6A2, 6B2 - OUGD602 - Creative Convos - Day 1 - Andrew Odong - PESA Productions

Andrew Odong - PESA Productions 

Creative Production: From Freelance to Start Up

- has been a producer for 5 years however it is only recently realised what he has been doing is producing
- when he was younger and doing A Levels he perhaps chose to do things because he thought he should and felt perhaps his decisions were controlled by the people around him
- he went into clearing after A Levels, which was may have been a good thing because it probably wasn't the right time for him to go to university
- did a degree in physics with astronomy
- his parents had a certain idea of what a career was
- he wanted to help people and serve people and their interests
- Creativity is the future as creativity can't be automated
- Conference production includes researching content, recruiting speakers, writing the schedule and marketing the event
- involves meeting the people behind the brands and realising that they don't have it all figured out either
- his friendship group and who he was and what he was working as before was at odds with each other
- He was introduced to theatre and got involved in an LGBT project and a Spotify project
- considers what can make a persons or brands life easier
- was working on his own projects while working at home
- he had a profound desire to create something bigger than himself
- brands are attached to an ideal, he wanted to create something that had legacy and wanted to democratise production
- people often don't know how to make their ideas a reality
- wanted to create a company that was culturally and generationally diverse
- he works on corporate events, exhibitions, festivals, music videos, short productions , service and product
- aims to demystify production
- combines all needs and solutions to create something 
- you can empower yourself to create your own stories
- need to be able to galvanise people, problem solver 
- design element, web, portfolio, pitch decks 
- get to know producers as they will always need people to do projects with 
- make sure you show you are listening and understand 
- identity what you can give and everything will go up 
- includes things such as set design, event branding, installations etc 
- see your own value. You are influential so own it
- need to offer value when getting in contact with people, make it clear what you are reaching out for, include this in the message on platforms such as Linkedin
- keep promises and keep your word 
- creativity comes to those who work 
- find your advocates 
- network across not always above , get together and create 
- its ok to fail 
- Be authentic 
- the difference between a creative director and producer is that a creative director has the creative vision whereas a producer makes it happen
- understand peoples strengths and apply to the right project 
- how to get clients. Linkedin is useful for getting in contact with businesses. Instagram is good for showing final work
- he used to work remotely which taught him how to be transparent 
- what is the value of meeting someone, sometimes a call or email is better 
- works with a Virgin Start Up Mentor 
- On LinkedIn its important to get to know job titles - marketing managers are important 

Things learnt:

- Knowing your worth and what you bring to things is important in getting work and getting people to buy into what you do
- Linkedin is a good way of getting in touch with businesses and finding specific people / job areas within that business
- Collaborating and networking with people on the same level as you can create strong work and relationships, its not always about networking above your level
- Creative production involves a wide range of different elements within a project ,which takes diifferent skills to be able to do e.g. need to be organised, good communicator. It is also a job which allows you to be part of a wide variety of types of events and projects in different sectors making it varied.
- It was interesting how he talked about wanting to make something bigger than himself, this meaning and purpose he puts on the company allows others to buy into his values because he believes them strongly. Believing in what you are doing allows you to sell yourself and what you are doing.