Charlotte Knowles on Film Production

Charlotte Knowles is a factual film producer and CEO of the Independent Film Trust. She has produced work for the BBC and ITN in the UK, Screen Runner Productions and One World Artists in France, China World Star Productions in Beijing, and FABRICA in Italy. Charlotte's work has featured in festivals around the world and major media outlets such as The Guardian, BBC, ITN, and Arte. Previously, Charlotte was the Creative Director of News Peeks, where she produced factual films and videos, working with investigative journalists to communicate public interest stories.

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Transcript

Roy Sharples: 0:06

Hello, I'm Roy Sharples, welcome to the unknown origins podcast. Why are you listening to this podcast? Are you seeking inspiration and industry experts looking for insights on growing your career, I created the unknown origins podcast to provide access to insights and content from creators worldwide with inspirational conversations on storytelling, about art, architecture, design, entrepreneurship, fashion, film, music, and pop culture. Charlotte Knowles is a factual film producer, and has been CEO of independent film Trump's for seven years, she has produced work for the BBC, and ITN in the UK, screen on productions, and one world artists in France, China Worldstar productions in Beijing, and fabrica, and Italy, noses, as featured in festivals around the world, and major media outlets, such as the guardian, BBC, ITN, and RT, previously, those was the creative director of news peaks, where she produced factual films and videos, working with investigative journalists to communicate public interest stories. Hello, and welcome, Charlotte. So what attracted you to the creative industry in the first place?

Charlotte Knowles: 1:28

For me, it started off quite early on, because I started working when I was about 12 years old. So I started working as an actor on TV shows, so I was in a show called The worst switch. And then there's a new show called Ghost Hunter. And that sort of took up most of my time, from that the age of 12, to about the age of 18. And so didn't explore very much and, you know, spent most of my time on sets. And that was really where I understood everything about the industry. Because you know, as a young person, you're obviously insulated from a fair amount of it, because you're you have a chaperone, and you have a tutor, and all that stuff. But you're working with people for whom this is their life, this their career. Yeah, my mum and either musicians, so I, that had always been my world. And so I think it would have been more of a sort of rebellion. If I'd said to my parents, I wanted to be an accountant or something, they would have been really shocked. And it was all pretty normal, to be honest to want to do this. And so I sort of started pursuing it really, as an accident. I went to often afternoon dramas club on Saturday. And my grandfather, wouldn't they started sending out these flyers saying that they were open auditions. And so I sort of thought it sounded interesting, and not having a lot else on I convinced my grandfather to sit outside Television Center with me, what was BBC Television Center, then we've just sort of joined these queues of young girls that look exactly like me, outside Television Center, and we wait there all day, and slowly kind of snail our way to the front of the queue. And you go to enough of those and you get seen, and eventually you get a part and then someone else. And that is an issue for something else, and you just keep being in things. And I just didn't really question it, because I don't think I necessarily thought this is I'm going to do that ever. It was just something that happened. And, and I enjoyed it. And it was really fun. And as I say it wasn't anything necessarily out of the ordinary in our household. So it just kind of felt like a normal thing to do. And then it was only really a bit later, when I actually started thinking a bit more critically about it. I had a place that lambda to go after, you know, sort of from university time from the age of 18. And it was at that point, when I started to really question actually, is this really what I want to do? And I was I've never been a natural performer enough. And being on television, you're not really knowingly performing. Because you're just there's a small number of people in the room that you're kind of quote unquote, performing to and then you know, it goes out and television and that was always a big shock when it went on TV to me because I was always thinking, oh my god, now these people are gonna see it and I was mortified. So I knew I wasn't a natural performer. I was absolutely, like mortified, embarrassed whenever anybody saw me doing anything. But I did know that I did loved all of it, you know, all the creativity and the storytelling and all of these different people coming together. And, and so I started to think a bit more about going behind the camera, and also from having work with professionals, you know, adults, I knew how difficult that life I'd seen how difficult it is for myself, but I was aware, for most people trying to do this as it was really hard. And it was a really, it was a real slog. And people had to really develop and hone their craft over many years. So I thought, I don't feel like I'm dead. And I feel like I probably have a few more hard knocks that I need to add to know that I'm really resilient enough for this. And so I moved out of home and went live on my own and just basically thought, Okay, I need to test myself really and see if I can actually live with real knockbacks. Because I've only know kind of audition knock backs, which are not really Yeah. And so, so I just kind of went to see him. And that was when I started to think actually not really sure that's what I want to do, maybe it's behind the camera I want to work in. And I spoke to a few people that I've worked with about that. And they said to me, you know, rather than rushing straight to film school, why don't you, you know, go and just see the world, travel and working on places and, you know, see what else is out there. And really understand about other people and how other people tell their stories. So that it doesn't all become about you. Basically, that was the advice I got, for better or worse. And so that's what I did. So I decided to travel and started to explore. And that's basically formed the foundation of my approach to everything really now,

