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Creative Innovators with Gigi Johnson

Creative Innovators with Gigi Johnson

Written by: Rethink Next LLC
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The Creative Innovators Podcast, hosted by Dr. Gigi Johnson, explored how creative leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers reinvent their work and careers. Across 49 episodes, we captured candid conversations on nonlinear careers, creative pivots, music innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience.


This archive preserves those conversations for new audiences, students, and partners who want to learn from real-world stories of adaptation and reinvention.


These conversations connect directly to Rethink Next’s broader work—live events, ebooks, interactive labs—helping you discover new ways to rethink your own next chapter.


Explore the archive at CreativeInnovatorsPodcast.com and join us at RethinkNextLab.com for what’s next.

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Episodes
  • Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam on Women in Animation and Global Storytelling

    Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam on Women in Animation and Global Storytelling
    Dec 14 2023
    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 in India, Vani's drive and curiosity propelled her into careers at Rhythm & Hues and DreamWorks. Vani founded Dancing Atoms, a boutique studio that focuses on representing India and Southeast Asia, with a vision for bringing culturally unique content to a global audience.Join us as she shares her adventures in trust and transitions from visual effects to documentary filmmaking and children’s programming -- and building women’s creative leadership opportunities like the Woman Creators Program in collaboration with Epic Games. Guest: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam, CEO/Creative Director, Dancing Atoms; Creative producer, Creator and Consultant; Head of the Women in Animation (WIA) India Collective, President of ASIFA India and founder of Epic’s Women Creators ProgramSaraswathi ‘Vani’ Balgam is an Indian-born writer, director, self-taught photographer, and filmmaker. Her Indian and Southeast Asian cultural heritage and her experiences and memories from being an avid global traveler help her portray common humanity and unique journeys within her characters and stories. Her exposure to the film industry started at a young age when her father started a 2D animation studio within their family home, intending to create films that involved rich Indian culture and heritage for a global audience. This foundation of creativity is from her father, as well as her mother who is also vividly creative. While Vani started her career as a business development executive for CMM Studios Limited in Mumbai, India, she slowly rose through the ranks within the Southeast Asian film scene and was appointed as Executive Director and Founder of the Rhythm and Hues Asian Studios. While executive director, she managed employees across four studios in Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Taiwan which produced VFX for many major Hollywood films, such as ‘Life of Pi’, and ‘The Golden Compass’, which each won Rhythm and Hues Studios the Academy Awards for Best VFX in 2013 and 2008 respectively. Vani also served as the Head of Creative Management and Training for Dreamworks Studios in Shanghai, China. Vani founded Dancing Atoms Studio in 2015 to create amazing stories with unforgettable and different characters. She actively encourages community development all around the world. She is currently the president of Women in Animation - India Collective. She was also the president of Asifa India, a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to the art of animation for over two decades. Vani has been a mentor for several Epic Games Unreal Engine Fellowships programs and has produced over 120+ short films. Vani coined the Unreal Epic Games Women Creators Program for India & SE Asia intending to inspire and train women creators and form a community of creators. She was also the Creative Program Director of the UEFN Women Creators Program.Links:Dancing Atoms: https://www.dancingatoms.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancingatoms1/ Vani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanibalgam/ IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3752718 2021 Article: https://www.animationxpress.com/animation/saraswathi-vani-balgam-delves-about-her-journey-current-projects-and-everything-in-between/2023 Animation World Network: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/saraswathi-buyyala-balgam-unreal-engine-paving-way-women-creators Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    45 mins
  • A Creative Maestro - Mark Brymer Talks Show Production and Choral Arranging

    A Creative Maestro - Mark Brymer Talks Show Production and Choral Arranging
    Dec 13 2023

    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 with Hal Leonard to producing dazzling shows in theme parks. We’ll get a deeper look at his journey from high school passion to creating WOW! Entertainment and its creative team. Alongside his success, Mark's story is one of adaptation, learning, and consistent building.


    Guest: Mark Brymer, President, Wow! Entertainment


    Working in New York City, Los Angeles, and Dallas, turnkey producer Mark Brymer has carved out a singular profile as the man who can arrange almost anything in entertainment. In his successful, decades-long career, the music producer, theatrical producer, author, arranger, orchestrator, and composer has stayed relevant and kept busy in the ever-shifting entertainment industry by seeing change as an opportunity for growth.


    Most recently, when Six Flags Entertainment Corporation became interested in the explosion of immersive/in-person experiences, they called Mark. Now, he’s premiering bringing the captivating Halloween experience, Dr. H.H. Holmes' FREAKSHOW at the Six Flags Over Texas theme park. Mark’s groundbreaking Dr. H.H. Holmes' FREAKSHOW promises to raise the bar for theme park theatrical productions by employing Broadway talent in the production.


