We have the pleasure of sharing the adventures of Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam -- from pioneering visual effects in India to founding her studio, Dancing Atoms, and mentoring future talents. From her early beginnings in the visual effects industry

A Creative Maestro: Mark Brymer Talks Show Production and Choral Arranging

Dec 13th, 2023 39m 47s

I'm joined by the multitalented Mark Brymer, a creative entrepreneur with hands-on expertise in turning musical concepts into spectacular shows. Mark brings a wealth of experience — from arranging a vast collection (400,000) of choral pieces w

From Immersive Theater to VR Innovation: Deirdre V. Lyons' Journey

Dec 12th, 2023 49m 49s

Today's guest is a true pioneer in the burgeoning field of virtual reality theater: Deirdre V. Lyons. She'll share her groundbreaking work in VR at the Ferryman Collective, such as her innovative productions like "Welcome to Respite" and "Gumb

Risk, Reward, and Representation in Hollywood with Harry Abrams

Dec 11th, 2023 37m 17s

In this conversation, we are joined by a long-time innovator and entrepreneur in talent management — Harry Abrams. At the venerable age of 88, Harry reflects on a career where passion eclipsed paychecks, taking a step into adventure from lawnmo

Creating New Musical Instruments . . . with Mike Butera

Nov 20th, 2023 52m 47s

Mike Butera has gone on some intriguing journeys, connecting music performance passions, philosophy and sound studies, and tech in creating new musical instruments for regular people to get into music. He shares his path to launching Artiphon

Discovering New Artists and Building Your Own Path . . . with Jason Kramer

Nov 20th, 2023 59m 18s

Jason Kramer shares his journey to being an EMT during the AIDS Epidemic, LA Riots, and Northridge Earthquake to Fox Sports to KLOS and KCRW. He talks about the magic of Sunday nights, how he created and drove his own luck through persistent w

Building VR Community through Learning . . . with Dominique Wu

Nov 6th, 2023 50m 12s

Dominique Wu is a real leader in bringing together education and VR for regular people. She's created the XReality Pro program. She'll talk about what it's like to be an immigrant in the United States as a creative, a different story than we've

If I'm Going to Keep Evolving . . . with Peter Kiesewalter, The Moth Project

Oct 23rd, 2023 56m 30s

Peter Kiesewalter creates at the divergent edge -- at the intersection of art and science. In this case, he's working at the edge of ecology and biology along with music and location-based entertainment with The Moth Project. It's a live experi

Ask the Right Questions . . . with Isaac Saldana, Memo

Oct 16th, 2023 42m 45s

Isaac Saldana leans on two core values: asking the right questions and humility. Along with a good friend, he launched several companies. And several failed -- until he launched SendGrid in 2009. After learning to hire up with strong CEOs, the

New Markets, Bold Choices . . . with Miki Agrawal

Oct 9th, 2023 44m 54s

Some guests have a LOT of gumption and energy to create new. Miki is releasing her first album now. But over time, she has launched new companies and created new spaces. Some of the road has been bumpy and some has developed whole new categorie

Bonus

Knocking Down Boundaries . . . with Jordy Freed

May 2nd, 2023 49m 12s

Jordy Freed from Sony Corporation of America shared his journey from jazz saxophone and building websites to public relations and marketing. Twists and turns took him to radio, Blue Note, Grey Advertising, and finally to Sony. He shares the sto

Seek Out Creative Opportunities…with Mark Harper

Mar 1st, 2023 49m 5s

"I had no idea what I was doing." Mark Harper shares his story of going from ROTC to Combat Camera (leading teams of combat photographers) to Technicolor to high-end headphones to joining a startup military channel. He talked about each time w

Bonus

I fell in love with IP…with Mike Huppe, SoundExchange - Innovating Music

Mar 1st, 2023 37m 40s

Michael Huppe, CEO of SoundExchange, fell in love with IP and came into music through law. He had played keyboard and trombone as a young person and ended up at the Recording Industry Association of America, which led him to SoundExchange. He s