Roy Sharples: 6:45

In your current role as CEO of The Independent Film Trust, what's its purpose?

Charlotte Knowles: 6:50

So yeah, the Independent Film Trust is an organization that supports independent film production. But it works specifically to target people that are typically underrepresented in the screen sector. And so we work really hard on looking at representation, looking at stories that are less are told, that are perhaps a bit more marginalized. And we try and work towards really helping to amplify those voices. And because most people working in this space don't have the luxury of only working in independent film, a lot of people are working in TV, or they're working in other areas of Creative Media, we also work across those areas as well. So despite our name, we're a lot broader than our name suggests. And so the work that we do is, there's a lot of mentoring, we also do, you can imagine what we do on a spectrum. So I tend to think about it like this. So from when people are just coming to media as their first experiences through to people professionally, making a career out of it. So at that kind of earlier stage, we're working with people who are experiencing acute marginalization. So perhaps because they've been through the criminal justice system, or the asylum system, or some other system that has cut them off from society, in one way or another. And so in that space, we're working with people to build those first experiences of creative media as a kind of form of self expression as a way of connecting people with, you know, other members of their society and communities. And that's really important work that we look at, I think probably the fundamental reason why any of us are in this industry is it is about that ability to express oneself, and to also express the story of other people. And so that's where we lay that first seed in people's minds. And then in the middle of the organization, we have our participatory work. So that's where we're, we're joining people who are joining us at an earlier stage, perhaps an entry level or intermediate stage, with professionals, and we're working together to produce something collaboratively. And again, that work, we're looking at that having more of a cultural life. So it might go to film festivals, or media festivals. And we've had lots of successful projects in that space going out competing at festivals around the world, and doing very well. And then at the professional end of spectrum, we have our party, our we have our professional development schemes, and we have our mentoring. And we offer a lot of one to one mentoring. So last year, for example, we offered over 500 hours of one to one mentoring. And that's really working with people one on one really closely to find out what are you trying to do with your career and your creativity but also, what do you actually want from your life? Because I think one of the reasons why so many people feel excluded from the creative industry. Is that, unfortunately there is the assumption that people will just have some kind of safety net, whether that's in the form of, you know, independent family wealth, or whatever it is. Or whether it's a sort of specific network of contacts. And it's almost a kind of people almost feel bad about putting their life first, you know, so we're all supposed to really suffer eternally for our art. And unfortunately, that's why people don't stay in the industry long if they just constantly suffering. So we really try and encourage people to say, Okay, if you're going to do this as a career, that's fantastic, and we want to keep you. So in order for us to keep you in the industry, you have to make sure that this is really going to feed you, you know, emotionally, creatively, but also practically, and so we do a lot of work, looking at how we can help people really, you know, build that financial stability for themselves, that independence for themselves to be able to do their work and build that network that they need, but also provide for themselves and for their families. Because we're working with people across the spectrum. A lot of people assume that we work with young people, and we do, but we also work with people of all ages. So you know, we're looking at people being able to sustain themselves and sustain their input in the industry, because our, our industry benefits so much when it has a much more diverse group of people contributing stories and narratives. But we don't get that diversity unless we really focus on those kind of nitty gritty reasons why people might drop out of the industry. So at the professional end, that's what we're doing. And we're really thrilled that, you know, we've had an Oscar nominated director through our cohort, BAFTA winning producer, we've had just amazing top tip top talent that has gone on and done beautiful things in the industry. And, you know, most recently, we've started teaming up with companies in the US as well, to develop ways in which talent in the UK can co produce with talent in the US to really strengthen not only the base of the people that we work with the individuals that we work with, but strengthen the industry as a whole, because we all have strengths. And when we're when we are a lot more capable and agile, to be able to go out and reach out and connect with those other end countries, and make those projects that going to speak to both territories. You know, we've seen huge success in that. As an industry, we've seen huge success in that with productions like Ted Lascaux, and I may destroy you, and other things that have come up and really spoken to both audiences. And so we're encouraging the people that we work with to see where those opportunities might exist for them, too. And so that, in a nutshell, is what we do versus mailable.

