007: The Creative Process behind Bluey with Joe Brumm

How do you make an idea come to life? How do you create something that compels people to talk about it and keep coming back for more?

 Joe Brumm, film director and writer of the popular children’s TV show, Bluey, speaks on what it takes to make great kids’ movies and shows while creating remarkable experiences for both children and their parents. Joe shares his candid thoughts on the experience of creating and filming Bluey, the difference between an audience and a community, and how Bluey has inspired cultural change. He also sheds light on the benefits of integrating playfulness in the development of business ideas and offers tips for being playful in your creative process.

As a parent and a creative, Joe Brumm finds great joy in providing comedic entertainment and escapism to kids and families, especially those that are going through the lowest of lows in life. 

Kids’ shows always surprise us with bits of wisdom and humour and Bluey is no exception to that! If there’s one thing Bluey can remind you of it’s that life is crazy, but the craziness won’t last forever.

Listen in to learn why people are compelled to talk about Bluey and how Joe keeps refining his creative endeavours.

Key Takeaways 

·      To make kids’ entertainment relatable and engaging, Joe finds great value in being realistic about how kids play, talk, and use their imagination in real life, while also incorporating different aspects of parenting.

·      95% of Joe’s writing is art imitating life, inspired from real experiences from his own life, many of which happen to be super relatable to other families.

·      If you’re going to create anything, you have to understand the negative and positive feedback and not become too attached to either. Audience feedback is important, but don’t let every negative opinion discourage you.

·      Play with your ideas! Explore different directions they can go in without judgement and forced structure. Eventually, you’ll develop a thread or a story around your idea.

·      Joe relies on meditation and trust to keep fuelling his creative drive. 

·      Connecting with the people on your team is very important for a project’s success. When the people, place, and project come together, it really shows in the final product.

Remarkable Quotes:

[18:08] Just having an escape from reality is just needed sometimes… It’s only seven minutes, but that’s been a real privilege and I’m quite proud that it’s like, you know what, sometimes our audience might just need seven minutes to mind the kids so they can get something done or just to put on hold the daily barrage of everything that can go wrong when you have kids. 

[30:26] I definitely think what we learn as kids, to play and to imagine and to create and to build these blocks without this rigid sense of purpose and always a goal attached to it, we’re still using in the workplace… There’s definitely a playful element to… coming up with ideas and refining a piece of artwork or whatever.

[45:12] You’ve got to trust your own taste.

Resources Mentioned:

The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore: https://amzn.to/3FAvzcU

Listen to the episode with Jesse Cole: www.jaytinkler.com.au/the_remarkable_project/jesse_cole