Entertainment Matters is a podcast for people who make live entertainment happen.
Hosted by John Blackburn, each episode explores how we create shows, make them successful, and keep audiences coming back.
You’ll hear longer-form interviews with people from across live entertainment and beyond - alongside shorter analysis episodes where John pulls out key ideas and explores how you can start applying them in your own work in live entertainment.
This is for people who care about both the art and the business of entertainment.
No fluff. No hype. Just practical ideas, thoughtful questions, and ways of thinking for the people who keep the lights on and the curtain up.
Notes – on borrowing other people’s perspectives
In his interview, Steve Caswell said that a piece of entertainment has to work creatively, operationally and commercially.
In this Notes episode, I explore what happens when we treat those as three different perspectives from which to examine our work, and add a fourth: the perspective of the audience.
I also take you through a practical exercise for borrowing the thinking of someone whose operational or commercial judgement you respect, and using that perspective to notice different information, ask different questions and find different solutions.
In this episode
Creative, operational and commercial perspectives
Why changing perspective changes what we notice
Choosing someone to model
A practical exercise in stepping into another person’s thinking
Developing and refining your model
Applying the same process to creative thinking
The audience perspective, inspired by Jess Chambers
The Practitioner–Producer model as a shift in perspective
Robert Dilts’ Disney strategy: the Dreamer, the Realist and the Critic
Understanding the different parts of the live-entertainment ecosystem
Explore the ideas mentioned
Watch or read about The Practitioner and The Producer:
www.john-blackburn.com/practitioner-and-producer (http://www.john-blackburn.com/practitioner-and-producer)
The interviews with Steve Caswell and Jess Chambers are also available in the Entertainment Matters podcast feed.
Find John
Website: www.john-blackburn.com (http://www.john-blackburn.com)
Instagram: @coachjohnblackburn (https://www.instagram.com/coachjohnblackburn/)
Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet
If you’d like to stay up to date with new episodes, please sign up to the Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet:
www.john-blackburn.com/pod (http://www.john-blackburn.com/pod)
Music by Pete Faint
Website: www.petefaint.com (http://www.petefaint.com)
Instagram: @petefaint_ (https://www.instagram.com/petefaint_/)
23 Jul 2026
With Steve Caswell
With Steve Caswell
“It’s got to work creatively, it’s got to work operationally and it’s got to work commercially.”
Steve Caswell has spent more than two decades working in entertainment, including senior roles with Haven Holidays, Butlin’s and a privately owned entertainment business. In 2025, he launched Next Phase Entertainment, working across entertainment provision, collaboration and consultancy.
In this conversation, Steve talks about leadership, designing entertainment around its audience and purpose, and the relationship between creative, operational and commercial thinking. We also discuss changing entertainment offerings for new audiences, current challenges within the industry, and his hope for a more thoughtful, collaborative and sustainable future for entertainment.
Conversation sequence
Introducing Steve and Next Phase Entertainment
Steve’s different kinds of work
Leadership in entertainment
Designing entertainment offerings
Understanding the creative and commercial relationship in live entertainment
Challenges of transitioning entertainment offerings for different audiences
Other current challenges in entertainment
Myths to avoid in live entertainment
A more thoughtful, collaborative and sustainable future for entertainment
Steve’s standout live entertainment experiences
Find out more about Steve and Next Phase Entertainment
Find out more about Steve and Next Phase Entertainment
Website: www.NextPhaseEntertainment.co.uk (http://www.NextPhaseEntertainment.co.uk)
Email: Steve@NextPhaseEntertainment.co.uk (mailto:Steve@NextPhaseEntertainment.co.uk)
LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram: @NextPhaseEntertainment
Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet
If you’d like to stay up to date with new episodes, please sign up to the Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet:
www.john-blackburn.com/pod (http://www.john-blackburn.com/pod)
Music
Music by Pete Faint
Website: www.petefaint.com (http://www.petefaint.com)
Instagram: @petefaint_ (https://www.instagram.com/petefaint_)
16 Jul 2026
Notes - on The Practitioner and The Producer: Freedom, Security and Creating Opportunities
Notes - on The Practitioner and The Producer: Freedom, Security and Creating Opportunities
“Sometimes if you want different results, it helps to try a different model.”
In this Notes episode, John introduces The Practitioner and The Producer, a model for looking at how careers, shows and projects in live entertainment work.
Starting with the question of how you get the freedom you want and the security you need, John looks at some of the stories we inherit about how entertainment careers are supposed to work, what can be hidden inside the word “just”, and how easily hoping to get lucky can become the whole plan.
He then explores the two roles that appear again and again across live entertainment: the Practitioner, who gets paid to do the work, and the Producer, who creates the opportunity in which that work gets paid.
In this episode:
The five ways a Practitioner can move towards greater freedom and security
The five resources a Producer needs to build, own or have access to
Why you can be both a Practitioner and a Producer
The difference between waiting for opportunities and creating them
Why moving forwards in either role comes down to taking responsibility and learning to push your own buttons
How another perspective can help you see what your current activities actually add up to
Explore The Practitioner and The Producer
You can explore the full model, see the diagram, watch the talk and read the written version here:
www.john-blackburn.com/practitioner-and-producer (http://www.john-blackburn.com/practitioner-and-producer)
Have a conversation with John
If this episode has helped you see your work differently, John would be very happy to have a conversation with you.
Usually, that conversation looks at what you currently want, what game you are currently playing, what your activities add up to, and whether your current plan is likely to take you where you say you want to go.
www.john-blackburn.com/connect-with-jb (http://www.john-blackburn.com/connect-with-jb)
Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet
If you’d like to stay up to date with new episodes, please sign up to the Entertainment Matters Cue Sheet:
www.john-blackburn.com/pod (http://www.john-blackburn.com/pod)
Music by Pete Faint
Website: www.petefaint.com (http://www.petefaint.com)
Instagram: @petefaint_
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