Creative Chit Chat - Dundee

From Survivor to Superman to Schemers Angie has an impressive back catalogue of project but is now in Dundee as a script supervisor for Dundee’s first feature film, Schemers. Originally from Australia Angie was attracted over here by the film and TV industry and the sheer number of UK productions. She has a seriously impressive roster of projects under her belt including Peter Pan, Happy Feet 2 and Superman Returns. We chat about what it’s like to work alongside some big superstars like Tom Hardy on Mad Max Fury Road. The project that has brought Angie to Dundee is the Schemers film: Dundee’s first feature length film that is currently in post production. Everything I’ve seen or heard about it so far has been really positive and I’m excited to see the final product. There’s not a lot of information in the public domain at the moment but check out the links below to get a little behind the scenes peek. Angie’s career hasn’t always been high profile movies and TV shows though. We cover how she got her sta

Malath is a brilliant artist, producer and games designer championing collaboration. We chat through his journey to Dundee from Baghdad to forming Biome games collective in Dundee. After moving Liverpool in 1991 Mal found his love of computer games through PC gaming titles like DOOM when he was at school. He then recalls saving up hard to get his hands on his first console, the playstation. After technology and gaming captured his interest he decided to study programming at university and then went on to work at several different games companies. Mal first came to Dundee for the Dare to be Digital festival and a while later decided to create a company with a model to challenge traditional games companies. He co-founded Biome collective - A co-working space and company for people who want to create, collaborate and explore games, digital art and technology. Although games is primarily what Biome works on they tend to explore a much more experimental and more art based practice. It’s great to see someone cha

Welcome back to series 2 of the podcast. After a bit of a summer break I'm back and feeling refreshed. There's loads of great things lined up for the coming weeks but to get us started it's the last of the batch of recordings from Punch In/Punch Out at the Dundee Design Festival. If you haven't listen to one before it's a collection of mini chats with the visitors to this year's Dundee Design Festival at West Ward Works. There was an amazing range of people at the festival and these episodes document some really interesting insights into their working practices and thoughts on life. I'd also like to say thanks to this week's sponsor - Joan Clevillé Dance and their production of The North on at Dundee Rep Theatre on Saturday the 30th of September at 8pm. The performance will be BSL interpreted by Jennifer Ramsay and you can join the discussion with Joan and the dancers after the show. You can book tickets here: http://cccdundee.com/thenorth Or give Dundee Rep Theatre a call on 01382 223 530 Here's a little

Clare has been curator of Abertay University’s Hannah Maclure Centre for the past 6 years as well as lecturing and working on many other projects including Neon Digital Arts Festival. Originally she graduated in fine art pursuing a career in painting but found herself being drawn towards the curation of others. She confesses that this is probably partly down to her desire to be around great people and not tucked away in a solitary studio. I can definitely relate to that, I don’t think I’d be able to run Slurpp from a bedroom in my house. I enjoy being around people to bounce ideas off or just talk nonsense around the lunch table with. For me I think that comes from having previously worked at an agency but it’s something that co-working spaces are great for. During our chat Clare says she constantly feels like an imposter as if someone is going to tap her on the shoulder and tell her the game is up. This is definitely a common thread from people who have been on the podcast and I think it boils down to push

This week it’s the turn of Clive Gillman, Director of Creative Industries at Creative Scotland, to take the guest seat on the podcast. I’m sure many of you will know him from his 10 years at the helm of the DCA. His journey has taken him from London to Liverpool to Dundee and now Edinburgh. As we chatted about his life and his journey it was clear to see that Dundee has had a profound impact on his life and the time he spent at the DCA is very close to his heart. He speaks fondly of the city, describing it as nugget sized but encrusted with fine jewels, which is a beautiful little analogy. I’m sure a few of you will have heard me banging on about the fact that we should all just go and ‘make more stupid shit’. I was really pleased to hear that Clive has a parallel view that ‘the most important things in life are useless’. OK so maybe not completely useless but that maybe we should just take life a little less seriously and have a bit more fun. It’s definitely something that I try to encourage. We should all

Lauren is a service designer and describes herself as an ‘Ambassador of people’. She’s already had a pretty glittering career being named in Elle’s top 30 women under 30 and bagging an OBE in the Queen’s latest honours list. She studied product design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee the year above me. She also went on to do a Masters in Design where it allowed her to focus on Service Design. At that time it was very much an emerging discipline and you could argue it still is today. After university Lauren has gone on to a multitude of successes. Co-founding Snook, one of Scotland’s first Service Design agencies and then moving through a few positions until starting her current post at The Good Lab - A collaboration of 12 of the UK’s best-known charities looking at new and innovative ways of raising funds. What strikes me about Lauren is her drive and determination to make change for the better. To stand up against the issues that she is passionate about and really make a differen