Roy Sharples: 12:53

Beyond just the social sentiments of what you do, when you haven't came from a privileged upbringing, where the playing field is more often than not on level, it can exclude and crush imaginations, and our voices and dreams that are counterintuitive to nurturing creativity. However, curiously, hardship, melancholy and adversity often inspire creativity. People who survive alienation, oppression, poverty, and other life challenges. Realize that it fuels their genius when they can get the confidence when they can find that confidence within themselves and focus on it. This primal desire to survive the odds with extraordinary intellectual ability, mental toughness, grit, and creative productivity fuels an insatiable drive for self actualization.

Charlotte Knowles: 13:48

Oh, thanks, Roy. And I'm so glad that you say that because it's, you make a really important point. You know, there's, we have a lot of conversations about inclusion and representation in our industry. And I think what is often missed is that when people are coming from, you know, they're bringing different lived experiences to the table. They're bringing different stories, they're bringing different interpretations of what you know, the English experience or the British experience or the US experience is, and that is, that's enlightening for everyone, you know, for all audiences, for creatives for for anyone engaging with that media. It's really enlightening and empowering and it opens us up to new possibilities. And I think that's, you know, as a society, we, I think, media, we've seen through the pandemic, how phenomenally important it is in terms of how it shapes our minds, how it shapes our understanding of who we are as a people who we are as a nation, who we are as you know, whichever community you feel you you fall into You are a part of media shapes that view in one way or another. And it is so important. And I think the bad pandemic we saw, when all of us suddenly were just in our living rooms, watching our screens for so many hours of the day, you know, whether it was the schoolwork, whether it was for work, work, whether it was for enjoyment, our screens became, it had to be everything all of a sudden, and I think people were really woken up to how much how much of an impact this has on us as individuals and as a collective. And so for us, as the creators of that media, we have to really assume that responsibility and say, Okay, well, if, if what we're doing is having this phenomenal impact, you know, we can't look at this sentimentally, as you say, we have to really understand the weight of that. And we have to really understand what we're doing as a as an industry to ensure that whatever does get communicated is representative that people aren't left out. Because when people are left out, they become extremely vulnerable. And we mustn't allow that to happen. Because, you know, when people's stories are included, there, because they, they're given that weight of significance and importance, and they are made part of the whole. And we we have a duty to ensure that everybody in this country, sees themselves, understands their place, and understands their role and the importance of their role in society as a whole. And understands that they do have an important space to fill. And I think we have a huge role as as creatives to ensure that that exists.

Roy Sharples: 16:35

What is your creative process in terms of how do you make the invisible visible by dreaming up ideas, developing them into concepts, and then bringing them to actualization?

