Advertise on podcast: Grit

Benjamin Southworth is a tech entrepreneur, speaker, writer and consultant with a background in startups, digital culture and innovation. In today's episode, we'll be discussing his insights on a wide range of topics including AI, startups, digital culture, and being off-grid.

This week we are trying a quite special experiment for Grit into a new frontier, we are talking or should I say chatting to the AI Large Language Model Application, Chat GPT. In this episode we discuss what Chat GPT is, how it evolved, the challenges it faces and all the challenges/ opportunities this brings to the creative industries.

Dr Hayley Lewis is an award-winning psychologist specialising in leadership and management behaviour and how this affects the culture and performance of teams and organisations. Hayley started her career at the BBC and then moved into local government where she held a variety of operational management and strategic leadership roles covering services such as organisational development, customer services, communications and digital services. She consults across all sectors, coaching and advising managers and leaders up to and including board level on issues such as improving workplace culture and increasing resilience. As well as running her consultancy and coaching practice, Hayley is also the programme director for the MRes in Professional Practice in Occupational Psychology, at Birkbeck College. She shares ideas and knowledge on LinkedIn and Twitter via her sketchnotes, which often go viral. In 2022, for the second year in a row, she was identified as one of the most influential thinkers in HR by HR Magazine. In this episode we discuss the principles of leadership and management, psychological safety in the workplace and all the challenges/ opportunities this brings to the creative industries.

Dines is a celebrated Creative Director and international keynote speaker based in London UK. He's currently active as Founder & Creative Director of multi award-winning creative agency STUDIO BLUP® London. Dines has had the pleasure of producing creative direction, brand consultancy and digital creations for a diverse array of companies and publications worldwide, and enjoys a collaborative relationship with many of the industry's top brands such as Universal Music, Nike, Adidas, Fifa, Levis, Hasbro, Sony Music and BBC. In this episode we discuss starting your own business, creativity, school grades and how to tap into the zeitgeist. 

Live Dale Fasting is a recent graduate , and is now working as a Production Manager for 00Nation. Having grown up on the internet, she never decided if she wanted to do music, film, tv, gaming, streaming or Youtube. With the media-industry evolving, 00Nation emerged, bringing the best of all youth culture and merging it. Being new in the business, she shares her experiences working in an ambitious start-up with the internet at its core.

John Robertson is an award-winning editorial photographer working for national and international newspapers and magazines. He supplies photos on a regular basis to The Guardian ,The Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald and many other newspapers since 1987. He also shoots commercial, PR, advertising, TV and film stills, stock and corporate photography. John is an Ambassador for Manfrotto, who he regularly writes articles and photographs for. He has worked with the photographic equipment firms Sigma and Interfit and continues to supply both video and photos for national charities, including Alzheimers Research and Cliksargent.

Alison Grade, spent 15 years working at senior level in many media companies — predominantly in international television and film production, rights management and strategy — but she also has formal academic training and is a Nesta-accredited Creative Enterprise Trainer. Alison is also an entrepreneur who has established her own businesses and is in high demand by many creative businesses as a consultant and non-exec. She is also in demand teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs how to turn their creative passion into a career — hence the publication of her Penguin book The Freelance Bible in early 2020. The book covers starting from day one as a freelance, helping you develop your personal brand, pick up the financial essentials, grow your client base, manage your work — life balance, negotiate deals and value your time as you become more established. The Freelance Bible is your complete guide to turning your talent into a fulfilling and sustainable career. In this episode we discuss in detail insights, tactics and things to consider in being a successful freelancer. Alison brings important perspectives that can help new and established freelancers up their game in the competitive world of the creative industries. FInd out more: alisongrade.com

An expert in 3D and XR technology, Taran has more than 15 years experience researching & developing cutting edge immersive applications for a range of sectors including heritage, arts and culture. He heads up an innovative, passionate team that collaborates with clients to bridge the digital divide, bringing their projects to life and improving audience engagement. Digital creative storytelling is at the heart of Taran3D and they use their vast XR skills to tell stories, show projects or bring lost relics back to life. All digitally reimagined on any screen or in the palm of your hand. Taran’s vision is to make immersive technology accessible for all and is committed to supporting individuals, businesses and industries explore the awe-inspiring world XR and understanding the benefits it can bring. Taran has spearheaded projects bringing museum and gallery spaces to life digitally specifically, the Anglo Sikh Virtual Museum.

