Iestyn Roberts
Iestyn Roberts was just starting out as a freelance 3D animator when he heard about the GO Wales Freelancer Academy. Like many individuals embarking on the journey to self-employment, the amount of information to process can be overwhelming; Iestyn was keen to attend a course that would encompass all of this and help him to make the best start to his freelance career in animation.
In particular, Iestyn wanted to benefit from the skills and experience of the tutors to gain an ‘insiders point of view’, he explains;
“The course, for me was fantastic. All the teachers were great, and had a lot of knowledge to share with us, and my fellow classmates were a great bunch. We were given some great handouts, and were given a lot of 'hands on' tasks, both in the class, and for us to do at home – both were very beneficial to me, as they helped us to understand what goes into setting up your own business.”
“The course helped me to acknowledge my weak points, and why I need to recognise them as I go into business, which is fantastic. I'm now dealing with different ways of approaching specific tasks, to get more out of myself and complete the tasks a lot quicker, and more productively. For me, learning these skills was the best help the course gave to me, as I can now concentrate on important tasks, such as getting in those very important clients to make my business happen.”
Iestyn is currently working on a series of short Welsh language animation sketches, with the first episode due to come out in September;
“My main objective would be to animate on a feature film, or create 'cut-scenes' for computer games, but right now, I'm very happy to be animating, and creating a brand new series in the medium of Welsh. As my background is art-based, I create a lot of drawings/designs, so I'm currently creating drawings for a children's book, written by a popular Welsh TV Director and Actor, which is a great honor to be doing.”
As a result of the course he is feeling motivated about his future freelance career and the work-life balance that it affords him, Iestyn continues;
“As for the future, I plan on finishing these fantastic Welsh sketches, and to promote them as much as I can. From there, I can only hope to grow – by creating some short films that will be screened in festivals, to gain myself the most exposure as I can, which will lead to me getting more and more clients. I would love to be able to keep on working from home, and continue to live this happy lifestyle that I'm currently living, by keeping my work-life balance happy, and having the freedom to go up the mountains when I choose to!”
“Learning about myself as much as I did by going on the course has changed a lot for me since I've gotten back to work, and it's all for the better. I'm a lot more organised, and better still – more motivated!”