Creativity, Branding, Muppets, Yo Gabba Gabba, and other Career Adventures

Jan 19th, 2023 1h 3m

Mike Polis started and ended with animation and graphic novels and cool creative content. In between, he has run marketing for Yo Gabba Gabba, Jim Henson, and other adventures. Mike shares his stories of how he moved from desktop publishing aft

I didn’t just have one thing . . . with Lafiya Watson Ramirez

Nov 28th, 2022 38m 51s

From photography to musician websites to Flash to now AR, Lafiya Watson Ramirez combines visual and experience creation with storytelling. She tells her own story about how she moved from photography to web and interactive design into being in

Bonus

Bonus: Postcard Moments . . . with Gigi Johnson

Nov 18th, 2022 6m 11s

We are in post-production on new episodes, so our host, Gigi Johnson, shared a story about "Postcards" and Postcard Moments that has come up in prior episodes and in many recent conversations. She shares how a single postcard created a pivot th

Simplifying Complexity for Indie Labels

Nov 3rd, 2022 38m 43s

Bruno shares his saga from playing the drums and enjoying international music, mixing songs and culture from Tunisia, France, and LA. Those facets led to studying at UCLA Ethnomusicology, becoming a DJ at KCRW, and building a record label in hi

Educated Luck and Building Digital Bridges . . . with Dick Huey

Oct 20th, 2022 1h 3m

[Enjoy our podcast this week that we share with our sister Maremel Network podcast, Innovating Music, that has just launched its fifth year.]Dick Huey claims that his career jumps have been "educated luck." "Because they they are luck. And I

Architecture, Mars, and VR . . . with Alfredo Muñoz

May 5th, 2022 51m 15s

Questions: How do we design for extreme conditions and resource challenges? Is that for Mars or Earth?Guest: Alfredo Muñoz, Architect; Founder; Onteco; Founder, ABIBOO Studio; Chair for Memberships of the Technical Committee of Space Architect

Out on a Limb . . . with Darryl Hurs

Apr 28th, 2022 47m 43s

Question: How can you build a rich creative life based on referrals and going out on a limb? Guest: Darryl Hurs, Owner/CEO, Indie Week; Managing Director, Downtown Canada; Director, Market Development, Canada, CD Baby; Educator, Harris Institut

Music + India . . . .plus Ritnika Nayan

Apr 22nd, 2022 29m 39s

Question: How do you connect independent artists and music business in India as a young woman?Guest: Ritnika Nayan, Managing Director, Downtown India; Owner: Music Gets Me HighRitnika Nayan shares stories about her passion: helping indie artist

Building Campfires . . . with Arturo O'Farrill

Apr 15th, 2022 40m 5s

Question: How can you build campfires, mixing music and social activism?Guest: Arturo O'Farrill, Founder, Artistic Director, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; Professor, Global Jazz Studies, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Associate Dean for Equi

Asking for What You Want . . . with Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia

Apr 7th, 2022 40m 36s

Question: What can you do with focus on drive in both toys and STEM? And what can a persistent Shirin Salemnia do? Guest: Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia, Founder and CEO, WhizGirls Academy and PlayWerksShirin shares a passionate tale of drive, succ

Making Sense Backwards . . . with Jeremy Yuille, Meld Studios

Apr 1st, 2022 49m

Question: How can life make better sense backwards? How can we weave together arts, spatial sound, architecture, and organizational change?Jeremy Yuille, with Meld Studios in Melbourne, Australia, works with organizations to transform how they

AR and Love of the Lab . . . with Ippolito Caradonna

Mar 25th, 2022 35m 4s

Question: How can we use Augmented Reality to enhance the practice of collaborative biology? Guest: Ippolito Caradonna, Co-Founder/CEO, Aug Lab; Director, HoloPracticeIppolito Caradonna mixes his love for biology with his background in film an