15/11/16

On 15/11/16 We had Sophie come in to talk about her recent experiences in freelance and how it has benefited her. It was interesting to listen to because it showed me as an actor how freelance can actually work and how it can boost your career.

Sophie works in freelance as a singer and she had achieved many things after a few weeks by busking in Brighton. I think that the location was effective because Brighton is a big city where many artists and directors/managers are located and busking is useful because you don't know who is going to see you.

At first, I thought that this wouldn't help because I don't want to work freelance as a singer, I want to work freelance as an actor/comedian however it inspired me to approach different ways to boost your career. For example in comedy I could watch different comedians and see their approach and then try out material at open mics, and I think that Brighton would be an appropriate location to do so because of the amount of interest there are in performance.

I learnt that planning was very important for example Sophie does singing gigs at different locations so she has to plan what songs we will sing, and prepare for them, plan what outfits etc. In my case if I was planning for a comedy gig I would have to prepare material and think about what would be effective in terms of what I wear, and will it go with what i am portraying whether it be a character or to match what I am talking about.

I also found that filing and storing important documents and contacts are important. For example we learnt about this the week before in our presentations as well, and Sophie told us that you can register as self employed and this allows her to have money for outfits for gigs, and she must keep the receipts to prove that she is using the money correctly and efficiently, and to avoid legal issues such as tax. I also found it interesting to learn that when you're self employed or working freelance in the performance industry if you don't earn up to a certain amount you don't have to pay taxes, however it is important to keep receipts to make sure that you are saving money for taxes incase.

Another important thing to consider is time management. This could link with planning because if you have a gig coming up that you need to prepare for you need to priorities your time to make sure that you prepare your act to a high standard to avoid complications or mistakes in front of an audience, or potential employers.

Setting and Meeting deadlines can link to everything mentioned above, because you have to prioritise things that are coming first, for example if you have two gigs coming up in the same week then you need to prepare both and be confident with them. Also keep on top of bills, linking to filing important documents to avoid legal issues. Planning is important when meeting deadlines because you need to find what you need to prepare for a deadline, whether it be a performance, money, auditions, meetings etc.

Overall I found this talk helpful because it has prepared me for working freelance, and it has widened my knowledge on how to make freelance work. I also found it useful to learn things that I didn't think about like time management, or the legal aspects like filing important documents and contracts. I think that now i have seen someone working freelance and what it has given them, I feel with hard work and effort I could also boost my career as an actor and comedian.