Two Words with Taku

"You keep the ship afloat by making sure everyone feels heard and happy." I met Meg O'Connell last year at Screen Forever, a conference hosted by Screen Producers Australia. When I found out she'd worked on Doodles , a kids' show I'd been following, I asked if I could pick her brain about 'producer stuff'. She agreed! In this episode, Meg shares how she went from studying law to working in the scr...

‘You’re selling the sizzle, not the steak.” My first guest in Season 2 of the podcast is screenwriter, script producer and script editor John Armstrong. We first met at a screenwriters’ pitch event in Sydney in 2017 and have since co-created a teen drama series which is in early stage development. In this episode we discuss what goes into different story bibles from the pit...

Last November I applied for PRX‘s Google Podcasts Creator program, pitching the second season of Two Words with Taku. My pitch made it to the semi-finalist round out of 1000s of applications from around the world (OMG!),

So you’ve got an idea for a killer article you’d like to see in your favourite magazine? Sophie Kalagas, editor at frankie magazine shares some simple tips about how to get your submissions noticed. We recorded this episode in her lovely home and Woody...

Facing fear. Writing. More fear. Standup comedy. Zimbo politics. Aussie politics. Jokes about my Mama. Feminism. Typos in sexts. Working with kids. Developing TV characters. Running a company. Story. Creative freedom. And laughter…lots of laughter!

Look Ma – I’m producing! The Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia (YACWA) invited me to train 15 young people in public speaking and I suggested we also make a podcast with their short speeches. In this episode I share what I learnt from creating...

Dear Tomi, this is the most biased book review I’ve ever given. But I absolutely loved reading Children of Blood and Bone! In this episode I share why I’m excited by the magical words woven into this African-inspired fantasy novel.

Finding and growing your tribe is a two-way street. Yes, I know that doesn’t make grammatical sense, but hear me out as I explain how this podcast is connecting me to people I’m excited about…and people who are excited about me too.

The book based on my radio play is coming soon! JoYOLO by Taku and Peo. Omg I’m dying! I recorded this impromptu episode in a park the other day. Disclaimer: it’s raw and unedited! Then I made this quick little video – sorry the music is so loud and d...

Youth Marketing Australia was simply eye-opening! I went to the YMA conference to learn about marketing to young people, but I learnt a whole lot more from watching the different speakers and how they represented their own [media] brands.

I highly recommend Lynda.com for learning Photoshop, Word and other software. Lynda.com is an online learning site with over 3,000 courses on topics like business, design, web development and multimedia skills, and software (Microsoft Office,

My Mama taught me how to mind map 20+ years ago. And now I do it all the time. For almost everything! Yesterday, I helped 19 young documentary makers generate ideas to shoot for Youthworx‘s Our Voices film project.

An overdue update on my mad writing adventures. I’ve recently written pitches for my kids’ TV show, an investor in my production company and for a book publisher. Also, my MC hat’s back on again, tying together speeches at government-funded symposiums ...

Our Moth StorySLAM theme was simply…Manners. Seriously, out of that whole Moth experience of discussing former in-laws on stage, having an amazing audience that responded to every beat of my story, to having my friends in the crowd cheering for me,

It just sounds like a probability nightmare! Look, I completely support the heart and intent of the campaign. I used to be on Tinder, I’m currently in an interracial relationship* and I loooove using emoji^.

We recorded for an hour and it feels like we didn’t even scratch the surface! Last Sunday, I sat in a Melbourne studio with four creative storytellers to review Marvel’s Black Panther movie. Between the five of us, individually, we make films,

Today’s Two Words: Be Kind. “I’ve got 99 ideas and can’t pick one”. Yep, story of my life! In this episode I share how I’m kind to myself in my (creative) life. Everything from time out, napping and going out for a burger and wine.

Officer Jason Dixon is human after all. *Spoiler and profanity alert for this episode.* Watching the evolving character of Jason Dixon in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri challenged how I want to write baddies for my own stories.

Katharina Keil’s a script supervisor with 20+ years’ experience. She’s read 1000+ film and TV scripts in her career, so I nervously asked her to read one of mine. We discuss everything including characters, synopses, continuity, timing,

A Spontaneous Poem: Co-founder Wanted Dear Self, Who’re you kidding, thinking you can do it all alone? This stuff is getting bigger than you and it’s time to ask for help. In fact, why not just free flow into your phone what help you’re really looking ...

My screenwriting mentors are so kind to me. They’re also quick to give reality checks and sometimes say things I don’t want to hear. But I love them for that – they’re helping me tell better stories every day.

Yay! I’m a writing + podcasts finalist in frankie magazine’s awards. Here’s my Good Stuff Awards entry…Two Words with Taku is a podcast exploring the process of writing and storytelling in five main categories: technical writing, business writing,

Daina Reid is an award-winning Australian TV and Film Director. And she’s just lovely! In this interview, she shares how a Tropfest short film led her to leave acting and become a director. She talks about her recent work on SBS’s Sunshine TV drama and...

Today’s [confronting] two words: So What? So what if I write and I speak? Who cares? Who should care? Who do I care about? Why do I care? So what? I really believe we will only see the stories that are different on our TV screens and on our radios if w...

My Slightly Biased Review of A Melbourne Rapper’s Secret Show. Tenda McFly is a local rapper/poet who agreed to voice a character in my radio play. He recently held a secret show to share his poetry, rhymes and reason.