You don’t need to be artistic to work in the creative arts sector

One of the big attractions of working in the creative industries is that no two days are the same. There’s a buzz and a particular kind of energy that goes with deadlines and the creative process and, while people working in the sector may get exhausted from time to time, they rarely stop long enough to get bored.

Creative industries need two things to function: artistic types who mastermind the “product” and business types who keep the commercial side of things humming. And with the Irish creative and cultural sectors thriving, both skill sets are in demand.

A healthy talent pipeline is crucial to supporting future growth in these sectors, which now embrace multiple disciplines including film, animation, gaming, visual effects, digital media and immersive technologies. Earlier this year, a Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet was launched to consolidate existing training in specific areas and extend it to include the wider cultural and creative sectors.

When we hire, we are not necessarily looking for someone from a creative background. We are looking at skills and experience and the best person for the job

The skillnet is aimed at those in employment, and while its most likely “customers” are those already in some sort of creative role, skillnet network manager Gareth Lee stresses that there are a range of courses, some starting at beginner level, that may open doors for those in other sectors who have always dreamed of a career in a creative environment. For example, there’s a part-time beginner’s course in the animation tool Toon Boom Harmony that teaches students about the core concepts of animating and building characters.

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“It is possible for people to move tangentially into the creative industries, architecture to animation, for example, and there are more opportunities than ever before and in a greater variety of roles. AV, visual effects and animation are all booming, and the Irish film industry is incredibly busy, with more growth projected,” says Lee.

“But in addition to the creative roles there is also a need for people with business skills and backgrounds in programming and IT. It’s a great industry to be part of because people are generally very passionate about what they do so and are happy doing it. This makes for a really good working environment.”

Story Toys is a Dublin-based educational apps company serving the preschool market. It employs 50 people directly and about 20 contractors. It works with many of the leading children’s brands including Lego, Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros. Chief executive Emmet O’Neill started out as an illustrator but ended up moving into management as he enjoyed the process of leading teams towards a common goal.

“You need visionaries and a creative driving force in our kind of business but you also need people in areas such as finance, HR, IT and payroll,” he says. “When we hire, we are not necessarily looking for someone from a creative background. We are looking at skills and experience and the best person for the job.

“Our head of finance came from the storage business, and my preference is for a broad mix of backgrounds. My advice to someone looking for a job in the creative industries is to research the companies in the sector, choose the ones they’d like to work for and watch their website for career openings. There are now many more companies in the creative space and a lot more opportunities as a result.”

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Catherine Roycroft is the chief operating officer of Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, which employs just over 150 people. Roycroft comes from a business studies and media law background and started her career in the creative arts in administration. She has worked Cartoon Saloon for 13 years and been its chief operating officer for the last seven.

“There’s been a lot of growth in our industry and while companies typically started out small with ad hoc arrangements in areas such as HR, that’s changed,” she says. “The industry has become much more structured with roles opening up in legal, accounting, HR and marketing – every strand of business really. Intellectual property expertise is very important as is compliance and of course funding and finance.

“Overall we’ve probably 20 non-creative roles in the company but there are others where there’s an overlap. Traditionally, creatives moved around a lot and built their experience project by project. There is more continuity of employment now, but if someone is prepared to be flexible and work on short-term projects, then that’s a way into the business and, with companies scaling up, there are good long-term opportunities.”

Deborah Doherty heads up production at Windmill Lane, which celebrates its 45th birthday this year and employs just over 60 people directly and about 20 contractors. About a third of its workforce is in commercial-related roles such as finance, and in recent years strong growth in new business has seen the company beef up areas such as HR and marketing to “make sure the creative process continues to run smoothly”, says Doherty.

Windmill’s clients include Netflix; Disney; and Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama in 2018, and Doherty’s role involves managing a team of sound engineers, designers and editors working on TV and radio commercials, programmes, feature films and animation projects.

Visual effects is one of the fastest-growing segments of Windmill’s business, with big projects flowing into Dublin from around the world. “When you’re doing really high-end work, people want to be part of it, so we are seeing people who left Ireland now coming back home because of the opportunities,” says Doherty.