Turnitin

All written (reports and reflections) work must be submitted via Turnitin.

Late Submission

Tasks 10% or less. No extensions will be granted. Students who have not submitted the task prior to the deadline will be awarded a mark of 0 for the task, except for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.

Tasks above 10%. Students who submit late work without an extension will receive a penalty of 10% per day. This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for Disruption to Studies is made and approved.

Delivery Mode

Day

Seminar Times

Mondays 2.00-5.00.  Weeks 1-9 of semester. Please check the dates at MQ timetables site https://timetables.mq.edu.au/2017

Please note that  there is a public holiday on Monday 2nd October and there will be no seminar that week. 

Technologies

This unit requires the use of a computer or tablet.  

Required Readings and Viewing 

Details of required readings  and  material to be viewed will be available at the iLearn site. 

Given the emphasis on creative production, recommended readings will often be in the form of links to key websites or on-line productions and resources.  These links will be available at the iLearn site for this unit. 

Readings will be available electronically via e-reserve and other materials  via links at the unit learn site from the start of semester.

Students are expected to read and view all the  required materials before each seminar and  be ready to contribute to discussion and activities. 

Unit Schedule

This unit examines models of entrepreneurship for creative media.   It considers models from artist-run spaces and projects through to creative and media industries' start-ups.  We will ask: Is a creative media career a start-up?  Is a journalist's career a start-up?  How do you kick-start  projects?  How can careers in the creative arts and media be sustainable?  What part does social enterprise play in the arts and media? 

Each seminar will include

•  a student-led  presentation and discussion about a key aspect of creative entrepreneurship based on assigned readings and field research 
• group work related to  ideas generation,  creative processes and the development of your own start-up ideas

​To follow are the key topics to be covered. 

 Week 1 

 Introduction

What do you need to know about creative entrepreneurship as a journalist, blogger, musician, indie filmmaker, recording engineer, creative curator or screenwriter working in the digital economy? What is the ‘start-up’ mindset? How are new projects and ventures launched? How can you develop a sustainable career in your field?

 Week 2 

 The Lean Start-Up

 Eric Reiss defines a start-up as ‘an organisation dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.’  New creative enterprises are essentially start-ups. What are some of the ways to maximise their success?  How could you design an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for your new venture?  What other terminology might we use for a MVP?

 How to Get Ideas for Start-Ups

We will look at some thoughts on how you might ideas for new start-ups – projects, products or services. Saras Sarasvathy did extensive research on  the practices expert entrepreneurs and came up with an approach she calls effectuation. Paul Graham, one of the founders of the Y Combinator Lab suggests, for example, starting with problems that need solutions.  In this seminar, we will discuss these ideas and consider how you might apply them to generating ideas for this semester’s  ‘hands on’ project.

Week 4 

 Collaboration

 Across journalism, screen media, music, performance, design and architecture, practitioners are getting together to form self-managed collectives, ateliers or studios to do projects.  Some focus on one art form or media. Others cross several media.  We will look at some examples. Plus, we will consider the dynamics of collaboration in the creative arts.  What are some of the roles  that creatives can fulfil in multidisciplinary teams?  

 Week 5 

 Rapid Iteration: Prototypes, Demos and Scenarios

Prototyping, experimenting and rapid iteration play a critical role in the development of ideas and products. Failure – when designed to occur early in a process and cheaply – can reveal new options that nearly always lead to better outcomes. We will consider a number of approaches to prototyping and scenario building.

  Week 6

Accessing Resources

‘Crowdsourcing’ is an online, distributed problem solving and production model that leverages the collective intelligence of online communities for the specific purposes of an organization. It combines a bottom-up, open, creative process with top-down organizational goals. Creative media has been at the forefront of crowdsourcing, drawing on it to fund films, recordings, productions and new products. What are some other approaches to accessing resources? 

 Week 7 

Beta Day: Work-in-progress on Demo Day presentations

 Group work - What are the advantages of telling an engaging story about your new creative venture via a talk, a trailer, a comic strip or words and images?  We’ll ask your team to devise a story about your venture. 

SEMESTER BREAK AND  ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF TEAM START-UP IDEAS

 Week 9

 Demo Day

Formal Presentation of student projects and feedback

In semester 2, 2017 this course places a greater emphasis on  social enterprise as a key aspect of creative entrepreneurship. 

This is in response to its increasing significance  to our field and  student interest in this topic.