Grit

Prior to starting Season 3 of Grit, I caught up with Martin Ruby of Songbird Podcast for a little chat about the joy of podcasting.

Zoë is part of the writing team for Netflix’s new show Zero Chill. She also writes for Netflix teen-drama Free Rein and is a regular writer for Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, having written over 40 episodes. Zoë also writes for children’s drama such as CBBC and Netflix’s Worst Witch, CBBC’s The Dumping Ground and Disney’s comedy-drama-musical The Lodge.

Zoë’s acting career has seen her star as a series regular Zoe Carpenter in Hollyoaks, web series Staff Room and numerous other roles and voiceover work.

In this episode we discuss the writing process for a series and working in a writing team, with story conferences and pitching your ideas in the room to get episodes commissioned. We also explore acting jobs that required jumping out of planes and being entirely digitised for a smartphone app. Enjoy!

Zillah is an Emmy-nominated creative leader and strategist with a long and varied professional life in the media industry. Most recently as the Director of Content at Satore Studio.

She was Commissioning Editor for Virtual Reality at the BBC and headed up the BBC VR Hub following being the Executive Editor for BBC Research & Development.

In this episode we discuss innovation within media and journalism, how VR can change both the creative and production process along with the importance of critical thinking with emergent technology. 

Lovise graduated a bachelor in media production in 2019 with internships at Kitchen in Oslo and Motlys on the NRK series Heimebane.

Throughout her studies and upon graduation she worked as a web designer at Smart Media. She is now working as a UI/UX Designer at TRY Pearl in Oslo.

In this episode we talk about the important and multi-faceted role of a UI/UX Designer, starting out in the industry, growing as a media professional and continuous development.

Daniel Stewart trained at the esteemed California Institute of the Arts in LA, where he continued to live and work in film and television, then extensively in regional theatre (On and off Broadway) in NYC, along with a thriving career as a go to Brit for voice over work. 

He returned to the UK in recent years with shows in The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, The National Theatre and The West End. 

He has co-starred as a series regular alongside his father, Sir Patrick Stewart in the Starz series Blunt Talk and is the co-host of the esteemed podcast series The Foxhole Companion, a compelling history of World War 2 cinema. 

In this episode we talk to Daniel about growing up surrounded by acting royalty, the differences between US and British approaches to acting, the future of the arts and the role of the jobbing actor.

Tet Kofi is a director of Journolink, a service which helps to seamlessly link journalists with small business experts when they need them,  and a working broadcast journalist. He has consulted as a crisis management expert for UK and European multinationals and trains senior execs in media management and presentation. He started in journalism at the BBC World Service.

In this episode we talk to Tet about the relationship between journalism and public relations and how the two are not as different as people think, the importance of media’s role in diversity representation and how often that is not discussed in a meaningful and truthful way.

Sumo’s work can be seen all around Luxembourg, but also in numerous cities around the world. Although an important, formative stage in his artistic development, graffiti and street art are merely one aspect of Sumo’s work on images. Bursting with statements, slogans, motifs, and intense colours, Sumo’s compositions represent an abstract documentation of moments. 

In this episode, we talk about how Sumo’s early work led to his emergence as a renowned artist in his own right. How he learned the art of selling from the Wolf of Wall St and the benefits of e-commerce for independent creatives.

Simon Dean is the Creative Director and Founder of Spark & Glory, a short form branded content production studio that specialises in creative seamless 360º Marketing and

Simon has had a long and fruitful career as a Creative Director for WarnerMedia, Walt Disney Company, and Bloomberg TV.

In this episode, Simon talks about the role of the Creative Director in shepherding creative projects with production and marketing departments, the importance of being 50% creative, 50% organised, and truly understanding audience, platform, and storytelling.

Adam Richardson has been cutting films for the UK’s major broadcasters for over 20 years. He specialises in documentary and current affairs, working on BBC investigative documentary series Panorama and Channel Four’s Dispatches. His films cover a broad range from investigative exposes, drama reconstructions, and undercover stings to archive-driven narratives. 

In this episode, we talk about the role of the film editor, the art and craft of editing, and debate the skills and tools of the job.

Matt Cuttle is an award-winning multi-skilled senior producer working in the entertainment and video game industry. He works as an Executive Producer for ADVNCR formulating and producing online streams, video content, and eSports events.

In this episode, we talk about the role of the exec producer and content creator in the realm of live streaming, the gaming community, and brand communications. A great listen for people wanting to work in an innovative and exciting part of digital content creation.