10/01/2023
It's hard to keep creating things sometimes when you feel like you're out here on your own.
We made this short film for (almost) nothing: 1 evening for filming and 2 weeks for post-production. The camera, sound equipment and some of the lights were bought with a £1,000 bursary from RCS. Without that funding, we couldn't have done anything, but just £1,000 has unlocked an incredible route for creative exploration and learning new skills. Thank you.
Brick-and-mortar institutions, a vital part of the ecosystem, have proper, professional funding departments who can win large bids consistently. It's not always as easy for the grassroots artists eager to make an impact.
Freelancers can do a lot with little money. There are other countries that are experimenting with or have in place a living wage for the arts. If you're an artist, you love what you do, so you're normally practising your art for free in your own time.
This film isn't perfect, but the situation for freelance artists working in the UK isn't perfect either. If we did this with next-to-nothing, imagine what we could all do with a little bit of something instead.
Some freelancers are not able to work in the field they were trained in, that have an accreditation to support they know how to do the job, and that is sometimes a difficult pill to swallow.
Instead of doing theatre, we used film as our storytelling method this time cause it’s more accessible, even though none of us is really trained in filmmaking. And this is one of the great things about grassroots work, it's always teaching you something new.
But freelance artists shouldn't have to settle for "learning opportunities" and "practising our skills". We deserve pay. So let's join together in demanding it while we practice our existing skills and develop new ones.
P.S.: We do hope you enjoy this short film made by Kelly, James and Tomaž. They enjoyed using this medium to release some of their creative energy. :)
