Everyone has an idea they can’t quite shake. The project, career shift, or change that keeps resurfacing. Exciting. Uncomfortable. Unfinished.

Ambitious Things is a talk about how ideas actually move forward when clarity, confidence, and permission aren’t available yet.

Drawing from real projects across film, culture, and technology, writer and director Hal Kirkland shares a repeatable approach for turning ambition into action. Not through planning or certainty, but by starting small, building momentum, and learning by making.

This talk is for creatives, founders, teams, and leaders who feel stuck between intention and action — and are ready to move before everything feels figured out.

Launching at SXSW 2026

The talk has begun its journey to festivals, teams, and organizations building ambitious things of their own. Inquiries welcome.


Upcoming appearances and
conversations include:

Fast Company Innovation Festival – NYC

Future Festival – NYC / LA

TIB – Tokyo

Innovate Festival – Berlin

More dates coming soon.

A person stands on stage giving a presentation in front of a large screen with an image of a person driving a taxi and a quote about cinema. The stage has chairs and a sign with the website screen.nsw.gov.au.