- SL Creatives gathers local talent on one platform
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Creatives, whether they are skilled in graphic design, photography, content writing, or filmmaking, are an undervalued community in the country, with not much done to recognise and appreciate local talent as an industry. However, the skills and talent of such creatives make up almost everything we consume or interact with, from art to advertisements to brands.
SL Creatives aims to change this, giving local talent a platform to showcase their skills and connect them with both local and international clients. Production company Meraki United Co-Founder and talent manager Portia Ratnayake, joined The Morning Brunch to talk all about SL Creatives and how this platform will address the needs of the industry.
According to Ratnayake, SL Creatives is a website that features the country’s creative talent on one platform. “It’s a gallery of images that link to the portfolios of each individual artist or creative, an online directory of sorts.”
She explained that the idea for this platform came from the rising need within the creative community to connect with each other and then promote each other both locally and globally. Ratnayake used her husband, Randy Chriz Perera, as an example, saying he gets more job requests than he can accommodate.
“If there was an easy way for him to recommend another artist to the clients he cannot accommodate, that would mean an opportunity for the client to get familiar with other talent available, as well as an opportunity for the other local talent to take the job, without simply turning the client away.”
While this is one of the reasons SL Creatives was created, another was the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the community. Many designers faced a drop or loss in income, and now the economic crisis isn’t making things any easier. Freelancers must also navigate through power cuts and fuel shortages to cater to their clients.
In addition to these issues, constant power cuts have compromised computer equipment, as they are not built to handle power cuts as frequently as we do. Ratnayake went on to say that replacements are scarce, and prices have doubled and even tripled. Creatives also face issues when paying for software, due to outgoing US dollar (USD) limits. International shipping and logistic issues have arisen as well, with import bans and the increasing dollar rate. Added to this are high import taxes.
“Randy and a few other senior artists in the industry have been frequently discussing these issues and supporting the community as best they can. And this support group is currently officially over 100 members,” Ratnayake said, adding that they share jobs, advice, concerns, and so much more.
She explained that they aim to promote all of our talent outside the country to address some of these issues, adding: “Because if we earn in USD, we could at the very least handle the increasing expenses to keep doing what we do. And by earning in USD, we could help the country’s economy, which in return helps reduce the problems mentioned, and position ourselves better globally.”
Apart from that, the collective of artists provides inspiration within the community, and Ratnayake pointed out that it is encouraging to see so much talent in one place and to know they are all in this together and watching out for each other.
“Personally, SL Creatives has been that source of inspiration and hope,” she added, saying the website is only a first among many other solutions they wish to bring to the creative community in Sri Lanka.
Opportunities for local talent
We asked Ratnayake what they hope to achieve through SL Creatives, and what kind of opportunities the platform will open up for creatives in Sri Lanka. She said there are two things they hope to achieve, one is keeping the local talent employed and the second is positioning local talent in the global creative market, thereby bringing in much needed foreign currency.
“Randy and I each have worked in the creative industry in Sri Lanka for over a decade, Randy almost two decades, and one thing we know is that Sri Lanka has a lot of creative talent. The issue is we don’t have the right environment set for us inside Sri Lanka. There is actually no real ‘industry’ for creatives in Sri Lanka,” Ratnayake explained.
Local creatives are not paid anywhere close to global standards, creative schools and job opportunities are limited with no path to progress, and there is no definition for the various types of skills in the industry. There is also very little opportunity for growth.
“So creating this website is only a first step towards positioning Sri Lanka’s creatives in the global market and providing them the environment for growth that they lack by living in Sri Lanka,” Ratnayake said.
She added: “We have many Sri Lankan creatives who easily shine when they position themselves in foreign countries. All they lacked while they lived here was that opportunity for growth, and opportunity for their skills to be recognised and valued.”
Since not everyone can leave the country, Ratnayake and her husband thought they might as well use the internet to expand their environment to greener pastures. “We believe that despite the lack of attention to local creatives, we are a profession that brings in a reasonable amount of USD into the country.”
She went on to say that if the authorities paid enough attention to the industry and worked on the obstacles that prevent its growth locally, they could do a lot to support the country, especially through an economic crisis.
In terms of how SL Creatives will connect local talent with clients, Ratnayake said there are several ways. Firstly, they will be actively promoting the website online, targeting global audiences, and secondly, the creative community itself will spread the word and share this news with their circles, and any jobs that spill out can be redirected to another local.
Thirdly, seniors of the industry are planning a world tour to promote this collection of talent to as many potential clients as possible. This is something they are very excited about.
“For example, Randy and I already have agents in the US and Canada. And they have been informed of this collective website and instructed to promote any and all talent featured on the site as they see fit.”
Who is SL Creatives for?
Tyronne Devotta (Tyno) built the website for free for the community, Ratnayake said, sharing that within a week, the website featured 80 creatives. This includes 2D/3D animators, brand and logo designers, creative writers, filmmakers, illustrators, music and SFX producers, painters, photographers, sculptors and 3D modellers, UX/UI/web designers, VFX artists, video editors/compositors, and voiceover artists.
“The platform’s target audience is anyone looking to hire creative talent from Sri Lanka. The aim is to promote this web directory as far and wide as possible and position Sri Lanka’s creative talent globally,” Ratnayake explained.
According to her, anyone who considers themselves skilled in the variety of creative skills featured on the site can submit their portfolio link, along with a feature image for the website. Since this website was meant for the community, there will be no selection process, so anyone can submit for free. The team will only be filtering out spam and erroneous submissions.
Ratnayake said she hopes it will keep expanding, as they hope to include at least 1,000 creatives before the year ends. She added that her hopes are really high as there are at least 10,000 creatives in the country.
