How is NTUC helping their freelancers with its existing initiatives? How can we change both the mindsets of employers and freelancers and make freelancing a sustainable and viable career path for everyone? We speak to Ang Hin Kee, Member of Parliament, Assistant Director-General for The National Trades Union Congress’s (NTUC) and Director of NTUC's Freelancers and Self-employed Unit (U FSE) to find out more.
Read Moret’s the young vs. veteran! 👊 Food stylist/photographer Alicia and writer Wayne share their creative journey and how they develop their personal brand and style in their photography and writing. What impact do Teenage Mutant Teenage Turtles have on Wayne’s writing career? How do family recipes influence Alicia’s decision to freelance?
Read MoreHow is blockchain changing the way the way we look at advertising and contracts? What is its potential impact on the Singapore media industry? This week we speak to VIncent Lim, a media & entertainment Maverick about how his video-sharing app is using blockchain and cryptocurrency to change the way videos get monetized and connecting brands and influencers directly. He is also the CEO of Fanfare Global, the world’s first Blockchain-Powered Social Commerce Community
Read MoreMaking the decision to leave a full-time job to freelance is intimidating—and it’s not the right choice for everyone. Why do some of us choose to freelance ever the stability of a full-time job? What are challenges we faced as we transition into a freelancing career? Most importantly, is the switch to freelancing worth it? Join us for another episode of Freelance Creative Exchange where we ask Joline and Melvin how they found the courage to make the leap from their established careers to becoming their own bosses. They share what they have learnt in hindsight and how full timers can equip themselves to switch to a freelancing career successfully.
Joline Lim is a passionate designer who specialises in Fashion Design by training, and self-taught in Graphic Design. Aside from design projects, she also strives in her quaint studio, managing her accessories brand, KLACE. https://www.wearklace.com/ Melvin Sng joined HP as their employee in Asia Pacific to help launch their Partner Portal and eCommerce platform globally. He also won the CIO award during his time with HP. He has moved on to be a freelance digital strategist at Lean Brewery. He now manages, wireframes, prototypes and develops web and mobile applications for his clients. https://leanbrewery.com/
Read MoreHow you manage talents, crew, and partners in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual production? Top it off with a limited budget and challenging clients, how do you stay on top of your game? Back in August, we presented a panel called “Your Worst Nightmare”, as part of our podcast party and it was well-received by our audience. We have conducted many surveys with our freelancers in the past and working with clients always comes at the top. This special episode is a sequel to the panel, featuring CreativesAtWork’s crew Fanny and Kyle. They share their worst nightmare stories about challenging clients and managing freelancers.
Read MoreInspired by all those nature documentaries you watched on BBC or National Geographic? In this latest episode, Jayce and Fanny speak to wildlife photographer and videographer Tim Plowden and find out what it is really like to be one. What kind of qualifications and training are needed? How is it like to travel the world to work on different projects? What kind of danger has he faced?
Tim Plowden is a wildlife photographer, videographer and author of wildlife, conservation and travel narratives. He is current working on the photo essay for OBW on wildlife conservation and a video for an international NGO about illegal wildlife trade.
Read MoreWhat kind of insurance should you get when you first start freelancing? How do you insure yourself for sick days and your equipment? Who is responsible for your insurance when you are engaged for an overseas gig? As a freelancer, you are responsible for insuring yourself. Unlike being an employee, there is no employer to cover you for illness and injury. But what kind of insurance do you really need? We speak to Pei Ling in this episode to answer all your pressing insurance questions. Chan Pei Ling is a Media Risk Consultant at Starlight Media Consultants, where she advises companies and media freelancers on good business practices, as well as coverage needed for feature films, documentaries, TV series, as well as corporate formats.
“I don't even know how to work a PowerPoint, and now I have to do Instagram.”
In this episode, we speak to funny women Judee Tan and Nicole Lee about creating comedy content for the digital platform, how traditional theatre is affected by digital disruption, the differences between the online audience from Singapore and Indonesia, working with Gen Z and hitting the big 3-0.
Judee Tan wears multiple hats as an actress, director, writer and host. She has been one of Singapore’s funniest comedians for years – whether she’s reporting from North Korea as The Noose’s Kim Bong Cha, or playing nervous TCM practitioner Dr. Teo Chew Moi in Happy Ever Laughter.
Nicole Lee is the CEO and co-founder of Fix Productions, a production house that specializes in comedic digital content.
Read More“At the starting stage you may do things which you don't really want to do, but you have to do it because it's a job. So, I think being able to accept that is important, putting your dreams aside, just for a moment, and learn the skillset required.”
