As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the media landscape, one question sits at the center of the debate: what role should technology play in the creative process?
Live from a rooftop terrace in Cannes, host Alex Wade sits down with Simone McIntyre, a true multi-hyphenate creative whose work spans film, voice acting, music, and beyond. Drawing on her experience across multiple creative disciplines, Simone offers a unique perspective on how technology is reshaping the creative industries and what that means for the people behind the stories.
The conversation takes a thoughtful look at the opportunities and concerns surrounding AI in creative fields and offers an insightful perspective on how innovation and human creativity can coexist.
From navigating her sixth year at the Cannes Film Festival to her upcoming role as a “space trucker” in the sci-fi thriller Voidance, Simone McIntyre's career has followed anything but a conventional path. To learn more about Simone, visit her website at simonemcintyre.com or follow her on Instagram @thesimonemcintyre
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Episode Transcript
Alex (0:06)
What's your take on AI as it affects the creative industries? Are you sanguine that the human urge to tell stories will prevail or are you actually quietly terrified or even visibly very terrified?
Simone (0:20)
Oh, so this is a difficult one because I'm one of those people that would never touch anything AI. And recently I've discovered it can be quite helpful in research. But I do have concerns with things like, I don't know, voice acting.
Alex (0:40)
I would deplore as much as you or anybody else, AI now writing novels and now writing film scripts and all that kind of stuff. Surely that's got to have real, genuine, authentic human input.
Simone (0:51)
Yeah, it's not necessary. I think AI can be good for us. It enables all of us to be free to do what we're really meant to do on this earth.
Alex (1:02)
Yes, I agree. And I think working with it, harnessing the good things it can do is the answer.
Narrator
This is the Clear Draft podcast, where media experts come together to discuss the future of storytelling in an era of rapid technological change.
Simone (1:31)
Hello, Alex.
Alex (1:32)
Now, Simone, the other day, you introduced me at a panel session for Yes, She Can as a multi-hyphenate.
Simone (1:38)
I did, yes.
Alex (1:39)
And thank you very much. You did a great job, by the way.
Simone (1:42)
Thank you.
Alex (1:42)
Now, it was the second time I'd heard that word. OK. And luckily, because I like to think I'm not completely idiotic throughout my advancing age, I thought, that must mean someone who does quite a lot of things.
Simone (1:54)
Yeah.
Alex (1:55)
Correct. OK. Now, then, of course, I looked up what you do, and I thought, if I think I do quite a lot, you do everything.
Simone (2:11)
Yes.
Alex (2:12)
Spanish?
Simone (2:13)
Spanish is much better.
Alex (2:14)
OK. You even find the time to play in a band. Is it strange?
Simone (2:17)
Yeah, that's new.
Alex (2:18)
Right. OK.
Simone (2:19)
That's new.
Alex (2:20)
OK.
Simone (2:21)
Yeah. But, you know, that's fun.
Alex (2:23)
Right. That bit. OK.
Simone (2:39)
Well, I have wondered if I have some sort of attention deficit thing going on. But actually, I just love variety. I trained as an actor and then I was frustrated with not being seen for what I wanted to be seen for.
Alex (3:25)
Sure. Do you also think that what comes with being a multi-hyphenate is there's a kind of needs must argument as well? Because certainly back in my days of being a freelance writer combining that with law and other things, there were certain things that you might not always want to do, but you knew that they'd be good for the mortgage payers.
Simone (3:44)
Yes, absolutely.
Alex (3:46)
I'm not asking you to tell me which bits of the things you do is in that category.
Simone (3:49)
Things that you have to do, also because you trust yourself. And that's kind of the best thing if you're not having to rely on other people.
Alex (3:59)
Yeah, I really empathize with that actually. Okay, so here we're in Cannes. We're on the rooftop of the Terrace.
Simone (4:07)
Yes.
Alex (4:07)
Been a slightly odd day today, a bit sort of sunny, rainy. But is this your first time you've been to Cannes?
Simone (4:12)
No, this is time number six.
Alex (4:14)
Six times? Right, okay. And how does this compare with the previous ones?
Simone (4:18)
You see, so this one was a bit more almost, I would say, fly by night, laissez-faire, without planning. And it's turned into a really cool one. I normally need to be planned with my meetings and what I'm doing.
Alex (5:11)
Very glamorous.
