Media & Production w/Carlenne Smith

April 8, 2026·1 hr 8 min·6 clips

Carlene pitches her 'psycho neighbor' script, a dark comedy about a condo seller and a crazy new neighbor.

1. First City Forum on KTKN Ketchikan features Dr. Riley Wolford hosting in place of Joe Wilcox, with guest Carlene Smith. 2. Carlene Smith works in media production at KPU and is enrolled part-time in a Digital Communications Arts degree program at an unnamed college; she made the honor roll her first term. 3. The episode's core thread is the creative process: how writers, producers, and media professionals develop original work from imitation and existing influences. 4. Carlene describes a pre-production class she was granted early access to, her first assignment being a one-and-a-half-page treatment document for a hypothetical script — in her case, a psycho-neighbor psychological thriller about a condo seller whose life is disrupted when a disturbing neighbor moves in at the same time. 5. Dr. Wolford draws a parallel to teaching research methods: he assigns students to write a paper as if they already had collected data, using hypothetical results to teach the writing process without requiring a full research cycle. 6. Carlene argues that hyperfixation is a personal risk for her — she can become so absorbed in a project that she neglects her workout and meditation routine — and says she needs to soft-start new projects deliberately. 7. She acknowledges this is a trait associated with being on the autism spectrum, which she discloses without elaboration. 8. Carlene describes her creative process as almost entirely derived from pop culture references, saying 'I don't have an original thought in my body,' but then argues that the combination of multiple influences produces something original regardless. 9. Dr. Wolford affirms this, noting that even the first homo sapien was building on prior knowledge, and that working 'on the shoulders of artists and producers in the past' is the baseline of all creative work. 10. Carlene describes two KPU productions: a 'Go See a Whale' social media video using footage of humpbacks Callahan and Phoenix that she used as an opportunity to 'get over myself and be silly on camera,' and a salmon race video that was a team collaboration with co-workers Mads and Jason. 11. She describes Mads' infomercial script segment as particularly funny, and details an Easter-egg dystopian Terminator/Skynet visual touch she added to her edit of that segment. 12. Carlene outlines a mystery project set on Ketchikan island — a fictional missing-person story — noting the island's large uninhabited areas make it a compelling setting for a thriller. 13. She identifies the structural problem she is stuck on: she knows the characters, backstories, and overall plot arc, but cannot figure out how to construct the specific clues that lead an ignorant investigator from nothing to the truth. 14. Dr. Wolford suggests identifying what could have been 'left behind' during the actual events — physical objects, witnessed moments, information that shouldn't exist — and using those as clue anchors. 15. He then reveals the project is also a choose-your-own-adventure, requiring branching paths that must eventually bottleneck back to the same truth regardless of which choices the player makes. 16. Disco Elysium is introduced as a reference model: a murder mystery game with over a million written words, an amnesiac detective protagonist, and branching paths that all ultimately converge to the same revelation. 17. Dr. Wolford introduces a philosophical discussion about video game content ratings, prompted by Carlene's new media course module on video games and a California court ruling that restricted game sales based on ratings. 18. The philosophical discussion centres on Grand Theft Auto's asymmetric mechanic design — players can murder freely but there is no built-in mechanic for sexual assault — and what this reveals about desensitization to violence. 19. Dr. Wolford argues this reflects mainstream culture's desensitization to violence, not a principled moral distinction, and is explicit that he is not arguing SA depictions should be normalized but that murder depictions should disturb audiences more than they do. 20. Carlene connects this to the political utility of desensitization, noting that a culture comfortable with depicted violence is more easily persuaded to accept military deaths.

As heard by us

A Ketchikan morning chat that moves from caffeine to a mystery idea, with Riley Wolford keeping the discussion open and conversational.

First City Forum opens with Dr. Riley Wolford sitting in for Joe Williams and talking with Carlene Smith about caffeine, the early hour, and the mystery project she is starting to sketch out.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play for a Ketchikan radio chat that moves from caffeine to a mystery-writing brainstorm and back again.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from First City Forum