This morning I woke up. Late. I had a cup of coffee. Late. I bought the paper. Late. Then I proceeded, with a minimum of effort, to do the largest part of nothing. I’m not lazy. Or retired. Having just wrapped up something of a whirlwind experience in my burgeoning film career (read, fulltime for the BRITDOC Film Festival – anyone who has worked for a festival will know exactly what I mean), I just now find myself in the precious position of being, well, to be blunt: unemployed.
Though, am I? It’s under the guise of holiday, but I wonder if I’ve just been tunnel-festival-vision for so long that perhaps I’ve forgotten what it’s like to live the regular creative dream, hopping from job to job, occasionally surviving on cardboard and mixed nuts, occasionally spending an entire week eating at Cha Cha Moon. This conflict led to a discussion with a friend (a burgeoning and successful filmmaker) in which she cried, “I prefer to call it FREELANCE.”
It’s not about the money. Nobody’s here for it (are they?), and I’m no stranger to the intermittent pay-check. I did the working actor thing, and I definitely will again. What fascinates me more is the euphemistic approach people take. There’s something so bleak surrounding the word ‘unemployed’, it’s a word that implies waiting – and if there’s any no-no in this industry it’s waiting – for the next thing to turn up in your lap. Being ‘freelance’ is just a way of owning your shit.
I just got back from chilling my kicks up in Edinburgh on a writing assignment for the international festival, and I think I might conduct an experiment on behalf of all those sprawled on the living room floor surrounded by the Positions Vacant sections and staving off their Hollyoaks cravings by gorging on Hula Hoops. For half of the next week, whenever anyone asks what I do my answer will be “Oh, me? I’m unemployed.” For the following half the answer will be: “I’m a freelance filmmaker/writer/actor/whichever other profession takes my fancy.” On the seventh day, results will be compiled, relayed, and dissected. Late in the day. Over a cup of coffee. And the paper. Stay tuned.