Simone (5:12)
Tequila brand. I don't drink, so I don't know if it's, yeah, it was brilliant. It was lovely.
Alex (5:40)
Brilliant. Sounds like a perfect can, really.
Simone (5:43)
Yeah, it was, except I didn't know how much planning was involved. So my phone was quite hot, literally, from being on all the time. And all this, the French speaking, because I was the French speaker in the group.
Alex (5:55)
Do you find, I quite like being the French speaker when I'm out here, because most of my people I'm with don't speak a word of French. They don't notice the mistakes.
Simone (6:03)
Yes. It's so true.
Alex (6:05)
I sound very impressive. But it's all a bit of an illusion. It's so true.
Simone (6:33)
Well, see, I thought about the stories that I want to tell as a performer and as a creator. And it's about people who are refusing to accept their circumstances or the limitations they find themselves in. And I feel like, like those stories I want to tell myself, if I can see it up here in my head, then I can manifest or create it, not to sound all gooey, but I can make it happen.
Alex (7:11)
Yeah, because you have a sort of slight riff on it as well, which is, I make films about frustrated dreamers who refuse to accept the limitations placed on them. So that's your take on that, which is a very good principle, I would say. So here in Cannes, I know you moderated a session for Yes, She Can the other week when I filled in, we should say, I filled in for Atlanta Webster, former colleague of mine, great person who unfortunately couldn't make Cannes, so hat tip to Atlanta there.
Simone (7:42)
Yes, my first film as producer, it's called Kirsty's Promise. It's set in Bristol. It's a gritty, dramatic thriller, sort of considered outhouse-esque, because it's actually in black and white, it's beautiful, but it's about a really harsh topic.
Alex (8:50)
I guess, I mean, but there are probably two things when you say how they got into it. You're talking about drug addiction, but also sex work, I guess.
Simone (8:56)
Yeah, because you might have a... I might have had in my mind that it's a certain type of person from a certain type of maybe family that finds themselves in this circumstance. But actually, it's interesting how it can happen to anyone.
Alex (9:37)
So this is Kirstie's Promise. It's been shot.
Simone (9:39)
It's been shot.
Alex (9:40)
So you're looking for distribution at the moment?
Simone (9:42)
That's right, yeah.
Alex (9:43)
Okay. And any meetings? How do you think it went?
Simone (9:45)
So we, yeah, we are repped by Lucky Matrix.
Alex (9:49)
Right.
Simone (9:49)
And what we really want is a limited theatrical run. So we're going to be talking to indie cinemas to do a tour. My goal is to do an indie tour, like an event.
Alex (10:03)
Right.
Simone (10:03)
So we have like a discussion after the film before we go to platforms.
Alex (10:07)
Interesting. So you produce this, but you also play Kirstie?
Simone (10:12)
Yeah.
Alex (10:12)
Okay. But that must be quite tough. I mean, a role like that.
Simone (10:16)
In the beginning, I was just Kirstie. And then once we had done principal photography, so all the way along, maybe I was a bit of a bossy Leo, I suppose, with the director. Because the director had a couple of different hats.
Alex (10:44)
Okay. Now, other films to date, I was particularly interested in one that I read about. I'd love to see it, which is The Overcoat.
Simone (10:51)
Oh, yes. I'll send it to you.
Alex (10:52)
I'd love to see that.
Simone (10:53)
Oh, I'm really proud of that one. So that's the short story from, I think it was 1830 by the Ukrainian writer. His name has disappeared from my head.
Alex (11:07)
Nikolai Gogol.
Simone (11:08)
There we go. Nikolai Gogol's short story. And it's been interpreted in so many different ways.
Alex (11:31)
I can see Oxford. Because of course, the original story was set in St. Petersburg. Yes.
Simone (12:09)
A balance between the two because he's working in a corporate environment. He has a mean boss, which is me.
Alex (12:18)
You're the mean boss? Yes. I like that.
Simone (12:25)
Yes, that's right.
Alex (12:27)
Who is a he?
Simone (12:28)
It's kind of like... I think it's black. So we started from...
Alex (12:56)
I'm really interested in the idea that the general who torments him, because for those who don't know the story, this poor clerk, his threadbare overcoat is falling apart. The people in his office mock him. He loves simply copying things.
Simone (14:38)
Or are you?