When you promise to love a person 'till death do us part', what does it really mean? On the 11th of March, 2011, Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife to the tsunami during the Great East Japan earthquake. Since that fateful day, he has been diving in the sea every week in search for her. Compelled and inspired to share Yasuo’s story, “I want to go home” was a documentary about the strength of human resilience and the power of love, with an accompanying book.
In this episode, we speak to director and author Wesley Leon Aroozoo on the process on conceiving both works, his filmmaker journey and what it is like to be selected for Busan International Film Festival after years of trying. What are his insights about the media industry and its future from teaching the next generation of filmmakers? Wesley Leon Aroozoo is a filmmaker, writer and a LASALLE College of the Arts lecturer. His first full-length documentary, I Want To Go Home, made its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival and was one of 10 entries shortlisted to compete BIFF ’s Wide Angle Documentary Competition.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/231733790
Read More"So, as a freelancer, you have to be responsible to the project, you can't double book stuff, if not, you just don't have the bandwidth. I mean, pitching is good, knowing how to sell is great, but you can't oversell as well. Then obviously, from the other end, please be fair to your freelancers, they're only human, they're not going to pull off X amount of work in Y time, that kind of thing. You work in the industry, you know what's humanly possible."
What do employers look for when they hire freelancers? What are the opportunities for freelancing in gaming and Virtual Reality industries? How do they create a portfolio that will get them hired? How can they market themselves to employers? What can fresh graduates do to find jobs in these industries? Can creative professionals upscale themselves and switch to this industries?
Ashima Thomas is the Co-founder & CEO of Warrior9 VR, an immersive content company that specialises in CG animated VR from Singapore. She is also the Chair of AsiaVR Association www.warrior9vr.com www.ThePhoenIXvr.com https://www.meetup.com/asiavrsg/
Shawn Toh is a CEO and Design Director of Battlebrew Productions, a gaming company which specialises in mobile strategy games. www.battle-brew.com www.battleskybrigade.com
Read More“We must paint a realistic picture of what freelancing is. I think freelancing is tougher than as a full-time employee.” More millennials want freelance careers instead of working full-time. CreativesAtWork Loh Yen-Lyng and Kyle Ong talk about what it is like to be the next generation of freelancers.
Read More“There are so many people out there who have a problem they want solved. So, if you can just be that person who can solve that problem for them, they'll happily pay you to solve it.”
Anne-Laure Herrezuelo & Satya Kothimangalam discuss the importance of knowing how to charge, networking and self-care while running your business.
Read More“The one thing about freelancers, because you do everything yourself, means you are marketing yourself. If you're stuck in a project, most of the time your brain just focuses on what you're doing, and you forget about your networking, your marketing. So, in a sense, freelancers, as good as it sounds, you have your flexible hours, you'd be surprised to know that you actually sleep very little. In fact, you do a lot of work, sometimes more than people who are working in offices or have regular jobs.”
Alex Oh, a film composer, producer, and pianist, with more than a decade of experience, is one of Singapore's most prolific and versatile film composer. His latest project is A Simple Wedding, a romantic comedy about a bride having cold feet at her wedding. In this episode, we speak to Alex about his freelancing career, from starting out in Shanghai to establishing himself as a pioneer in the Singapore film industry and how he recently pursued further studies to further his craft. We discussed why it is important to set aside time and budget for music score in a film and the challenges of balancing our love of craft versus making a living.
Read More“If I think back about every conversation I’ve had with HR people and they say to me that, “We only hire culture fit,” then I would like to challenge that. If you only hire culture fit, do you usually hire people who are just like you? And if you hire people who are just like you, it’s really great to find agreeable people, but does that take your business further? Listen to all Freelance Creative Exchanges episodes here: https://creativesatwork.asia/fce/ Karoli Hindriks is a TEDx speaker and founder of Jobbatical – a marketplace for international career adventures. She founded her first company at the age of sixteen (officially becoming the youngest inventor of Estonia). Karoli successfully lead the launch of seven television channels in Northern Europe (including National Geographic Channels, MTV, and Fox entertainment). She was named one of the 20 most promising young entrepreneurs under 25 in Europe by the prestigious international business magazine BusinessWeek and one of 50 Most Influential Women in Tech of Europe in 2016 by EU-Startups.
For our pilot episode, we speak to Kevin Ou, Development / Executive Producer of The Lumenere Group. We discuss the freelancer mindset and how freelancers can negotiate and market themselves to get paid what they are worth. An entrepreneur with the heart of a philanthropist, Kevin Ou is on a mission to create beauty and incredible change in the world. Kevin has transcended his vision as a Celebrity photographer to developing business ventures that expand boundaries and provide innovative progress around him. Kevin’s intuition for developing companies, lead to the birth of The Lumenere Group. Originally launched in Los Angeles, the agency quickly became Asia’s definitive Celebrity Marketing firm.
