The Spark File with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Your one stop shop for creative ideas and inspiration. Sign up for our newsletter HERE. Each week on The Spark File podcast, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien reach into their spark files and share stories, ideas and fascinations to ignite your imagination. Obsessed with creativity, Blackwell and Camien also talk with artists and makers, movers and shakers who have taken the spark of inspiration and fanned it into a flame. Hear from inspiring creatives like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, Eric Stonestreet, Jonathan Groff, Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich, Zachary Quinto, Leslie Odom Jr, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Billy Eichner, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Karen Olivo, Sutton Foster, Michael R. Jackson and many more about their passions and their failures, their inspirations and their aspirations. Refill your creative fish pond with new ideas and fresh perspectives. Listen, then take it and make it! Learn more at thesparkfile.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 16, 2019 • 1h 13min
Creativity Sparks: Little House on the Prairie + Speak the Mokita
Co-hosts Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien serve up some delicious creative sparks in the form of little-known controversies surrounding the beloved Little House on the Prairie series and its author, Laura Ingalls Wilder. We also explore the Mokita -- the truth everyone knows but no one will talk about -- how it defines our work cultures and how it can be used to great dramatic (or comedic) effect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2019 • 20min
Makers: Sara Bareilles Pt 2: Anxiety and Inspirations
This is the second helping of creative conversation with master creator, Sara Bareilles. Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien dig in deeper to hear what is next for Sara and what is inspiring her now. From Grammy, TONY, and EMMY Award nominations to glorious collaborations, Sara gives us real talk about living the creative life as a singer, songwriter, author, producer and performer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2019 • 26min
Makers: Sara Bareilles Part 1: Creative Risks, Songwriting and Broadway
Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien talk to favorite songwriter, actor, producer, author and all around prolific creator, Sara Bareilles. Hear how Sara tackles the fear of not knowing, and how she continues to thrive creatively regardless of bouts with anxiety and depression. From Grammy, TONY, and EMMY Award nominations to glorious collaborations, Sara gives us real talk about living the creative life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2019 • 34min
Bonus: What is a Spark File and Why Every Creative Needs One
Co-hosts Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien serve up the basics of The Spark File podcast -- what is a Spark File? What do you put in it? and why does every creative need one? From the visual artists to performing artists, writers, dancers, filmmakers, instagramers -- artists, makers and creators of all kinds need to restock our creative fishponds and build a reserve of ideas and inspirations. Listen, then take it and make it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 9, 2019 • 1h 39min
Creativity Sparks: Breaking Up with Tech + Free Solo
Co-hosts Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien once again surprise each other with ideas and inspiration from their personal creative spark files. They explore the benefits of breaking up with technology and the impact it could have on your outlook, your productivity, and your creativity. And they discuss the sparks within the award-winning documentary film, Free Solo, looking at the parallels between a life-threatening solo climb of El Capitan and the emotional risk-taking of an artist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 9, 2019 • 1h 18min
Creativity Sparks: John Mulaney on Failure + Nine Enders
Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien share two new sparks of inspiration from their creative spark files. John Mulaney's interview on You Made It Weird and his personal experiences with failure (perceived or otherwise) give hope to everyone who has ever attempted to create something. There is strength to be gained from Robert F. Kennedy, John Mulaney and others who have lived through public defeat. Meanwhile, who knew the number 9 might be the reason why you (or the characters you are writing) behave the way you do. The nine-enders just might be the character motivation you were looking for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 9, 2019 • 1h 21min
Creativity Sparks: Hilma af Klint + The Diderot Effect
Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien reach into their personal Spark Files and share inspiration from artist Hilma af Klint, a woman whose other-worldly work was way ahead of her time (and her male contemporaries'), and their fascination with the The Diderot Effect, and how one man's spiraling consumption became his enduring legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 1, 2019 • 10min
Trailer: Creating The Spark File theme song
A lot goes into writing a brief, catchy theme song. On the debut episode of The Spark File, Susan Blackwell + Laura Camien share the origin story of their opening theme song, featuring Gavin Creel, Lilah Guaragna, Sophie Hearn, and The Performing Arts Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
