After 15 years of promoting arts and culture in NZ, campaign strategist Anna Dean is taking time out for herself to attend Pixel Lab in Scotland. Along with 32 other participants, she’ll be developing skills and exchanging ideas on cross-platform engagement.

Anna will have plenty of ideas to share from Aotearoa. Among her many behind the scenes efforts to support and promote NZ’s creative talent, she managed the campaign for What We Do in the Shadows which has just won Highest Grossing NZ film 2014, Flicks.co.nz People's Choice Award and Best Independent Marketing Campaign Award awarded by the NZ Motion Picture Industry Council (NZMPIC).

Anna promises to bring us insights from the Pixel Lab when she gets back, but for now, after years of promoting creatives on The Big Idea with this QnA, she finally takes her turn to tell us more about herself.

You can find out more about Pixel Lab and support Anna’s trip through her Boosted campaign.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

It completely depends on what is going on. The work I do means there’s not often much of a routine so it depends on the project and where I am on that particular day. I spend quite a bit  of time in Auckland and in the South so um…consistently I would say I’m inspired when I’m in the shower though I guess. Tis good thinking time, or otherwise when I’m walking along Wellington’s South Coast where I’m lucky enough to live.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?

Well I asked a friend and he made it into a drinking game and I got these answers: ‘Perspex and pottery’. ‘Cruella Deville meets MC Hammer, aka Eclectic Pastiche.’  Plus
‘Keeping up with the kids that haven’t been born yet’ and ‘Fashion so forward it’s tripping over itself. But my favourite was: Anna Dean is a cabin in the woods with a neon telephone or a Ferrari with sheepskin seat covers.  Make of that what you will…!?

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

We are living in strange times when click bait and youtube views have begun to dominate and determine so much “success”. What gives me the greatest thrill though is getting a brief and letting it percolate for a while. The glorious time of teasing something out. Sometimes it takes only a couple of hours, but sometimes days, and I particularly enjoy the part where the ideas have crystallised, I have sorted my thinking and then get to see who’s available to help make it happen.

How does your environment affect your work?

For me it’s more about the people rather than the environment. I can work anywhere on my laptop, or more usually, on my phone. My home office space is very important to me though and it’s all about storytelling with objects, usually bits and pieces of second hand treasure collected over the years. And a massive pile of dress ups.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Big picture.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Surviving in the creative industries these days is not for the fainthearted. It’s relentless, it’s often thankless and it’s consistently underpaid. I’ve had to learn to remind myself to nurture jangled nerves with good food, exercise and relaxation. It’s also very powerful and important to learn how to say NO. I also think people need to remember more often that being nice is cool.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

I really enjoyed working on a large project last year for the Wellington City Council around the anniversary of the departure of the Expeditionary Force to World War One. I was given an interesting challenge; to engage a range of age groups and a limited time frame. I was lucky enough to have met a brilliant researcher, Hannah August thanks to our mutual friend the poet Joan Fleming. I set her a very tricky research brief, she aced it, and I used the material to work with Wellington street artist bent to create what I felt was a very engaging, thought-provoking and weighty solution to get the community look up and consider those who have gone before.

I also really enjoyed a big brainstorming session on video content for Taika’s new film Hunt for the Wilderpeople recently. Fun times ahead with that project!

Also, getting that sign changed to Vellington was pretty satisfying.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

That’s a tricky one. I’ve been inspired recently by David Farrier’s genius idea to interview people in the sauna for his new show with Sam Hayes Newsworthy. The Colin Craig interview was pure gold and has had some pretty drastic results. With our current shrinking media environment I’m actually inspired by those who are still managing to keep their jobs and find new and interesting ways to inform the public.

I’ve also been lucky enough to have a sneak peek at this years Loading Docs films which are launching this year in conjunction with the International Film Festival which is very exciting. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for these brilliant 3 minute short docos when they’re loaded online from 9 July 2015. It’s such a challenge to condense your idea into this time frame and the film makers have done very well indeed.

And I must say, 87 year old Dame Kate Harcourt who turned up to the video shoot for this campaign with a bunch of rowdy children, and didn’t even bat an eyelid, and this one is the best.

Tell us a bit about your background

I initially trained at the New Zealand Broadcasting School as a TV and radio journalist. I soon realised it wasn’t for me though and found myself being asked quite naturally, to promote things. I’ve been lucky enough to work to promote the full gamut of creative industries (music, art, fashion, design, photography, dance, film etc) over the years and was spotted by a savvy film producer Vicky Pope to work on her feature Two Little Boys. That led me to the film industry and playing around with the promotional potential provided by new technology and social media. I’ve always been pretty self sufficient and enjoy working on short, sharp projects that require clear and concise thinking. I also like to make up jobs to suit my areas of interest!  

How did you get into Pixel Lab?

I have worked for NZ on Air running a series of workshops around promotion and cross platform engagement thanks to Brenda Leeuwenberg and she told me about the Power to the Pixel Conference which happens each year. I was looking around on the site and read up about the Pixel Lab and thought, wow, that looks amazing. I’ll do an online application, but didn’t think I had a chance of getting in. No one from NZ has ever gone and they’re a collection of incredibly forward thinking minds. I think being from NZ may have been an exotic bonus and I’m feeling very grateful to be heading there to soak up a heap of fresh ideas and increase the network.

How does it work?

There are 32 people from around the world, half with projects, half without. We are partnered for a week of extensive work shopping and brainstorming to create a strategy for the particular project. Then we pitch it at the end to a selection of experts and someone “wins” although I’m not entirely sure what that means just yet.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

Marine biologist.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

Wharariki Beach in Golden Bay.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

Outside with a lot of other people under the stars, near a fire and preferably on a beach. And I think the why is fairly self explanatory. 

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

Some kind of tourniquet, I’m quite clumsy. 

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Well she didn’t give it to me directly but I’ve always taken heed of this advice from Stevie Nicks: “Your graciousness is what carries you. It isn’t how old you are, how young you are, how beautiful you are or how short your skirt is. What is is, is what comes out of your heart. If you are gracious, you have won the game.”

So that and: Spend one night a week in a sauna with your phone off when I found out my cortisol levels were through the roof.   

What’s your big idea for 2015?

Well 2015 is shaping up pretty ridiculously well. With this Pixel Lab experience ahead I literally feel like I’ve won Lotto and am so grateful to those who are supporting the crowd funding campaign on Boosted, and to the New Zealand Film Commission for the Professional Development Grant they awarded me. 

I’m really looking forward to coming back with a brain full of new ideas and intel from this meeting of minds and then I’m straight into launching a new Wellington based agency with another couple of ace ladies. I’m already looking forward to the launch party.

What changes have you noticed in the past 10 years?

Well the most momentous shift is from print to digital and what I increasingly see as the Smart phone Divide. Effective MarComms is increasingly having to bypass mainstream media channels as the inches and space are literally no longer there. I have grave concerns for community news, information sharing and all the hard working journalists I know.

What are some of the opportunities and challenges for the next decade?

Fresh water and rising sea levels. The oil industry. Our reliance on fossil fuels.

I know I’m not supposed to answer this question in relation to this, but seriously, how are we all meant to be sleeping at night?