Workshops & Talks
Invite me to talk
The unexpected part of you is your biggest strength. I speak about leadership, small teams, storytelling, and creative development, drawing on two decades of working through crisis, technology shifts, and the challenge of making things from scratch.
I can also talk to your board or leadership team about technology and AI: an engaging, practical conversation about what’s changing, what’s possible, and what it means for your organisation.
There are even bad jokes included, no extra charge.
Storytelling for Leaders
Help your team find their story, and put it to work.
Jo Fitzgerald and I help leaders and teams develop the storytelling skills to establish direction, navigate change, and bring people with them.
Our workshops connect the foundations of storytelling with practical application to participants' own work. We draw on experience in disaster recovery, public service, startups, and the worlds of film, television, and games.
Available online and in person, with formats ranging from an introductory session to a two-day intensive.
“We now have a shared foundation and clear journey ahead.”
Bec Paton
Chief Designer & VP of Design, Culture Amp
Talks
Emotional Climate Change: The inner landscapes of horror
Horror is the most primal genre, grounded in experiences that resonate with deep human fears and emotional landscapes. This talk explores how effective horror development starts with understanding the connection between external terrors and internal emotional states, creating a "psychic bridge" between creator and audience.
Small Weird Crews: Building high-performing teams of humans
Lessons for NZ's growing game dev ecosystem from other regions and industries - how to keep the focus on people while growing business value. A realistic yet optimistic talk for founders, team leaders, and anyone interested in building lasting creative firms that honour he tangata (our people).
The Campfire in The Storm: Leadership Storytelling during Crisis
This talk explores how effective leaders use storytelling as an interactive framework that helps teams navigate through chaos. Drawing on crisis management experience from disaster recovery, high-growth startups and scale-ups, we examine how stories shape team resilience, decision-making, and ultimately, the games we create.
Hello Chaos My Old Friend: Learning from the Messiest Projects
Game development has sometimes struggled to learn from other fields as it evolves. But areas as diverse as disaster recovery, startups, SaaS scaling, and public sector rollouts offer fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) comparison points for the age-old question: how do you manage when things are completely off the rails?
Let's Go Dark Together, the Sequel: Darkerer
A philosophical discussion of the possible evolution of interactive entertainment. Indie horror games - 13th century Italian poetry - Information theory - the Imaginal Realm - Lovecraft - hope.
Podcast conversations
Lovecraft's Letters and Influence
A conversation with the great S.T. Joshi, H.P. Lovecraft scholar and bibliophile.
Narrative, Story Worlds, and Transmedia
A deeply personal conversation with Jeff Gomez, modern mythologist and innovator of the collective journey.
Interactive narrative and pursuing the writer's dream
A conversation with Sarah Beaulieu, Narrative Director on the Assassin's Creed video game franchise.
One of the most exciting times in the history of media
A conversation with Simon Pulman, leading entertainment dealmaker working across games, film, tv and complex rights deals.