A vibrant life has a multitude of facets, and the interplay between business principles and artistic and creative freedom is a fascinating discipline.
An artist's life in Australia is not an easy one. We all have to deal with rejection, semi-employment, employment in jobs which don't necessarily suit our temperament. We learn that we can't believe our own PR. We sometimes feel like the gap between paid jobs in our chosen field is so long that we'll never work again. Many of us experience low self-esteem, anxiety or depression AS A RESULT of our chosen profession. Almost all of us think about giving up, retraining, doing something else if only we knew what...
I reached a crossroads aged 30, when I was ready to take on a new level in my film and television career, but the opportunities just weren't there in Australia. I had already rejected the shallow self-obsession of LA. After 6 months in London, a film and a play, I decided I would retrain rather than waitress while I built a new life there. So I worked as a writer/producer of audio programmes. From there I developed into a producer of Corporate Events, including live shows and multi-media. I'd never worked so hard in my life. After years on this treadmill, sudden and unexpected reduncancy sent me home, mostly as a lifestyle choice.
Back here, with my beloved agent closing his doors, and having 'lost my place' in the scheme of things after 5 years abroad, I took an opportunistic job in a start-up company as Executive Assistant to the CEO with responsibility for Human Resource matters. We grew from 50 to 350 staff in 3 months, so I started a business degree in Human Resource Management. In my first year, we studied what motivates people in the workplace. An 'uh-huh' moment for me, I realised that I was vocationally motivated to be an artist; pursuing my creative side was exquisitely important for my personal happiness; but that I also have a good brain which I enjoyed using creatively in a business context.
My Uni was good enough to agree that I should pursue my studies in the context of freelance actors (the human resources) and producers, directors and Equity (the organisation). My thesis, ("The Business of Being an Actor", an investigation into current attitudes and practices of freelance professional actors in Australia) was completed about the same time as Professor David Throsby's exhaustive study of Australian artists across all disciplines, "Don't Give Up Your Day Job". The sometimes shocking news in these studies inspired in me a desire to help my fellow artist to enjoy long and fulfilling careers in a country which seriously undervalues the artist when compared to, say, the sportsman! It was time for a book, not about how to audition, or how to do your tax, but about how to SURVIVE and BE HAPPY in choosing the difficult life-style of being an artist, using techniques employed by Human Resource professionals.
Way-laid by a suggestion from the then CEO of JUST Super , (the Entertainment Industry Superannuation Fund), that I develop a workshop to help right-brain people develop left-brain skills, I spent 2004 and 2005 pilotting a programme for artists across Australia. The Business of Being an Artist seminar is now a two-day workshop which uses business theory and coaching techniques to assist artists in figuring out where they're at, where they want to be and how to get there. It's about changing a 'wishing, hoping and dreaming' approach to one's career into a more directional strategy, thereby empowering the individual. It's not only about business skills for right-brain people but about dealing with the real-life issues that I mentioned in my opening paragraph.
The workshop fills a gap in the usual Arts education in this country, and is suitable for those seeking a happier journey through an artistic life, whatever stage they're at. It's for those of you who've realised that, along with 99.9% of artists in your discipline, you might actually be an artist of the 'jobbing' variety, even if you're not likely to be the NEXT BIG THING. You may as well BE HAPPY while you do it!
You can read more about this workshop , or contact me if you'd like to know more.
Other workshops are available to help artists manage their careers. For pure business stuff, you can't go past Freelance Success , so I'm told (I've yet to get to Sydney for one of their courses).
And if you aren't already a member of Arts Hub , well, you're just plain crazy!
The Book, by the way, will be written and published and available here in due course.......
I reached a crossroads aged 30, when I was ready to take on a new level in my film and television career, but the opportunities just weren't there in Australia. I had already rejected the shallow self-obsession of LA. After 6 months in London, a film and a play, I decided I would retrain rather than waitress while I built a new life there. So I worked as a writer/producer of audio programmes. From there I developed into a producer of Corporate Events, including live shows and multi-media. I'd never worked so hard in my life. After years on this treadmill, sudden and unexpected reduncancy sent me home, mostly as a lifestyle choice.
Back here, with my beloved agent closing his doors, and having 'lost my place' in the scheme of things after 5 years abroad, I took an opportunistic job in a start-up company as Executive Assistant to the CEO with responsibility for Human Resource matters. We grew from 50 to 350 staff in 3 months, so I started a business degree in Human Resource Management. In my first year, we studied what motivates people in the workplace. An 'uh-huh' moment for me, I realised that I was vocationally motivated to be an artist; pursuing my creative side was exquisitely important for my personal happiness; but that I also have a good brain which I enjoyed using creatively in a business context.
My Uni was good enough to agree that I should pursue my studies in the context of freelance actors (the human resources) and producers, directors and Equity (the organisation). My thesis, ("The Business of Being an Actor", an investigation into current attitudes and practices of freelance professional actors in Australia) was completed about the same time as Professor David Throsby's exhaustive study of Australian artists across all disciplines, "Don't Give Up Your Day Job". The sometimes shocking news in these studies inspired in me a desire to help my fellow artist to enjoy long and fulfilling careers in a country which seriously undervalues the artist when compared to, say, the sportsman! It was time for a book, not about how to audition, or how to do your tax, but about how to SURVIVE and BE HAPPY in choosing the difficult life-style of being an artist, using techniques employed by Human Resource professionals.
Way-laid by a suggestion from the then CEO of JUST Super , (the Entertainment Industry Superannuation Fund), that I develop a workshop to help right-brain people develop left-brain skills, I spent 2004 and 2005 pilotting a programme for artists across Australia. The Business of Being an Artist seminar is now a two-day workshop which uses business theory and coaching techniques to assist artists in figuring out where they're at, where they want to be and how to get there. It's about changing a 'wishing, hoping and dreaming' approach to one's career into a more directional strategy, thereby empowering the individual. It's not only about business skills for right-brain people but about dealing with the real-life issues that I mentioned in my opening paragraph.
The workshop fills a gap in the usual Arts education in this country, and is suitable for those seeking a happier journey through an artistic life, whatever stage they're at. It's for those of you who've realised that, along with 99.9% of artists in your discipline, you might actually be an artist of the 'jobbing' variety, even if you're not likely to be the NEXT BIG THING. You may as well BE HAPPY while you do it!
You can read more about this workshop , or contact me if you'd like to know more.
Other workshops are available to help artists manage their careers. For pure business stuff, you can't go past Freelance Success , so I'm told (I've yet to get to Sydney for one of their courses).
And if you aren't already a member of Arts Hub , well, you're just plain crazy!
The Book, by the way, will be written and published and available here in due course.......