We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paul Barnes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Paul thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

The idea for The Clint Initiative Podcast was born from several factors. I studied and continue to study filmmaking after decades as a photographer. As a songwriter for decades, I had a multitude of songs and between working with musicians and performers and composing alone using a music workstation, it would always take so much time to produce a completed song. I was recently able to overcome that hurdle using AI powered software and it has been a revelation. All of the songs still require musicians and live performances is a big part of our mission and our fundraising efforts. So everything we produce via our software will be performed live by our in house band.

Now it appears time has caught up with my dreams and it is now easier than ever for me to at the very least, express what it is I can do and show it to people, in the hope they will appreciate my efforts. The best thing about that is our rating system, our audience and our in house creatives, get to express rather what we’ve produced Sticks; needs more work; or we can forget about it. that system gives everyone a stake and the ability to speak up when things are working and more importantly when they are not. The goal is to produce the best we can in every category of every production.

With The Clint Initiative Podcast we Celebrate, Filmmaking Streaming and Music. The most successful component thus far has been the music part of our initiative. Next up is the streaming side with the introduction of our ROKU and Fire TV Initiatives. The hope is the music will jump start our fundraising efforts for our films and our streaming content. We talk about our plans and projects on the podcast which is the perfect platform to keep our fans and people who have invested in the show aware of what our progress is at every stage of production.

Once I met Clint, the namesake of the show and we came up with the idea of a podcast, the amazing thing was the cost of entry and the software to access it was available and the cost was low enough for me to facilitate it through my company Cycle Forward Films. After that it was important to have working performers as part of the show and being able to do it remotely ensured that no matter where they were working or what they were doing they could commit to doing one hour a week for the podcast.

The Focus of Filmmaking, Streaming and Music helps with our agenda each week and through trial and error we’ve found that focusing on the talents of each of our hosts and showcasing what they do as segments on the show gives it a unique flavor that improves with each of our weekly shows.

Katie brings the Latin flavor to the show as well as a personality that lights up the screen. Jamel brings the cool and always delivers segments that lift and motivate all who view them. Clint is a born performer and it shows with every segment of The Trinidad Takeover.

The one thing that helps is that we had a plan to start and then we built from there and were able to pivot into the directions where things worked for the show and our hourly format. When you start to bring an idea to life, the hardest part is to know what parts work and what parts don’t. Well with a weekly podcast and an audience to watch and comment, it helps to focus our efforts, which results in a better show and ultimately productions that always offer our best efforts. It’s invaluable and worth it’s weigh in gold the input of our audience from the start till now. Something as simple as our rating system has helped to give us the freedom to focus on presenting all we have confident that what works will rise to the top.

Paul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The Clint Initiative is a multiphase project born in Minneapolis and focused on bringing out the best talent the area has to offer. All without ever having auditions to find talent. Yes we will have open calls, but all who respond will join our rosters of talent in front of the camera and throughout all of our operations.

Filmmaking, Streaming and Music takes finding the right balance in all areas to make it work and so far starting with the podcast we have the right platform to entertain and inform, while in fact showing our productions come to life, always with the idea that what you don’t show is just as important as what you choose the show. What we have chosen to show so far on our show has worked and our crew and our audience use our rating system to make sure of that. Once we implemented our rating system, it’s simple, we present our work and everyone gets to declare rather it, Sticks; needs more work; or we can forget about it. It’s the one asset our show has that improves every aspect of what we do and that’s the takeaway for me.

Any endeavor either rises or falls with attention given to the smallest of details. The freedom to bring attention to the things that work and the freedom to express when things are not working. That is invaluable to using the time we have to focus our efforts on what works, not just for us creatively, but for our audience as well.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Sometimes the one resource you need for your creative journey or your efforts just does not exist.. Sometimes you know that going in and you do your best. Other times and especially in my case I was willing to try different platforms to get to where I am now.

It’s not always easy to know when you have to wait or when you have to move on, but I consistently have three possible resources and If one doesn’t work I replace it with another until I find what works.

The idea is to always have a top three resources that enhance what you do and when necessary rotate out resources that no longer work, or you feel you can do better.

As resources evolve and improve so much faster now and in abundance, I can have up to five must have resources that I use on a regular basis, but I’ve found having three in each area we specialize in helps to get the job done. Now more than ever two things are true, The resources you need are out there or being created and when they are available, the cost of entry to use them has dropped. That improves not only the quality of what we produce, it helps to keep us all moving forward.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our podcast started in 2023 and if you look at those beginning podcasts the possibilities were endless, but we had to stop, because I had to attend to a family issue. Now in 2024 we have started again with our weekly format and consistently doing our podcast has just made us better at what we do and we can feel the show getting better with each episode.

Now again, our efforts are disrupted and the hope is that by already doing the show remotely and weekly that timing will help us to still be able to still do the show.

There has been no time in my business life or my personal life where I have not had to pivot and change my plans to make things work. In this case the first interruption, in 2023 was a death in the family. The interruption now is my baby is about to be born, a welcome interruption to be sure and all I want to do now, is everything I can to leave a legacy for her and my entire family. So far I can see all the many ways that can and will happen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclintinitiative/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheClintPodcast
• Other: ko-fi.com/theclintinitiativepodcast
  patreon.com/TheClintInitiative

Image Credits

I took all the pictures presented.