We recently connected with Paul Millet and have shared our conversation below.

Paul, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I had been managing two separate career paths for over two decades, editing the HGTV show House Hunters and also frequently taking on independent projects, ranging from sizzle reels for other organizations to editing independent films and series. I have a post-production suite in my home so all the work has been out of my home office since the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same time, I’ve been producing and directing theatre all over the Southern California region. From 2008-2019 I served as the Artistic Director of Unbound productions and, along with two partners, created Wicked Lit, History Lit and Mystery Lit. All three projects were site-specific endeavors and offered innovative ways to create theatre.

In the years since the pandemic, as I wrestled with my next creative journey, I decided to merge the two paths into one. I wanted to create a new company that would leverage my skills and experience as an editor in film and television in order to generate revenue to invest in projects I wanted to create in the theatre world. That was the genesis of my new company, Millet Creative Media (MCM).

I still work on House Hunters, so that serves as my primary personal income. So, everything raised from my MCM clients, goes to future theatrical productions. And because of all the years producing non-traditional theatrical experiences with Unbound Productions, I naturally look for ways to think differently about creating theatre.

To that end, MCM launched my newest endeavor, Theatre Obscura L.A. this past March. Theatre Obscura L.A. is unique in that the theatre experience is curated with zero visuals. The audience enters the performance space, dons a blindfold and experiences the play fully staged and realized all around them “in the dark”.

Paul, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been working in the television and film post production world for the past 30 years. I started out as a post PA, then became an assistant editor and finally started editing full time 25 years ago. My passion is storytelling. And, as an editor, my primary function is to craft the story. In the narrative world, it’s working off of a script and using the footage shot from each take to allow the story to unfold in an organic way while leveraging the emotional resonance of each scene. This, of course, allows the audience to connect to the story and the characters. In the non-fiction world, there is no script, so my job is to parse through all the footage and craft the story from the footage shot. In all cases, it features collaboration. I enjoy working with the producers and directors of all the video projects to craft the strongest story.

I’ve also been producing and directing theatre for 25 years. Again, everything I do originates from storytelling. In this case, I am shaping a story with actors on a stage (or in a non-traditional space) to bring a script to life. But again, collaboration is the key. In this arena I am collaborating with actors, designers, writers and stage managers to craft the strongest story.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting is how I launched Millet Creative Media (MCM)!

As mentioned before, for years I have considered myself as having two parallel career tracks – editing for television and film and creating theatre. Because I’ve been fortunate to work on House Hunters, I left that career track on “auto-pilot” so to speak and I put all my focus on advancing my theatre career through various directing projects and as the Artistic Director of Unbound Productions. I had expected to reach a point where my work experience, life experience, talent and reputation would all coalesce and I would become a sought-after theatre producer and director.

I left Unbound at the end of 2019 believing that I had reached that point. Unfortunately, I did not get the desired reaction from the theatre world as I departed Unbound and, when Covid-19 hit, everything I was working towards got scuttled.

After a couple of years of reflection due to the pandemic, I reconsidered what was next for me. When I was approached to edit several projects outside of House Hunters, I realized that I could create my own organization to take on these projects. Then the idea for Theatre Obscura L.A. (TOLA) emerged and that sealed the deal. I launched MCM in early 2025 and immediately had four clients who hired my new company. And that, in turn, generated the funding to launch TOLA this past March.

All because of a post pandemic pivot.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have an old Apple Computer poster on the wall of my home office. It’s from the late 1990s. It features a picture of Amelia Earhart with the simple caption “Think Different”. For me, that marketing campaign from Apple remains one of the most influential of the past several decades. Apple was struggling at the time. However, they reinvented their production line and launched it by leaning into the idea of thinking outside of the conventional wisdom of the computer market at the time. It saved Apple and helped the company transform into the monumental success it is today.

This still resonates with me. I am always looking for new ways to tell a story, especially in the theatre world. There are countless theatre companies creating great work in the conventional theatrical arena. I want to push the boundaries and see what else is possible. Back in 2008 site-specific theatre was very niche. But at the time, my partners and I sought to think different and Unbound Productions was born featuring Wicked Lit, History Lit and Mystery lit.

Today, there are companies dedicated to creating site-specific and immersive theatre, and there are a number of well- established companies dabbling in it as well. So, I wanted to explore the next iteration. And that led me to theatre with no visuals – Theatre Obscura L.A.

I don’t know where this will take me in the future, but I’m always going to look for new and unconventional ways to tell a story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://milletcreativemedia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theatreobscurala/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587380487963
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-millet-2556b77/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MilletCreativeMedia

Image Credits

James Castle Stevens (my photo)

Joe Camareno (Red audience photos & the editing photo)

Eric Keitel (Black and white production photos)