Story x Story

We're back for another season of Story x Story! This week, Nigel and Tazziii take their racing wheels into the real world for some high-octane excitement as they do a deep dive into the film Gran Turismo (starting at 29:26) with Content Creator MiyukiPanda and Sim Racer Rayokarna. Inspired by real-life events, this underdog story had us following the emotional exploits of Jann Mardenborough, w...

As we prepare to return for Season 6 of Story x Story, we continue our series on video games with this special conversation about diversity in the industry. Nigel talks to Dom Shaw, EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Coordinator at Ukie, and Liz Prince, Business Manager at Amiqus, about the journey of developing the newly launched Empower Up website. This collaboration between Ukie’s #RaiseThe...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 6 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy this Rewind episode: Part 4 of our recent "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" International Future Summit livestream from December 2023. We rounded off the campaign with this special event, taking stock of the video game industry in 2023 from the people in it. In this episod...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 6 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy this Rewind episode: Part 3 of our recent "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" International Future Summit livestream from December 2023. We rounded off the campaign with this special event, taking stock of the video game industry in 2023 from the people in it. In this episod...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 6 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy this Rewind episode: Part 2 of our recent "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" International Future Summit livestream in December. We rounded off the campaign with this special event, taking stock of the video game industry in 2023 from the people in it. In this episode, Nige...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 6 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy this Rewind episode: Part 1 of our recent "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" International Future Summit livestream in December. We rounded the campaign off with this special event taking stock of the video game industry in 2023 from the people in it. In this episode, Tazzi...

It's the final episode of 2023!! For our Season 5 Wrapped episode, Nigel and Tazziii have put together their personal top five favourite stories of the year. There's also room for honourable mentions, stories that surprised, and disappointed us as well as our favourite ongoing or unfinished stories. So join us as we recap our favourite comic, anime, TV, film and video game stories that mad...

We've arrived at the end of another year, so it’s time to look back at the past 12 months of great story discussions! In this special episode, you'll hear the best highlights, pre-show chats, and (many, many) bloopers from Season 5 of the podcast, brought to you by Nigel, Tazziii, a variety of amazing guests...and a now well-behaved Craig?! We've crammed our favourite moments into the...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii invite digital illustrator and concept artist Ravi Nkengfack to discuss his life as a comic creator and the journey from education to the world of freelance work. We get to discover how his time studying Computer Games Arts prepared him to produce illustrations and commissions for a range of clients, as well as his own WEBTOON series "WORLD'S STRONGEST"....

This week, Nigel and Tazziii join the race to become King of the Pirates in this retrospective on Netflix’s One Piece live-action adaptation with Content Creator Izzy Kento (starting at 27:20). We praise the adaptation that got it right as we examine the aspects of this series that stayed true to the source material while working for this new medium. Izzy brings their love for the manga series as...

We're rewinding to an episode of Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, a mayamada show where we talk to a different creator each month to discover the person behind the comic art. Nigel sits down with WIP Comics member Lara Callaghan the week before they head out to the Thought Bubble Comic Convention, November 11th - 12th. Lara talks about her experiences with WIP Comics' recent succe...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii play with fire as they do a deep dive into Pixar's Elemental with our very own illustrator Pinali (starting at 27:14). We debate the reasons for the animation's disappointing box office performance, while giving our take on how this film stacks up to similar entries in the Pixar catalogue. We also discuss the story's portrayal of the immigrant tale and how...

This week's episode is a rewind of our livestream adventures at the Insomnia 71 festival in September 2023! Nigel and Tazziii recorded live from the show floor with a variety of guests as we discussed the (mostly) failures and (some great) successes of video game adaptations on the big and small screens. In the first segment, we're joined by Content Creators Miss Bubbles and Voyveda Rose a...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome video game content creator LilChaos to learn more about her journey in building a career as a content creator. There's a lot to unpack as we learn where the "Chaos" name came from, and how she has overcome significant hurdles on the road to growing a personal brand through Twitch and other social media platforms. We cover the highs and lows and pr...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii examine socioeconomic constructs while avoiding peaches as they do a deep dive into the Academy Award winning film Parasite (starting at 25:20). This meticulously constructed work masterfully explores many meaningful themes and symbols as it juggles genre and tone so well throughout. It tackles topics from wealth disparity to the challenges of upward social mobility, a...

This week, we delve into the controversial AI debate! Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Freelance Art Director Lucy Kyriakidou, and Graphic Designer Kevin Li to discuss the impact AI is having and will have on art. We examine the moral considerations as well as the commercial implications of this new and sometimes intimidating technology that seems to be taking over all aspects of human expression....

This week, Nigel and Tazziii are dissecting stop motion excellence as we are joined by NextGen Skills Academy Programme Administrator Charlie Blay for a deep dive into the hauntingly good Wendell & Wild (starting at 24:12). We talk about creating stop motion horror for younger audiences in the coming-of-age narrative with an Afro Punk twist. Along the way, we delve into the narrative as we deb...

This week is a rewind from our autumn video game roundtable livestream over on Twitch. Nigel and Tazziii were joined by Alan from Melanin Gamers and Andy from StreamCast to talk about the game we're playing and the video game news stories that have caught our attention. We discuss Unity's decision to abruptly overhaul their pricing structure to the absolute displeasure of everyone, before...

This week, Nigel talks with SenseiTash, a variety Content Creator, to discuss their journey in the creative space starting from a young age and the process of becoming an independent creator. We explore how their passion for dancing, gymnastics, and martial arts translated into video games and the balance between playing games for personal enjoyment versus catering to an audience. We first met Tas...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii are on a mission to close doors as we are joined by manga creators Inko and Chie for a deep dive into another visually impressive Makoto Shinkai anime film, Suzume (starting at 27:43). We talk about the Hero's Journey that Suzume goes on to unpack the trauma in her life. Along the way, we delve into the methods used to convey meaningful themes and whether they work...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii are joined by cosplayer Coco, who loves to dress up as characters from video games, comics, and anime. We learn how her middle eastern background influences her costume choices as she shares a wealth of tips for cosplaying on a budget! After meeting at the Insomnia Gaming Festival, Coco shares her experiences traveling to various conventions across the country and her...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii go pink to take on the patriarchy as we’re joined by content creators Saskia Cole and Gael Level for a deep dive into Greta Gerwig's thought-provoking take on the pop culture icon that is Barbie (starting at 23:13). The discussion this week is wide-ranging, from the origins of the famous doll and previous attempts at a movie adaptation to the narrative itself. We d...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Chase Bethea, known as the "Swiss army knife of video game composition", to discuss his role in bringing video game sounds to life. We explore our personal definitions of creativity and the significance of treading your own path in the creative industries. In the interview, Chase shares his experience growing up with a diverse musical background...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii get to grips with a time mechanic as we’re joined by Bish from GAL Podcasts for a deep dive into Mamoru Hosoda’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (starting at 31:14). We salute the effective messaging delivered in this short runtime as we examine the themes on display and the way they are delivered through the light and humorous use of time manipulation. Tazziii is also...

This week Nigel and Tazziii welcome writer and illustrator Mina Ghosh to talk about the manga medium and its adoption outside of Japan. We get into where our love for the medium (and related medium anime) started, as we explore the tricky line betwen appreciation of the form and appropriation without proper consideration of its cultural roots. Whether you're a consumer or a producer, this is a...