This week’s guest is Colin Gray who runs The Podcast Host, a content platform and series of podcasts that teach people how to podcast. I think I first came across Colin’s website when I was looking to set up Creative Chit Chat and read a few of his articles around equipment. Thing is, I had no idea that he was based here in Dundee! The majority of his audience and target market are based in America as the podcasting market is gigantic over there. The website is just an amazing source of content whether your’e looking to start up podcasting or develop and further an existing podcast. A lot of the content is available for free but they also offer courses and 1-1 tuition to help you build your podcast and your audience whether you’re doing it from your bedroom or creating it for education or business. When I found out Colin was based in Dundee I just had to get him on. He was kind enough to let us do the recording at his studio in Meadowmill and we did 2 recordings back to back. 1 for CCCDundee and 1 for Podcraf

Kirsty runs Charcot a design label inspired by the neurological condition Multiple Sclerosis. Since her diagnosis 10 years ago she has been using her MRI scans, thoughts, feelings and experiences with the disease to drive her creative work. Her focus is to raise awareness about MS using her creations and help make conversations easier about the disease. We had a really inspirational chat around how MS has affected her life and how she has take so much positivity from a dark situation. Kirsty's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mskirstystevens/ Kirsty's Twitter - https://twitter.com/mskirstystevens MS - Multiple Sclerosis - http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Multiple-sclerosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx Tatty Devine - https://www.tattydevine.com/ Vanilla Ink - http://www.vanillainkstudios.co.uk/ Charcot - https://www.charcot.co.uk/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/charcotstudio/

Finlay is probably best known for the success of his Kilted Yoga video pulling in over 53million views. We chat about the opportunities this has created and how he has built and maintained a massive social following. Beyond that he runs Heartspace Yoga in Dundee as well as Heartspace Wholefoods store. Even if you're not into yoga, Finlay's journey is fascinating. Kilted Yoga Video - https://www.facebook.com/bbcthree/videos/1085397204904035/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE Finlay’s instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finlay0901/ Heartspace - http://yoga.heartspacedundee.co.uk/ Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/Finlay0901 Website - http://www.finlay-wilson.com/ Finlay’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/Scottishyogaboy Finlay’s Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/FinlayTWilson Kilted yoga 2 video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_YO010xXRA

Shafeeq, Nathan & Gary started the menswear brand and store Cartoon a few years ago. They now have a store situated across from the DCA, a beautifully curated space with well designed quality products and a relaxed atmosphere. We did a bit of a round the mic with all 4 of us chatting about their joinery from initial brainstorming to creating the actual store itself. We also touch on their thoughts on the independent retailer scene in Dundee and why we should encourage more people to have physical shops. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartoconstore/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CartoconStore Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cartocon

The second in the series from the installation at West Ward Works for the Dundee Design Festival 2017. It's been great fun editing all the mini conversations together and I've worked out there's enough content to create 4 individual episodes but I'll be keeping a hold of numbers 3 and 4 to put them out in a few weeks time. Again I'd like to say thanks to Ed Broughton for help with the recording setup and Lyall Bruce and Kate Saunderson for helping with the recordings.

As part of this year's Dundee Design Festival I created an installation of the podcast called Punch In/Punch Out. In the same way that Creative Chit Chat captures the thoughts and opinions of creatives and designers in and around Dundee, I wanted to capture the thoughts of the people on the factory floor at the design festival. This is the first episode in a series of podcasts collating over 100 chats that were captured during the festival. Visitors selected a question card from the rack and then they used the Punch In machine. We had a chat for a few minutes around the topic or question on the card before they had the opportunity to add their own question to the rack and finally Punch Out. I'd like to say thanks to Ed Broughton for help with the recording setup and Lyall Bruce and Kate Saunderson for helping with the recordings.

I had a brilliantly upbeat chat with Raz about his wide and varied career. I actually just caught him the day before he moved on to start his next chapter down in Manchester. We chat about how he’s gone through life bouncing from coincidences to chance meetings to serendipitous events. There’s so many nice insights into his life creative process in the episode and he’s also got a really great analogy of the Dundee creative scene.

Colin is the MD of Denki games and has worked on some amazing titles including Lemmings and GTA. After going on a bit of an unusual journey he seemed to fall into sound design for games and has released hundreds of titles. Denki Website - http://www.denki.co.uk/ Denki Twitter - https://twitter.com/denkigames Colin's twitter - https://twitter.com/denkicolin Colin's Pecha Kucha - http://creativedundee.com/2017/01/colin-anderson-pkn/ Colin's music - https://soundcloud.com/pilotnotflying

Grant is a freelance web developer who decided just over a year ago that he was going to pack up his life into 1 bag and tour round Europe. We talk about his journey over the past year and how he made it work travelling and working all around the continent. Grant’s website - https://grant.codes/ Grant’s twitter - https://twitter.com/grantcodes/ Grant's Pecha Kucha - http://creativedundee.com/2016/03/grant-richmond-pkn/ Makerspace Dundee - https://dundeemakerspace.co.uk/ Sandwich festival in Porto - https://www.travioor.com/events/portugal/porto/francesinha-festival Todomaps - todomaps.xyz