Charlotte Knowles: 16:48

Why process is to my process really stems from my very early days, coming out of kind of very early experience doing acting, and starting to look behind the camera. And that first bit of advice that I got to go and travel and to meet people and to just hear other people's stories from them. And that encouraged me to learn foreign languages. And so I went out and I worked, I had the pleasure of working in all kinds of different places, I worked in China, Italy, France, Brazil, I went over to the US. And I have had a really privileged experience of being able to interact with so many different interesting people in those spaces. And I would say that that has really formed the basis of my approach I started in, when I did start working in production, I started in factual film and TV, so I was working documentary. And when I was going out, I was really keen to hear what people had to say I was really, I became the kind of avid story finder, go out to kind of, yeah, just like looking looking to all kinds of different places where you might not normally be expected to go and you know, hear different kind of unlikely stories. And I was really drawn to stories where people were really struggling to communicate. So I was kind of naturally drawn to communities of people who, you know, were going through an asylum process, or were fleeing one country, because of persecution. And, you know, we're fearing for, you know, their ability to tell their story, because of the repercussion, they might experience and I just felt because I, I am perhaps more of a natural listener than a teller. I was really keen to hear what other people had to say. And then if I could facilitate the communication of that narrative in a safe and, you know, conscientious way, then that's where I felt like there was a, there was a kind of a unique role for me that I could play. So that was where I started to work. And so I, as I say, works in China first. Then I went to work in Italy. And then I started to work for charities and NGOs that were working with people fleeing different regimes or political challenges and conflicts. So I did some work with some refugees in Thailand, and then came back to the UK and started to look at stories that sort of followed a similar narrative. And more recently, I've worked in the Middle East, looked at looking to connect with communities there where people have really struggled to tell their stories. And that I feel has been where I've kind of more naturally aligned and so were when I was asked to come into the IFT There was a really natural space for me to bring that skill set, someone who could go out and listen and develop creative ideas, but in a collaborative way. And so that's what I tried to bring to the RFT all the way through. So I think one of the biggest competence that one of my mentees at the IFT, who's Siobon Fahey,

