We recently connected with Katie DeMatteis, Ben MartinMooney, Zeki Alikaya and have shared our conversation below.
Katie, Ben, Zeki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
When the three of us started streaming, we knew we wanted to create a space that was inclusive, creative, and collaborative. The biggest project we have undertaken thus far is Mitra—our home-brew, system agnostic world that is being built as we stream. While the three of us came up with the initial lore, our plan was always to allow the community to build with us. We have since entrusted various, impactful parts of the story to our players, guest DMs, and also the audience. This world is growing beyond us and our ideas, and we couldn’t be happier to see it take on a life of its own.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The three of us all have have backgrounds in, and strong adoration for, the performing arts (despite our decade long careers in corporate America). Our passion for art never went away though; it was something we all felt the absence of every day. And it turned out a lot of our friends did, too! The AP channel was started as a way to foster folks’ creativity in a world where we’re told we can only be good at one thing—and to create an inclusive space in a famously exclusive hobby (TTRPGs). Our twitch channel is meant to be a place where folks can come and be themselves, in all their neurodivergent authenticity. We don’t take ourselves too seriously; and we love a good story.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Pay them. Almost every professional artist we know, with a few notable exceptions, has a money job. Ostensibly, this means that they are working two full time careers. Even folks who are successful still need supplemental income. It’s incredibly unsustainable and discourages talented people from entering the field.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Yes; so many! There is still an incredible amount we don’t know and we are actively launching a series about it. Starting in March, we are going to be interviewing successful professional creatives and getting their advice/tips/tricks on how they got to where they are. At the end of the day, people who have been in the trenches are the best resource.
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