Creative Collision in Margaret River: Highlights from Emergence 2025

Last week the Creative Corner officially opened Emergence Creative 2025 in Margaret River HEART, kicking off the two day festival of creativity, technology, and innovation under the theme Creative Collision.

Emergence Creative brought together leading thinkers, makers, and innovators to break silos, inspire collaboration, and explore a sustainable creative future.

Day One: Startups, Investment, and Innovation
. The festival began with a half day program dedicated to investment, startups, and technology.

The first session, Collision Course by South West Angels, saw Amy Carter-James (Raaise) and Stephen Tate (Favourite Child Studio, former Head of Factual & Entertainment Programs, Network Ten Australia) deliver a hands on pitching workshop for founders, entrepreneurs, and creatives. Participants learned how to craft compelling stories, frame investment pitches, and practice their own mini pitches. Carter-James also broke down the mini pitch framework through a surfing analogy locals instantly connected with.

A panel featuring Dr Tash Teakle (Accelerating Commercialisation), Tracie Clark CPA GAICD (Angel Investor), Michal Napora (32-33), Rohan Silva (Founders Factory Australia; former Senior Policy Adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron), and Maggie Ciobanu (Yoochooz) shared insights into growing startups, securing funding, evaluating investments, and sustaining startup–investor relationships.

Steph Kirchhofer then hosted PitchFest, where three startups/creatives took to the stage to pitch their ideas and receive constructive feedback from a panel of experts, a Shark Tank style session with a uniquely Emergence Creative twist.

The day closed with Road Spill at Riversmith, where attendees connected over gourmet toasties and Beerfarm brews, with live music and surprise appearances from a few familiar faces.

Photo credit: Sean Hsu from @Ovis Creative.

Day Two expanded into a full day conference exploring bold, cross disciplinary creativity.

At 7am, delegates gathered at White Elephant Café for a Breakfast Session presented by the PADC. Hosted by PADC co-chair Leigh Wood, the session explored the creative possibilities found in the spaces between disciplines with Clare Reid, Dennis Power, Nick Kempt, Martine Perret, and Sean Hsu.

A Welcome to Country was delivered by Dr Wayne ‘Wonitji’ Webb, followed by addresses from Julia Jean-Rice, President of the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and Scott Robinson who MC’d the day.

Adventurer and filmmaker Beau Miles shared an unconventional story journey filmed along the Cape-to-Cape track, examining the process of storytelling through small ideas and lived experiences.

A Future Drivers panel chaired by Cathal Mongey (Juicebox) explored the role of young creatives, featuring Ellysia Burton and Sarah Cassell (303 MullenLowe) and Joshua Yates, a young filmmaker and creative producer based in Margaret River.

Sydney-based creative strategist Suzanne Rosa, ambassador for R U OK? and Nakuru Hope, and founder of The Rosa Centre in Kenya, delivered a powerful session on navigating creative risk, equipping attendees with tools to identify their risk thresholds, test bold ideas, and embrace discomfort as a driver for impact.

Following lunch, delegates attended a panel featuring Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley and Beth Temperley (co-founders of ArtsiX), Candice Nannup (artist and curator), Nicholas Kempt (artist, creative director, animator), and Nathan Lynch (financial crime writer). The session offered a deep dive into the intersection of art, music, fashion, animation, and technology, showcasing how ArtsiX reimagines traditional art forms through innovation, collaboration, and cutting-edge technology, while Kempt demonstrated a prototype for an upcoming project that blends music, visual arts, and lighting.

Rohan Silva returned to the stage alongside Kate Mactiernan, founders of Second Home and Shuffle Festival, to explore the challenges of building innovation ecosystems. They shared insights on designing spaces that maximize serendipitous collisions between diverse ideas and disciplines, highlighting spectacular examples from London, Lisbon, and Los Angeles.

Stephen Tate hosted the final panel of the day, BANDWIDTH, featuring Cate Rocchi, Managing Director of Perth Media and author; Nanci Nott, Creative Director in the digital games space; and Cooper Shreeve, Familiarisation Coordinator at Tourism WA, who spoke about the Busselton Jetty Underwater Sculptures project. The session explored the concept of BANDWIDTH, offering insights on how leaders manage, scale, and grow projects while building bold creative visions.

Just outside the HEART Bar, David Nobay, Co-Founder of FAVOURITECHILD.STUDIO, delivered a raw and unfiltered ‘drop in’. Sharing stories from the start of his career, his time at Saatchi & Saatchi, and much more, Nobay offered a glimpse into the mercurial mind that has shaped the ad world for three decades.