Hungry Creatives on the Prowl

Dear arts students wondering where your degree will get you, stop grinding your teeth and unclench that fist you’re currently shaking towards the heavens – Hungry Creatives has arrived.

Art director and former UniSA marketing and communications student, Haylie Craig, conjured up this spiffy little concept just over a year ago after completing AWARD school and various advertising internships. Despite her experience, the crown to the creative throne still seemed a little too far out of Haylie’s reach, so she teamed up with film student, Bayley Broome-Peake, and together they set out to bridge the gap between amateurs and professionals in the creative industry.

“This project features two groups,” Haylie explained. “The first group is made up of people ‘trying to make it’, such as students in their final year of study, or people out there who…still haven’t quite broken into the industry and deserve a chance to showcase their work.”

“The second group is those who have ‘already made it’: people working full-time in the creative industry, have an interesting story, (give) excellent advice or insight and have done some great work as well.”

Haylie and Bayley capture artists’ inspiring accounts through filmed interviews, which are then uploaded onto hungrycreatives.com. The interviews are released every Thursday, alternating between a Hungry Creative who is ‘trying to make it’ in a particular field, and a Hungry Creative who has ‘already made it’ in that same field.

From there, the public can provide feedback and a proactive brief, or offer work experience, an internship, freelance opportunities and, hopefully, a job.

And major media outlets are starting to take notice – since the project’s official launch this year, Hungry Creatives has been featured in In Daily, Campaign Brief, The Advertiser and ABC Radio

“The more people who know about it, the higher chance we have of helping one of our Hungry Creatives,” Haylie said.

Perhaps the cherry on top of this delicious treat for our ravenous artists is Haylie’s recent acceptance of the Adelaide Advertising and Design Club Silver Watering Can award, a state-wide recognition of her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry with Hungry Creatives.

Evidently, this ever-evolving project is only growing. Producers, photographers, a script-writer and a creative director have already been interviewed, but Haylie and Bayley continue their hunt for more potential applicants lurking in the city’s shadows. “The way in which we find Hungry Creatives to be interviewed and be a part of this project is mainly through word of mouth, or we see someone’s work and approach them ourselves,” Haylie enthused.

Feeling inspired yet? Good. Get out there, wring out your creative juices and serve up a slice of your imagination. Who knows, you might be the next Hungry Creative ready for a bite of the industry. As Haylie noted, “Don’t give up, keep persisting, continue to make new contacts and find different sources of inspiration.”

Then someday you may find yourself in a situation like this…

Acquaintance: Oh, hi there. Long time no see. What are you up to these days?

You: Oh, I’m just this super-duper big-shot megastar film director/screenwriter/producer/animator/architect/graphic designer/copywriter working on the latest project for this really famous international icon that everybody knows of. No biggie. Should be getting a promotion soon. And a private island.

Interested? Head to hungrycreatives.com or visit their delectably satisfying Facebook page.