Inspirational conversations with personalities from the creative industry about pop culture, music, art, film, fashion, and entrepreneurship.

TRUE STORIES THAT LIGHT

THE WAY INTO THE FUTURE

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“It's all about storytelling. You have to know what makes the beats of a story arc work”

Jon S. Baird
Filmmaking

From BBC Television to Hollywood Movie Director, Golden Globe  nominee and BAFTA award winner, collaborations  with Martin Scorsese, Danny Boyle, Jim Carrey, Mick Jagger and a host of award winning actors, to being one of Britain's most exciting directorial talents.

“The better you do your job, the more invisible you as a designer become”

Malcolm Garrett 

Design

Professor Malcolm Garrett MBE RDI is a graphic designer who has mastered the art and science of creativity, as evidenced by a diverse portfolio that spans four decades creating landmark designs for musicians and bands, including Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Boy George, Peter Gabriel, Oasis, and Pulp, and done numerous innovative digital projects with Apple, Virgin, Warner Brothers, Transport for London, Design Manchester, and many more.  

“It’s never good to try to mimic or manufacture a style, because it needs to be authentic and develop naturally”

Anita Kunz 
Art 

Anita Kunz has created iconic art that has been internationally shown and published for four decades. She is famous for her covers for the New Yorker, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, the New York Times Magazine, and many others. Her work has appeared in numerous galleries and museums, and she has won many awards for it. 

“Commit and keep going because everyone is going to tell you why you can't do it”

Alan McGee

Label Management

Culture catalyst, music industry entrepreneur, record label owner, and artist manager Alan McGee founded Creation Records in 1983. He nurtured and brought to the masses multiple influential artists who inspired a generation - The Jesus and Mary Chain to Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, and Oasis.

“The harder you work the luckier you get”

Dave Cronen

Artist Management

From Virgin to Rough Trade, PIAS and Grand Royal Records, then Trust Management by guiding the careers of hundreds of revered artists that have influenced popular culture - The Beastie Boys to Johnny Marr, Ash, We Are Scientists, Dexys and Baxter Dury. Working with artists who received Ivor Novello Awards, Oscar nominations and NME Godlike Genius Awards. Mentoring the next generation of artists, producers and entrepreneurs at the Academy of Contemporary Music. 

“Think of yourself as an artist, first and foremost. Do what you do from an authentic place within yourself”

Martyn Ware  

Music

From forming the Human League, Heaven 17, and British Electric Foundation to record producer, entrepreneur, educator, and activist Martyn Ware is a musical pioneer who has featured on recordings totaling over 50 million sales worldwide across a career than spans four decades. 

“It's the power of being the outsider; looking left when others are looking right”

Clive Grinyer
Design

Design pioneer Clive Grinyer is an acknowledged expert in service design, design thinking, digital and technology innovation, and customer experience. He has led award-winning design teams for companies worldwide, including IDEO, and founded the consultancy Tangerine with Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive. He is a trustee of the Royal Society of Arts, a visiting professor at the Glasgow School of Art, and head of the pioneering service design program at the Royal College of Art in London. 

“Having a moral grounding as an entrepreneur provides you with an unlimited source for motivation”

Jonathan Burns
Fashion

Whilst studying for his degree at the Academy of Contemporary Music, Jonathan envisioned and brought to life an innovative venture by reimagining the sustainability and reusability challenges of the fashion industry in an ethical and respectful way. 

“Be open, determined, and willing to really push yourself and explore who you are as a person”

Cherry Valentine

Performance Art 

Growing up within a Roma Gypsy community in the North East of England fueled Cherry Valentine's creative instincts, a bias for adventure, and freedom for expression, to emerge as an influential voice in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community by combining life experience, curiosity, comedy, and satire into performance art. 

“You learn more from your mistakes than successes”

Ben Thornley

Production

Whilst travelling through America and stumbling upon Hollywood, taken aback and moved by the endless possibilities, it led him down the path he has since excelled in - creating inspired content for delivery over a global platform with thousands of clients from the rainforests of Madagascar to the streets of Mumbai, where his work  has been viewed by over a billion people.

“Know your craft, always come prepared, and bring your own unique perspective to the character”

Cathy Murphy

Acting

Actor Cathy Murphy, who has gone from being a student at the Sylvia Young Theatre School to Allan Clarke's Made in Britain, Stars of the Roller Skate Disco, Doctor Who, EastEnders, Holby City, Family Affairs, The Phantom of the Opera, Shameless, Extras, About A Boy, Misery, Two Woman, Once A Catholic and many more.

“Fight for the art against the tensions that counter it”

Mat Bancroft

Curation

From Johnny Marr's Art Director to being part of the curation team that organized and realized True Faith - an exhibition of the artistic legacy and influence of Joy Division and New Order exhibit at the Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester International Festival in 2017. Spearheaded various pop culture archives including the archives of Factory Records, Tony Wilson and Rob Gretton, and his current work on Derek Jarman’s archive for Art Fund UK.

“A positive mind makes better decisions”

Doviak             

Music

From high profile commercials and films to being Johnny Marr's co-producer. Melanie Isaac, Priya Panda and Benjamin Schoos' co-writer and producer. Mixing music for multiple up and coming bands, to being an acclaimed independent artist.