story we bring to you a replay of our Creativity & Cosplay Twitch Livestream! GamePad Host Tazziii talks with cosplayers Midnight Pursona, Yakfrost and Wonder Kat about their journey and how they have continued their craft throughout the pandemic. They also discuss overcoming challenges and advice for cosplayers everywhere as we take on questions from the live chat....

This week in Story x Story, Nigel and Tazziii sit with Rachael Smith, creator of Quarantine Comix: A Memoir of Life in Lockdown. They talk about her journey as a full time comic writer and artist work on many critically acclaimed graphic novels in her career so far. This great conversation covers life during the pandemic, imposter syndrome as an artist and plenty more advice for new and experience...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome writer and comic creator Christian Carnouche for a deep dive into the 2013 sci-fi film Snowpiercer. We break down Bong Joon-ho's allegorical story that comments on income inequality, segregation of social classes...and the proper placement of shoes! This episode story tip is about using allegory to convey your narrative message. Stories we're enjoying this week...

This week's Story x Story epiosode is a replay from our Twitch livestream discussion "Work + Play: Mental Health in Video Games", part of the Games Careers Week. Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Sachin Shah (Gaming the Mind), Amiad Fredman (Safe In Our World) and Ed Stern (Splash Damage) shed light on an important topic for those who are interested in being part of the video games industry. https:/...

Nigel and Tazziii bring together another roundtable to talk about the upcoming E3 2021 event! They are joined by Esports Hosts John Pee and Veracity along with the founder of GEEK GAME TYTE, REDinFamy. We debate the need for a physical E3 in a post pandemic landscape, plus what games we're looking forward to from the industry showpiece event. The panel also discuss what cross-gen gaming means for...

In this week's Story x Story episode Nigel and Tazziii welcome Lead Narrative Designer at Silver Rain Games Corey Brotherson and Player Support Liaison at Jagex Jasmine Moore to talk about video game storytelling. We discuss some of our favourite video game stories and what makes games unique as a storytelling medium and also get into issues with Ludonarrative dissonance and advice for aspiring vi...

In this week's Story x Story episode Nigel and Tazziii welcome author and The Koalition journalist, Gary Swaby for a deep dive into sci-fi adventure Minority Report. We look at how well this 2002 vision of future technology holds up in 2021 and discuss some big themes and the ethics of convicting people in the present for future actions. This week's story tip is about implementing exposition...

This episode is a bumper interview episode! Nigel and Tazziii interview  Bob Cheshire, concept artist for Disney and Jurassic World franchises. He has worked on titles including: Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker, Endgame, Infinity War, Black Widow, Jurassic World 3! We talk about Bob's journey from school teacher to working on some of the biggest films on the planet! There's lots of advice for...

In Story x Story this week Nigel and Tazziii welcome Annabel Ashalley-Anthony, founder of Melanin Gamers and resident DC Stan to discuss Batman: The Killing Joke. We cover this animated adaptation of a classic graphic novel and definitive Joker origin story. We also talk about the problematic inclusion of the Barbara Gordon prologue in the animation version as well and this dark interpretation of...