Process The Podcast

"If people want to work with you, they’re going to find you. So you've just got to create the work, be aligned with your own taste, and put it out there." — Ali Mitton

From a darkroom in the Gold Coast to shooting global campaigns in Los Angeles, photographer Ali Mitton has built an undeniable, sun-drenched career capturing freedom, raw movement, and elevated beauty. But what happens when the high stakes of commercial advertising pull you away from your artistic centre?

In this incredibly raw and transparent conversation, Ali opens up about building massive relationships with legacy brands like CoverGirl and Aerie, navigating the toxic comparison loops of Instagram, and how a devastating personal crisis, losing her dream home in the 2025 LA wildfires, sparked an existential creative reckoning.

We dive deep into the differences between the Australian and American industry landscapes, the realities of high-stakes commercial sets, and why true artistry requires the courage to say "no".

INSIDE THE EPISODE: 

00:00 — Intro
04:32 — Owning the Title Before You've Earned It
07:46 — Protecting Your Signature as Jobs Get Bigger
12:06 — The No-Retouching Era
16:16 — Getting Dropped
21:10 — How Dream Clients Actually Find You
24:35 — Shooting Playboy for the Female Gaze
28:29 — Legacy Clients, Celebrities & Managing Egos
34:35 — Being the Client for Once
36:55 — Losing the House in the LA Fires
43:45 — Learning to Say No
48:04 — The Impossible Shot List
57:51 — Beauty's Nostalgic Rewind
1:01:28 — Instagram Rewind: Behind the Shots

Connect with our Guest:

Ali Mitton on Instagram: https://bit.ly/4vLjmuR 

Website: www.alimitton.com https://bit.ly/3T12QJj

Enjoyed this Episode? 
Join our Community!

Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram,⁠@arielle.thomas⁠ https://bit.ly/4v21hby

Us, on Instagram,⁠@processthepodcast https://bit.ly/4xJ1EKl

Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast https://bit.ly/44pdcFf

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.
See you at the next one! 

* This episode includes third-party images and video clips used for educational commentary and visual references. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or  copyright inquiries, please contact hello@cinemathom.com

"If everyone draws from the same pool of images, but they don't know why they're drawing from that, the work becomes the same." - Zoë Yasemin
Welcome back to Process the Podcast. This week, Arielle sits down with Dutch-based creative director, researcher, and the brilliant mind behind the viral, globally ranked Substack: The Art Direction, Zoë Yasemin. 
While previous guests have masterfully explored the mechanics of still-life curation and multimedia stop-motion, Zoë’s strength is the depth of her reference pool. In this expansive dialogue, Zoë and Arielle dissect "aesthetic flattening" - the dangerous cultural cycle where creators pull from the exact same surface-level internet algorithms, leading to an inevitable sameness in modern brand output. From bidding on rare, vintage indie magazines on eBay to studying the historical representation of the female form, Zoe shares an elite masterclass on how to bridge the gap between a beautiful mood board and world-class execution.
Inside the Episode:
00:00 — Intro 
05:22 — Decades of Visual History
11:43 — What is True "Taste"?
17:10 — The 57K Substack Secret Blueprint
22:53 — Sourcing References Beyond Pinterest
28:22 — The Visual Curriculum Framework
33:10 — Finding Unexpected Creative Fuel
38:10 — Heritage Brand World-Building
43:49 — Inside a 3-Day Editorial Marathon
49:04 — Embracing Human Craft Over AI
Connect with our Guest:
Zoë Yasemin on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3TixD4k
The Art Direction School on Instagram: https://bit.ly/4vgZgrZ
Art Direction on Substack: https://bit.ly/4gsNWp3
Enjoyed this Episode? 
Join our Community!
Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram,⁠@arielle.thomas⁠ (https://bit.ly/4v21hby)
Us, on Instagram,⁠@processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/4xJ1EKl)
Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/44pdcFf)
Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.
See you at the next one! 
* This episode includes third-party images and video clips used for educational commentary and visual reference. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For copyright inquiries, please contact hello@cinemathom.com

"The reason why I want to instill you guys to care about this... is not because I want you to care about basketball. It's because I want you to care about the shape of the story. It's the unglamorous, the hours and hours and hours that go into unrewarded work." — Arielle Thomas
Welcome back to another episode of Process the Podcast. We are sliding right back into the studio this week, and the way we are looking at our craft is getting a little bit sharper.
In this unfiltered, solo Petit, Arielle steps directly up to the microphone to strip away the soft, algorithmic romanticism of the creative life. This episode drops a massive operational framework: creatives must think and work like high-performance athletes to truly get ahead.
Pulling structural parallels from the historic 53-year championship wait of the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson’s relentless work ethic, and Kobe Bryant’s obsessive midnight training methods, Arielle breaks down how to navigate the modern wave of AI slop and self-optimisation burnout. This is a raw, grounded look at how to get excited about the unglamorous reps, master the actual volume of your craft, and build an unbreakable work ethic when absolutely nobody is watching.
Inside the Episode:
00:00 Resetting the Outlook: The Creative Entrepreneurship Shift
02:04 The New York Knicks & The Half-Century Wait for Greatness
04:24 The Myth of the Short-Cut: Fighting AI Slop with Athlete Logic
07:51 The Unglamorous Reps & Staring Down Unrewarded Work
09:43 Borrowing the Engine: Inspiration vs. Disciplined Refusal
11:01 Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, & The Strategy of Deconstruction
13:50 Mastery in Volume: The Truth of the 10,000-Hour Privilege
17:16 Audacious Thinking & The Quest to Build the Best Creative Podcast
18:50 The Toxic Optimisation Wave: Resisting Algorithmic Laziness
21:51 Romanticising the Boring: Stripping the Workspace Back to the Greats
Enjoyed this Petit? 
Join our Community!
Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram,⁠@arielle.thomas⁠ (https://bit.ly/4v21hby)
Us, on Instagram,⁠@processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/4xJ1EKl)
Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/44pdcFf)
Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.
See you at the next one!

