Collaboration: The key to Kid Circus’ creative success

Whilst I was at college collaboration didn’t begin and end with the putting together of plays and performances we did. Me and my fellow students were also putting on club nights, which required taking care of everything from getting the venue right to working with graphics people on publicity, programming the DJs and bands, all requiring working together towards a common goal.

On my return to London, working with people I had made connections within the nightlife industry followed a similar vein.  I was helping others to put on club events in venues across the city, again working to find the right venue, booking the right DJs (obviously including myself haha), ensuring we had the people we wanted to create the right atmosphere on the night and making sure we had all our health and safety protocols in place.

When I had fully committed to photography and started getting more and more into the fashion, this meant seeking and building my own tribe. Making connections with creatives like stylists, makeup artists, set designers, lighting techs and art directors became all important to pushing myself and my practice forward. It seems the more you find people you work with and work with well, this seems to open the doors to meeting even more people to work with - and you guessed it - work with well.

This is no exaggeration, but there are people I’ve connected and worked with since becoming a photographer who have genuinely helped me take my work to the next level, made my job a heck of a lot easier in pre-production, shoot day and post-production and who I really couldn’t do without.

Our methods of collaborating and putting together projects has evolved over time. Yes, Google Docs has its uses, but there are other platforms that have emerged that are not only more conducive to collaboration but are also more intuitive; platforms like Trello, Notion, and my current favourite, Milanote.

I was introduced to Milanote by an LA-based photographer friend of mine, when she visited London earlier this year. She showed me the basics of the platform, and how it has helped her so much that she’s managed to convince all the production companies she currently works with to adopt it as standard practice.

It’s not hard to understand why, in fairness. Milanote feels very intuitive. It seems to be a platform that combines the best elements of Google Docs, Pinterest and PowerPoint. As a collaboration tool, it really shines, and one particularly useful feature is that anyone you give access to a particular board will then be able to add or make changes without requiring their own subscription.  And they only get access to the area you specify, not you’re entire account.

I’ve used it in the planning of several paid jobs and collaborative photoshoots, and the response of those who’ve never used it before has become amusingly predictable - how on earth did I manage without this, I can’t believe I’ve never used such an intuitive platform before etc.

Just to be clear, I do not work for Milanote, nor am I some sort of ambassador or partner. I just love using it and yes, it’s changed my life!