Thursday’s Child is an online Art Buying resource specifically to discover young and unsigned talent in the worlds of photography, film and animation. This project is about the new kid of block, the unseen, the fresh, the emerging talent.
The target age range is 15-25 years. The reach is global. We will connect such talent to clients who are keen to source new talent for their creative project needs across stills and motion campaigns, animation projects and social media feeds.
The Process
The process starts with a downloadable app. The talent loads their personal details – name, age, an image of them, their ‘city’, their ‘category’ – photography, film or animation and a few lines about themselves.
The talent then has the option to either load their already created work files onto the online platform via #ThursdaysChild or to specifically shoot for the project on their iPhone and directly upload via #ThursdaysChild. The online uploading option allows for heavier files of film and animation to be loaded. These uploads are automatically categorised to the city in which the talent live or the capital city of their country as per the information provided on their app.
The Curation
This uploaded content is then curated by a team of creative consultants. These consultants come from an Art Buying or Art Direction background. We aim to create one central office of curators who will curate the incoming work. They will ‘like’ all interesting work and if one talent has a certain number of ‘likes’ then their work is automatically uploaded into their city category. This process eliminates any talent who is not committed to uploading sufficient work. If a talent uploads only two or three great images then they do not make the ‘city selection’. If a talent is seen to be consistently uploading interesting work then the advantage is two-fold – firstly the curators can see the energy and drive behind their work which also indicates that the talent would be a safe partner for a commercial client who could potentially employ their services.
The Client Connection
The best of the curated work is then uploaded into the ‘city’ category and it is via the ‘city’ access that the potential clients could view the showcased work. The analogy is that of fishing – the curators provide a ‘haul’ of fresh talent which Is visible online – as are the talent’s contact details. The client is able to directly contact the talent and deal directly regarding any potential collaborative projects. Thursday’s Child would not act as an agent or negotiator for any talent or for any project. Thursday’s Child gives the talent a space to showcase their work – we curate the best of the submissions – we give the client access to this curated folio.
The Demand for New Talent
Traditionally a brand shoots several large campaigns over the commercial ‘seasons’ of the brand (Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter). These images would typically be shot by an often highly paid photographer and the images and film content used repeatedly and published during the commercial season. This way of producing images has changed in recent years. The volume of images to be produced by the brand has rapidly increased due to the content required for the social media feeds – brands like H&M have an almost daily requirement to upload new content for their online magazine – for their Instagram feeds and other social media content. The brands don’t have the same budget to pay the bigger photographers to provide this content – equally the bigger photographers/directors are not keen to shoot this content – demonstrating the gap in the market for the clients which can be filled by the new and emerging talent.
The gap in the market – and the solution that Thursday’s Child offers
The platform of Thursday’s Child creates a database of new talent that has not been previously seen. Young talent are keen to get their work in front of the right people at the right brands but how can they know how to do that? They can email/try to meet the person who they think is potentially the right contact but that person may not be the right person and there will be many other people at the brand who are also looking for new talent. Clients are not keen to meet new talent and they are short of the time needed to research this new talent.
There is a wealth of new talent being showcased on blogs and instagram – there are websites that showcase new talent but each of these platforms are limited and dispersed across the internet. It takes days and weeks of research to trawl through the internet to find this new talent. The disadvantage that the websites that display the work of new artists has is the restrictive amount of time that it takes to find such talent, to contact them, to encourage them to get involved. The advantage that Thursday’s Child can offer is that we have a platform creating a space where talent can come to the site instead of the other way around – massively increasing the number of people involved and uploading their work. This new talent have nothing to lose – there is no financial gain to be had in uploading their work – so no cost for the business but everything to gain for them with the potential that they will be spotted by one of the viewing clients.
The Challenges of Working with a ‘Fresh Talent’
As part of this project it is important to address the issue of the concerns that a client may have in the potential lack of experience that an emerging photographer/animator or director may have. Will they understand the way that the brand works commercially? Will they understand the level required of the deliverables? The importance of deadlines, keeping to budget, ensuring that all commercial requirements are covered are all factors which may concern a client working with a developing talent. Our link with our production partner at Shoot Europe ensures a smooth ride for all productions and that the new talent can be guided through this process. There is no obligation however that the production is partnered with Shoot Europe – clients are free to work directly with the talent that they select.