Build Your Own Table

A TIME OF CRISIS

The creative industries are currently experiencing a significant upheaval. For decades, we have fought tirelessly for greater representation in storytelling, advocating for narratives that reflect the true diversity of our changing world. However, the rise of AI and the dominance of large companies are gradually diminishing our opportunities to showcase our stories. As these big companies regress, they are ignoring the demands of the wider audience.

But there is an opportunity for individual creators like us to forge a new path. In this week's newsletter, I will demonstrate how we can seize this opportunity and build our own platforms. We don't necessarily need a seat at the big table.

We have the power to create our own.

DISPELLING THE MYTH

We have been conditioned to believe that success in the creative field is akin to winning a beauty pageant. We must create a remarkable piece of work and hope to be selected. Someone with the resources and means to present our work to the greater public. Which means we finally get the chance to tell the stories we desire.

This model harks back to an era that excluded the voices of diverse creators. Being "picked" now often means creating stories that cater to someone else's preferences. While using the limited time and resources we have to make work that truly matters to us. As someone who has worked in the film industry for years, I understand this struggle firsthand. My multitude of short films let to work that paid the bills, Work that ?did little to nourish my soul.

However, I have come to realize that there is another way—a way that allows us to create our own resources, networks, and meaningful work.

All it takes is building a community.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

Like the myth of getting discovered. There's also another that we need to have thousands of followers and fans to have an impact. The truth is the opposite,

Less is more.

While having a large audience is important. What is more important is having people who are passionate about you and the work you make. The biggest joy I get from the work I do, whether the films I make or writing this newsletter is the interactions. When I get to meet new people and hear their stories.

It's by making those connections that you really start to have an impact. It's how you build a supportive network that is mutually beneficial. What's lost in how we use social media is by being social. We have the ability to talk to whoever we think is like us, or will understand who we are. And we can begin a conversation in a matter of seconds. If you repeat this then your audience and reach will grow.

And this is how you begin to create an income.

CREATING RESOURCES

Let’s face facts - everyone needs money. A starving artist isn’t an impactful one.

Money is an exchange of value for something that helps someone save time or enhance their life. For the longest time, I was focused on how the films I made could make money. But what I realized was the work is not how I built an income - I was.

Here's a dirty little secret about influencers and YouTube stars, they make very little money for their videos themselves. Brand deals and the ads you see are constantly in flux, and are ultimately out of their control. They are not dependable sources of income. But what is dependable is something you can produce.

If you can use the skills you've learned through your work, you can make money. Or if you can teach someone how to gain those skills. That's even better. As you are helping someone along the way. Someone you may end up collaborating with in the future. Which helps create that bigger change we all want to see.

I know that every person who can express themselves creatively can build an income. It just takes some reprogramming:

Embrace different formats. Show the process of how you made it. Share the lessons you learned from it. All of these are valuable ways to not only make money. But also give people the knowledge we’re all seeking. Art is a manual for life. So create as much of it as possible. And use is to be a guide for someone.

They’ll reward you with the ability to just create more.