For this episode, I sat down with Rich Staplehurst — actor-turned-creator, storyteller, and the mind behind projects like Rupert Regis & His Magical Bookshop, Chuck Loris, and Flo and Otto. 

We talk about:

✨ From Performance to Creation

Rich shares how a childhood shaped by entertainment, theatre, and storytelling eventually led him away from acting and toward writing and creating his own worlds.

📚 The Spark of an Idea

From writing personalised stories during lockdown to building characters out of grief and memory, Rich reflects on how some of his strongest ideas came from very personal places.

🤝 The Power of Collaboration

He explains why the best creative moments often happen at the beginning — when a character, a designer, and a story click into place — and why collaboration is what brings an idea fully to life.

🎢 The High and the Fatigue

We talk about the addictive rush of early development, but also the fatigue that can come from living too long with your own idea and trying to carry it alone.

🧠 Human Stories vs. Algorithm Thinking

Rich opens up about the tension between authentic storytelling and the increasingly data-driven, algorithm-led side of the industry, and why he still believes in the emotional value of stories built with care.

🌱 Building a Slate, Not Just a Show

From Moonbug to his own projects, Rich shares how he’s thinking about original IP, adapted books, and creating work that can stand apart in a crowded market.

🌍 What Comes Next

We also get into the bigger question of where the industry is heading, what kinds of stories will matter, and how both established and emerging talent can find space in what comes next.

This episode is a candid, thoughtful look at the realities of making original work in animation today — the joy, the frustration, the business, and the human heart underneath it all.

🎧 Listen now — and if you want to join these conversations live, with animators and storytellers from around the world, come hang out with us inside The Toon Room:

👉 thetoonroom.com