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money is a taboo topic in the creative world.
everyone says something different. nobody talks about the real numbers. and somehow we’re all supposed to figure it out alone.
i didn’t grow up with money. nobody ever taught me how this works. and yet here i am, navigating a creative career.
i’ve been a filmmaker for over five years and i’m still figuring it out. the wins, the losses, the debt, the gear, the doubts. there’s no manual for any of this.
so i’m starting to share it. not as a financial advisor. just as someone navigating the creative world, in real time.
this is episode one of money yap as a creative.
the story: i posted a video i hated in 2021. nine months later, that video paid me $3,000. four years later, that work made it to TV.
i almost didn’t post it.
if you’re a creative who feels alone in this, i made this for you.
#creativelife #filmmaker #moneytalk
Transcript
The worst video I ever made paid me $3,000 and I almost didn't post it. Back in 2021, I got a new camera, and I was teaching myself how to use it. I made a practice video of my cat playing on this wall furniture, and I hated it. I almost deleted it. But I told myself no was really watching anyway. So I posted it, tagged the company, moved on. I kept practicing, kept filming, got a little bit better each month, even though my videos were barely getting any views. Then nine months later, the owner of the cat furniture company DM'd me. He offered me $3,000 to make a commercial video. I wasn't sure what he saw in that Instagram video, but I practiced enough by then to know I could deliver something even better. That commercial best still running today. A news station recently interviewed him and played my footage on the broadcast. Here's the thing, that first practice video I posted still only has 700 views to this day, but one of those views changed everything. I'm not sharing this as some success story. I still have to remind myself that I'm good at this, that my work matters, and this is the story I come back to. You don't need a viral hit. You just need to post. You will never feel ready. Post anyway. This is episode one of Money App as a Creative, where I talk openly about the wins and the struggles.