Creative Futures Week, Day 4

Channel 4

Employees from channel 4 started the final day of Creative Futures Week. The guests included Tom Gulseven, Tom Jenkins, and Laura Rankin. The first speaker was Tom Gulseven who studied first studied English and Journalism but wanted to focus on covering music. Therefore he wrote reviews for gigs as unpaid work in order to create a following and experience. He also took admin jobs for online content and then began creating his own videos. Through his old employer, he got a job for E4, working on Skins and Misfits and now works for All 4

Tom Gulseven Key Points;

• More people watch programmes online rather than TV.
• They have to compete with larger streaming services, such Netflix and Amazon Video.
• Streaming online provides more variety than on TV.
• Audiences do not just pick films by genre anymore, now they decide by their taste, such as actors, music, themes and technology.
• They show programmes with different time lengths, such as 1-minute films to feature length.
• They create social media for characters in order to create a social engagement for their fans.
• Streaming online enables them to release more controversial content than what is allowed on TV.
• There are new ways to get into the industry.
• Hobbies can become jobs.

Tom Jenkins hosts a Youtube channel, named Mashed. It was originally a TV but got moved to Youtube. This is because this platform attracted a more suitable audience and they could have more control over length and content of videos. The channel features videos showcasing animation, live action, comedy sketches, pop culture and TV culture. It originally focused on news stories, however, he explained that the stories change all the time, making it difficult to make content in time.

Tom Jenkins Key Points;

• Failure is good, you need to learn from it.
• Work with companies to create projects, such as short films, animated content and for various sectors.
• Move on from projects that do not work and make new ones. Gain experience and learn from them.
• Love what you do and make sure to network with others.

This opening Keynote was beneficial as it gave an insight to what modern audiences are interested in and the best way to showcase film content. They made me aware of how important the audience is and that research must be conducted about your target audience. From this, I will look into what audiences I am targeting and their demographic and psychographic information.

Tim Wallace

Tlm Wallace is a commercial photographer, specialising in car photography. He has photographed for Ferrari and Aston Martin, as well and the London Air Ambulance service. He is a very renowned and successful photographer earning £40-50,000 over four-day work.

Key Points;

• Cannot succeed until you fail.
• Do not underestimate the power of social media, such as Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter.  The followers = the amount of reach and influence you have in the industry.
• Don’t do it for the money
• It is going to be long days of work.
• Sell your ability in your portfolio.
• The employer is buying your ability and style, they expect you to be good but are looking for something different that makes them want to hire you.
• Never copy work, it will never be chosen.
• Know what the client needs.
• Experiment so you know your craft.
• H-H (human to human) contact is important, don’t email, show images in person
• You will need a printed portfolio. Make it impacting, including the book itself.
• Have a style.
• Do not be scared to do something different.
• We are professionals, respect your own work.
• Business is psychology.
• Make yourself appear confident.
• Lighting is important, don’t rely on Photoshop.
• Do not devalue studio assistants.
• Don’t spend long periods of time in post, time is money and clients will prefer you over others if you are fast and efficient.
• Focus on all the details in the whole product.

Advise

• Be brave
• Think big Don’t start small
• Get what you want
• Do not be pushed around
• Have passion
• You can make progress or you can make excuses, you can’t do both
• Don’t do what you think, do what you feel.
• Have a reason to get up in the morning.
• Have goals.
• Never fear to fail, this is a learning process
• Nothing great will be achieved without enthusiasm
• Be bold
• Do it now.

This talk was the most enjoyable and inspiring. I liked the way he presented himself as he did not read slides, but instead engaged with the audience and had a string, to the pint personality which I admired. I like to hear the cries from people and honesty so that I know what needs improving on. Tim Wallace is someone who speaks honestly and will tell you facts, instead of trying to be nice. He showed the passion he had for the photography industry and wanted to help us achieve our goals.

He also said to connect with him on twitter, which I made sure to do, resulting in him retweeting my post to him. I now follow him on various social media platforms as he is very inspiring to follow and offers much advice and useful links.

I took the opportunity to speak to him and with another individual, we asked what his charges were when starting your own business. He used the example of wedding photography and said to start from £400-600 and increase over time. He expressed that we must be bold and make our goals happen. I enjoyed speaking to him and felt very lucky to have listened to his advice.