Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meghan Warby. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Meghan, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or a creative get you thinking about what it’d be like to have a regular job. Are you happy as an artist or creative?
Wow, I love your question because it nudges me to be a bit contrarian, which is not my default mode. Personally, I’ve found that my mental health improves when I unlink happiness from creative work.
A lot of your site’s artists are brutally honest about this bumpy path, so please forgive the unoriginal insight here. In my experience, connecting creativity to a higher level of happiness just adds pressure and potential for disappointment to the process. Since I’m plenty neurotic already, I try cordoning off my mood – and feelings generally – from my creative work to avoid an unnecessary ride on the scary self-esteem rollercoaster.
Obviously, the toughest times are when my work floats into the real world. Whether it’s getting a weird studio note, a joke bombing, or straight-up validation-seeking through a grant application, I’m forever re-learning how to be content inside a bigger story instead of chasing approval through scripts or shoots.
I’ll admit that this particular creative life I’ve cobbled together offers more time to explore contentment and mindfulness than years past, which has boosted my spirits overall.
To answer your other question, I’ve put aside most of my doubts, but have a ‘never say never’ mindset about ‘regular jobs.’ Working like that most of my life – from the service industry to political consulting, and gigs in nonprofits and government – was invaluable. Climbing down and off the corporate ladder in my thirties was awkward for sure. But, these jobs delivered life-long friendships, lots of new skills – especially diplomacy – and a wild mix of interpersonal dynamics, which’ll inform my creative work for the rest of my life.
If anyone reading this feels like a ‘sell out’ for hanging onto a ‘regular job,’ I hope they can dredge up some self-compassion and remember that life is long. Sometimes squirreling away coin is what you need to do so you can buy your time back later. You can always snuggle up to a generous patron, too, right? If you find a few, please send one my way – ha!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly tell our readers about yourself and how you got into your industry?
Sure thing. On the production side, I covered a good friend’s mat leave while I ran social media strategy and training for our state-level government. Working with critically-acclaimed documentarian Sherien Barsoum – before she added phenomenal mom to her CV – was a lucky break. I learned about a producer’s workflow by osmosis. When her role was added to mine, I enrolled in the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto workshops to better understand lighting, editing, directing and interviewing.
I wasn’t a total noob, but pretty darn close! Back in high school, I’d write, shoot and edit goofy sketches we’d screen at assemblies, many of which I’d host. Yes, I was one of those dorky improv nerds.
Speaking of improv, around the same time my job doubled-up, I was attending the Second City Training Centre (SCTC). I’d just finished all the screenwriting courses at the University of Toronto’s School for Continuing Studies and missed its structure and deadlines. First, I did the SCTC’s sketch writing program, then I took their courses on playwriting, spec scripts, storytelling and stand up. It was there that I met a collaborator with whom I made two shorts and a webseries – rising comedy star and award-winning actress Aliya Kanani. SCTC also connected me with Paul Bellini, the iconic ‘Kids In The Hall’ performer and writer, who was so encouraging and always offered me spots in his storytelling nights, which meant the world to me.
After a few years producing and making creative comedy shorts, it was time to leave my government gig – despite its stability and much to the chagrin of my family. So, I went back to the agency where I’d been a registered lobbyist – a story for another day and fodder for a future script – to baptism-by-fire my way through creative producing and directing across multiple channels for global brands.
My colleague there – Giacomo Grisanzio – was a sanity-preserving hilarious collaborator. We’d commiserate on our long walks home about stretched-thin budgets and bonkers timelines. Had we not crossed paths, I wouldn’t’ve had the courage to go freelance and work remotely around the world, which led me to another life-changing collaborator in Cape Town – Shimmy Isaacs. Shimmy and I co wrote a rom-com, which has been optioned. She also asked me to story edit her sitcom, which has been green-lit, and we still riff on premises for her standup. She’s the best and the funniest.
All these roles, collaborators, clients and projects still inform my freelance creative productions and my screenwriting. Because I’ve worn many different hats in different work cultures, I’d like to think that I can assess what types of stories work, what cadence and format makes sense, and how to weave in visuals in new ways.
Today, my screenwriting’s anchored in a partnership with LA-based writer, producer and director Anthony McLean, who’s the most positive and imaginative human you could imagine. We just re-launched our writing group, which includes a lively global coworking community and an inspiring series of table reads with LA’s sweetest actors. I’m looking forward to seeing what we create in 2024!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I’ll spare you a repeat of ‘don’t expect your creative work to make you happy.’ But, this lesson is definitely related.
For me, unlearning our culture’s relationship with uncertainty has been very empowering. I should mention that I’m one generation away from the type of uncertainty that affects your health, I’ll try to be careful with my words to not sound like a total jerk!
Til my mid thirties, ‘doing well,’ meant a high-status title, benefits, retirement savings, and a promise of stability. It got to the point where I thought these were necessities. After some surprisingly unfulfilling corporate ‘successes,’ I found that ‘doing well’ was no fun if it wasn’t in line with the funny, weird stuff I wanted to make.
It took a few years of following my curiosity in private, safe ways – like all those UofT, LIFT and SCTC courses and small stakes projects with different collaborators – to sit with uncertainty in a healthier way.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on your entrepreneurial and management philosophy?
There’s a cue card in my office with a Billy Wilder quote: “If you’re going to tell people the truth, be funny or they’ll kill you,” which is the closest thing to a management philosophy I have and nudges me to punch up scripts when all I want to do is cruise social media.
Meatier stuff that brings comfort and inspiration is Carl Jung’s writing, lectures from his student Marie-Louise von Franz, and easier-to-read Jungians like James Hollis and James Hillman. For anyone interested in telling stories, thinking about our connections through symbols and myths is a pretty productive and fun rabbit hole.
Ram Dass is another constant on my nightstand and in the podcast queue. I still laugh at his self-deprecating stories, which I’ve heard a ton of times, cause he delivers his talks like a flow-state standup. His prompt “How poignant am I?” is a good reminder to not let my worry wart nature call the shots.
Reading Buddhist psychology helps root creative work and challenges into a mindfulness practice that’s healthier than my go-to whinging and wallowing. Tara Brach’s ‘Radical Acceptance’ is a great start if you’re curious about this, as well as John Welwood’s ‘Toward a Psychology of Awakening’ and ‘Thoughts Without A Thinker’ by Mark Epstein.
A documentary that I feel blends these influences is Judd Apatow’s fantastic ‘Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,’ which came out while I was traveling and is still my homesickness remedy. I can’t watch that doc enough when I’m on the road. It gave me a newfound respect for Shandling and a gratitude for that team’s epic archival work, which delivered such a powerful film. It’s a great chaser for a ‘Larry Sanders’ marathon, too! (Hank Kingsley voice) Hey now!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meghanwarby.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withoutayard/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghan.warby
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanwarby/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/withoutayard
Image Credits
MeegsAtTiff = Sherien Barsoum MeegsAtSayYeah = Lee Dale MeegsAtSushi = Robyn Gray MeegsOnSet = One Red Streamer Meegs&Anth = Anthony McLean Meegs&Shimmy = Shimmy Isaacs Meegs&Counterbalance = Counterbalance Collective