This is Part 3 of a three-part series on the future of creative careers.
→ Part 1: Creative careers sure don’t work like they used to.
→ Part 2: Creativity is valued. Creatives are not.
What happens when creative people work in isolation? Nothing happens and the status quo continues on unchanged.
This one bares little introduction, if you’ve read Part 1 and Part 2 (thank you!) and welcome back.
In this final piece, I lay out a vision for the future. There’s one thing we can all do more of. There’s one thing we can do individually. And there’s 3 areas I think we can all do a better job of up-skilling in (for ourselves, yes, but also to help share knowledge with each other).
If you need a reminder of the power of your creative work, this is it.
And you’ll also find out more about why Futureative exists and what we’re working on to support independent creatives building careers.
In this article:
The big (but not new) opportunity that’s more important than ever for creative people
The 3 areas we need clearer insight on, so we can all grow lasting careers.
A reminder that we need your creativity and how you show up in the world matters.
The #1 opportunity for creatives everywhere
I’m making a bet over the next decade. Well, Futureative is.
Our entire business model is based on this idea.
And this same idea I think is key for every single creative person out there.
For too long, we’ve chased trends and tactics. That missing piece of advice. We’ve bent to the algorithm hoping for a reward. We’ve rushed to the next platform like it’s a gold rush.
Some have won doing this. But most don’t.
Whether we admit it or not, the way creative people are encouraged to build is to go-it-alone, against each other.
And maybe you’ve been part of a program, a cohort, a course, a community that says otherwise. There’s a lot of fantastic stuff out there.
But you still walk away feel like it’s you vs the world.
Some competition is great; healthy even. Without competition we don’t keep pushing for new frontiers.
But creative people don’t win when others miss out; you don’t get a career at the expense of another.
Creative people win when an ecosystem is forming.
That might be an ecosystem of artist and fan. But it also might be bigger than that; where new companies or organisations start to help support more people.
When the market grows, there is more space for more people.
When we support each other, we all win.
The biggest opportunity right now for creative people is to organise.
To come together, learn together, share knowledge, meet, connect, create together.
It’s far from a new idea, but I don’t think we’re doing it well enough.
Industry organisations might have events to bring people together, but they’re more commonly one off.
Festivals are usually for the consumer. Conferences are dictated by major brands and have more seats at the table for people who have made it already than those that haven’t.
The internet gives us more ways than ever to connect. Here is one right now.
And for all of it’s falts, failings, connecting online and coming together is still the single most accessible format for more people to organise.
Futureative is here to make a contribution in this area, but I don’t think we’re the only one for a second.
Back in 2016 when I grew my first creative community to 10k members, we weren’t the only one and we weren’t the biggest. Now of course there are many, many more people, places and resources.
We’re on a mission to feature the best people; not to replace any one initiative but to find ways to provide a stage and a showcase for those doing work that truly helps creatives.
And I think we can do more to bring brands in, to fund things creatives make.
I think we can find more ways to collaborate and connect each other to opportunities or knowledge.
The more that creatives come together, talk about their obstacles, explore solutions, discuss what’s possible and dream together of a future that’s creative, the more we can make headway at solving the biggest problems creatives face.
Maybe this isn’t mind-blowing to you. It’s not really meant to be. The creative industries are kind of built on community, always has been. But I think we all could do with a reminder to seek out more collaborations more often. And if we do this in a more organised why, I don’t see why we can’t get more funds and resources and get them turned into initiatives and real pathways, too.
Much more than collaboration is needed
We’re leaving too much up to chance. When there are challenges or obstacles in the industry, we have for too long relied on cultural organisations or industry associations to work on those problems for us, while we’re busy just doing the work and hoping it all pans out.
This again is not a knock on the incredibly important work that many organisations and associations do. But I think we’re missing a place that can become a way for independent creatives to get their voices heard.
The problems that we’re facing don’t get solved by one company alone. Futureative and what we’re hoping to build is not the answer. But I hope it can become a key meeting place. For too long only those deep into their careers have been heard; we need a place for the independent, for those who are actively building and in the growth stage. Early and mid career creatives and people who support them.
And more than anything, aside from a meeting place and more regular connection, if we can get a strength in numbers I believe we can get more funding for early-stage creatives and creative works. More funding that’s on-demand, fit for purpose and easier to access.
There are more than enough people in Australia, let alone this world, to make a big difference if we can find more ways to work together, support each other, and find those with resources and get them to support us too.
This is why Futureative is being born; a place to bring insight, resources and brilliant minds to help each other make the next leap in their creative career.
But also to discuss and tackle the problems of tomorrow’s world.
In short, we’re here to bring independent creatives and their teams together at our online events. To learn, share, explore, connect and make change.
You can also find this video on our YouTube channel, where we publish all our video essays. Watch on YouTube
It’s been a seriously strange couple of decades.
I’ve been navigating the creative industries for two decades now. And it’s often felt like creative careers have been stuck in this land of “the old world’s gone, but the new world brings promise”.
Well the new world isn’t currently fit for purpose. And while there are opportunities, there’s also significant isolation. And what happens in isolation? Nothing happens. And that’s the problem.
If creative people come together more often, we can start to make change; it’ll take time. Maybe the next two decades, but I believe we can have an impact.
When there’s no seat at the table, we need to make our own table, so to speak.
