Chase the Happiness: Meaningful Freelancing - Filmmaker Zoe East

Zoe East has never had a proper job. A work experience placement at a big TV channel that felt old-fashioned and sexist put her off the traditional route before she'd even graduated, so she went freelance instead and never really looked back. That was over ten years ago. She started with whatever work came along. The niche found her gradually: charities doing meaningful work, heritage and culture projects, things that will matter just as much when someone watches them in ten years' time. This episode of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland covers: Getting started by networking and taking whatever came along Winning six months of free studio space in a creative co-working community, and why staying there for ten years shaped the career around it -Building a niche in charity and heritage filmmaking - and why charity budgets are often better than people assume Putting "win an award" on a vision board in January, and winning by April The adventure filmmaking strand: films about running adventures across Iceland, Tajikistan and Patagonia, and getting into Kendal Mountain Festival and the London Mountain Film Festival Why cold outreach has never worked for her, but word of mouth has - and how sharing only the work she wants more of has quietly shaped her client list Dropping Instagram and going all-in on LinkedIn as the one social platform where her clients actually are Monthly goal-setting sessions with a freelancer friend: yearly goals, monthly focus, and the accountability that comes from having to report back The rate spreadsheet that makes quoting consistent and takes the stress out of pricing decisions Buying almost everything secondhand, having all her kit stolen as her biggest low point, and using a post-COVID grant to buy her first ever brand new camera Moving into the She Who Dares Wins studio with Michelle, and the documentary series and production company they're building together Hosted and produced by freelance podcast & video editor Steve Folland. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:22 - Never having a "proper" job 00:02:38 - A work experience that put her off traditional TV 00:03:03 - Starting out: photography, local businesses, anything going 00:05:14 - Winning six months free studio space — and staying for ten years 00:08:06 - Finding her niche: charities, heritage and culture 00:09:02 - Are charity budgets actually okay? 00:10:12 - Vision boards and winning an award 00:11:02 - Adventure filmmaking and film festivals 00:13:46 - Social media: dropping Instagram, focusing on LinkedIn 00:14:40 - Goal-setting sessions with an accountability partner 00:17:58 - Cold outreach vs word of mouth 00:18:18 - Only sharing what you want to attract more of 00:19:33 - The business side: systems and FreeAgent 00:20:22 - Equipment costs, theft, and buying secondhand 00:22:55 - Pricing with a rate spreadsheet 00:24:48 - Managing leads when you're busy doing the work 00:27:26 - The She Who Dares Wins move 00:28:31 - Building a documentary series on YouTube 00:31:49 - Variety of work and talking to everyone 00:33:06 - Finding grants and business support communities 00:34:22 - The most challenging part of being freelance 00:35:38 - Two Truths and a Lie 00:40:46 - Work-life balance and travelling while freelance 00:41:31 - Collaborating with other freelancers 00:43:00 - Pricing pressure since COVID 00:45:00 - Why relationships are everything 00:45:25 - One thing she'd tell her younger self