Show Notes
Nick Bolton is an actor, writer, director and producer whose creative career has rarely followed a straight line. In this episode of Secret Creative Life, Nick talks about wishing he’d had the confidence to go freelance earlier, building Ten Alphas with his wife Jess, and balancing the work that pays the bills with the creative work that matters. We talk about the months of rejection before his short film Mate won the International Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand and was later longlisted for an Academy Award, the challenge of breaking into feature films, mentorship, putting your work out into the world, and why you only get better by doing. Nick also introduces us to the idea of “psychic income” — the rewards of a creative life that have nothing to do with money. And as Chair of Screen Illawarra, we talk about building a screen career outside Sydney and what the future could hold for filmmaking in the Illawarra. Links Ten Alphas Screen Illawarra
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What If You Created What You Wanted? | Tim Probert What happens when you stop trying to create what you think others want and start trusting your own creative instincts? Tim Probert is an illustrator, animator and graphic novelist, best known as the creator of Lightfall, the acclaimed fantasy graphic novel series. But building a creative career wasn't something Tim always believed was possible. From struggling to find work in New York to finding his voice as an artist, his journey has been shaped by rejection, self-doubt, persistence and a willingness to start again. In this episode of Secret Creative Life, Tim joins Adam Rainford to discuss his journey through illustration and animation, how Lightfall began as an animated project before finding its home as a graphic novel series, and what it takes to create something that feels genuinely your own. We explore the challenges of making a living as a creative, the importance of trusting your instincts, overcoming creative expectations, and the surprising ways a story can find its audience. A conversation about creativity, storytelling, finding your own voice, and building a career you once thought was impossible.
Favel Parrett is the award-winning Australian author of Past the Shallows, When the Night Comes, There Was Still Love, Wandi and Kimmi. In this episode, Favel talks about daydreaming as her creative superpower, becoming a writer, dealing with rejection, drafting again and again, and learning to trust a creative process that doesn’t always make sense while you’re inside it. We talk about the extraordinary journey of Past the Shallows, the role sensitivity plays in Favel’s work, writing scenes out of order, finding stories through memory, and the realities of building and sustaining a life as a writer. Favel also shares the simple question from her brother that helped change the direction of her career: “Somebody gets published, like, why not you?” We also hear about her new novel, One for Sorrow, coming in November through Hachette Australia — and discover the slightly unexpected creative pursuit Favel keeps just for herself. Secret Creative Life is a podcast about the lives behind the work. Mentioned in this episode: Men Without Women (1927) — Ernest Hemingway #FavelParrett #PastTheShallows #SecretCreativeLife #AustralianAuthor #AustralianLiterature #WritingProcess #CreativeProcess #OneForSorrow
Kelly Baigent has spent more than three decades working across animation and live-action filmmaking, with a career that has taken him from Walt Disney and Anastasia to Animal Logic, The Lego Batman Movie and the Peter Rabbit films. In this episode, Kelly talks about the people who shaped him, learning to deal with criticism, adapting as the industry changes, and what happened when he found himself directing on a live-action film set for the first time. We also talk about collaboration, Tales from Outer Suburbia, the value of the creative process itself, and the creative passion Kelly has quietly maintained outside his professional work. If you love animation, filmmaking, or simply hearing about the life behind the creative process, this is an in-depth conversation about more than 30 years spent making things — and what keeps a creative person making them.