home truths - hire regional creatives

by bec bignell, rural room editor

It’s been a hot minute since I had a chance to write for Rural Room as it’s been a whirlwind year with the birthing of some very exciting projects…including my own human child! Life has been very full, and I’ve been juggling the demands of motherhood with the demands of work which has been a baptism of fire…Anyway, feeding time has given me valuable moments to muse and I’ve finally had the chance to convert my phone notes into an article. Well…an attempt at an article; I’m going to write like the clappers before baby wakes and I lose the use of both hands, meaning this will be more ‘stream of consciousness’ than actual article but I’m wearing ugg boots n’ trackydacks and my hair is in a messy bun hiding terrifying knots (due to a long overdue wash) so my care factor is very low. Internet grammar police are literally the last thing on my mind. Side note – scrunchies are a god send and I’ve become a gun at one-hand typing. Grateful for the little things….

I wanted to cobble together some words to paint a picture of what Rural Room does and why we do it because five years in and I’m still baffled by the lack of support for regional creatives.

When I started the Rural Room adventure I went softly, softly and I relied on the mediums we work in to share our story in the hope that the messages would cut through and connect with people on an emotional level. I don’t know if it’s sleep deprivation, the fact I’m always hangry or whether I’m a tad disillusioned after five years observing support for our mission in principle but not in practice, but regardless of where my inner turmoil stems from – I’m changing tact. I’m going to be very explicit about why I believe there needs to be much greater support of regional creatives and how this can be achieved. My hope is that after reading this you’ll be compelled to put your cash where your click is - the internet equivalent of putting your money where your mouth is!

DISCOVERABILITY

Rural Room was born from my desire to create the kind of opportunities, I always dreamed of but didn’t have access to growing up in a regional town. From a young age I was aware of the creative disadvantage I faced due to the tyranny of distance as all the major creative projects were in the cities. Sure, there were a few workshops, the ad-hoc play and a drama or writing competition here and there but anything really good was in the big smoke. While the volume of creative initiatives and organisations undertaking important work to make creative opportunities accessible in the regions has certainly increased it’s still apparent that the major opportunities are confined to the cities. Traditionally, this has been due to the infrastructure and talent which was presumably located in city centres. However, the Internet not only made remote work possible through virtual workflow systems such as Zoom, Slack, Dropbox and the whole gambit of creative cloud-based programs such as Adobe, Canva, Final Cut, Final Draft, Celtx etc etc but it also made creative talent visible.

Technology enables us to discover regional creatives and voices. This is huge. It’s also something that is conveniently overlooked by many people who don’t necessarily want to see this pool of incredible, new talent. To date, many creative industries have largely been overrun by an exclusive set of people who generally represent a very narrow segment of Australian society. I don’t have the time to insert or cite research figures that corroborate my statement, but you just need to google ‘diversity in the Australian creative sector and media’ to find an abundance of fully verified statistics that reveal just how homogenous it has previously been. This homogeneity confirms the immense unconscious bias that influenced the kind of creative projects, stories and work that traditionally dominated and we’re left to contemplate just how many people were left behind or missed out because they were overlooked or misunderstood by the stakeholders wielding the creative power at the time. History suggests it was a lot. Frighteningly the stories that were prioritised, especially at a mainstream level, were often elevated at the expense of minority groups which has contributed to a significant lack of cultural understanding within our communities. For some, the idea of expanding the creative pool is intimidating and threatening as they wrongly assume it means less pieces of pie for them. In good news, the Internet, despite all of its heavily debated faults, has been the great creative leveller; revealing the faces of new talent, stories and people that were previously hidden and held back by the gate-keepers. The potential to be seen and heard via the Internet is incredible. Sure, the landscape is now saturated, audiences are fragmented across multiple platforms and virality is virtually impossible (unless you’re on tik tok or you’ve got an exceptionally talented cat) but regardless of the increasing data overload the Internet allows us to find and connect with people we didn’t know were there. For people in remote pockets of regional Australia this is extremely empowering.

We’re about to launch a high-quality fictional series about life in the sticks called Homespun. I started writing and producing Homespun five years ago at the same time I started Rural Room, which is a whole other topic for another day when the sleep gods are again on my side. My reason for creating Homespun was simple – I knew that the regional narrative was being skewed as it was being told by city creators so I wanted to create a story that was told by regional Australians. While there are many regional documentaries that dig below the regional stereotypes, there are not many Australian fictions that present a fresh and progressive take on regional life that extends beyond the characterisations and surface level issues.

As a young performer I was pragmatic enough to know that I would never be plucked from small-town obscurity to the dizzy heights of big-time Hollywood. I didn’t have nepotism on my side (we didn’t know anyone in ‘show business’), I didn’t fit the mould – I wasn’t skinny enough, pretty enough, polished enough, outrageous enough, I was led by instinct (not technique) and I was just way too late to the party given I’d grown up in the bush. I was completely invisible like many other aspiring creatives in the sticks. I was determined to skill up in the city, alongside city folk, so I could tap into the opportunities, education and connections with a view to take everything back to the bush to give my regional colleagues the exposure they deserved. The story of Homespun is pretty much the story of this personal journey and it dually showcases the breadth of regional talent that exists. Made by over 100 regional Australians, many attached in major cast and crew roles, Homespun shares a unique, authentic regional story told by regional Australians and my plan to share the premium production with the world is a very critical part of my discoverability plan.

