Talk with Kate Jessop

Although Kate’s work wasn’t in the style that I would necessarily look to work in, I still found her general theme and practice interesting. It was really inspiring to learn from her experiences as an LGBTQ+ artist and the struggles that come with distributing her work (i.e. in Eastern Europe, although that seems to be slowly changing now).

Kate spoke about how the festival scene really advanced her career and improved her visibility. She had a chance to travel and take part in various workshops which were fantastic for her work development but also networking.

She has extensive experience working as a freelancer and shared many points that could help us on our own journey. She was even kind enough to give us a look at the contracts she normally sends out and the important details that need to be included (like payment deadline or number of revisions included).

Kate also expressed the importance of balancing personal work with any paid jobs that might not be as enjoyable.

“If Joanna Quinn could spend 10 years making toilet paper commercials to fund her independent projects, maybe you can do one explainer video.”