Matt Campion is the Founder & Creative Director of Spirit & #IAMWHOLE. Spirit Studios is a purpose-driven content business on a mission to effect change through entertainment and storytelling. Creating and distributing ‘Content With Spirit’, their TV, digital, audio and branded output aims to positively impact people’s lives through entertainment. Matt’s work at Spirit includesThe Stand Up Sketch Show for ITV, Comedy Against Living Miserably for Dave/UKTV, BAMOUS, SHAMED: You Are What You Tweet and Instagrammification for BBC, Trigger Happy, The Whole Truth and First Impressions for Channel4. Along with podcasts Private Parts with Jamie Laing & Francis Boulle; Teenage Mixtape with Joel Dommett & Steve Dunne; Homo Sapiens; Vicky Pattison’s The Secret To…, Russell Kane’s Man Baggage and ‘UOKM8’ with the LADbible Group. In this episode we talk about how to develop format ideas, grow an audience and navigate the ever changing landscape of the content creation space.

Dr Neil Fox is an Associate Professor of Film Practice and Pedagogy at Falmouth University in UK. He leads the Sound/Image Cinema Lab, a multifaceted partner, funder, resource and research centre dedicated to the production and education of independent cinema. In 2020 the Lab won an innovative pedagogy award at the University Industry Innovation Network. The Lab has been involved in feature films including Bait (dir. Mark Jenkin, 2018) and Make Up (dir. Clare Oakley, 2019). He wrote and produced feature film 'Wilderness' which was funded by The School of Film & Television as part of an innovative micro-budget filmmaking model developed. The film was picked up for distribution by Sparky Pictures and released digitally around the world in April 2021. He is also the co-founder and host of the acclaimed film podcast The Cinematologists in partnership with Dr. Dario Llinares at the University of Brighton. Mark Kermode says "for intelligent, informed cinema debate, The Cinematologists are hard to beat" and Sight & Sound call it "consistently one of the finest film podcasts around. In this episode we discuss the delicate balance between media education and professional practice.

Nicole Kassell is an award-winning film and television director based in New York City. She received a BA from Columbia University in Art History and an MFA from NYU’s Film Program, and her first feature film “The Woodsman” premiered in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Kassell also directs episodic television, including acclaimed series Westworld, Castle Rock, Better Call Saul, The Leftovers, The Killing, The Americans and The Following. In January 2020, Kassell won the Directors Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series for directing the Watchmen episode “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice”. In this episode we deep dive into the role of the director, coverage of a scene, how to set the tone on set and within your work and lots about Nicole’s own journey from film student to award winning director.

Steve is a partner and Head of Creative, Digital and Marketing sector at BLM law firm in Manchester. He specialises in Intellectual Property, Media, Social Media, Marketing and Privacy Law. He works mainly in the Media, Digital, Creative, Film, Television, Publishing, Advertising and PR sectors. He’s a regular media spokesperson, and has given interviews to the local and national press through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London. He’s been featured in the Times, Financial Times, Daily Star, Manchester Evening News, GM Business Week, Computer Weekly, PR Week, Insider, Credit Today, Information World Review, Prolific North, Sky Movie News, UK Screen, Financial Director, TSG Life and OUT-LAW. Steve’s first Book, “Legal Issues of Web 2.0 and Social Media”, was published in June 2010, and his second “Legal Issues Of Corporate Communication in the Online World” in July 2011. In this episode we discuss the legal arenas that face creators, particularly copyright, distribution and areas that often affect creatives in the business side of the creative industries.