Starting Artists

The pop culture references are flying in this conversation with Sonya Ballantyne. From growing up on a reservation, desperately wanting better representation in the media she loved, to writing for a Walking Dead video game and creating pro wrestling-based films that marry her personal life with her undying love for the squared circle...Sonya's story is wonderful and winding.Touching on themes of the importance of representation, creating the stories you're not seeing in the world, hope, and endurance in the face of self-doubt and adversity...we also dig into everything from Star Wars to Property Brothers.Sonya sees inspiration everywhere. It's exciting to hear about her knack for turning it into something unique and personal.

I always want to be honest and vulnerable on this podcast, because that's where the real stuff is. The point of Starting Artists is helping other people who feel stuck, or need to make a next move, and just can’t quite make themselves do it. If I actually intend to be helpful, I have to let you know what I went through, what I worked through, and how far I've come since.That said, I think this is as close to a punctuation mark on the topic of me quitting my longtime job as I can give. I'll refer to my work, when it's necessary for a story. I may decide to dig deeper into a specific topic later, and that's fine.But I'm off and doing my own thing, working with marketing and production clients. Time has passed. I really have moved on and made progress.I don't want to whine about my ex-employer or get into territory where I'm too specific or personal. I don't hate anyone. I'm not spending my nights awake, sobbing over missed opportunities or perceived slights. My point is to analyze how and why I was stuck, what made it so hard to leave when I knew I needed to go, and how humiliated I felt for staying put for so long when I knew I was in a toxic relationship.I'm proud of this episode. I think it touches on some pretty raw, powerful stuff. I also hope digging into where I was and what I was feeling at my lowest professional point helps someone out there connect and draw inspiration from the fact that I did, finally, move onward and upward.Don’t just keep taking it.Don’t waste time blaming them.Don’t waste time blaming yourself.It won’t help.Plus, a teaser for the guest joining us on episode 12!

Paula Rogers, a writer, editor and illustrator whose work in print and radio has been featured by NPR, KQED in San Francisco, the Third Coast International Audio Festival and Salon.She wrote and edited the infographic guide to life, Show Me How, for which she and her cat also modeled for several illustrations! She’s a copywriter, an award-winning screenwriter, and just so happens to be the lead writer and story editor for the 2019 video game Neo Cab. She is also senior writer and narrative designer at game development company Sweet Baby, Inc. Paula recently launched a webcomic based on her experiences with online dating, Blind Data.

Tony and Paula's career paths have many interesting similarities, including public media, the early days of digital communication working in traditional media, art, Kim Belair's Rolodex, and more!

Inspired by his chat with Kim Belair last episode, Tony talks about his (extremely basic) experience in video game design. Crude as the games were, they were very moooooving. It's a medium that combines many creative and technical skills, and it's drawing diverse, new talent from a variety of interesting backgrounds.Explore themes of self-awareness, creativity in the face of intense frustration, the magic of weird jobs that require a mish-mash of abilities, choosing your own adventure, and more!Plus, a teaser for the guest joining us on episode 10!

My guest for the episode is Kim Belair, video game narrative writer and CEO of Sweet Baby, Inc., a black- and queer-owned narrative development company based in Montreal, working in both AAA (that's "big-name video games" in non-gamer speak) and independent spaces. Kim has had a fascinating journey as a writer in the video game world, and you don't need to be a grizzled gamer to take a lot of important lessons away from listening! In a candid conversation, she offers insight into her experiences as a black woman in an industry famous for toxicity and hostility - and how she ended up co-creating a company that welcomes fresh creative perspectives to the craft.

Inspired by his conversation with Izzy Searle last episode, Tony talks about a screenplay he wrote in college that won an award. He also goes into why these "monologue" episodes exist, describes the horrific suffering endured by his interns, and plays a bit of a Moxy Früvous song. Explore themes of authenticity, confidence, curmudgeonry, how to read a room, using the word "anyway" as a storytelling device to allow for some light digressions, and more!If anything, it's a lot shorter than any story he's ever told an intern.Also, a teaser for the guest joining us on episode 8!

My guest for the episode is Izzy Searle, a writer whose work has been published in multiple magazines and literary journals. Izzy loves writing theater, screenplays, and poetry, and is currently writing a new short play for professional production as part of the Pentabus Young Writers program. She’s written others, of course, one of which has been included in a book and an anthology of her poems is in the works!Izzy offers insight into how she handled getting started as a freelancer, work ethic, learning to identify good opportunities, and much more. So much already going, so much to come. She's a dynamo!

Tony talks about some first impressions (and important realizations) from the days he spent producing the digital-first micro-series, OUTNABOUT.  Sometimes, things work beautifully; others, you have to make them work.
Travel to Tony's favorite coffee and ice cream stops...and explore themes of authenticity, surprise and delight, what makes PBS cool, and taking a leap into new career waters because you just need out of what you've been doing.
Also, a teaser for the guest joining us on episode 6!

Kae Lani Palmisano is the Emmy-winning television host of Check, Please! Philly and the digital series Delishtory, produced by Terry Gross' frequent hangout, WHYY. She has been seen on numerous daytime talk shows nationwide. She’s a food and travel writer whose work has been published in Food & Wine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today.Kae Lani opens up about her life, obstacles she faced as a food and travel writer told she didn't "look the type," mental health, and how the difficult road that led her where she is today prepared her for pretty much anything. She's done a lot, seen a lot, and is only just getting started!

Tony takes you on a journey through lessons he learned from a creative writing workshop he was part of in 2021 called Writing Your Solo Show. It focused on autobiographical writing for stage or memoir and was the beginning of a much-needed career renaissance for (at least by default) your favorite host. Explore themes of authenticity and self-improvement, and maybe even find out how it all ties into Starting Artists and Tony's freelance brand, Spec Communications.