Alex (14:39)
Is it a 90-minute feature? No.
Simone (14:41)
So do you know what's really interesting? We've got two versions. We've got another ending because at the time there was a filmmaker called Oleg Sentsov.
Alex (15:38)
So obviously one can read that into it as well. So it's a commentary on materialism and the evils of materialism. Okay.
Simone (16:06)
Okay.
Alex (16:07)
What are you most proud of so far?
Simone (16:10)
Most proud of? Hmm. Ooh, I don't know.
Alex (16:59)
And you mentioned writing. Do you write the scripts yourself as well then?
Simone (17:03)
So yes, I wrote the first short and then the other things I haven't written, but now I'm focusing on developing my own writing. So when I do something with someone else, for me, it has to sort of fit into my logline of what I want to tell stories about. Um, but yeah, so at the moment I have my gothic horror and then I also have two other projects, which are television and development, but I've been told to focus on the feature first so I can then get the television done.
Alex (17:38)
Okay. Do you think writing is the, was that as a sort of teenager, was that the springboard to everything? Was it, or was it, I want to act or I'd like to make a film or was it I want to write?
Simone (17:49)
I used to love writing, but you know, what's really funny when I remember a few years ago and I met some friends from like A-level and I, and all, yeah, school, high school, A-level and they thought, and I said, I've just done a show theatre and they thought I meant dancing because I, they knew me for dancing.
Alex (18:06)
Hang on, you're a dancer as well.
Simone (18:08)
That's what I used to do. Always dancing, dancing.
Alex (18:10)
So what don't you do with the next question?
Simone (18:12)
I just, anything creative. I love it. That's it.
Alex (18:33)
Yeah.
Simone (18:34)
Whether it's writing, acting on stage, doing voice work, doing audio book, it's all storytelling. Putting your print on someone else's script as a producer, it's all the same.
Alex (18:45)
Now, as you'll recall from the session we did the other day, when you very kindly asked me about my new business, I'm the co-founder and co-CEO of an AI powered legal clearance business. And I feel hand on heart, I'm on the right side of the AI debate. It's processing AI, it's not generative.
Simone (19:15)
Oh, so this is a difficult one because I'm one of those people that would never touch anything AI. And recently I've just got it, it can be quite helpful in research.
Alex (19:26)
It does have its advantages.
Simone (19:30)
But then I do think, I think it can be so useful, but I do have concerns with things like, I don't know, voice acting, I have concerns that people say to me, oh, we can press a button and make your voice so we won't need you anymore. It's like, what?
Alex (19:46)
Well, that's one of your gigs, isn't it?
Simone (19:48)
Exactly. You're a voice actor. That would be an unhelpful development.
Alex (20:10)
Yes, I agree. And I think working with it is the answer. Harnessing it, the good things it can do in medical science, for example, it could be amazing.
Simone (20:30)
Yeah, it's not necessary. I think, personally, I think AI can be good for us if it enables all of us to be free to do what we're really meant to do on this earth and really follow what we really want to do. If it frees you up in ways, I think that's really positive.
Alex (20:57)
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Simone (21:07)
Audio books? Yes. I just had one released a couple months ago called The Arctic Cruise.
Alex (21:12)
Okay.
Simone (21:13)
And that was a lot of fun because I've never been on a cruise before and I feel like I've been on an Arctic cruise now. Because it was so well written, all the characters and, yeah, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I've also voiced a book called Black Cake.
Alex (21:55)
But do you have any accents up your sleeve that you can do really well or?
Simone (21:57)
Yeah. So I do Jamaican, lots of different types of Jamaican I can do.
Alex (22:01)
I think you should now speak in a Jamaican accent.
Simone (22:03)
Well, you know, I'm very good at being speaky-spoky, which is what you would say, like, you know, a lady who likes to drink tea and crumpets, that type of Jamaican.
Alex (22:14)
That's fantastic.
Simone (22:15)
That's one of them.
Alex (22:16)
And also we mentioned earlier on a thing, or was it just before we started, but you speak Spanish and French to a degree. So presumably you work, do you work in those languages as well?
Simone (22:25)
My, yeah, I do e-learning in Spanish. I've done quite a bit. I've done a couple of little ads in Spanish.
Alex (22:39)
Right.
Simone (22:39)
I did the audio. They turned it into an audio drama.
Alex (22:42)
Okay.
