The Creative Gap
Gian Carlo Stigliano
The Creative Gap Podcast is for Filmmakers, Entrepreneurs & Creatives. Our goal is to provide conversations around rarely-discussed topics, including Personal Finance, Mental Health, Business, Investments, Relationships, Freelance Life and so much more. Hear from weekly guests on all podcasting platforms.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 24, 2026 • 1h 19min
#85 - Sam Snowden - Building a Creative Agency
This conversation with Sam Snowden dives into the evolving mindset of a creative navigating purpose, pressure, and identity in a saturated digital landscape. He reflects on how growing responsibilities and external expectations can distort your original “why,” emphasizing the importance of returning to your roots and creating for the younger version of yourself. The discussion explores the unpredictability of freelance life, the danger of relying on external validation, and the need to build self-assurance through things beyond work—like relationships, fitness, and lived experience. Sam highlights the balance between ambition and not being consumed by your craft, reframing obsession as consistent curiosity rather than burnout. Ultimately, the conversation centers on taking action (“create more”), embracing failure as a necessary part of growth, and defining success on your own terms rather than through comparison or metrics.Switch to Musicbed and start your 14-day free trial today: https://fm.pxf.io/tcgp-freetrialSign up to Milanote for free with no time-limit: https://milanote.com/carlostigsLearn more about Nanlite & Nanlux Products: https://nanlite.com/ // https://www.nanlux.com/#/en🤝 Follow Sam ► https://www.instagram.com/samsnowden🤝 Subscribe ► https://www.youtube.com/@samsnowden🤝 Follow The Podcast & Carlo!The Creative Gap: https://www.instagram.com/creativegap/ | https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeGapPodcastCarlo: https://www.instagram.com/carlostigs/ | https://www.youtube.com/@carlostigs
Mar 17, 2026 • 1h 9min
#84 - LIFE OF RIZA - The Pursuit of Creative Balance
Kariza Santos, YouTube creator and filmmaker behind Life of Riza, blends cinematic personal storytelling with freelance film experience. She talks about sustaining creative balance through boundaries and time-blocking. She contrasts fast social platforms with slower creative work. She explains building a calm aesthetic, scaling with collaborators, and structuring seasons to protect creativity.
9 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 1h 31min
#83 - Ryan Booth - Choosing Conviction Over Comfort
Ryan Booth, a filmmaker who moved from DP and commercials to directing the feature Stages after an eight-year journey, reflects on choosing conviction over comfort. He discusses breaking out of the commercial box, owning a clear directorial vision, holding tension with agencies, building durable collaborations, and the persistence required to finish a feature.
Mar 3, 2026 • 1h 29min
#82 - Blaine Westropp - Your STYLE is the KEY
Blaine Westropp, filmmaker and cinematographer who documents camera tests and lighting experiments on YouTube. He talks about finding and trusting a personal style through failures and time. He reflects on on-set mistakes that taught planning and testing. He explores set culture, risk-taking, saying yes to opportunities, and using YouTube as a creative logbook.
Jan 27, 2026 • 1h 2min
#81 - Matt Aitia - What It Really Takes to Make Your First Short Film
In this episode of The Creative Gap Podcast, filmmaker and YouTuber Matt Aitia opens up about risk, identity, and the long road toward creative ownership. The conversation begins with a reflection on resilience, patience, and betting on yourself when there are no guarantees. Matt breaks down his approach to goal-setting, consistency on YouTube, and why process matters more than surface-level metrics. He shares how stepping away from steady lighting work forced him to confront fear, redefine success, and rebuild his identity beyond job titles. A major focus of the episode is his short film Get Up, Try Again—from self-funding and committing real money, to directing for the first time, navigating anxiety, post-production setbacks, and learning when to “kill your darlings.” Together, the conversation explores mentorship, networking as relationship-building (not transactions), the emotional cost of creative transitions, and why sustainability—not status—is the real measure of success. It’s an honest look at what it means to keep creating, even when certainty disappears.JOIN CIVA COLLECTIVE ► https://www.civacollective.com/WATCH TRAIN GET UP, TRY AGAIN ON YOUTUBE ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ho6585isjYFollow Us!Matt Aitia: Instagram | WebsiteCarlo: Instagram | WebsiteThe Creative Gap: Instagram | Youtube____________________________________________________⚙️ GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS PODCAST:Rodecaster Pro II: https://amzn.to/3RluSeVRode Podmic: https://amzn.to/3RpaR77Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/4caJUfiCamera 1: https://amzn.to/45h5E7bCamera 2: https://amzn.to/45g8iKxLight: https://amzn.to/3KK6XSt
Jan 20, 2026 • 59min
#80 - Nica Fazio - A Film Career Built on Persistence & Kindness
In this episode, Nica Fazio shares a grounded and honest look at what it truly takes to grow in the film industry. After moving from another country to New York, she reflects on the non-linear reality of building a career on set—navigating visas, cultural shifts, and the challenge of starting from zero in an unfamiliar industry. Rather than relying on shortcuts or titles, Nica’s path has been shaped by persistence, curiosity, and showing up with humility. Alongside her growth as a working grip and electric, she has also built an authentic presence on social media, using it as a tool to share her experiences, educate, and encourage others. Through this visibility, Nica has become an inspiration to many women around the world, showing that a career in film—especially in technical departments—is not only possible, but attainable. Her story is a powerful reminder that film careers are built slowly, through kindness, trust, and the courage to keep going when the path isn’t clear.JOIN CIVA COLLECTIVE ► https://www.civacollective.com/USE THE CODE: TCG20 TO RECEIVE 20% OFF "THE FOUNDATION" MEMBERSHIPFollow Us!Nica Fazio: Instagram | Community InstagramCarlo: Instagram | WebsiteThe Creative Gap: Instagram | Youtube____________________________________________________⚙️ GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS PODCAST:Rodecaster Pro II: https://amzn.to/3RluSeVRode Podmic: https://amzn.to/3RpaR77Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/4caJUfiCamera 1: https://amzn.to/45h5E7bCamera 2: https://amzn.to/45g8iKxLight: https://amzn.to/3KK6XSt
Jan 13, 2026 • 1h 3min
#79 – Adolpho Veloso, ABC, AIP – Cinematography Rooted in Trust
Adolpho Veloso, cinematographer known for Train Dreams, blends instinct, restraint, and calm leadership. He talks about trusting collaborators, embracing limitations as creative fuel, returning to natural light and spontaneity, and balancing career choices with presence and life outside work.
