Fraser Morton, a mixed-media journalist, filmmaker & founder of Far Features, an independent media production company, talks about using times of disruption as a springboard for creative experimentation.

Now is the time

There has never been a better time to invest in independent, experimental, creative, socially-oriented work. If you have a project you have always wanted to get done — now is the time.

The interconnectedness of people and global economies, our broken relationship with the natural world, racial injustice, health inequality — the list of realisations is endless. This is a time of radical awakenings for many, what professor Otto Scharmer describes as “A New Superpower in the Making: Awareness-Based Collective Action”. Maybe this will emerge as a pivotal moment of change, or maybe this is a mere preamble to more future pandemics and climate-related issues.

This pandemic is a time of deep disruption and we all feel the shifting landscape. This is a time of adaptation, and I think that applies to creative industries, where it can produce interesting results for artists and audiences alike as we look to the future.

Tough times call for creativity. You don’t have to take my word for it. There are numerous examples of rapid and ingenious adaptation that emerged from previous pandemics, such as the 1918 Spanish Flu (H1N1 virus), as well as contemporary op-eds such as “Never Waste A Crisis” or scientific papers exploring “Meaning-Making Through Creativity During COVID-19”.

One thing I think is important during this time is to keep the sense of urgency front and centre. Don’t wait until tomorrow to work on passion projects, especially ones that explore personal, social or climate issues. Now is the time for an explosion of creative voices from all sides of the world.