It started with a laugh.
The kind of hollow, surreal laugh you let out when the system tells you—politely and officially—that your needs don’t meet the criteria.
It was an NDIS call, one of many, but something snapped. Or wasn’t market-tested. It wasn’t anything but true.
That story became The Lantern Still Burns™. A modern fable, part satire, part signal flare, born of bureaucracy, burnout, and bad coffee. It wasn’t a product. It wasn’t a pitch. It was just a story I needed to tell.
And that’s when something interesting happened.
Instead of selling it, I gave it away. Not as a gimmick. Not as a lead magnet. Just because it felt right.
From that moment on, a model began to emerge. Not one designed by marketers, but shaped by resonance. By response. By the conversations that followed. I’ve since come to call it The Resonance Filter Model™.
The Resonance Filter Model
It’s simple, really.
- Put the most honest, most distilled work into the world.
- Give it away freely.
- Wait and see who writes back.
No forms. No data capture. No scarcity tactic.
If it resonates, they’ll return. If it doesn’t, that’s the filter.
This isn’t a growth strategy. It’s a clarity strategy. It doesn’t scale fast, but it scales true. Every download becomes a litmus test. Every email is from someone who gets it, not someone nudged by a pop-up.
In an age of noise, I’ve found that silence — deliberate, patient silence — is one of the most powerful qualifiers.
A Studio of Signals
I built MaelstroMedia™ around this idea. A studio where fiction, philosophy, and practical logistics live under one roof. No niche. No algorithmic optimization. Just work I stand by, across form and genre.
From The Lantern Still Burns™ came The Universal Disabilities Agency™ — a satirical mockumentary series with 52 episodes and spinoffs already mapped.
From my background in performance and philosophy came Not With a Bang: Carrington 2.0 — speculative fiction about solar storms, fragile systems, and five strangers navigating collapse.
All of it is available. Freely.
The only ask? If something stirs, if something aligns — reach out.
What This Isn’t
Let’s be clear:
This isn’t a humblebrag dressed as rebellion.
I’m not anti-money. I’m not allergic to commerce.
I just believe that relationship precedes transaction.
You don’t need a funnel if you have a fire.
And you don’t need to chase attention when you’ve crafted something worth finding.
So I’ve tried to build a studio that is findable.
Not flashy. Not screaming for likes. But steady. Resonant. Magnetic in the quiet sense.
Who This Is For
This approach isn’t for everyone.
But maybe — just maybe — it’s for the right people:
- Producers looking for something with both soul and scalability.
- Literary agents seeking a portfolio that’s already alive and humming.
- Collaborators who know that the best work often starts in the margins, not the spotlight.
If you’re still reading, chances are you’re one of them.
What Happens Next
There’s no newsletter to sign up for.
No discount code. No scarcity countdown.
Just a handful of stories, waiting.
If one of them lights a spark, get in touch.
Because nothing changes without a conversation.
And all I’ve ever really wanted was to build the kind of studio where those conversations begin.
Martyn Lloyd
Founder, MaelstroMedia™
Writer. Performer. Philosopher of Resonance.
Contact Martyn