Simone (22:42)
And so I was the voice of, so many people would know Giancarlo Esposito.
Alex (22:47)
Yeah.
Simone (22:47)
So I was his mum. The story takes place on a fictional Caribbean-Spanish island, so like Cuba. So I was, it was English, but thick-accented, but obviously peppered with Spanish, you know.
Alex (23:11)
So with accents, I've always been fascinated by accents because we all know at school, the person who can just do every accent just like that. I personally can do, say, three or four quite well, and then others, I just can't get near. Is it training or do you?
Simone (23:24)
I'm not very good at following rules, I'll be honest. I'm not very good at looking at the tongue placements and this and that and the other. I literally just listen and then tune in.
Alex (23:37)
Yeah. So can you do pretty much most UK accents, for example?
Simone (23:40)
I can do Liverpool.
Alex (23:42)
You see, Liverpool is one I just can't do. I can do like one phrase and then it disappears. I, you know, can't stick with it.
Simone (23:48)
So Geordie, there's that thing, wayayman.
Alex (23:51)
That's right, yeah, yeah.
Simone (23:52)
Liverpool. So I can do, Simel, what's that? What do you look like?
Alex (23:59)
Now, that's nice. I like that. I like that.
Simone (24:08)
Yeah.
Alex (24:09)
What genre of music is this?
Simone (24:10)
So this is called Groove Alchemy and we do covers and we do things like Angie Stone, even Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, the old stuff, groovy stuff, some disco, what gets people grooving. But my default singing is actually more blues, but that's not so mainstream. So we do have a set which is like more bluesy as well.
Alex (24:42)
Okay, and you're playing gigs in?
Simone (24:44)
Yeah, we've got one soon coming up in Harrow.
Alex (24:49)
Okay, you're London mostly.
Simone (24:50)
Yes.
Alex (24:51)
Talking of music, do you listen to the legendary Giles Peterson ever on Saturday afternoons?
Simone (24:56)
Yes, yes.
Alex (24:57)
I just love, I love that man. I love that show. It's just amazing.
Simone (25:02)
Yes.
Alex (25:02)
3pm to 6pm on a Saturday.
Simone (25:04)
Yeah, I'm a jazz person.
Alex (25:06)
Great.
Simone (25:07)
Brilliant.
Alex (25:07)
Good. We're united. Okay.
Simone (25:21)
Well, I've got my gothic, I'm writing a gothic horror.
Alex (25:25)
Actually, yes, you did say a gothic horror.
Simone (25:27)
Yeah. It takes place in the UK and in Jamaica. So that will hopefully be my first feature film.
Alex (25:31)
Is it going to be really properly scary?
Simone (25:34)
More like the paranoia. There's some horrible, yeah, there's some really horrible bits, but not like blood and guts. I don't like that kind of thing.
Alex (25:41)
I actually can't watch horror films.
Simone (25:42)
More like twisted, more like in your mind.
Alex (25:45)
Right, I don't mind that.
Simone (25:46)
That kind of thing.
Alex (25:47)
The actual horror bits make me still hide.
Simone (25:49)
Yeah, no, no. Like for me, gothic horror is, so gothic horror has all these tropes, you know, like people, you're not sure if they're, if they dreamt it or not. You know, people, women fainting, all this kind of thing.
Alex (26:16)
Right.
Simone (26:16)
Okay.
Alex (26:16)
So some element of you seems to be drawn to quite difficult territory.
Simone (26:22)
Yes.
Alex (26:23)
Okay. All right. Well, let's take what territory is good territory, actually, especially if you're going to write.
Simone (26:28)
I think so. I think so. And I have a film out on the end of May, the 25th, I think, called Voidance.
Alex (26:37)
Okay.
Simone (26:38)
That's a, I would think it's called a sci-fi thriller, takes place on mostly on a spaceship. Women is trying to find out who committed a murder on the spaceship. And I play shock horror, a space trucker.
Alex (27:05)
Oh, brilliant. Okay. All right.
Simone (27:11)
My website is simonemcintyre.com or IG is at the simonemcintyre on Instagram.
Alex (27:17)
Okay, great. The Simone, thank you very much.
Simone (27:19)
Thank you so much for having me.
Narrator (27:22)
Thanks for listening to the Clear Draft podcast. To learn more about Clear Draft, visit cleardraft.com