Jan 6, 2026 • 1h 8min
#78 - Todd Banhazl, ASC. - Why Set Culture Creates Better Work
In this episode, Todd Banhazl reflects on cinematography as both a craft and a place of meaning, emphasizing that a DP’s real responsibility goes far beyond the image—it’s about creating a safe, trusting, and energized environment where people can do their best work. He and Carlo talk through leadership learned by failing and repairing, why attitude and emotional awareness matter as much as talent, and how early alignment with directors and departments prevents creative conflict later on. They explore the tension between saying yes out of fear versus curating projects with intention, the shifting definition of “independent film” in a streaming-driven industry, and the importance of protecting taste, patience, and process in a culture that moves too fast. The conversation closes with a grounded perspective on joy and priorities, as Todd shares how fatherhood and family have reshaped how he chooses work—and clarified which projects are truly worth the time and energy they demand.JOIN CIVA COLLECTIVE ► https://www.civacollective.com/USE THE CODE: TCG20 TO RECEIVE 20% OFF "THE FOUNDATION" MEMBERSHIPFollow Us!Todd Banhazl, ASC.: Instagram | WebsiteCarlo: Instagram | WebsiteThe Creative Gap: Instagram | Youtube____________________________________________________⚙️ GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS PODCAST:Rodecaster Pro II: https://amzn.to/3RluSeVRode Podmic: https://amzn.to/3RpaR77Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/4caJUfiCamera 1: https://amzn.to/45h5E7bCamera 2: https://amzn.to/45g8iKxLight: https://amzn.to/3KK6XSt
Dec 29, 2025 • 25min
#77 - 5 Lessons I Learned From a Year of Conversations (2025)
This last episode of 2025 is really just me taking a breath and looking back. All year, I’ve had the chance to sit across from people I genuinely admire and listen to their stories — not just the wins, but the doubts, the fear, the growing pains, and the parts of their lives they don’t always share publicly. Without realizing it at first, those conversations started shaping how I see my own life and the way I want to move into this next year. What stood out to me was how similar the lessons were, even though everyone’s path looked different: there’s no linear road, only commitment; kindness matters more than we think; sustainability beats burnout; fear never really leaves, but experience teaches you how to keep going anyway; and at the end of it all, people matter more than projects. This episode isn’t about having it all figured out — it’s about recognizing where we are right now, finding peace in the process, and reminding ourselves that if we’re stepping into a new year feeling unsure, tired, or hopeful but unclear, we’re not behind. We’re just starting again.JOIN CIVA COLLECTIVE ► https://www.civacollective.com/USE THE CODE: TCG20 TO RECEIVE 20% OFF "THE FOUNDATION" MEMBERSHIPCarlo: Instagram | WebsiteThe Creative Gap: Instagram | Youtube____________________________________________________⚙️ GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS PODCAST:Rodecaster Pro II: https://amzn.to/3RluSeVRode Podmic: https://amzn.to/3RpaR77Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/4caJUfiCamera 1: https://amzn.to/45h5E7bCamera 2: https://amzn.to/45g8iKxLight: https://amzn.to/3KK6XSt
Dec 16, 2025 • 1h 2min
#76 - ANGELICA STIGLIANO - A CONVERSATION ABOUT MARRIAGE, CAREERS & STABILITY
In this episode of The Creative Gap Podcast, Carlo & his wife Angelica sit down for an honest conversation about marriage, identity, and choosing fulfillment in an unpredictable creative life. Together, you reflect on her decision to leave a traditional job to pursue freelance work in yoga and wellness, the emotional highs and lows that come with that shift, and the identity changes that follow when you stop chasing “stability” and start building something meaningful. The conversation expands into marriage, compromise, redefining success beyond money, and creating a life rooted in presence, purpose, and long-term sustainability—ending with a reminder to practice contentment (santosha) while still allowing space to grow.JOIN CIVA COLLECTIVE ► https://www.civacollective.com/USE THE CODE: TCG20 TO RECEIVE 20% OFF "THE FOUNDATION" MEMBERSHIPFollow Us!Angelica: Instagram Carlo: Instagram | WebsiteThe Creative Gap: Instagram | YoutubeSUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON____________________________________________________⚙️ GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS PODCAST:Rodecaster Pro II: https://amzn.to/3RluSeVRode Podmic: https://amzn.to/3RpaR77Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/4caJUfiCamera 1: https://amzn.to/45h5E7bCamera 2: https://amzn.to/45g8iKxLight: https://amzn.to/3KK6XSt
