Where did the idea come from?
I’ve always thought that the best creative work feels like the creator has opened up their diary and turned it into something unique. Whether that’s an authored TV programme or a sculpture of a cat, I think the same thing applies regardless of form. It’s terrifying to put something personal out there, but it’s also rewarding. I think that often it’s when people can begin to really relate to what you’re feeling.
Feedback on the initial idea was really positive. I was encouraged to think about the concept as more of a series of me investigating different topics, and not just about folk living at home. The ideas for other episodes then began to emerge; episode two on Side Hustles came from my fear of financial instability; episode three The Sesh came from my worries about drinking too much; episode four Gaming the System was motivated by feeling embarrassed to admit that I play loads of video games.
I thought that if I maybe turned my insecurity into a documentary mini-quest of sorts, where I went around and spoke to other millennials who still live at home with their parents, I could maybe (if nothing else) make myself feel a bit better about it. “Basically a sort of Scottish version of MTV Cribs where millennials show me round their parents house” was what you’d probably call my “elevator pitch”.
Tip Two: Be a bit vulnerable
The original idea for Scary Adult Things was born out of my own feelings of insecurity around still living at home with my parents in my late 20s. On social media, and in one case literally outside my bedroom window, I saw people from my school year buying houses, having kids and enjoying the no doubt countless benefits of having their own personalised number plates. I couldn’t help but feeling I’d somehow failed, or that I was doing something wrong by still living with my parents.