“Alison Grade quickly understood my business better than I do and her advice transformed the way I plan for and get new work. Transformed.
WILLIAM GALLAGHER
About Alison
Alison Grade brings a rare mix of creative, academic and business experience to help transform creative concepts into business realities. She has transformed many entrepreneurs’ ideas into scaleable businesses and her book, The Freelance Bible, is being published by Penguin in early 2020.
Alison has senior management experience in many media companies – predominantly in international television and film production, rights management and strategy – but she also has formal academic training and is a Nesta-accredited Creative Enterprise Trainer.
Add to that mix that Alison is also an entrepreneur who has established her own businesses and it becomes clear why she is in such demand by many creative businesses as a consultant and non-exec.
The Book
THE FREELANCE BIBLE, PUBLISHED BY PENGUIN, IS ALREADY AN AMAZON #1 BESTSELLER
PRAISE FOR THE FREELANCE BIBLE
Alison demystifies what it means to be a freelancer and helps the reader decide if a freelance career is for them.A very useful guide for anyone contemplating a career in the creative industries.
Alison strikes an excellent and inspirational balance; sharing tips and advice that help you work out how to be secure in insecurity and ace the journey to becoming a freelancer.
Alison’s experiences as both a freelancer and an advisor shine throughout this book.An indispensable, easy-to-read guide to freelancing.
I would have found The Freelance Bible incredibly valuable when starting my freelance career.It’s equally helpful for successful freelancers looking to drive their careers to the next level of success.
If you have talent and passion this is a very practical guide to turning that into a career, from someone who’s not just done it but taught many others how to do it too.
No freelance stone is left unturned with this book.I wish this book had existed when I started freelancing 20 years ago.
Invaluable advice for navigating the complex freelance world.
Experience
ALISON HAS PRODUCED OVER 7,000 MINUTES OF FILM AND TV, HAS MENTORED HUNDREDS OF SMEs AND THOUSANDS OF ENTREPRENEURS INDIVIDUALLY AND VIA PROGRAMMES WITH GOVERNMENTS, NGOs AND TOP UNIVERSITIES.
FILM / TV PRODUCTION
OVER 7,000 MINUTES | £20M+ BUDGETFILM & TV
Alison has worked on documentaries, animation, drama, feature films, factual and entertainment productions on both high and low budgets.
ACADEMIA
COURSE / MODULE DEVELOPMENT / DELIVERYDEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY
Alsion has acted as consultant and visting fellow at a number of universtities and has developed and delivered courses, modules and lectures for BA and MA courses.
MENTORING
CREATIVE PRACTITIONERS AND SMEsBUSINESS SUPPORT
1-1 business support and workshops to pre-start and existing Creative Industries SMEs directly and via a range of programmes with universtities, the BBC, NESTA and the British Council.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
MONETISING CONTENT INTERNATIONALLYSTRATEGY & EXPLOITATION
Wide experience in the exploitation of IP rights in media content across a wide range of platforms having sold TV formats globally and negotiating licencing deals.
STRATEGY
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCESMART THINKING
Alison is a Cambridge graduate and an INSEAD MBA with hands-on experience devising strategy for both her own businesses and major corporations.
NON-EXEC / INTERIM
THE RIGHTS SKILLSGUIDANCE AND SUPPORT
Alison has the emotional intelligence coupled with the strategic vision to guide and support organisations articulate and realise their stratgic goals.
Alison Grade quickly understood my business better than I do and her advice transformed the way I plan for and get new work. Transformed.Mentoring sessions with her were cathartic and entertaining, it was like working with a funny and trustworthy therapist. Yet she is also very specific and practical about what can be achieved. So whether it was a small technical issue or a pie-in-the-sky fantasy of what I wanted to do, she approached it all with the same considered insight and just sheer cleverness. I’ve recommended her to friends, colleagues, and random people I pass in the street so now I want to recommend her to you.
When I met Alison I had an idea with very little understanding on how to turn it into a reality. Alison taught me how to fine-tune that idea. How to create detailed plans and treatments. She taught me all of the things that my potential clients would want to know, and the best way to communicate them.She taught me the best way to monetise my ideas and opened up new potential and avenues for growth and opportunity that I hadn’t even envisaged.
Alison’s approach is totally professional, completely level headed and refreshingly realistic, and her wealth of experience meant I learned in weeks what takes most people years.
Alison Grade. Hero-ette. She has become such an influential figure in the way the studio thinks, delivers and presents itself, for which I’m forever grateful.She has the ability to share the same passion and enthusiasm that you do about your business and, unlike most, can see goals to strive for fuelling a drive to progress and develop the business in a direction that’s (what you think) far beyond expectations.
She’s motivational, inspiring, and a forever friend of the studio and we cannot recommend her highly enough!
In the last year I have watched Alison and Screen Central help the momentum swing back towards Birmingham and the West Midlands.Alison is a very positive influence for the city and is always at the end of the phone if you need help.
She has introduced me to a number of industry figures who have helped both me and my production company move forward.
