Hnry awards launched to recognize creative talent, freelancers

Coinciding with World Creativity and Innovation Day on the 21st April 2020, The Hnry Awards will aim to recognize creative talent and self-employed freelancers.

Award-winning FinTech company Hnry has announced the launch of an annual award aimed at New Zealand’s freelance and creative community, with $25,000 prize money up for grabs.

Coinciding with World Creativity and Innovation Day on the 21st April 2020, The Hnry Awards will aim to recognize creative talent and self-employed freelancers. Challenged with a month to submit a piece of work around the theme; ‘what does independent earning mean to you?’, entrants have a creative choice over their submissions, which can range from songs and videos to illustrations, designs, and sculptures.

James Fuller, CEO of Hnry, a company known for making financial administration easier for independent earners, says this award will give independent earners a chance to win some financial freedom as well as showcase their work and raise awareness of the industry as a whole.

“The Hnry Awards will aim to raise awareness of independent earners and showcase our country’s top creative talent in front of industry experts. We want to hear and share the good, bad and the ugly of freelancing, contracting, or working several side hustles or gigs. Whether you’ve been a creative or freelancer for 10 years or 10 minutes, all entries will be considered equal,” says James Fuller, CEO Hnry.

The entries will be judged via a blind judging process, with the panel including Annie Ackerman, CEO of The Big Idea and Brendon McLean, Group Business Director of FCB, among others.

Annie Ackerman has herself contracted for most of her working life and says the gig economy is “abuzz” at the moment, and that freelancing should be celebrated more.

“I’m a freelancer and proud. When you look at the creative arts, the kinds of people we engage with at The Big Idea, it’s essentially populated by freelancers. They’re the classic role models for how to make extraordinary things happen; people come together for a project, they know their roles, they blur boundaries, essentially working towards the end goal. One of the challenges freelancers face is how to stand out in a crowd. The Hnry Awards will celebrate and recognize creative talent and hard work,” says Annie Ackerman, CEO, The Big Idea.

Creative judge, Brendon McLean, who says he “stumbled” from university straight into being self-employed, says self-employment is fraught with difficulties, but with over 400,000 New Zealanders classing themselves as self-employed, this growing segment of society needs to be recognized more.

“One of the challenges for freelancers is the confidence to actually take the leap and do it, or if you unexpectedly find yourself there, finding the confidence and support to embrace it. Anything that celebrates and helps build that confidence is a good thing. The Hnry mission is so on point,” says Brendon McLean, Group Business Director of FCB.

Submissions open on February 24th and close on March 21st, 2020. The panel judges will name the 10 finalists on March 30th, with public voting to decide the top three. The winner will be announced on April 21st.