Ghanaian-American international filmmaker and photographer, APM World, has emphasized the need for creatives to have a quality work ethic, teamwork and entrepreneurial mindset to set them apart for a successful career.
In a recent interview in Accra, APM World said “I have a small team but great minds. I invest in my team and treat them on a family level. I relate with my team on a personal level. I don’t turn down any phone call, once the call is referred to me, I do justice to it.”
Beyond an internal team, the Ghanaian-American creative, also describes himself as a home team person who supports Ghanaian artistes abroad.
APM pays for LUTs, presets as well as design presets. He is willing to give out presets to creatives for free because he recalls being in similar situation back in the day in Nima.
As regards finding the balance between being behind the lens and the business administration, APM said he takes a cue from his mother who runs a shop.
“It starts from looking at the market women in Makola. Whether it’s raining or shining, they’ve got things in order. I took relevant cues from my mom running a shop and constantly listening to other people who have done the business helped me a lot”.
For the journey of a young photographer, the international creative director suggested beginning with resources available such as mobile phones.
“We started shooting basketball freestyles on an old “Sony camera and a Samsung Phone back in the day”. You don’t need a 2,000-dollar camera, you can start with the phone. You don’t do this business to chase clout and say the girls would like me Bro. I wanna live a legacy, Bro. I wanna die a legend,” he said.
Apart from interning and learning the ropes of photography with his dad, APM World, a Ghanaian-American Creative Director, took extra steps to hone his skill in the art hence helping him diversify and become entrepreneurial.
“I don’t put myself in a box as a photographer cause I’m a creative director and a videographer too. I tell stories, create NFTs and Presets. I take courses in the field to learn new trends” he disclosed.
In some advice to young creators looking to breakthrough in the industry, APM emphasized the need for a quality work ethic — don’t go hard, go the hardest.
On a second advice to creatives, the international filmmaker, intimated that young creator “can just dive deep into whatever they want to do, identify a niche doing that and study and from them.”
“There’s no day I’m not learning. Came here, looked around and said to myself I wanna have this someday. I am constantly looking at other photographers, storytellers and the likes of Jeremy Snail. Instead of chasing trends and doing stuff that would make you trend for a day and a half, search and study about the creative field”.
“Know where you come from. I’m from Nima, I grew up around a lot of artistes, I’ve been around them… We were designing for R2Bees, Sarkodie, and actually had a hand in the R2bees logo design. I learnt and built off those early exposures,” he advised.