Balancing Acts Podcast

Balancing Acts is our partner podcast, created and hosted by comedy writer, performer and director Steve Whiteley.

Each week Steve sits down with successful creatives to discuss their journey, explore how they find a sense of balance (or not) between their careers and everyday life and looks at strategies they use to unlock their creativity.

There is always someone who has been through what you’re going through now, and through this podcast you can learn so much from the experiences of other creatives. Here are our 3 favourite episodes (check out the full list here).

Mark O’Sullivan

Mark O’Sullivan looks suitably anxious

Mark is an actor, writer, director, producer and co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ‘Lee and Dean’. In this episode you’ll learn:

  • How ‘Lee and Dean’ was commissioned off the back of a failure
  • How everything good that happened to him started on Twitter
  • Why it can be better to enter comedy later in life
  • How to get a creative team working effectively and overcome ‘Imposter Syndrome’
  • How he balances marriage, kids and comedy

Zara Symes

Zara Symes stares down the camera

Zara is an actress and writer. In this episode she talks in detail about her experience of hustling and pitching a script:

  • How she got representation
  • The experience of pitching before she was ready
  • What happens in a script development meeting
  • How she improved her writing (plus the best podcast for scriptwriting)
  • How she structures her routine to maximise her creativity

Khyan Mansley

Khyan Mansley. Left lean variety.

Khyan is an actor, writer and director who started his career as a Youtuber. He went on to create a short film called ‘The Ministry’ which led to a US sitcom script commission. In this episode he talks about:

  • How he got started making Youtube videos
  • The experience of pitching to US executives
  • Breaking down a 2 year development process
  • How agencies ‘package’ a script for pitching
  • How he takes an analytical approach to maximising his productivity

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