Meta Manchester

In this episode my guest is Àgata Alcañiz - she's an artist, a facilitator, an activist and all round creator. She's the founder of Life Drawing plus - hosting themed drawing sessions in the Northern Quarter. Here, she tells her story of discovering Manchester 20 years ago when she moved there to study and never left.

In this episode Brian Connolly talks about growing up in Moss side, studying art and design at Manchester Polytechnic, following his creative path to London and eventually breaking into the world famous 'Mad Men' world of advertising in New York city. http://www.brianconnollywork.com/

This week my guest is Jamie Kennerley - a Mancunian living and working in a small town in Brazil. He shares stories about Working in the tv and commercial industry Learning to speak fluent Portugese And making sure Manchester gets recognition for something other than football!

Fun conversation with Robert Brooks as he shares stories about moving to Finland and learning a language considered to be one of the most difficult to learn. Here, Rob talks about: - the first time realising a Mancunian accent might not be understood in other places - learning Finnish words while working on a building site - his preference for initially learning language through the grammatical rules - and his appreciation for being alone in the dark, silent Finnish forest!

Good vibes and a nice chat with an old friend -  Marsha Thomason - from Oldham Sixth Form College as she shares stories about  - getting her first big break - learning about stop signs from a Dawson's Creek star - reciting 'Grease' lines to John Travolta - name checking Manchester on 'Lost' - and why she shouldn't have to second guess her pronunciation of the word 'adult!'

My guest this week is Chris McGuire - one of the top camera operators in the tv and film industry. Here, Chris shares stories from the very beginnings of his career working with corporate video in Manchester to finding himself on the set of Harry Potter filming Lord Voldemort's big entrance. Today he lives in Atlanta, GA and is one of the most sought-after camera operators in the business. Get ready for some serious A-list name dropping!

Jennie McGuirk is a creative consultant working in Los Angeles. Here she explains her love for her home town of Manchester and how she defines Mancunian philosophy. Jennie also shares amusing stories of the British experience in a world of truth-bombs, self-promotion and confident 20-year-olds walking around speaking like they're 40-something.

In this episode, my guest is Matt Barraclough. He's an old friend who runs a TV and video production agency in Manchester. Here, he shares entertaining stories about: - the differences between Manchester and Leeds - climbing the ladder to success - working in advertising vs drama - bullying in the work place - the business of problem solving - and Manchester as a creative hub to rival London. Matt is one my favourite storytellers and you'll see why! 

My friend Lee McKenzie tells the story of leaving Manchester, traveling the world, figuring out life and building his passion project of designing 'Kings and Crooks' - bespoke playing cards for magicians and card connoisseurs.

In this episode, Aniff Akinola talks about his 30-plus-year music production career which got started from 'sweating like mad' on the dancefloors of various Manchester nightclubs in 1979. He shares stories about: - growing up chopping firewood in the backyard - getting into the music industry through connections he made on the club scene - his work on one of the most iconic acid house anthems of all time - as well as performing on Top of The Pops - twice!  Aniff has been there and done that so there are a few A-list names being dropped in this episode. I certainly enjoyed this conversation. I hope you do too.

In this episode Debbie Steer shares her story of leaving Manchester and emigrating to Australia - almost on a whim. She talks about starting from the bottom as an intern / production assistant and working her way up to become one of the most accomplished producers working in animation today. This is special two-part episode which includes a separate conversation recorded a year earlier as we dive into more details about Debbie's journey.

In this episode, Liam Croker, lead singer of WINACHI, talks about: - when he thinks new artists can call themselves professional musicians - the current indie music scene in Manchester - playing live and touring - visiting Los Angeles for the first time - and how he has sustained a career in music for over a decade

In this episode, language consultant and film festival co-founder Paul Fletcher speaks to me from his home in (what some might describe as) the hippest part of East London! I have such a strong interest in both of those topics - language and film festivals - I decided that I needed two separate episodes to hear Paul's stories. So here in this first episode, we talk about how Paul co-founded (together with wife Liza) the Walthamstow International Film Festival eleven years ago.

In this episode my guest is an old friend, Georja Calvin Smith who is a TV journalist and producer currently based in Paris, France. Here she talks about: - her relationship with and favourite memories of Manchester - her first experiences on the bus - her thoughts on chips & curry - how she bla... I mean navigated work situations that required French language skills before she had French language skills - and how she communicates her story of being from Manchester and more broadly coming from the UK when in international situations.