MANILA, PHILIPPINES–To lift the independent creative community up, The Indierectory held their very first general assembly online on August 21. Indie Power highlighted why brands should keep an eye out for independent talents.
To better demonstrate the prowess of freelancers, strategist Cristina Buenaventura showed the newest music video of Moonstar88 for their single “Naantala.” Each line of the song was animated by 39 freelance artists and was fully shot and coordinated from home.
Head of Creative APAC at VaynerMedia VJ Anand opened the program by giving out some of the things he learned from his 17 years in the industry: be relevant; be as fast as culture; give value to your consumers; be insightful; don’t be boring; be brave. embrace trends, and; make a difference.
The discussion started rolling by drawing the current landscape of the gig economy. Panelists Paolo Mercado, Karen Fernandez and Avid Liongoren. Together with Atom Araullo, Buenaventura moderated the panel into an insightful conversation.
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“It’s both an exciting time to do it and a challenging time,” opens Mercado. As a longstanding champion of the creative economy before founding the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines, Mercado observed that the gig economy was well embraced by millennials especially for the freedom that it gives.
The freedom’s flip side, however, is getting paid, weighed in Rocketsheep founder Liongoren. “There is a lot of work but getting paid is a massive challenge. You always have money on paper only. And that’s very hard when you’re only living from paycheck to paycheck.” He added that the lockdown has shed new light on the importance of cash for freelancers.
For her part, Fernandez shared her journey—from horrible experiences of not getting paid to eventually building her network of clients. Fernandez has authored several books on freelancing and founded RaketChick.com “When you sell yourself better, they will see that you have a good background, you’re reliable—mas madali kang magkaka-work. It all boils down to how you pitch yourself,” she said.
Diving deeper into the topic, the panelists emphasized the importance of protecting oneself. As a freelancer, one should learn about the labor laws and the accompanying rights they’re entitled to.
Mercado discussed the Creative Workers’ Welfare Bill that accounts for hazard pay, overtime pay, and benefits coverage. “It’s reflected already in some labor laws but not spelled out for freelancers. So now we need to spell it out very very clearly.” But while the bill is still pending,
Fernandez advised that airtight contracts is what got her through ten years of freelancing. “Habang wala pa tayong union or protective bill, you gotta do what you need to protect yourself. Put everything in black in white, put it on paper. Tapos make sure your client signs. You have to make sure they sign. No signature, no work.”
Liongoren also mentioned that one way to protect a freelancer’s work is through watermarks and holding out on final files. “Withhold your talent to a certain level until you get a proof of payment. But don’t do it out of the blue, always say it at the start when you make your contract. You need to have that leverage.”
The Indierectory was created by GIGIL’s creative partners Badong Abesamis and Herbert Hernandez as a response to the growing numbers of lay-off in ad agencies and a way to give back to the industry.
Together with The Indierectory, CECP hopes to elevate the Philippine indie community from being seen as the low-rate volume-based freelancing into one that is of higher value and quality. What Mercado hopes for the future is to upskill and provide shared services for the community and to evolve freelancers not to be “seen as just as ‘Oh outsource that to the PH because it’s cheap.’ to ‘O ipagawa natin sa Pilipinas dahil magaling.’”
Indie Power was organized by independent agency GIGIL, in collaboration with the 4As Philippines, Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), Facebook, and PANA. The event is also made possible by adobo magazine and is powered by Soupstar Music.
