RHONDA DENT TALKS THE UNSTOPPABLE UNPOPPABLE THOUGHT BUBBLE
"I am reconnecting with all the things I love"
Daniel John
With a portfolio that’s seen you explore both a wide variety of roles and creative expressions on the other side of the lens, what was the unstoppable, unpoppable thought bubble that led you to now write an adorable children’s book?
This book was inspired by a real conversation with my daughter, Poppy. One night, she was lying on her bed, looking up at the ceiling, and said to me, “Sometimes I imagine my thoughts in little bubbles, and if I don’t like one of the thoughts, I pop the bubble”. I thought this was fascinating. Here was this small child describing, in such a simple and beautiful way, how she clears negative thoughts out of her head. I had never heard anyone express it that way before, and that conversation sparked the idea for the book. I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book and have had ideas for years, but this was the first time we were able to turn one of those ideas into a tangible story. The concept felt relatable to so many children, especially those who struggle with a busy mind when they’re trying to fall asleep.
What was it about Gilang Wahyu Setyawibawa’s sensibilities aligning so well to illustrate the story imagined?
Gil and I actually went to Langara Film Arts School together in Vancouver in 2025. During our program, Gil was looking for part-time work while in Canada, as she now resides in her home country of Indonesia. She had graduated from the animation program at VanArts and has a real love for drawing bright, colourful animated characters. Once I completed the manuscript, we were chatting one day at school and she was mentioning she was having a hard time finding work and I said, “Maybe I can hire you to illustrate this book we wrote.” She immediately said yes! It was a natural collaboration because I knew her creative style and could already see how beautifully her colourful, playful artwork would bring the story to life.
Is there a book you really remember from your own childhood, whose message was most formative growing up?
I was a huge fan of the Amelia Bedelia picture books growing up. I loved the humour, the playfulness, and the way the stories found comedy in language and everyday situations. One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the bookstore, buying a book with my allowance, and having it handed to me in a little paper bag. I remember how much joy that brought me. There was something so special about choosing a book that was yours and taking it home to discover a new world.
What has having creativity as an outlet meant for you to be able to draw out the big feelings of life?
I wouldn’t want to live any other way! I’ve always been creative, but I think you really know you’re a creative person when you find yourself spending hours making or imagining something even when you aren’t getting paid for it. Being paid for your creativity is fabulous, and absolutely deserved, especially when you’ve put hard work into a project, but you know in your heart that you’re a creative if you’re doing the work regardless of whether anyone is paying you or not. The thing I love most is to use all kinds of creative mediums to process my emotions. I take photographs, I write, I act, I produce, I direct. I take all that energy and turn it into art in some form because I genuinely love it.
You wrote this book together with your daughter, and it's not your first collaboration, having made films together, too. Among them is 'SongBird' from earlier this year, which also has gotten some Swedish recognition?
Yes! 'SongBird' is a true mother-daughter project. We were awarded Best Short Film and Best Actress at the Sweden Film Awards. Poppy and I came up with the idea while taking a bubble bath. She pitched an idea about a young girl who didn’t speak but used music to communicate, and I wrote the script shortly afterward. Another film school colleague, Nicholas Tremblay, was interested in directing a short film, so I sent him two scripts and he chose 'SongBird'. It was such a wonderful experience to see an idea that started as a conversation with my daughter become an actual film. Poppy and I are also currently developing a feature film called 'Footprints'. A family, adventure, fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest. It follows a young girl who becomes lost in the forest and befriends a baby Sasquatch who has been separated from its family.
Does the book feel like it could have a life as a film, maybe even with Poppy portraying herself in it?
We’ve talked about creating an animated version of the book because there are lots of adventures Poppy could go on, and Gil’s illustrations would translate beautifully to animation. But right now, we’re mostly thinking about the sequel book. We’re developing an idea called 'The Unstoppable Thought Department', which take us to the night of a sleep over with Poppy and her friend who both have different sleep routines, so they head to the thought department to discover ways to work together and allow their thoughts to find peace so they can rest. I love the idea of exploring what goes on inside a child’s mind in a playful and imaginative way.
Your first acting credits came in the late nineties when you must’ve still been in your theatrical studies. How do you look back on that time of starting out in the industry in your twenties?
Vancouver has such a vibrant film scene and in the late ’90s and early 2000s, there were so many young creative actors, filmmakers, and artists, and projects in our city. I made incredible friends, and I still love being part of the community. The thing I miss most about the current market is the connection that used to happen so naturally between artists and filmmakers. That was one of the reasons I decided to go to film school to learnt to direct in my forties. I deeply missed that feeling of connecting with other artists in person. Going back to school was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It completely cracked me open creatively, I jumped into every creative pool I could. I produced three short films, two of which I directed. We wrote 'The Unstoppable Poppable Thought Bubble'. I took singing lessons for the first time in years, which absolutely terrified me and I performed on stage in a play for the first time in fifteen years. In my twenties, I was bold, fearless, and always experimenting. However, I feel like this stage in my life is a creative rebirth and I am reconnecting with all the things I love.
Has your outlook on an artist’s life changed in any way after motherhood, from what you find a bigger meaning in to the priorities of that pursuit?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve become a huge advocate for children’s mental health. I’m on the board of the Kelty Foundation here in British Columbia, which provides education around emotional wellness for children from kindergarten through grade seven. I’m very passionate about helping children connect with content and media that encourages positive thinking and supports healthy emotional development. I want to create content across multiple artistic mediums for people of all ages to connect with and use to process their emotions. As a photographer, I sit down with people every day, and when they see a photograph of themselves, one of the first things they often do is criticize something about their face. We as humans can be so hard on ourselves. I want to help rewrite the narrative of how we view beauty. So many people have stuck, trapped emotions in their body, when you deeply connect with a piece of art, film or writing, it helps you become unstuck, it gives movement to that trapped emotion and allows flow to happen again. That is the power of art and is part of my life mission to create a body of work that helps people feel, connect and perhaps see themselves a little differently.
