He’s vibrant, enthusiastic and crazy talented. Pedro Pereira has built a second home and a flourishing freelance career in London, and is bursting with tips for those hoping to do the same. We sat down with him to hear about the journey that’s brought him this far.
Interview by Bernard / Blog written by Teri
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I’m originally from Portugal, which is where I finished high school around 15 years ago. I was already interested in 3D, but there were hardly any courses or degrees on the subject at the time.
A new course in Art and Digital Media had just opened at Uni the previous year, so I signed up for that, but the curriculum wasn’t what I was looking for at all. Two years into the degree, I came across another year-long course at a private school that focused on 3D specifically, so I dropped out of University and asked my parents to help me pay for that course instead.
Once I’d finished the course, I decided to move to London with a friend who had completed the course with me. It worked out horribly. I wasn’t really ready to move – I had never lived away from my parents, let alone cooked for myself. It was brutal, so I ended up moving back to Portugal after a few months.
This indie TV director had rented out a huge space on the top floor of a building in Lisbon. He was subletting some spare rooms at really cheap rates, so I set up my office there with a friend and did some freelance work from there.
I returned to London two years later to give it a second shot, and this time it stuck. That was 10 years ago.
I really wanted to improve my portfolio before I started working properly. I got into a routine where I’d take on a freelance project to earn some money, and then make it stretch as long as possible while I worked on my personal projects, improving my skills, taking online courses and so on. I finally went full-on freelance about six years ago.
Once I had built up my portfolio I was approached by a recruiter. He thought that my skill set suited a job that he was looking to fill at a film company, so I took the interview and got offered a six-month contract, billed at day rates. I thought, “OK, this is something I can build upon.”
I actually wanted to work on commercials rather than film, but commercials tend to have shorter contracts of four to eight weeks. So when I got this six-month contract, I realised that it was a good opportunity to learn the pipeline, make some contacts in the business and start to put some money aside.
The area I’m most interested in is character development, but unfortunately, you won’t find a lot of companies that are looking for people to work on that alone. So I worked on a whole bunch of different projects like modelling, texturing, grooming, look development and lighting.
I was working as a generalist, so I got to meet and learn from people in every department. These people would then move on to different companies and would reach out to me whenever they knew that there was a work opportunity that I could apply for. That’s how the work kept coming.
Of course, I was also keeping an eye on any opportunities that would pop up on LinkedIn. In that case, I’d send them a direct message to apply for the gig. But the thing is, sometimes, when a company is looking for a very specific skill set, they won’t even post the job on LinkedIn – they’ll just ask their team whether they know of anyone who is trustworthy and available. In that case, people that I worked with previously would put them in touch with me directly.
One other factor to consider is that, once you work for one company in commercials, it’s easier for other companies to hire you. They recognise that stamp of approval that you have from the first company – they know that you’re familiar with the pipeline, so you won’t need an extra week of training. Plus, once you’ve worked with a company and they see that you’re great to work with and be around, they tend to call you back for the next project.
Over the years I developed a really close relationship with three different studios: Nexus, Passion Pictures and Time Based Arts. I find that getting into this circle of recruitment is a great way to set yourself up as a freelancer, because in the last three years, I’ve only been out of work for about two weeks. It’s a relief to know that you’re on their list – and while you’re there, you’re learning constantly while working on multiple projects at the same time.
When I was starting out, I knew that I wanted to do character animation. But I was fully conscious that, in order to get a foot in the door and get opportunities with the companies I wanted to work for, I couldn’t be picky about the work I took on.
You cannot narrow your portfolio to only showcase the work you want to do – you have to be open. So even though I love working on cartoony character stuff and prefer that to hyper-realistic work, I knew that I had to have both in my portfolio. In my case, this is what got me the job at the first film company, because film needs more realistic work than character work. I never wanted to do film per se, but I knew that I needed to expose myself and my portfolio to that area of the business because most of the work in London would be for film.
