“You miss all the shots you don’t take, but you need the space and goal to move toward.”
The former part of that statement is such an endeavour many creatives swear by, and the latter is the reality of the situation which demands we recognise the environment we have available to us. It is such a mindset that this year’s winner of Relentless’ Freeform Forum Fund, Ade, has. “I’m so over the moon, not only to have been selected for the creative fund but also to have been a part of the Freeform Forum mentorship from the outset,” the Manchester-based filmmaker said, considering his creative journey throughout the programme. “I’m used to doing things myself with very small budgets or no budget sometimes; my creative ideas were just not getting off the ground. This experience gave me the opportunity not only to learn from creatives at the top of their game, but to network, gain skills and access funds to push my creative limits even further.”
Mentored by the illustrious director Tajana Tokyo, Ade shadowed and gained insight from a creative with all the experience he sought to gain. Born in Nigeria, raised in Birmingham and now residing in Manchester, Ade is a creative who has seen different spaces for dreams to come to fruition. Nevertheless, London remains the central hub of creative opportunities in the UK. To venture into creativity as your life’s work takes a lot of effort, disruption from the ‘norm’, and, at times, is a privilege of proximity, network, and the financial freedom to execute it. And it is this disparity between dreams and reality that Relentless acknowledges, hence setting up its Freeform Forum—a mentorship programme and fund that brings together aspiring and established creatives who hope to take things to the next level. The aim of the fund is to unite industry disruptors and the hopeful through mentorship—12 mentees and mentors working together, offering tools, tips and tricks, as well as industry insights, to help build and kickstart their careers.
Relentless has always worked with young creatives around the country, including the likes of Aitch and Stormzy, who have both been brand ambassadors of the energy drink. Through its Freeform Forum Fund, this year, Relentless enlisted the likes of ENNY, TSB, Tajana Tokyo, Elliot Hensford and more as mentors overseeing the programme and working closely with the mentees. As the winner of this year’s fund, Ade aims to fulfil his artistic vision for a music video called “Dollar Signs” for Benjiii TG. Collaborating with Tajana, the music video was developed from Ade’s initial creative concept upon joining the fund and evolved to encompass new ideas. The approach will allow the video to narrate Benjiii’s artistic journey, navigating through three dream states with obstacles obstructing this metaphorical journey. Utilising the fund to complete a 35mm filming of the video, Ade will also host a launch event to celebrate the project.
On the back-end of the programme, we got to speak with the elated Ade to understand his journey throughout it. Tap in below.
You were born in Nigeria, then you moved to Birmingham as a child before setting up shop in Manchester. These are different creative spaces in contrast to London. What can you say of your journey through these spaces, and the creativity that exists in terms of their culture?
I’d say being in a different space has definitely given me a wider perspective and great understanding of how things work differently, where and what would work for me. Through these cities in the UK that I’ve been in—including London, which I visit quite often—out of all three, London is the biggest creative hub. In Birmingham, there wasn’t really much for me, creatively. I didn’t really trigger or find all of the things that I loved creatively until I moved to Manchester. After London, I’d say Manchester is definitely up there in terms of being a creative hub. I feel like, in Manchester, everybody knows everybody but there’s not enough opportunities there—no matter how hard you try. There’s only a handful of creatives who are actually doing something, whether that’s in music, filmmaking or whatever. For example, with filmmaking, it’s definitely a lot harder to get things kick-started in Manchester; only a few people get the jobs that matter.
What did you think about the Freeform Forum Fund when you first came across it?
It was actually a friend of mine that sent this over to me. I always keep an eye out for incentives like this; I’ve actually applied to similar things where there’s funding and a grant at the end, but I haven’t been successful until now.
Barriers of entry into industries have been a concentration point regarding the Freeform Forum Fund. As a Manchester-based creative, what did you make of the creative paths available for you to blossom as a creative?
It’s definitely a mixture of everything. I’ve got a pretty strong network of friends and colleagues, who are all pretty much on the same path. We want to be creatives full-time, pretty much. We help each other out; if I find an opportunity that I think would work for someone, I send to them, and they do the same for me. Even with the Freefrom Forum Fund, as I said, a friend of mine sent that to me. The way my social media is set up, as a creative business page, anything there is an opportunity on my timeline or Instagram feed—I get to see and act on everything.
The director Tajana Tokyo has been a mentor for you throughout this—how has it been working with her so closely?
It was definitely something that I needed. She is working, and I have been working as a filmmaker myself too. Obviously, when you’re starting out, you kind of have to take shortcuts. You have to work as a one-man-band. I want to be a director—that’s the role I want as a filmmaker. However, at this level, I usually do everything myself: I shoot the video, I direct it, sometimes I do lighting myself. When the budget’s a bit bigger, I might be able to get a stylist or something like that but, so far, it has been by myself—shooting, directing, editing. I’ve never really been around a set where you have a full team and crew together. Obviously, I have an understanding of how things work, but being in an environment where it’s actually being done is an experience I would definitely use as a filmmaker. Working with Tajana, I was able to shadow on-set with her. I was able to see how things work with a full crew with a bigger budget. She gave me a lot of tips! Even the etiquette on-set, understanding that etiquette has been a big help for me. When I get to a bigger level, I’ll be able to navigate the industry. I actually spoke to Tajana who is happy for me to carry on shadowing her on-set to gain more experience.
Throughout the process, what were the moments that triggered you creatively? As in, which moments could you say you markedly gained from the process and can use these ideas to apply to your own?
There were definitely multiple points throughout. A big part was Tajana Tokyo explaining how she got to where she’s at. One thing she told me—a thing that she learned in her 20s, living in America for most of them—is that out there, people are very overt with who they are and what they do. Let’s say I’m an American and I’ve just met you for the first time, I’ll be very bubbly about it; I’ll tell you everything I do, and have a proper chat with you as opposed to here in the UK, people don’t really open up about things. Tajana was saying it was pretty much about networking; a lot of the time, it’s about who you know, not what you know. It’s important to know what you’re doing, having the skills and whatnot. but building networks and relationships, being a nice person as well, it goes a long way. I was doing these things, but I feel like I wasn’t doing it enough. Now I feel like the stars are aligning for me.
How important is it for you to work in spaces that provide creative freedom?
It is very important for me. For example, and this is something I’m shifting away from now, any work that I had in terms of people hiring me—I was working with local artists. They’re not always so open-minded with me or my creative style; they pretty much have a vision in their head that they want me to shoot for them, but that’s not really what I’m going for now. It was paying me at the time, so I took it... I still managed to get experience from doing that, but it made me realise that creative freedom is definitely important for me. I need to be in a space where I’m allowed to have creative freedom—even if not in full, they should be able to see my vision.
What advice would you give to other aspiring creatives regarding applying for and putting yourself forward to partake in such incentives like the Freeform Forum Fund?
I’d say you have to keep shooting your shot! Don’t be afraid. Don’t think you’re too little to achieve a certain goal—you have to keep trying. In my opinion, there are people in big, big positions, but the only reason they’re there is because they tried. You might have more talent than them, but it’s the things they did and tried to get to where they are. Over the years, I’ve been shooting my shots, and not a lot of them landed. But, eventually, one did land and here we are now.
Stay tuned for the highly anticipated return of this viral mentorship fund later this year. For more information on Relentless’ Freeform Forum, head here.
