Commission Unit- Big Update

A major problem I have had with this unit is that I haven't had much time to focus on it, as I have been putting a lot of my efforts into the Studio Production Unit and my dissertation proposal. As such, I find that I have been spreading myself quite thin, and not getting much done commission-wise.
I decided lately that it would be worth putting more effort into this unit so that I do not fall behind, and I did this by settling on which commission I wanted to take.
I previously wanted to take the Friday People commission, and I wanted to learn more about the organization and what they do. So I emailed the man in charge of the charity, Nick Ward to arrange a meeting. I made sure in the email I sent to specifically point out that I hadn't fully decided on what I wanted to for my commission, and I didn't want to commit to anything until I had thoroughly investigated the organization I would be commissioned by. Nick understood this, and I arranged to meet him at the Friday People base of operations at Romney Place in Maidstone.

Romney Place

Romney Place is a very great location for this charity to be based, and the fact that it is based here, and I will be spending most of the time I have at this place during this commission is very convenient. The bus I catch to university stops directly outside this place, and it is relatively close to maidstone tv studios where equipment is kept (meaning I will be able to tranport equipment easilly, which is great as I do not own a car to transport equipment.)

I found meeting Nick to be a very educational experience. Although I had previously done some of my own research into the charity through slides and information supplied by UCA, I wanted to know more about the actual charity from the source, including about how the charity had recently acquired the funding required to rent the office space at Romney place, how long they had been operating etc.

Here is a list of beneficial things I found out:

• I will be able to use the office space for my own work whilst taking this commission.
• Nick will be supplying any contributors for this project, meaning I can concentrate on creating the actual product.
• The project brief is very open ended, meaning I can take some liberties with the way I work and what I create, as long as I stick to a deadline.
• Any products I create will be used as part of a large installation in Maidstone's town centre which could get the word out about my work and potentially lead to more commissioning opportunities.

Here are a list of drawbacks I found out:

• At any point, the charities funding could be cut, meaning the office may be lost, or development could be stopped.
• Nick is going abroad for 3 weeks as part of his work, meaning I would not be able to start the project for nearly a month.

The negative aspect that gets me the most is the fact that Nick is going abroad. This is a massive blow to my commission, as I have potentially lost the ability to speak to my commissioner face to face, and the chances of me being allowed into the office space to film without him around is unlikely.

I am thinking I could still take this project however, and I could spend the 3 weeks I have alone to finish other projects (studio production research and development and my dissertation proposal) as well as begin potentially storyboarding and scripting some promotional videos for the Friday People. This way no time is wasted.

All in all, I am feeling very positive about this project, despite the early set-backs. I have overcome these kinds of problems in past commissions using my own initiative, and so I don't think this will be a problem really.