This week I chat to Fiona Munro who has been on a remarkable journey after being diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She used her blog and social media to document her thoughts, feelings, treatment and operations, with absolute honest and positivity. This is without doubt the most uplifting conversation I've ever had about cancer. D:screen - Mon 8th May @ The Vision building screening 'Made You Look' - http://dscreen.co.uk for more details Fiona’s Blog/Website - https://fkmunro.com/ Fiona’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/fkmunro Fiona’s Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/thefkmunroblog/ Belly drawing video - https://fkmunro.com/2016/05/03/surgery-update-video/** Kris Carr - http://kriscarr.com/recipes/ I quit sugar - https://iquitsugar.com/ Random acts of kindness - https://fkmunro.com/kindness-2/ The power of kindness - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Kindness-Unexpected-Benefits-Compassionate/dp/1585425885 My Digital Death - BBC mini documentary featuring Fiona - http://www.bbc.co.uk/progra

While on holiday in Kitzbuhel, Austria I decided to do the podcast's first ever roundtable with a bunch of good friends. I only had time to ask a few questions but we chat about education, life, happiness and more. Join the facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/cccdundee Dave Goodchild Lead Developer @ Gyron Internet - Data centre provider working from Zaragoza, Spain https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlgoodchild/ Ross Forrest User Experience Architect @ Human Thinking - UX agency in London https://www.instagram.com/rssfrrst/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rssfrrst/ John Crowe Senior QA Engineer @ The Foundry - VFX company in London https://www.instagram.com/crowe.jonathan/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrowedesign/ Mike Findlater Architectural designer based in Dundee running Notio Studio and working with Carbon Dynamic who design and build modular, low energy buildings. http://www.notiostudio.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/notiostudio Clare Hanlon Digital account manager @ Frame Digital - Design agency in

Gillian works tirelessly to support, nuture and promote creative talent as director of Creative Dundee. It took a little convincing to get her on the podcast but it was well worth the effort. We go on another journey from past to present and then future. Dipping into murmurations, being organised and the real strengths that Dundee has along the way. Creative Chit Chat Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/cccdundee/ Gillian’s twitter - https://twitter.com/gillianeasson Gillian’s website - http://www.gillianeasson.com/ Creative Dundee Website - http://creativedundee.com/ Creative Dundee Twitter - https://twitter.com/Creative_Dundee Creative Dundee Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/creativedundee Creative Dundee Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/creativedundee/ Pecha Kucha - http://creativedundee.com/pecha-kucha-night-dundee/ Make Share - http://creativedundee.com/makeshare-monthly/ Claire Dufour - https://twitter.com/byricohet Diarmid McKinnon - https://twitter.com/diarmid_pr The Moth Po

From Ferrara to Dundee Sofia chats about how she has built up her illustration career over the past few years. We also talk about the brilliant DCA Thomson exhibition she was part of and the thought process behind her piece. Creative Dundee V&A tour - https://www.facebook.com/creativedundee/videos/1373668582700330 Gary Gowans V&A Wars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVv2NxA8UO4 Sofia's Twitter - https://twitter.com/sofiasita2 Sofia's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sita_sofia/ Sofia's Website - http://sofiasita.com/ Sofia's Behance - https://www.behance.net/sofiasita Skillshare - skillshare.com Graphic Designers Market book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/ Artists-Graphic-Designers-Market-2017-ebook/dp/B01N5F21IF/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&i.e.=UTF8&qid=1488047665&sr=1-1&keywords=2017+Artist%27s+%26+Graphic+Designer%27s+Market DCA Thomson Exhibition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-8HFamRLTs Forgan Arts Centre (Where Sofia does illustration workshops)- http://forganartscentre.co.uk/

It's the turn of fellow podcaster and documentary film maker Sam Gonçalves this week. We chat about some of the ins and outs of podcasting as well as going into depth about the theme of his film Lifespan of Utopias. I think I can safely say this is one of the most laid back and enjoyable chats I've had so far. Everything mixtape - https://soundcloud.com/everythingmixtape Everything mixtape twitter - https://twitter.com/mixtapeofthings Sam's Twitter - https://twitter.com/sidlingbears Sam's Website - http://samgoncalves.com/ Lifespan of Utopias - https://vimeo.com/179655338 Coletivo , Sam’s Brasil based documentary - https://vimeo.com/118875059 Sam’s Pecha Kucha - http://creativedundee.com/2015/03/sam-goncalves-pkn/ Hot Chocolate - http://www.hotchocolate.org.uk/ Adam Curtis - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193231/ Mark Cousins - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0184108/ Hayden White - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayden_White Your idea is worthless - https://seanwes.com/tv/053-your-idea-is-worthless/ Where is Ri