What are your struggles, or ways of dealing with quarantine as a creative business or freelancer? :)
I’m Rosa from the Creative Initiative, we produce commercial video content and social campaigns for companies. I am looking to create a series of in-depth blog posts focusing on the challenges creative freelancers and agencies face whilst working in self-isolation. As such, I’d love to have a discussion with a few people from the creative industry to learn more.
Cheers!
Rosa
Replies11
- Hi Rosa.Few things - have a read of Steven Pressfield’s book, the War of Art. Brilliant at helping you understand the motivation behind creativity.Then, have a look at the cult of done which is a brilliant manifesto to help you achieve whatever you want to do in a day.Finally, check out my LinkedIn or Insta profile as I’ve been running a series called ‘Stay Boom! Pep Talks’ which features inspiring people from film, music, TV, books and business sharing how they’re staying motivated and inspired during lockdown.Hope that helps and Stay Boom!S
- @Gabrielle Motola I'd love to hear your podcast and thoughts about it. If you send it over that would be amazing! :) Yes, most of us are struggling with finding new jobs, creating new offers that serve their client base and so on. I strongly believe that now is the time to really work on a craft and put in the extra work - Not only for yourself, but also for future job opportunities. What do you think?
- @Pedro Pontoni Thats exactly what I am struggling with as well. You want to create something as you have time, but it's harder than expected. Muse and creativity are somehow thwarted. Thank you for your message, Pedro :)
- @Erica Von SteinThis is almost a story that goes as a blopost itself! Thank you so much for your honest insights!
- Hi Rosa,Great project idea. I will share my experience below:I started working as an Assistant Producer on a production on March 16th, just before the lockdown was announced. I was asked to work from home from day 1 and never got the opportunity to meet my new colleagues, instead I was sent remote assignments to get on with. This went on for three weeks until they eventually pulled the plug on the production. I was grateful to even have those three weeks as it meant I'd still get a decent wage that I could try to stretch as far as possible. The three working weeks also gave me a sense of normality and routine, taking my mind away from the stress of the pandemic.Moving beyond the initial three weeks, I'm now jobless with pretty much nothing to work on. I've been trying to create projects of my own with little success bar the odd sporadic burst of motivation. I've written alot of short stories and poetry and am now actively volunteering to help others with their creative endeavours until I am able to go back to work.It is extremely challenging having no stream of income but oddly calming knowing that I am not alone. This is a hurdle for the future and for now I am trying to focus on the positives - my health, a roof over my head, my family being safe etc.Ericawww.ericavonstein.co.ukwww.instagram.com/ericavonsteinphoto
- I would really love to be able to say that I've been working during this time of full lockdown, but that's not the case.Just before the UK Gov determined the full lockdown, I was working on the pre production of some new material for a new e-commerce which focuses on resort and swimwear from niche Brazilian brands. Thankfuly I was able to work around the limitations of the production and managed to create beautiful images and short videos for them even on the lockdown (as I was producing only with products and not models)But since then I've been really trying to find a way to at least stay creatively active with my skills - content creation, video editing, image making. I have to confess it's been quite hard, and even trying to find collaborators or discover a new way to produce content, I think this is such a surreal time for everyone that most of us are feeling quite out of their flow.Anyway, I am ultimately staying positive and optimistic regardless the current situation!Good luck to us all!P
- Moving my business online is something I began doing last year in Sepetember: see Patreon.com/gmotophotos I thought of it as just part of an income stream, but now that we're living in Covidia, it is what I'm focusing on. For now. Commissions are coming but slowly. The challenge is in what kinds of content to put there and how to market it. There isn't really a critical mass of people who understand Patreon yet. Then there are the other projects like books which are scalable income, and since I'm a publisher (www.anequaldifference.com), I can make these and distribute them myself with no middlemen. The challenge there is finding the time to edit the archive and put the books together. I have a team of designers and editors I work with and I also have book printers and a fulfillment service. So the chain so to speak is set up. I suppose now like always, its a question of priority, delegation and focus. Now's a good time to reflect and decide what kind of life we want. And then reverse engineer our work to fit that. I recently began a podcast in response to this situation where I continue to explore these kinds of ideas and more with others. Like Patreon, the podcast is the sharing of this process. It literally just posted last night and we're having some bugs with the distribution so soon as that is ready if you're interesed I can send it to you. Lots going on. My main challenge is making sure I'm resting too. I plan to take a week off once three episodes are up. I think the entire world needed a home holiday. Ironic isn't it?
- @Miriam Amankwa I think an early Huevember is very effective. The feeling of getting something "done" is very rewarding. Especially, when you think about your mental health and how to uplift yourself in these times. Thank you so much for your input ☺️
- @Guillaume Lechat thank you so much! this is a really interesting example. Love it!
- Hi!I've have been doing mini-projects that I put a holt on. Currently I'm finishing off Huevember. I was also hoping to do some capture some shots of my small town in quarantine.And i also agree with Guillaume, I write of things down that I would like do accomplish for today. Even if it's one thing I've managed to do - it's still a win.
- Hey Rosa!It's a daily challenge but so far I've been documenting my daughter as a project, I've been shooting new imagery for my image bank https://www.gallerystock.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=279RI32MFMFMand I've updated my website www.guillaumelechat.comI find if I write a list of things I want to do it makes me so much more productive. :)
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