Australia
A freelance writer and filmmaker for over 20 years, Monica Davidson is an independent producer who has made hundreds of film and video productions for community and government clients in Australia and overseas, including Questacon, ICAC NSW, Autism Spectrum Australia, and Learning and Teaching Scotland.
She’s contributed to a range of magazines, websites and newspapers, and her book. Freelancing for Australians for Dummies, was released in 2008.
Monica has been teaching freelancing and creative business skills since 1994. Her workshops have helped hundreds of creative freelancers develop successful and self-sustaining businesses. Her website www.freelancesuccess.com.au provides a free resource for writers, and includes helpful links, jobs, and a monthly newsletter.
For Monica, winning the Stephen Lardner Award for Excellence in Adult Eduation at Sydney Community College in 2002 was a professional high point. Her other achievements are mostly personal and include falling in love with a rogue Irishman and having the three best kids in the world!
The first thing you’ll notice about Monica’s classroom is good tunes coming from the iPod and a conversation-pit style furniture arrangement. The less it feels like school, the better. Monica believes running a successful creative business is partly about following set guidelines, and partly about making it up as you go along. With that in mind, she encourages input, conversation, opinion and even dissent fromt students about what works and what doesn’t.
Most importantly, Monica loves questions! The more the better, bring it on!
She’s never had a ‘proper’ job. Apart from a few gigs as a waitress when she was at university, Monica has been self-employed in the arts since she was a teenager.