Creative Freelancing: No Funny Business
On National Freelancer Day 2019, creative freelancers are invited to come together at The Glee Club to celebrate freelance working.
Hosted by Creative Cardiff and Cardiff Business School's Executive Education Team, the event will connect creatives and be a platform to discuss practices in the creative economy.
Cardiff Business School’s Dr Dimitrinka Stoyanova Russell will share findings from her report with Dr Nick Butler, No Funny Business: precarious work and emotional labour in stand-up comedy. The lecturer in Human Resources Management interviewed 64 full-time UK-based stand-up comedians to explore how freelance creative labourers navigate employment.
Dr Dimitrinka Stoyanova Russell is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Cardiff Business School. Her research focuses on employment in the Creative Industries, creative careers, freelance work, learning and skills development. Dimitrinka has been researching work and employment in the Creative Industries since 2004 in England, Scotland, and Wales. The realities and experiences of creative environments are topics of particular importance throughout her research.
Dimitrinka has published on social networks, fragmented employment, creative careers and skills development in the UK Film and TV. Her latest project, funded by the British Academy, is on working lives of stand-up comedians and her most recent publication ‘No funny business: Precarious work and emotional labour in stand-up comedy’ was rated as a top paper for 2018 by the publishing journal. Dimitrinka is a member of the Creative Labour and Cultural Production research group at Cardiff University and an Affiliate Researcher of the Institute for Capitalising on Creativity at St Andrews University.
We’ll also have a set from Cardiff stand-up Lorna Prichard, who runs Howl Comedy at The Tramshed, on what it is like to be a freelance comedian in the city.
Lorna Prichard was a BBC journalist then ITV Wales reporter before swapping headlines for punchlines. She went freelance in March 2018. Her career in stand up comedy is only two years old, but she has performed more than 300 gigs including a full run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She organises and hosts her own monthly comedy nights across South Wales with her franchise Howl Comedy. She also writes and performs sketches for the BBC and will be presenting a half hour programme for Radio Wales in July. August will see her presenting and performing Welsh stand up at the National Eisteddfod before returning to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Creative Cardiff Director Sara Pepper will then facilitate a panel with local freelancers on topics including wellbeing, digital and finance:
Talia Loderick
Talia Loderick is a freelancer in a period of transition - from journalist and copywriter to money coach. Freelance since December 2014, Talia has covered money matters for outlets including the BBC and MoneySavingExpert.com but has long wanted to go deeper. Talia retrained as a money coach to help people who feel stuck with money improve their relationship with money. Because money matters – as many freelancers know all too well. Talia also delivers financial education workshops to 11-19-year-olds in schools and colleges across South Wales and South-West England, helping pupils build good money management skills and knowledge.
Gavin Johnson
Gavin Johnson has spent many years working freelance across the creative sector in Wales and beyond, particularly in the music industry. His affinity for creativity started after university when he and a friend, struggling to find work, created a fanzine called Culture Vulture and secured funding from the EU to sustain the project for two years.
Gavin worked with the Salvation Army and various local authorities supporting homeless provisions during which time he became skilled at sourcing funding for projects. In 2012 he took his first ‘real’ steps into the world of freelance, delivering Swn Festival alongside John Rostron and Huw Stephens for two years. During this time, it won the the NME award for Best Small UK festival.
Since then he’s worked with Welsh musician Gruff Rhys on an award-winning multi-platform project called American Interior and on creative projects with Glastonbury Festival, Literature Wales and Football Association of Wales to name a few. Gavin continues to pursue interesting projects in the creative sector alongside his current work, as a part-time Producer for the new innovation programme Clwstwr, based at Cardiff University.
There will also be plenty of opportunities to network with other creative freelancers and academics on the night.
If you have any accessibility requirements for this event, please email creativecardiff@cardiff.ac.uk.