I want to make regional creatives so visible that there is absolutely no reason for people to tell me that quality creatives don’t exist outside city centres…believe me, I hear this on a regular basis. The Media Stringers are a network of creatives that we’ve been able to uncover online – they come from all over regional Australia, and they span all manner of creative fields such as photography, videography, design, art, fashion, writing, performing. Their faces are shown side by side so you can get a sense of where they are and see their work. We’re constantly expanding this network as we’re finding more regional creatives every day. We’re creating an exclusive look-book so clients can view their quality work, we’ll appoint an agent to professionally manage the talent and we’ll continue to relentlessly highlight their work and draw attention to them.

The Media Stringers Network is an extremely unique group – we leverage technologies such as Dropbox and Slack to support the Network and our intention is to be able to continuously outsource premium projects to these creatives.

MENTORING

The legacy of creative opportunity existing mainly in city centres has a flow on affect that will continue to repeat if proactive mentoring initiatives aren’t coordinated to disrupt the status quo. Rural Room is not ‘just a creative agency’ – not only do we ideate, produce, crew and create – we also nurture and cultivate creative talent. Many of our creatives live in extremely small towns and are located hundreds of kilometres away from city centres – this not only inhibits their access to opportunity, but it also decreases their ability to participate in activities that can enhance their skills and experience, and it restricts their ability to network. The culture we’ve developed and functions we’ve set up such as our our online communication space in Slack, have been meticulously designed to enable creatives to socialise with each other as many feel isolated from creative peers and also miss out on the learning opportunities that come from collaboration. We select a vast range of creatives at different levels of experience, from emerging through to expert, as we understand the learning value that a spectrum of experience generates and we’re committed to supporting the growth of creatives as they traverse the creative business bad-lands such as establishing an online presence, project quoting, business administration, financial literacy, cultural awareness, networking, marketing etc. We also endeavour to up-skill the creatives through a range of online workshops and we’ve recently launched a formal mentoring program to connect emerging creatives that are new to the network with long time network members who are established in their fields. The mentoring project, led by Helen Carpenter, has empowered creatives in different states and towns to link up, socialise and produce work collectively. We’ve been sharing some of these exceptional works and we’ve got more exciting stories to come. I’m extremely proud of the mentor stories because they’ve been a very encouraging example of the kind of growth that can occur if we’re willing to share and support each other to collectively climb the ladder together.

The more we’re able to build capacity within the network and release the potential of regional creatives, the more we’re able to debunk the myth that regional creatives aren’t up to scratch. The creatives in our network have to work twice as hard to prove themselves and they have half as much access to the things that help city creatives escalate quickly. Our regional creatives are committed to continuous improvement, they’re focused, dedicated and they go above and beyond every single time. The challenges they experience are unique to the bush – whether it be technology, travel or service related they are unwavering in their professionalism and working with them is very fulfilling.

RESPECT

Finally, this goes without saying but please remember to respect regional creatives. I find it very disappointing to constantly be asked to sharpen the pencil on regional creative rates. I have no idea why it’s assumed that a creative should be paid less when they live outside a city…?! Some of our creatives have relocated to the country from the city so it’s absurd that they would have to consider a pay cut just because they live in a small town! When you hire a regional creative you shouldn’t feel like you’re doing them a favour - they deserve to be just as valued as their colleagues in the city. The same quoting methodology should be applied in regard to level of experience, nothing else should come into play. If there is travel involved, it is guaranteed to be cheaper than sending a city creative into the area on remote assignment and you’re also going to get the added value of authenticity where regional creatives understand the nuance of their subjects and the intricate detail of their environments. If you’re engaging them for a city job and you need them to travel to the city to execute the work in person, consider the value you get in regard to cognitive diversity before you overlook them for a cheaper city alternative who doesn’t have to travel.

There is a lot of momentum behind the promotion of support for Australian agriculture and many campaigns that advocate why it’s critical to for corporate businesses and everyday Australians to back Ag as it supports regional communities. I wholly support this concept and understand how an investment in Ag is an investment in regional Australia. However, I don’t understand why we’re not talking more about the importance of supporting regional creatives, and media makers who not only have the ability to tell the authentic stories of regions (including the story of Ag and provenance of Australian food and fibre) but also contribute to the financial growth of their communities if employed. I’m perplexed by the fact that many major companies whose remit is to promote regional Australia are not engaging regional creatives for their campaigns, photography, design, illustration or videography work. If there isn’t an ethical intent to support creatives that exist within the communities they support then there should be a financial objective given the more money invested into regional people (creative, Ag or otherwise) means a stronger and more sustainable regional Australia across the board so their business will undoubtedly benefit from the growth of regional creatives. Liking posts and encouraging regional creatives is a great start but this needs to translate to legitimate investment.

Every business regardless of whether it’s a huge multi-national or a small family run operation requires some form of marketing, branding, promotion, creation of collateral or storytelling to connect with their intended customers. Ask yourself how you can be working with regional creatives and when you do reach out to engage them, please remember to respect them equally and share the word about their work so many more businesses can follow suit.

Miraculously I’ve managed to thrash this out while baby still sleeps so I’m going to seize the chance to wash my matted mane! In the meantime, please continue to support the Media Stringers Network and the stories we share, and if you’d like to know more about working with Rural Room please drop me a note at bec@cockatoo-co-lab.com