"You had an idea every ten seconds for Vogue. You can have an idea every ten seconds for yourself." - Kirstie Clements

Welcome back to Process: Encore. In this archival series, we bring forward the timeless dialogues that laid the groundwork for Process. 

This week, Arielle revisits a deeply layered, expansive conversation with best selling author, journalist, and legendary former Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Australia, Kirstie Clements.

Kirstie’s 27-year trajectory at the absolute pinnacle of fashion publishing is a masterclass in creative longevity. Starting on the reception desk at age 23, she scaled the masthead to lead the iconic title through nearly thirteen years of epochal cultural shifts, international coups like anchoring Karl Lagerfeld's guest editorship and massive corporate evolutions. 

In this honest session, Kirstie unpacks what happens when you step out of a rigid corporate cocoon, how she completely shed the heavyweight skin of public expectation, and what it truly means to safeguard your innate creative power.

Inside this Episode: 

00:00:00 - From Vogue Receptionist to Editor in Chief: A look at a legendary 27-year trajectory, proving why mastering the unglamorous nuts and bolts of an industry scales creative longevity.

00:06:29 - Building a Vision for Australian Vogue: Navigating the intricate tightrope between corporate commercial profitability and world-class aesthetic execution.

00:12:51 - Karl Lagerfeld Guest Edits Vogue Australia: An inside look into the complex, midnight operational choreography of securing one of fashion’s biggest editorial coups.

00:14:45 - Lessons from Fashion Legends: Unpacking the relentless stamina and surprisingly unpretentious nature required to keep a creative fountain thriving over a lifetime.

00:16:16 - The Pre-Social Media Era: Celebrating the legacy of keeping monumental interactions private, far away from the obligations of front-facing camera validation.

00:20:19 - Life After Vogue: The profound psychological execution of self-reinvention once you entirely decouple your identity from corporate structures.

00:35:50 - Creative Reinvention and Freedom: Moving past corporate politics to realize that your innate ability to generate ideas can never be institutionalized.

00:44:01 - Modern Pressures on Women: Deconstructing the hyper-monetized, algorithmic anxiety targeting women's aesthetics and biological timelines.

00:53:52 - Advice for Overwhelmed Creatives: Why modern multi-hyphenates must intentionally protect their artistic sensibilities from copy-and-paste digital algorithms.

01:02:44 - What Inspires Kirstie Now: Shifting entirely away from corporate consensus to find ultimate creative sovereignty in travel, freedom, and deep mentorship.

Connect with our Guest:

Kirstie Clements on Instagram: @kirstie_clements (http://bit.ly/4oNOVSS)

Website: www.kirstieclements.com.au

Substack: @kirstieclements (https://bit.ly/4eyPcEh)

Read Her Books: 

Why Did I Buy That? (https://amzn.to/4eCKipX)

The Vogue Factor (https://amzn.to/4eyA9uk)

Impressive (https://bit.ly/4fVBIoy)

Enjoyed this Encore? 
Join our Community!

Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram,⁠@arielle.thomas⁠ (https://bit.ly/4v21hby)

Us, on Instagram,⁠@processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/4xJ1EKl)

Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast (https://bit.ly/44pdcFf)

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. 
See you at the next one!

"I don't say to my assistants that you're working for me... you're working for the picture, so everything you do is about making the picture better. The picture is my boss." - Georges Antoni
Welcome back to Process: Encore. In this archive series, we spotlight the foundational conversations that continue to guide our creative landscape, unedited, uncut, and re-centred for our community today.
This week, we are throwing it back to a deeply insightful conversation with one of Australia’s most in-demand commercial fashion photographers, Georges Antoni. 
Georges took a beautifully unconventional route into the industry, transitioning from corporate strategy at Coca-Cola and PricewaterhouseCoopers to shooting portfolio books out of his parents' crystal-cabinet front room. Today, he architects massive productions for leading brands while fiercely maintaining a family-first philosophy. In this episode, Georges and Arielle pull apart the critical intersection of artistic integrity, active diplomacy on set, and why Australian retail is falling behind on a global scale.
Inside the Episode:
The Potency of Art Buying: Why conservative corporate hierarchies give local retailers a major global disadvantage.
The "Picture as the Boss" Protocol: Stripping ego entirely out of production so the whole team serves the final image.
The 95% Active Diplomacy Matrix: How to manage high-volume commercial mechanics while making talent feel entirely unjudged.
The 1,900 Lighting Diagram Rule: Why Georges documents every single setup to avoid lazy, repetitive lighting styles.
The Unified Creative Umbrella: Constructing a symbiotic stills-and-motion framework to stop fractured social media content.
Selling the Sizzle Over the Brand: Shifting from flawless product form to building an identity consumers actually want to ascribe to.
Connect with our Guest:
Georges Antoni on Instagram: @georgesantoni
Website: www.georgesantoni.com
Enjoyed this Encore? 
Join our Community!
Your host, Arielle Thomas on Instagram, ⁠@arielle.thomas⁠
Us, on Instagram, ⁠@processthepodcast
Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast
Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.  See you on the next one!