138: Behind the Scenes of the Creative Industries

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 15 will feature one to two different interviews conducted by CCI students, exploring different aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries.

For our first interview this week we are joined by Erik Lund who hosts a fascinating interview with Anton Poriazov, a Bulgarian actor and bodybuilder whose credits span both Bulgarian and international feature films. Anton joins fresh from The Running Man gala in London and with upcoming projects including Nightingale and the TV series Torque on the horizon, making for a conversation that arrives at exactly the right moment in his career. The pair dig into what it actually looks like to balance so many creative industries at once, exploring how each one feeds and shapes the others in a cycle that seems to have no off switch. Anton's profile as a well-known public figure in Bulgaria also opens up a fascinating thread about celebrity in smaller national markets, and how that context breeds a humility and gratitude that stands out in any room.

Concluding the episode this week Tatum Behrens interviews Hannah Pierce, an Executive Assistant at Hybe America, the diversified entertainment and media company at the intersection of music, film, television, technology, and culture. They discuss Hannah’s career prior to landing the position at Hybe, and get into some candid talk about the unglamorous realities behind the spotlight. Hannah challenges the glossy narratives that define Hollywood's public image and makes a compelling case that the most essential work in entertainment is the work no one ever sees.