Roy Sharples: 20:26

yeah, yeah,

Charlotte Knowles: 20:28

she's also She's based in Scotland. So she was the dark producer of rebel dikes, which was a project that we supported for a number of years at the IFT, which I was very happy with a feature documentary, beautiful film, everyone goes, which was distributed nationally by the BFI and the senior media, and went all over the place with them. And Shavon said that I never told her what to do, I helped her find her own answers for what she needed to do. And that was a huge compliment, because that's what I've ultimately always tried to do is to try and help other people find the answers for themselves. Yeah. And just be part of that process. And so whether that's helping somebody to tell their story, or whether it's playing a more active role in telling it, telling the story with somebody, that's what I'm ultimately trying to do. So I'd say that's the kind of bedrock if you like, of my creative process, it's quite a quiet process. I'm a naturally shy person, if I'm honest, and shy people always get. So it's hard for us to navigate this industry, because there's a lot of big personalities in this place. I think there's, you know, I always feel kind of, I always feel a bit of them. I always feel a bit of a duty to sort of stand up for shy people. I often find people coming through the IFT, who were saying, I feel terrible saying this, but I'm actually really shy. And I think don't don't feel bad about that. That's okay, there's room for shy people. We can be added to. And yeah, I think that, you know, you just have to find the space that works for you, and what's your personality, you start to try and be someone you're not, that's when you get to, and I think I've always seen who I am and and acknowledged it and said, okay, that doesn't work for acting. Fair enough. What didn't work for me anyway, I'm sure there's lots of shy actors out there, apologies for offending anybody. But it didn't work for me. And so, but I found this other space that I think enables me to look to people and look to their ideas, and contribute to them in a really positive way. And so, yeah, I'm really happy to have been able to do that for all people who have come through the IoT. And more recently, you know, when we've been working with the US, looking to projects there, and, and to really just kind of listen to stories, listen to the people that are trying to explore them, and find that creative route that speaks the most honestly, to what the story is all about, at the heart of all of that is an intention to find the stories and find the ways of telling the story that really will connect because I think ultimately, we're all human beings, right. So of course, we all have totally different experiences. But there are ways always to connect whatever story you have, another human being with a totally different lived experience will be able to connect to it somehow, somewhere. So finding that connection is the really important thing for me. And I think, naturally for me, I'm I'm naturally drawn to humor, I think humor has a natural ability, it's a such a kind of fundamental human need to make one another, to laugh with one another, you know, you like whether it's laughing, crying, all of these sort of actions that we do together, they bombed us, and they bind us. And, and so I feel like maybe, naturally, I'm drawn to those aspects of the story that will, that will unite us and that will really, you know, I'm always looking for ways that we can bring out that more sort of cathartic response from somebody, whether it is crying or laughing, or whatever it is, it's going to unite somebody's story. I think that's really, really important. Because I think the audience, they have to be part of it, as well, you know, and if they're not part of it, if they're just observers that they're just for years. I don't think we've really done our job properly. And so I think that's the other part is that there's working with the person to tell the story, but then there's also us together working with the audience to ensure that everybody is included, everybody is part of it, and the audience is often forgotten in the story, not forgotten. That's one I put in it, but we don't often put that at the forefront of our minds. And there's a number of reasons for that. But they have to be there all the way through. And we have to be thinking of ways that we can bring them in. So that, that yeah, that informs everything for me from, you know, the way the story is told. Me Everything is part of it, the way we fundraise for it, the way we structure it, the way we plan it, the way we everything has to connect that everything is about bringing the audience in, and it has to come in all the way through the production process. For me

Roy Sharples: 25:33

One word; harmonizing! That's the incident word that springs to mind, as you would articulate in your creative process. Also, how you apply a global viewpoint, such as all the traveling you've done has obviously been a catalyst for inspiring innovation and creativity because you experience different cultures and diverse societies, and learning to appreciate and respect these differences in lifestyle and behavior, which ultimately unite us. So traveling focuses us to depart from the familiar and take on a world of new experiences, cultures, languages, architectures, foods and lifestyles that influence our minds, bodies and souls by shaping us into better, more well rounded people with a more integrative worldview. And we get exposed to and understand people's dynamics, life cultures, subcultures, customs, religions, languages, governments, economies and, and the arts. And, of course, idiosyncrasies exist, though fundamentally, people are the same everywhere, and that we are born live and die, have loves hates and passions. The brain, nerves, organs and skin, are the same biotic structure. We breathe, drink and eat to stay alive. But what makes us unique is how we self identify by interpreting the world around us and discovering our strengths and expressing our personalities, talents, and triumphs. Stories are the oxygen for communication. Storytelling is a language that unites the world. It brings us together, it helps us understand our past and reach toward the future. And a well told story to your point, engages the mind, heart and soul. And of course, filmmaking is a vehicle for capturing snapshots and Time Life in Motion. Though music is also the language of the world with no boundaries, it unites and brings people together regardless of time and space. And it can change the world affect a mood, atmosphere and behavior and captures a moment in time.

Charlotte Knowles: 27:46

There's a beautiful film that just made me think of that. A jack tatty film called The Illusionist, and it's an animation Jack, tatty animation, obviously, and its settings Scotland, but it's French. And there's no real language spoken, it's just kind of noises. And it you don't really need the words is my point. Yeah, they're the kind of like, they're noises. And it's sort of like people are almost singing too much to each other throughout the film. I remember watching it and I was literally in tears crying at the film, because it was so affecting. And it was just so beautifully, for me anyway articulated that so many times, you know, you can be anywhere in the world. And you can be communicating with someone without really fully knowing the language or the knowing very much language at all. But human beings, we have that ability of communicating, we have that ability to, to mine or to, you know, to malleable or whatever. And we have body language, there's so much more that tells the story than just the words. And so I think there's an eye when film manages to capture that. It's such a, such an amazing, amazing experience to be there and to be kind of wrapped up in it. And as you say, you know, whether it's the music or whether it's the lyricism of how, of how the dialog for wanting to better word is, is used. It's, there's so much that we have at our disposal to tell stories and so when we can capture that, within the screen sector, we just win 1000 times

Roy Sharples: 29:26

What are the critical skills needed to survive and thrive as a creative leader in film production?

