Ind-E-Focus

Ind-E-Focus believes that; Dreams are just reality that lack focus;

You stand alone, waiting, vulnerable, heart pounding against your ribs as you draw in a deep breath of anticipation. Eyes widen; body tingles, fingers tremble, as suppressed fear escapes your lungs. Then... Lights; applause, a thousand roaring voices chant your name.  You look out at the bustling crowd, their expectant faces stare back at you as the thunderous noise reaches its peak. You raise a hand. Silence; All eyes are on you.

Is it the pre-show rush of adrenaline, the buzz of electricity you feel from an excited crowd, the fame, the fortune, or is it simply the chance to be able to do what you love for a living?

What makes you dream of having a career in the arts?

Whatever your reasons, or chosen art form, every artist is faced with the same semi-rhetorical question early on in their career;

Oh. So you studied acting [For example]. What job are you going to get from that then? (Smug smile, vacant stare.)

This question seems desperately stupid to a talented young acting student.

I’m going to be an Actor...

What else did they expect you to say? Would they ask a student studying medicine what type of job they were going to get?

Putting that person’s ignorance to one side; it would be reckless for any artist to dismiss that question, before spending a serious amount of time thinking about the answer.

Getting the best training available to you, whether that is through College, University or Arts schools is obviously a great way to build a stable career. Although these routes are costly and mean donating considerable amounts of time and money to your training, you gain many skills and contacts that will help you stand out in this extremely cut throat and fickle business. But, you aren’t guaranteed to be a success and there is nothing stopping someone with no training or previous experience out shining you at an audition and landing the job of YOUR dreams.

On the other hand, you could be a massively talented artist of any form, with all the technical skills attributed to a master of your art form, going from one cold street corner, to another smoky bar; wowing audiences that are easily into their tens and holding out for the day when a fancy executive walks up to you and hands you the contract that you have been waiting twenty years for.

No artist wants to get wrapped up in either cliché. So what is the answer?

Training and performance experience aside, every person who loves their art form enough to try and make it a career, is on their way to becoming an Independent Artist.

‘Independent Artist’ is a term that Ind-E-Focus uses to identify people who take a less conventional approach to the artistic industries; People who take steps towards breaking the endless ‘POP’ industry studio cycles in order to develop art that is challenging, thought provoking and innovative. This essentially involves developing a certain way of thinking.

This moves past just the creative side of being an artist, and into the business, legal and financial areas of the industry.

Artists generally want to focus on the creative side of work, which is completely fine if you have a recording contract, or a large enough trust fund to pay someone else to take care of your interests. But for everyone else, taking time to understand the fundamental business and bureaucracy of the creative industries can seriously improve your chances of success.

Developing the Independent Artist way of thinking, involves realising that you can be just as creative with your approach to business models and marketing campaigns as you can be when creating any piece of art. Art and business are not two opposing ideas. When you put as much care and attention into both areas, they not only compliment and enrich each other, but they also give you the chance to do something quite extraordinary;

Oh. So you studied acting [For example]. What job are you going to get from that then? (Smug smile, vacant stare.)

Says the Independent Artist... 

Well actually I own my own company; we just got back from filming in Romania, great scenery over there you know - even better tax breaks! You should check out our profile (hand him your card) www.indefocus.com everything you need to know is on there... and yourself? (Smug smile, vacant stare.)

Just take a moment to imagine how it would feel to be able to come back with an answer like that! When you finally come back down to earth, take another moment to grasp the fact, that it’s absolutely possible; IF you develop your skills as an Independent Artist and take full control of every aspect of your work.

A great idea is priceless. All the people with the money and power know it. That’s why so much time is spent on protecting ideas through copyright (An idea can’t actually be copyrighted, just the way it is expressed) etc. But the average artist isn’t fully aware of what their ideas could be worth. In truth, without a good understanding of the industry, how it works and how it calculates the value of your work, you will never fully understand how much money you could make from your latest masterpiece.

When contracts are signed and money is handed over between an artist and Production Company, the trade off is usually the rights to that particular piece of art. Rights include the right to copy (Copyright,) the right/method of distribution, and the actual ownership of the work.

Essentially what you give up as an artist when signing a contract, is control.

In many cases this is a good thing. Large production companies have teams and contacts in advertisement, distribution, production, law, etc. So they can make sure that the necessary time is taken to get all these areas right when dealing with your product. But, it also means that they can exploit artists who are ignorant about that side of the industry, and cut deals which weigh heavily in their favour.

An Independent Artist is not only suitably aware of this fact. But they would also be aware that the Internet makes it possible for them to find their own solutions to advertisement, distribution and finance for their project, without signing away any rights to their work.

It’s all about control; taking control of your creations, taking control of your business and ultimately taking control of your life.

Becoming an Independent Artist is not easy. There will be setbacks every step of the way and you have to be mature and level headed enough to fix them yourself. You will have to research into boring subjects such as tax, law, and the general history and current condition of which ever industry you want to break into. These requirements and attributes may seem alien to the average person with a creative mind. But it’s truly amazing the lengths you will go to for something that really inspires you.

What used to be just tax, is now; my tax, for my company, for the album that I am making!

Now...

You stand alone, waiting, vulnerable, heart pounding against your ribs as you draw in a deep breath of anticipation. Eyes widen; body tingles, fingers tremble, as suppressed fear escapes your lungs. Then... Lights; applause, a thousand roaring voices chant your name.  You look out at the bustling crowd, their expectant faces stare back at you as the thunderous noise reaches its peak. You raise a hand. Silence; All eyes are on you.

You’re an Independent Artist; you have dedicated yourself, struggled, laughed and cried your way to the end of your project. You have brought your dreams into focus and made them reality:

But being Independent doesn’t mean you have to be alone:

At Ind-E-Focus, you can begin to network with other Independent Artists, develop a new project, gain invaluable advice, and share your experiences on an international stage.

Celebrate your excellence here.

Ind-E-Focus; Eyes on the Independent Artist.

Continue to Ind-E-Vidual.