The question is, do we continue on as we have for another couple of decades building and supporting creative business models that so often put profit ahead of creativity? Or do we come together more often to find ways to upskill together, to get organised, to collaborate, find some common ground so we can campaign for a creative industry that’s built for a new era?
When we’re around other creative people like us, we learn faster. We find direction. We might find that next mentor or grant opportunity we didn’t know about. You see what’s working for others and you have the confidence again to go have another crack. You get feedback on your ideas. You discover pathways you never would have found alone.
And because creative people are becoming more and more cross-disciplinary, our skills and experiences are increasingly valuable to each other. We don’t need more music conferences or film conferences. We need more creative conferences; where creatives from all walks of life can benefit from each other’s hard won skills & insight.
More voices, not less & an ecosystem for all
What we’re building with Futureative is not another thought leadership or education platform run by one person. We’re building a place that can house multiple voices, more curation of knowledge and provide more stages for other people (who know way more than me!) to share what they know.
We won’t be a 24/7 community; I’ve tried that, and it’s not for me. Always on isn’t a great fit for creatives I’ve found. But having some regular times and places to come together will mean we can build what I hope becomes a more intentional community.
This is the beauty of events and I think it’s something that over time we can make work well in an online format and over time see how we can bring in IRL events, too.
And there are three areas that we believe creatives need to discuss and explore.
We need to explore & up-skill in the inner world of creativity; how we create our best work.
We need to strategise and game plan our relational world; how we launch our creative projects to the world.
We need to navigate and understand the outer world; how the trends of tomorrow are shaping the creative industries.
If we can have different experiences focused on the inner, the relational and the external world then we are going to be better equipped to navigate the future individually whilst finding ways to build more initiatives together.
This starts with you
In Part 1, I pointed out how I dislike that the responsibility of building a creative career has somehow fallen on the individual. But change cannot happen if we stand still and wait, so we do need to individually show up.
And I only have one ask. And it’s not to do with Futureative, really.
It’s to do with you.
It’s to do with how you show up in the world.
My one ask is to reflect on how you show up - and what story that tells the world.
When we show up proudly with work we make, when we take our careers seriously, when we educate people on what’s not working, when we generously help our fellow creative, when we publish our work despite the fear of failure and no promise of a result, when we build real community around our work and care for them when we do these things we build something better than what was there before.
My one ask of you is to respect your craft. Respect your fellow creative. Respect your audience. And to boldly show up more often wth things you make no matter what.
Do you have a creative project you’ve been holding back? Ask yourself if it’s time to just put it out into the world. Because we need it more than ever.
The actions you take today are so important, for you and all of us. Please keep moving forward with your creative work, or the work you do to support creative people. If you’re missing some inspiration or direction, go study someone else’s work. Stuff you don’t usually look at. Doesn’t have to be in the same field as yours to bring you value. You’ll find insights you hadn’t seen before.
Start more conversations with peers, other creative people. Talk about what success looks like. Talk about the planning and the money side of it all. These conversations help you work out what’s right for your career, and it’s totally normal to have different paths.
Share your work in progress more. The more we put our work into the world, the more others can become part of a shared story. We need to let people in so we can build people around us.
The opportunity to take that next leap in your career, whether you’re mid-career and navigating the future or early on and still angling for that first breakthrough, it doesn’t matter where you are on your career trajectory.
The opportunity, I think, is for us to come together more, to find ways to collaborate, to build stronger networks, to share and learn from our hard-won knowledge, and to try to create more opportunities for each other.
Don’t wait for Futureative to start; we’ll be here with more soon. And we’d be thrilled to have you part of the community.
But creativity and community start today, they start from you and the work you do today, even if it doesn’t feel like the world cares, it doesn’t matter, every piece of progress you make is important for you but also for other creative people.
I’ve been obsessed with the question “how will creative people build careers in the future?” and I will still stubbornly explore this.
But in many ways I may have been asking the wrong question. Instead of wondering what’s next, the only thing that really matters is standing tall in the present moment and creating and sharing for today and supporting those around us on the journey.
So maybe the real question next is ““how will creative people change the culture today?” and the answer is simple; it starts with you.
A few questions to sit with:
If you could collaborate with one creative person outside your discipline this year, who would it be and what would you make together?
What’s one hard-won lesson from your creative career that you’ve never shared publicly?
What would change if you treated other creatives’ success as evidence that the industry is growing, not that your share is shrinking?
Well that’s a wrap, on whatever this 3 part rant was. May I call it a triptych? I’m going to go with that… I’m so grateful for your time and care reading this.
And I’d be thrilled to hear from you whether we’ve spoken or not and whether we’ll agree or not.
If nothing else I just hope this series gives you a sense of why Futureative exists and the gap we’re here to (attempt to) bridge.
With optimism,
Steve
Join the journey
Futureative is launching a series of online events for people building creative careers and we’d love to have you join us for the ride!
Front Row is your backstage pass to everything we’re publishing on creative work, launching projects, and the trends shaping creative careers.
Built by, for and with independent creatives.
We’re also publishing on: Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn | Threads
I love your point about ecosystem-building. I think some of the smartest artists have been building a scene around them, or become part of a scene. When you work together, everyone wins together. Whether it's forming collectives, organising small shows together, or collaborating with the same artists again and again - these are all strategies I'm seeing paying off for artists.