Charlotte Knowles: 29:32

Resilience! I think is the first thing that comes to mind. I think resilience is so so important. Not in a defensive way, but in in you know, just being able to get up and get up because we it's just such a subjective environment are in isn't it and to be able to believe in yourself whilst at the same time, acknowledge where you can improve and where you've made mistakes. having that balance is so important. Because if you constantly kick yourself, you will never, you know, improve, you'll never get up and do anything. But if you deny wherever you need to make changes, you'll also never succeed. So having that ability to walk that tightrope, and I don't think I get that, right, a lot of the time, I'm sure I mess that up all the time. But it's something I think we all have to be really aware of that we are constantly walking that tightrope. And then I think honesty as much as we can, that's a real skill, that we need to be able to, I think, to do what we're doing with integrity, we need to be honest with ourselves, and we need to be honest with the story and to in order for it to connect with people. And then a sense of humor, I think, is absolutely critical. I think particularly in the work that we do at the IOC, you know, it's people sometimes kind of interpret what we do as sort of being very worthy, we are a charity. So you know, I suppose we fall into this space, and I hope it is worthy. But it's, it's also, it's also, you know, we have to, we have to laugh about it, we have to, we have to connect with one another in a positive way. And we have to be able to see the lighter side of some of the things that we're working on. Obviously, you know, a lot of what we're working on is very heavy, and it's very deep and profound. And we can't lose sight of that. But we need to have a sense of humor to be able to kind of get over the challenges, get around them and find creative solutions. So I think that sense of humor is is actually critical, especially when it you know, we're also dealing with a lot of egos, space, we have to be able to just kind of like, take a break and laugh it off. From time to time, I think so we should.

Roy Sharples: 32:04

Reflecting on your life and career to date, what are your lessons learned in terms of the pitfalls to avoid, and the keys to success that you can share with aspiring and existing creative leaders in film production?

Charlotte Knowles: 32:20

And I'd say the pitfall to avoid that has been most important to me personally, has been not to deny oneself, and what you need from your life. So sort of going back to what I was saying before about how we really encourage people to think about, you know, what they want from their life. Film and creative media, its vocation. And so it really, it can be all consuming. And I think we can sometimes lose, lose sight of the fact that we are also people in society, and we all need stuff, we all need a roof over our heads. We all need family and friends, we need those relationships. And those days, those answers sustained if we just put everything into our work. And so I think one of the big pitfalls is to not deny yourself, it's easy to deny oneself those things. And I think we have to remind ourselves how important they are. And that we are just, it's just those things are just as important for us as they are for everyone else, which seems like an odd thing to say. But it's surprising how many people seem to struggle with this. So I think that's one thing to avoid. And then I think the key successes that I can share for aspiring creatives. I think some of the biggest successes that I feel like I've had is when either when we've been able to get a story, you know, we've been able to develop a story into, you know, a really beautiful project that people have really enjoyed and truly affected them. But also, when people have really benefited from not only engaging with the work, but also being able to reduce the work as well. So massive successes for me, are, for example, when you know we've run programs with people who've been through the criminal justice system, for example, and at the end of that they've screened their work, and they've done a q&a and people have asked them questions and and then they've come to me afterwards and said, you know, it never occurred to me that people would care what I had to say about something. And so the fact that that piece of media has been the catalyst for that conversation that has changed somebody's perspective of their own value is just massive, massive successfully huge. And then also when I have been in on I've gone off on My jaunts, and I've, you know, to track stories down and find people and talk to people and engage with people and, and understand who they who they are, and understand their story. When I've been able to find them, and I've been able to build the relationship to the point that they trust me with that story, that's a huge success, because there's a massive amount of trust that goes into this line of work. And it's, it's something that I think we, yeah, well, especially when we are going out, and we're working on other people's stories, as I am. It's an absolutely critical element, which we, you know, we have to work really hard to, to hold on to. So I think, when never I've been able to, you know, the trust of people to be able to take that work on and it's, and it's been successful. That's been a huge success for me,

