I donât know that you will actually respond to this but I think itâs worth a try sending in, I really like your work on Magnus stuff and your work at Rusty Quill!
Iâm trying to be a creative director and I had some questions that I thought perhaps youâd have some answers to?
So my first question, how do you get the job? What kind of resume should I have to be hired in somewhere as a creative director, or even is it better to start low somewhere and do the whole corporate ladder thing?Â
I also wanted to ask about what aspects of a project you actually control. I assume you work with the writer(s) to build the larger story but after that what else do you work on? (Also how stressful is it?)
Anyway sorry for the long ask but if you have any advice Iâd be super happy to hear it!!
Okay time to kick up a stink and point out the emperor is wearing no clothes...
Firstly, I believe "Creative Director" is a nebulous term that has been so abused by this point it can sort of mean whatever you want it to. Auteur? Dramaturg? Marketer? Director? Generally I resort to the definition of: "I am mostly sort-of in charge of creative output in a specific organisation except for when I am not." That makes it really hard to give broadly applicable general advice and means you should not be intimidated by anyone who holds the title.
To answer your specific questions as best I can though:
Q) How do you get the job?
A) No idea. Sorry, but genuinely no-one would offer me a creative position at any level and most academic institutions rejected my applications without interview. I just made stuff on my own dime until people paid attention and then invented a role for myself. I could make some educated guesses but there are far better people to ask than me.
Q) What kind of resume should I have to be hired in somewhere as a creative director?
A) No idea. I have never managed to get a job via CV/ resume in any industry. Again I could guess, but based on my personal track record, I would probably guess wrong.
Q) Is it better to start low somewhere and do the whole corporate ladder thing?
A) No idea. I decided quite young that all businesses were "bloody stupid discriminatory Ponzi schemes" and only made any headway when I abandoned them wholesale in favour of making my own thing. My way is by far the path of most resistance, the least likely to succeed and seems to piss just about everybody off and I only started from a place of ignorance and desperation. Your mileage may vary.
Q) What aspects of a project do you actually control?
A) Varies depending on the project.
Early RQG: literally all of it.
Early MAG: literally all of it except Jonny's monologues (we collabed on the macro story with each of us having a power of veto).
Protocol: Mostly its about writing extensive feedback on other people's work these days. Only the writing is specifically hands on for me.
Q) How stressful is it?
A) For me? Insanely. Even with all my many privileges, it's wrecked my health, my personal relationships and my general faith in humanity. That may however, be because I am a very nerospicy bunny who only got ahead by pathological overwork. I would absolutely have worked my way up a pre-made structure if I could have found one that didn't seem to hate my guts.
Q) Any general advice?
A) In my anecdotal experience, if you want to do this professionally, no-one gives a crap about you, your talent, your work ethic or your potential. In fact, if you're me, they are probably going to actively dislike you on sight because your presence inadvertently disrupts their social hierarchy. People only care about your proven track record and whether they can make money off of you. If you want opportunities then you are gonna need to invent both of those things. Thankfully those are achievable targets.
Invent a track record: Make stuff that no-one asked for. If you are dumb like me, you fund it yourself and do all the work yourself until you can convince people to take a punt on you (shout out to the original RQ team). If you are smart you convince "the three Fs: friends, family and fools" to support you.
[I hate the idea of the "three Fs" but its a well established idea in start-up business. Also It helps if you can imply these initial projects were externally funded even if they weren't. I consider this lying and immoral but apparently it is "industry standard."]
Invent a profit opportunity: This is the bit most people fail at. Again, speaking anecdotally: normally, no-one is going to give you a real opportunity if they don't get something from it: Money, status, whatever. That means you need to figure out what it is that those supporters lack and then find a way to make your project give it to them. The more people you can provide that for, the more support you get. Crack that and you're off to the races.
[That is why well-run charities/grants/patronages that support non-profitable creative endeavour are so essential. They are the ONLY organisations on the damn planet who will support something just because they think the project and/or its creators hold inherent merit and they are a strong defence against all mainstream culture being created by a shrinking professional elite. That is so rare in this day and age.]
I am very lucky that over the years, despite all these cynical influences, I have managed to attract a bunch of people to work with who value making something good for the sake of it, to see if it can be done, not just for personal gain. I am insanely proud of our team at RQ for their creative integrity. I hope I lead by example but I suspect luck had a bigger roll to play than people think.
Wrapping up: sorry this wasn't the pep talk you were probably hoping for. What it is though is honest and the only real advice I have learned from doing this for almost 20 years with limited success.
TLDR: Keep making anything you can until you have a portfolio, then find a way to use your portfolio to convince a patron that you can make something that meets their needs. Then use that project to boost your portfolio further and find new patrons. Rinse and repeat.