So I’d suggest that you don’t burn your bridges and keep your options open, because the areas of work that are not your priority might be the ones that feed you for a while and pay the bills. When you’re starting out, you will need to be a generalist. That is what companies look for in newcomers – they want someone who is flexible, who can fit into multiple roles.
Once you get that generalist job, that’s where your opportunities arise. Maybe you’re not working in the department you were hoping for, but once the project kicks off, it will be easier for you to move around departments and get to know the different people on the team. You’ll listen in, get to know their process and learn from them. And then one day, when you see that they need some help in the area you find most interesting, that’s when you speak up and offer to pitch in. Once they see what you can do, they’ll call on you first next time.
Build a good relationship with the management, HR and your supervisors in the companies you want to work for. That’s the biggest thing. Start wide, build good relationships, and then you can focus on your area once you build notoriety.
First of all, I like that I work for myself. I like the freedom and the flexibility that comes with it.
Second, I like the fact that what I put in is what I get out of it. If I work hard, do a good job and build a good relationship, I’m the person that is going to benefit from that in future.
Finally, what I really like about being a freelancer is that you can never get comfortable. I think that’s a good thing in this industry, because being uncomfortable means that you are always looking for answers, for ways to improve your work, to be more efficient, to learn new tools, to look for new artists and to make new connections with colleagues, peers, studios and companies. It’s all about the network of connections that you build, and the quality of those relationships.
This doesn’t happen in full-time work. “Full-timers” know what is expected of them and how to do it, so they know that as long as they do that, they can relax and get comfortable. I don’t like that.
I think that freelancing is a double-edged sword, and you need to know how to use it to your advantage. You need to know how to manage your money, and how to separate your salary from your company’s money.
Once you’ve figured that out, you start to look for ways to scale up. If you’re a craftsman, you’re limited by the time you have and what you can do with your two hands. But if you shift into a consultant role, you can suddenly share the workload with other people and juggle multiple projects and clients at once.
Even when I was still studying, I knew how important it was for me to manage my money. I understood that if I took on a big project for three or four months at a go, I could then take the next three months off to focus on a course or personal projects. In order to do that, I needed to make that money stretch over all seven months.
Then there were other questions, like when do I need a new computer or new tools? When do I need to pay for a new course? I learned to calculate the payoff of each expense: if I pay X for this course now to learn a new skill, how much more money will that new skill earn me in the future?
Well, here’s what I did: I set a plan when I got my very first six-month contract. I managed to live off two months’ worth of wages, and I put the other four months’ worth into savings. I haven’t touched them to this day.
As a new freelancer, I didn’t know how long I would be working, or when I’d get my next gig. So once I had the chance to put that money aside, I knew that as long as this money exists, I will be a lot more comfortable taking risks with my career. I knew that if something goes wrong, I will have that fallback. It’s peace of mind. It allowed me not to worry about my financial circumstances and just focus on my work.
Once I started working consistently, I spoke to a freelancer friend of mine who explained that setting up a company was way easier than being a sole trader. He told me that you get a lot more benefits, and it’s easier to manage your VAT and all your expenses, pay corporate tax and give yourself a regular salary.
He was already working with Accounts Studio at the time, and recommended them to me. I set up my business account and got them to help out with the actual accounting work, and I’ve been with them ever since.
The first thing I liked about them is that they work with others in my industry, so they understand what it means to be a freelance creative.
I also love that I can go to them with any questions and they’re happy to help, even when it’s not straight-up accounting, they’re always happy to help me out.
Most of all, I love that they let me focus on my work. I never have to worry about the accounts. All I have to do is keep an eye on my emails. If there’s no email from them, then everything is fine and I can get on with my job. I don’t need to keep up to date with changing laws or wonder whether my setup is correct. They’re on top of that.
They’re good guys. They do a good job. And the reason why things work well is that they take care of their clients.
Interested in seeing what Pedro’s working on at the moment? Check out his website pfpereira.com, or find him on Instagram, Behance or LinkedIn.
Stories about how the top UK creatives run their businesses.
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