How To Build A Career As A Creative (Without Losing Your Mind)

9 Lessons From A VFX Journalist Who’s Seen It All

Most creative professionals do incredible work and nobody knows about it…

I sat down with Bela Beier, Editor-in-Chief and Owner of Digital Production Magazine (digitalproduction.com), to talk about this problem. Bela has covered the VFX industry for 15+ years. He’s interviewed hundreds of artists, supervisors, developers and studio heads.

His diagnosis? 

Most creatives are invisible by choice. Not because they’re humble. Because nobody taught them how to be visible without being cringe. 

Here’s a career growth playbook for creatives and artists.

1. Consistency Beats Virality

“The difference between somebody having opinions on social media and a proper magazine is, for one, consistency. Most of social media is fanboys playing around in their bubble-silos.”

Stop chasing hot takes. Build something consistent. The algorithm does not care about you, and goes for the lowest common theme.

2. AI Can’t Replace Your Judgment

“AI can generate 10,000 pages about any oldcrap. But would you read that? The understanding of WHAT to write about and HOW to write is the difficult thing. And AI can’t help with that.”

Think of AI like an intern. You don’t ask your intern for strategic direction. You tell them what to do. The vision is on you.

3. Talk About Your Work

“VFX and Post Artists doing amazing stuff and not talking about it. Imagine any Marvel Show without VFX. Would you watch that?”

Talking about your work isn’t bragging, it’s providing context. Explain what you did, how you did it, what challenges you solved.

4. Keep A Project Diary

“In 10 years, you won’t remember what you did on that show. It’s gonna be a good day when you leave the house and remember to put on pants.”

Why take the effort? 

Because supervisors don’t care about your showreel. They want to know what YOU actually did. 

Documentation, and a showing of what you did exactly, before they are asking for it, makes you memorable and hireable. 

Also: Putting your work into context (what kind of show, what was your exact role, who were your peers, what was your pipeline, what were the challenges) are the things you might forget or misremember, but no need to stress. You have your “article”, in which everything is noted down.

Pro tip from Bela: 

Write an article about what you did, when with whom and where and how and which shots in which pipeline and toolset and iterations while it’s fresh, then tell the producer you’ll publish when the project releases. 

If they want “exposure,” you get to expose your work too.

5. Own Your Platform

“Make a website. Something you control. Not an algorithm. You decide what’s on the page and what’s not.”

Publish FROM your website outward to social media. Stake your territory, and find your voice. Do it somewhere safe, which you control. 

And keep your feet out of politics. That can only go bad.

Start free. Don’t invest in expensive tools until you’ve stuck with it for 6 months. Some starting places: WordPress.com, Wix.com, Weebly.com

9. Enjoy The Process

“If you’re looking for a career or hobby, you have to enjoy the process. When the result almost doesn’t matter anymore, then it’s the right thing for you.”

Don’t build an audience just to get followers. Build it because you’d do this anyway.

8. Write Like You Are Talking To A Friend

“Writing is quite easy. Otherwise, journalists couldn’t do it.”

Bela’s Writing Process

1. Collect everything (notes, images, names)
2. Sort it (this creates your outline)
3. Write ugly and fast (no editing, just dump it in order)
4. Sleep, then edit (distance helps)

The secret? Imagine telling it to a colleague at a bar after a conference. If it sounds like a conversation, you’re 90% there. If you have someone (from the industry) who would read it, then do that, and believe their criticisms. You never see your own writing mistakes. And then publish. Get the article out, and learn from whatever feedback you get. The next one will be better. Perfect is the enemy of done.

7. Stop Networking. Start Meeting People.

“Don’t go networking. If you go networking, you’re gonna miss the good stuff. If you’re not interested in these people, go to another event.”

Skip the plastic smiles. Skip the business card exchange. Just be curious about who’s there. Talk to people not with a “connection” expectation, but with interest in why they are there. Networking is to social interaction what LinkedIn is to friendship.

My experience: The best professional relationships I’ve built came from genuine curiosity, not strategy.

6. Use RSS and Alerts To Stay Sane

“We all know the feeling when you try to drink from a waterhose as a kid. It’s more than you can handle. A lot of problems. Like “Fomo” and a good chunk of the Imposter syndrome come from this information firehose.”

The solution? 

RSS readers. 90s tech that still works perfectly.

You choose your sources. No algorithm. No recommendations. When you’re done reading, you’re done. No doom scrolling.

“The FOMO and imposter syndrome gets smaller, when you are turning the noise down.”

Bela recommends Inoreader. It’s free. Add your favourite sites, YouTube channels, Newsletters, Social Accounts and Reddit subs. Everything in one place.

RSS Reader Recommendations

Here are a few recommendations. Have a look and choose one.

• Feedly (Julien’s Choice)
• Tiny Tiny RSS (Selfhosted)
• Feeeed
• NewsBlur
• NetNewsWire (Apple Only)
• Inoreader (Bela’s choice)

Here you can download a “starter pack” of VFX and general feeds, to see what’s possible.

Feeds for Download by Bela (XML)

Google Alerts Setup

And here you’ll find Google Alerts.

Log in, and set alerts for the following (as a starter):

• Your Name
• The Name/URL of your personal website
• Your Company
• Your Studio
• Your “private” Projects (the fanfilm you are working on? The website where it is hosted?)
• Your Home address (Seems stupid, but sometimes surprisingly useful. I knew of the building site way before my neighbours!)
• The make and Series of your workstation, monitor, and so on. You’ll see when updates, upgrades and so on are available.

You’ll find more for your own use, but you get the idea. If someone out there is talking about something concerning you, you should know about it. Not that you necessarily need to do anything about it, but if shit hits the fan, you know when to duck!

The Bottom Line

1. Be visible. Your work won’t speak for itself.
2. Be consistent. Trust beats virality.
3. Own your platform. Algorithms change. Your website doesn’t.
4. Document everything. You’ll forget. Your diary won’t.
5. Write first. It’s the foundation.
6. Meet people, not contacts. Curiosity beats strategy.
7. Control your inputs. RSS keeps you informed without the anxiety.

Watch The Full Conversation

There’s way more in the full interview: stories about the death of print magazines, negotiating with producers, and the psychology of imposter syndrome.

Watch it here

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I’m Julien, founder of monExpansion. After 15+ years in VFX (Rodeo FX, Netflix/Scanline), I burned out and rebuilt. Now I help creative professionals do the same.

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