Roy Sharples: 35:59

What's your vision for the future of film production, and the role of creativity?

Charlotte Knowles: 36:06

I think it's just getting more and more important over time, I think, as I said, you know, we saw with the pandemic, how important media was becoming in people's lives, and it's really struck everybody really clearly. And I think, as we move forward, that will just become more and more important, I think it becomes more and more how we experience the world around us. And so I think there becomes, it does become much more important that we ensure that there are roots to a broader range of people to engage with that process, and to benefit from it. So I think that naturally lends itself to the more diverse range of stories being told through the creative industries, and particularly through film. But I think there's a massive, massive opportunity in that as well, because, you know, we're talking about when we're talking about a more diverse range of stories, we're talking about people who have connections with other parts of the world, in addition to the UK, perhaps through heritage, or cultural ties, or familial ties. And, you know, by really engaging the people who want to tell those stories, that connect them, and, and people in their community to other parts of the world, we create connections with other parts of the world, you know, in a different way. And I think we've had an opportunity, as we, you know, we move forwards. The UK has a very specific and tense and often conflict ridden connection to many parts of the world. And I think through this work, we have an opportunity to revisit a lot of that, to explore it, honestly. And to find new stories that will take us into the future, whilst acknowledging what has happened in the past, and being able to look at the past, from the perspective of other people that experienced it in a number of different ways. So I think, I think there's just massive opportunity, massive, massive opportunity, as long as we really see the benefits that bringing more people into this space, bring, you know, brings to us and brings to the industry as a lot as a whole. I think there's just tons and tons and tons of opportunity there. And I think, in addition to that, I think I have, you know, starting in factual and then working through journalism, and eventually coming through it. I have a personal mission, if you like, to ensure that, you know, where we are looking to people whose stories haven't been told, there's also for me, an intention that if somebody's story hasn't been told, and it can offer us a new light and new understanding of what's going on in the world, and UNIVAC can benefit us all as a whole, then I want to really make sure that that can happen. So in terms of looking at the role of creativity, I think, you know, we have a role to by bringing more stories into also create a more accurate understanding of what's going on. You know, when I think when we think of the media, I think most people's thought of it would be of distortion of, you know, spin these kinds of things. And, you know, film is not removed from that, you know, we don't have our own little private area that doesn't connect to the rest of the media. We are all part of this big space. And we have the opportunity to call that space out. In a way that does tell a more accurate and more representative, a truer, a more empathetic and understanding narrative. So I feel like I hope, particularly as we look to, you know, climate change and all the different negative experiences that people are having around the world, we have a role and I think a duty to ensure that where we're bringing more people into this space, we're also offering opportunities for people to really tell the truth

Roy Sharples: 40:29

At its finest filmmaking can connect with the chords of the soul to inform and inspire action, through uniting people in a common sense of humanity, and shared responsibility to drive positive change in society and life. Do you want to learn more about how to create without frontiers by unleashing the power of creativity? Then consider getting CREATIVITY WITHOUT FRONTIERS: How to make the invisible visible by lighting the way into the future! It's available in print, digital and audio on all relevant book platforms. You have been listening to the unknown origins podcast, please follow us subscribe rate and review us for more information through to unknownorigins.com Thank you for listening!