Voodoo guitarist/electrician? 👊 We talk day jobs!
The week in Creative Money 9 October, 2020
Financial guidance for creative professionals
Creative Money aims to have an open conversation about finances in the creative industries.
It was founded in July, 2020 in an attempt to address a frustrating lack of sound financial guidance for creative workers and is written by me, Matt Parker, a music journalist and lecturer.
This week I posted the first of what (I hope) will become a series of pieces on day jobs for creatives. My interviewee, Linz Hamilton, plays guitar with a band called Vodun and told me about his chosen side-career as an electrician.
Career changes are, like it or not, on the minds of many of us in the creative industries at the moment, but I think my brief chat with Linz was encouraging and showed some of the positives of building a creative lifestyle around a flexible day job, which you enjoy.
The more risk you take in your creative work, the more likely it is that you're going to need a fall back option for the times when paying gigs aren't rolling in. As you'll see, Linz's band have their own way of doing things. It's not the kind of thing a mainstream label will readily finance, but it's what they love and want to create.
His side career works for him because he enjoys it and it's not an either/or situation – for example, being onstage vs being on the phone in a dead-end call centre. Instead, Linz sees it as helping him to do the thing he loves.
Equally, for some of us day jobs are valuable because, even if we could we wouldn't choose to live that lifestyle every day. It's perfectly acceptable to want a bit of stability in some areas of your life and to find a way to pursue your creative work for perhaps a day or two a week. The right day job can help you there, too.
Over time, I'm aiming to build up a bit more of an overview of useful day job roles and case studies from creatives and, eventually, I'll pull it all together in a central post, so keep an eye on the site for more ideas.
If you know anyone who's got an interesting combination of creative role and day job, get in touch and let me know. The aim is to share these ideas and help more people to sustain themselves in creative work, one way or the other...
Until next time,
Matt
Creative Money
On the site this week:
Day jobs: Linz Hamilton (Vodun) musician/ electrician
The NZ guitarist on the merits of his side-career
Coronavirus financial help for UK creative workers
Want to know what’s available in your sector? Start here…
What do you need to know this week?
Hopefully you heard about the #LetMusicLive protest (in which classical musicians played some angry Holst 'at' parliament this week) but did you watch the video and did you see this incredible photo?
. The fund opens in mid-October.
Prospect Union wants your input on the future of self-employment and government support
FREE online workshop Finance For Freelancers on 15 October, 2020 (ScreenSkills)
It's officially Financial Planning Week. Can you believe you almost missed it!? In all seriousness, the CISI site has a load of helpful tips and guides
Grants and funding opportunities
NEW: Welsh Cultural Recovery Fund Freelancer Grant
Well done to Wales for recognising the need for tailored support for freelancers in the creative industries. If you need it, move quick as phase one is approaching capacity. There will be another phase in due course. Offers £2,500 grant. Deadline: ongoing
CLOSING: Neal Street Screenwriting Bursary
Open to emerging Black, Asian and minority ethnic screenwriters. Five successful writers will each receive £20,000 to write an original screenplay, which can either be a TV pilot or a feature film script. Deadline: 9 October, 2020
CLOSING: The Cultural Spring seeks artists/creatives to run paid workshops online
Seeking 3-4 artists or creative practitioners to develop and deliver participatory creative workshops that can be delivered online. Deadline: 9 October, 2020
The Film and TV Covid-19 recovery fund
Provides grants of £750 a month for up to six months (up to £4,500) to active workers in film, TV and cinema provide grants of £750 a month for up to six months (up to £4,500) to active workers in film, TV and cinema affected by the crisis. Deadline: 12 October, 2020
Help For Musicians Peter Whittingham Jazz Award
Provides financial grants to emerging jazz acts to support those at a career tipping point. This year will see three acts receive the £5,000 grant and, for the first time, the awardees will receive tailored 1:1 business advice sessions with industry experts. Deadline: 12 October, 2020
Opera North Resonance residencies
A workshop programme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic professional musicians and composers, working in any genre, and based in the north of England. Offers free rehearsal space in Leeds, grants of up to £3,500 and technical support. Deadline: 19 October, 2020
Music Managers Forum (MMF)/ YouTube Accelerator Programme
A year long artist managers' training programme with up to £15,000 in funding support. the world’s first independent funding and professional development programme designed solely for artists, songwriters and producer managers. Deadline: 19 October, 2020
Factory Futures Training Academy
A new, free training programme designed to help young people from the Greater Manchester area to learn key skills through free work experience programmes, traineeships and paid internships, in order to start careers in the creative industries. Deadline: 20 October, 2020
Unlimited launches new commission round for disabled artists
Unlimited is an arts commissioning programme that enables new work by disabled artists to reach UK and international audiences. They will have £500,000 to commission work from disabled artists and companies in three strands: Main Commission awards, Research and Development awards and Emerging Artists awards. Applications don't open until October, but they're getting the word out nice and early. Deadline: 27 October, 2020
HelpMusicians Financial Hardship Funding Phase 2
Support for music professionals facing hardship due to COVID-19 and excluded from the government's furlough and SEISS schemes. Deadline: 31 October, 2020
Brighter Sound Both Sides Now commission
Looking for two artists (one from Northern England and one from outside of England) to collaborate and write new music that explores what it means to be connected, disconnected and reconnected in today’s world. Fee of £2,000 per artist. Deadline: 3 November, 2020
Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
The Alfred Bradley Bursary Award is a £5,000 writing bursary to Northern writers new to radio and the chance of a Radio 4 drama commission. Deadline: 6 November, 2020
Drake Music Emergent Commissions 2020/21
For early career disabled musicians. Seeks proposals from Disabled musicians to create new work relating to the theme of ‘Risk’. All styles and genres are welcome. £750 commission fee on offer and mentoring from a disabled musician who is part of the DM collective. Deadline: 15 November, 2020
Hope Mill Theatre Through The Mill Playwrighting Prize
Opportunity for writers to have their work fully produced by and at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. Winner will receive a monetary prize of £5,000 plus one-to-one mentoring with award winning writer Jonathan Harvey (Beautiful Thing, Hushabye Mountain). Deadline: 27 November, 2020.
Royal Variety Charity Financial Assistance grants
The Royal Variety Charity is uniquely positioned to provide financial assistance to anyone who serves any facet of the Entertainment Industry. Deadline: ongoing
The White Pube Writers Grant funded by Creative Debuts
£500 given out monthly to a working class writer based in the UK. This grant has been set up to support writers of all ages who are early in their careers and would benefit from this no-strings attached financial support to help them in whatever they like. Deadline: ongoing
This week's to-do list:
Money worries? Don't ignore them. Organisations like StepChange can help you sort it out. Have a look at this interactive thingamy, which can help you to figure out a way forward.