    Over the years, Mark has parlayed his gifts as a musical arranger and composer into a vastly varied career in the entertainment industry. He is a global trailblazer in both the children’s music education and entertainment industries with such clients as McGraw-Hill, Disney, Warner Bros., Hal Leonard, Music Theater International, and Rhino Records. Mark co-wrote and produced the title song, “Digga Digga Dog,” for Disney Film Studios’ 102 Dalmatians, starring Glen Close. He’s written and produced over 150 live production musical shows for Six Flags theme parks. In addition, he’s written, produced, and mixed scores for the dinner/arena attractions Pirate’s Voyage and Dolly Parton’s Stampede. Since 1995, Mark has headed up the full-service music and live theatrical show production company, WOW! Entertainment, Inc.


    The through line in Mark’s diversely-accomplished career is his passion for family-oriented entertainment. It’s a path he stumbled upon after discovering as a college piano major that he loved arranging, and he embraced the full spectrum of arranging and performing opportunities that came his way. Eventually, Mark landed a gig playing piano at theme parks, and this led to a myriad of opportunities in the theme park theatrical space. To steady his income while working in the mercurial world of theme park productions, Mark made inroads in the choral market. He became an exclusive staff choral arranger for Hal Leonard in 1983.


    Links:

    • info@wowentertainment.net
    • https://www.markbrymer.com/
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-brymer-b22411170/
    • Hal Leonard: https://www.halleonard.com/biography/102/mark-brymer

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

    From Immersive Theater to VR Innovation: Deirdre V. Lyons' Journey
    Dec 12 2023
    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 "Gumball Dreams," and discuss the intricacies of producing entertainment ranging from films to webisodes. Deirdre shares the challenges of onboarding audiences to VR experiences and the quest for viable business models in the VR space. Guest: Deidre V. Lyons, Co-Founder, Producer, Director, Writer, Performer, Ferryman CollectiveDeirdre Lyons has been in over 75 Film and Theatrical productions throughout the West Coast. In L.A., she formed T.H. Espian Productions with her partner Stephen Butchko. Their first production was the Los Angeles premiere of Escher's Hands, a dramatic work by Dawson Nichols that played for a six-week run at the Lillian Theater. The two went on to produce and perform in the award-winning short film Katrina; a web series called The Fantasy State; a documentary; and the critically acclaimed short film Good Behavior, which won Best Short Film at the Temecula Film Festival.In 2016, she began working with immersive theater productions, she was part of the original cast of JFI Productions’ The Willows, which enjoyed three remounts due to its popularity. Other immersive projects include the JFI Productions’ Creep LA shows Entry, Lore, Awake, Haus of Creep, and Creep (2021). She was the “Lost Princess” in the final chapter of Speakeasy Societies Kansas Collection, and with a Spy Brunch weekend event entitled Cold War Lounge: the asset. Deirdre has participated in multiple activations, including one-night launch events for the movies Ma, Birds of Prey, and The Conjuring 3. She appeared at Comic-Con promoting Sacred Lies and AHS 1984. And was cast in Tyra Banks’ immersive world Model Land. Her Virtual Reality work began when The Willows was filmed and released as a 180 VR film on the Amaze app available through Steam, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Windows Mixed Reality (WMR), Viveport, and Google Daydream. She also appeared in Freakin’ Weekend, another 180 VR film from Amaze Productions. In 2019, she joined the ensemble cast of The Under Presents, a time and mind-bending immersive theater experience in VR that was selected as a finalist for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media, and won the VR Awards Experience of the Year. She was Prospera in a Shakespearean production from the same studio, Tender Claws, called The Under Presents: Tempest, a theatrical and technological first: a live, part scripted/part improvised, immersive theatrical experience that audiences attend from home, using a virtual reality headset that is experienced as a one-person show to small intimate audiences.She then started producing live VR immersive theater experiences with a group of creatives that formed Ferryman Collective, including her husband Stephen Butchko, starting PARA and Krampusnacht, the latter a finalist for the PGA Innovation Award, and The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite which premiered at Tribeca, went on to be an Official Selection of the 78th Venice International Film Festival, the Kaohsiung Film Festival, Anny Fest, Church of VR and is the winner of ‘Best Narrative Experience’ at London’s Raindance Film Festival, winner of XR Must ‘Best Live Experience,’ winner of 'Best ixi Experience' from Giioii as well as an ‘Immie’ for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Live Virtual Reality Production’ and a finalist for the 2022 PGA Innovation Award. It is currently in production for shows in Korea with Korean actors.She is a teaching artist, speaker, and occasional lecturer at Chapman University. Gumball Dreams is Ferryman Collective’s fourth production, winning the audience award at SXSW for XR Exhibition Competition, it will have its international premiere at the 79th International Venice Film Festival and is her directorial debut.Links of Note:Deirdre: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdrevlyons and https://www.deirdrevlyons.comFerryman Collective: https://www.ferrymancollective.comInstagram - ferrymanvrFacebook - @FerrymanVRTwitter - @Ferryman_VR Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    48 mins
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