Monday Chats about networking & finance
- Harry and I went through a few of his contacts in the costume industry who he has worked with before and who I could potentially contact about doing a placement. This was so helpful as i find researching and contacting people in the industry so nerve-wracking. It was also great to see the network of freelance costume makers across London as most of my online research into placements came up with more established theatres and costume hire companies than individual makers.
- I also had a chat with Charlotte, head of finance, who gave me some advice about expense reports, invoices and when i need to register as self employed. This was great as i had no idea the threshold for registration was as low as £1000 in a tax year and generally has made me feel more confident about the financial possibility of charging for my work/ going forward in my career.
I feel quite frustrated that only now am i learning about invoices and being self employed as i think this financial literacy should have been taught in secondary school or the first 2 years at Wimbledon. Many students i know had already started freelancing or selling their work by year 2 and to leave this essential information out of the course seems negligent to the reality of working in creative industries where freelancing is the norm.
Going into this placement, i thought most people working in the theatre industry were employed by the theatre or tour company but speaking with the plthe wardrobe team for Raisin in the Sun and Charlotte i realised most are on short term contracts and technically self employed. While it seems exhausting to constantly be hunting for the next gig, there are some advantages like being able to move around parts of the uk and Europe by finding jobs in different cities and the strong network of contacts you build from working on so many projects.
Week 4’s other tasks:
- I patterned a smock and cloak for Ebonaza’s coronation outfit based on Andrews measurements.
- Prepared the fur for the cloak by cutting 12”strips and sewed on the sparkly “ermine tails”
- Constructed the smock and cloak ready for a fitting
- Jodie and Eman had their measurements updated
- Joined a production team meeting – each department shares how they are going and any questions or concerns are raised. Things like adjustments for relaxed performances and closed caption performances were discussed .
- Fitted The Ebonaza coronation costume:
Thoughts on the Ebonaza Fitting:
– Overall it didnt go as well as hoped and the energy in the room was very low.
– For the most part Andrew the actor disliked the design. Rather than a coronation robe he felt the fabric choice was giving 60’s mini dress and made some insensitive comments about feeling like a man in a dress and comparisons to Greyson Perry.
– It was difficult to navigate this as we feltthis was an accurate representation of the design and neither of the designerswere present to give their viewpoints. Even though I understood some of the comments It was quite demoralising having such a bad reaction to my work, especially when the notes were not something i as an interpreter could respond to. In the end we completed the fitting and requested a meeting to disscuss with the designers next week.