In this episode of Just Press Record, Matt Zeigler introduces historian and author Joseph Moore to filmmaker and producer Simon Egan for a conversation about creativity, failure, storytelling, and what happens after a big project finally reaches the world.

They discuss Joseph’s national bestselling book How to Get Rich in American History, Simon’s journey with The King’s Speech, the emotional cost of creative work, and why failure can become the feedback that leads to meaningful work.

Main topics covered

• Joseph Moore’s unexpected path from historian to personal finance author

• Simon Egan’s story of discovering and championing The King’s Speech

• Why some stories feel like they have to be told

• The role of rejection, risk, and persistence in creative work

• How failure becomes feedback for writers, filmmakers, and creators

• The emotional crash that can follow finishing a major creative project

• Why success can create pressure instead of satisfaction

• The tension between creativity, business, family, and focus

• How creators manage distractions, deep work, and multiple projects

• Why great storytelling often comes from personal pain, curiosity, and lived experience

• The importance of being a fan before becoming a creator

• Storytelling, story editing, and story selling as the heart of creative work

Timestamps

00:00 Why Joseph Moore needed to meet Simon Egan

03:02 The Just Press Record blind introduction format

05:41 Joseph Moore on How to Get Rich in American History

07:49 Why taking creative risks matters

09:31 Simon Egan’s path from finance to filmmaking

12:18 Discovering The King’s Speech

15:00 Fighting to get The King’s Speech made

18:54 The moment you decide not to quit on a story

20:22 Choosing the project over the original dream

22:00 How Geoffrey Rush became part of The King’s Speech journey

25:08 Joseph Moore’s parallel book journey

26:00 The 2008 financial crisis and the origin of Joseph’s book

28:15 Rejection from publishers and literary agents

30:31 The agent who finally saw the book’s potential

32:00 Writing a book in five months

35:04 The joy of immersive creative work

36:05 Why creation can make time stop

39:49 Balancing creative ambition with the reality of collaboration

41:19 Simon on addiction to the creative process

43:35 What happens after reaching the top of the mountain

44:39 The emotional crash after The King’s Speech success

46:07 Joseph on wanting the next creative challenge

48:25 The danger of trying to reverse engineer success

52:33 The sugar rush and crash of deep creative focus

55:00 Joseph’s post-manuscript crash

58:06 Is the creative crash part of the process?

59:38 Anxiety after handing work over to the world

01:01:17 Advice Simon would give to a younger creator

01:04:18 Joseph on failure as feedback

01:06:06 Why nothing works out the way you expect

01:08:03 How success changes the pressure to keep going

01:11:00 The difference between creative work and business work

01:18:00 Learning to be more pragmatic with creative projects

01:21:15 Managing distractions, notifications, and family life

01:24:49 How Simon structures creative work

01:26:14 Why deep creative work does not fit into short blocks

01:28:00 Designing space for creative failure

01:29:48 Why creators need to be fans first

01:32:32 Finding unexpected connections through reading and research

01:33:25 How personal experience shapes the stories we tell

01:38:15 Joseph on the stories he still wants to write

01:41:06 Guessing why Matt made the introduction

01:42:28 Storytelling, story editing, and story selling

01:42:48 Where to find Simon Egan and Joseph Moore

01:44:17 Closing thoughts and disclaimer