The King's Speech Producer & A Bestselling Author Both Crashed After Success | Egan & Moore

In this episode of Just Press Record, Matt Zeigler introduces historian and author Joseph Moore to filmmaker and producer Simon Egan for a conversation about creativity, failure, storytelling, and what happens after a big project finally reaches the world.They discuss Joseph’s national bestselling book How to Get Rich in American History, Simon’s journey with The King’s Speech, the emotional cost of creative work, and why failure can become the feedback that leads to meaningful work.Main topics coveredJoseph Moore’s unexpected path from historian to personal finance authorSimon Egan’s story of discovering and championing The King’s SpeechWhy some stories feel like they have to be toldThe role of rejection, risk, and persistence in creative workHow failure becomes feedback for writers, filmmakers, and creatorsThe emotional crash that can follow finishing a major creative projectWhy success can create pressure instead of satisfactionThe tension between creativity, business, family, and focusHow creators manage distractions, deep work, and multiple projectsWhy great storytelling often comes from personal pain, curiosity, and lived experienceThe importance of being a fan before becoming a creatorStorytelling, story editing, and story selling as the heart of creative workTimestamps00:00 Why Joseph Moore needed to meet Simon Egan03:02 The Just Press Record blind introduction format05:41 Joseph Moore on How to Get Rich in American History07:49 Why taking creative risks matters09:31 Simon Egan’s path from finance to filmmaking12:18 Discovering The King’s Speech15:00 Fighting to get The King’s Speech made18:54 The moment you decide not to quit on a story20:22 Choosing the project over the original dream22:00 How Geoffrey Rush became part of The King’s Speech journey25:08 Joseph Moore’s parallel book journey26:00 The 2008 financial crisis and the origin of Joseph’s book28:15 Rejection from publishers and literary agents30:31 The agent who finally saw the book’s potential32:00 Writing a book in five months35:04 The joy of immersive creative work36:05 Why creation can make time stop39:49 Balancing creative ambition with the reality of collaboration41:19 Simon on addiction to the creative process43:35 What happens after reaching the top of the mountain44:39 The emotional crash after The King’s Speech success46:07 Joseph on wanting the next creative challenge48:25 The danger of trying to reverse engineer success52:33 The sugar rush and crash of deep creative focus55:00 Joseph’s post-manuscript crash58:06 Is the creative crash part of the process?59:38 Anxiety after handing work over to the world01:01:17 Advice Simon would give to a younger creator01:04:18 Joseph on failure as feedback01:06:06 Why nothing works out the way you expect01:08:03 How success changes the pressure to keep going01:11:00 The difference between creative work and business work01:18:00 Learning to be more pragmatic with creative projects01:21:15 Managing distractions, notifications, and family life01:24:49 How Simon structures creative work01:26:14 Why deep creative work does not fit into short blocks01:28:00 Designing space for creative failure01:29:48 Why creators need to be fans first01:32:32 Finding unexpected connections through reading and research01:33:25 How personal experience shapes the stories we tell01:38:15 Joseph on the stories he still wants to write01:41:06 Guessing why Matt made the introduction01:42:28 Storytelling, story editing, and story selling01:42:48 Where to find Simon Egan and Joseph Moore01:44:17 Closing thoughts and disclaimer