104: Creative Avenues in Writing and Producing

Catalyst is a Creative Industries podcast, from Chapman University. Each episode features Chapman students who have completed a Podcasting course through the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at the university. Students who had no podcasting experience or technical ability in the genre before taking the course were able to contribute all the segments to Catalyst this season with the goal being that they will take this ‘hands-on’ experience and carry it over to the launching of their very own series. Each episode of Season 12 will feature one to two different interviews conducted by CCI students, exploring different aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries.

This week we kick off the episode with Avery Grant and her interview with Andrew Grant, a writer and Creative Director at Alchemy, a narrative video game company. The pair discuss his nonlinear path from college, which started in investment banking, to where he is today working in the game industry. They tap into what lead to Andrew’s departure from banking, and how his journey to his current position, via the film industry first, has afforded him the opportunity to work on such narrative video game projects as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and, most recently, Star Trek: Resurgence. Listeners get an exclusive glimpse of the creative processes as they are when working with such large IPs in a video game context and gain invaluable insights and advice for aspiring creatives seeking to carve their path in the industry.

Our second episode of the week features Stone Roshell, who is currently the podcast producer for Yahoo Sports. Stone sits down with Harrison Gaushell to discuss how Stone found himself in the role of a producer, and what led him to his niche as a podcasting-focused creative. They discuss the balance between creating short-form (social media, reels, TikTok) and long-form (60+ minute podcasts) and how the need for both influences the making of the other. The two delve into what it is like working in a creative level at the head of a podcasting network, as well as how independent podcast shows are discovered and acquired by the larger network, and the subsequent effects on original content. They wrap up the conversation with an interesting discussion of how Stone hopes to eventually manage podcasts outside the realm of sports, and can see himself using the skills/knowledge gained working in the production of the podcast space to be taken to other fields/mediums.