Creative Business Basics Online Bootcamp By Future Artists

A practical one-day bootcamp for creative workers, artists, producers, graduates, freelancers and creative start-ups

A practical one-day bootcamp for creative workers, artists, producers, graduates, freelancers and creative start-ups

📅 Thursday 4 June 2026
💻 Online
🎥 Attend live or watch on demand (limited to 50 places)
🎟️ Full Day Early Bird: £25 (Get all workshops and save up to 50% on individual sessions)
🎟️ Full Day Standard: £35 from two weeks before the event
🎟️ Individual sessions: from FREE to £6 – £15, depending on availability and ticket offers

Quick Overview

• Understand the 2026 creative landscape: how audiences are discovering work through platforms, live events, offline communities, short-form content and new cultural spaces.
• Learn how to structure your creative work properly, whether you are a freelancer, sole trader, limited company, CIC, charity, social enterprise or early-stage creative start-up.
• Explore the funding landscape, from Arts Council England and DYCP to NGOs, trusts, foundations, charities, sponsorship and creative tax credit schemes.
• Understand how crowdfunding can help you do more than raise money: test demand, build an audience, prove public interest and strengthen future funding applications.
• Leave with clearer language, better confidence and a practical route map for building a creative career, project or organisation that can actually run.
• Book the full day or choose individual sessions
• To book the entire Business Basics Online Bootcamp, use the ticket section on this page - early bird is £25 for the full day! (Normal £35, Saving 50% vs buying Individual tickets)To book an individual session, click on the session you are interested in below and you will be taken to a separate Eventbrite page. (You can also find out more info beyond the summary by clicking)All sessions are delivered online and will be available live and on demand for ticket holders + an invite to our Future Artists Whatsapp community + session notes, handouts, Q+A and more!

Why this bootcamp? Why now?

• The creative industries are changing fast. Artists, producers, freelancers, graduates and creative start-ups are being asked to do more than ever: make the work, build the audience, understand the platforms, find the funding, manage the budget, write the application, sell the tickets, produce the event, run the company, keep the community alive — and somehow make it all sustainable.That is a lot to ask of anyone.And yet, for many creative workers, the business side of the industry is still treated like hidden knowledge. You are expected to know how to price your time, choose a structure, apply for funding, build an audience, crowdfund a project, work with partners and plan a sustainable career — even if nobody has ever properly explained how any of it works.
• That is why we have created Business Basics Online Bootcamp.This event has been developed directly from feedback from the Future Artists community. Our members, artists, producers, freelancers and early-career creatives have been asking for clearer, more practical support around the business fundamentals of the creative industries:
• How do I get funding?
  
• Should I be a freelancer, limited company, CIC, charity or social enterprise?
• How do I build an audience?
  
• How do I crowdfund properly?
  
• What does Arts Council England actually want?
• How do I turn creative work into something that can survive?So we have built a one-day online bootcamp to answer those questions in plain English.

  Why Future Artists?

  The bootcamp is led by the Future Artists collective, bringing over 17 years of experience working across theatre, film, events, digital culture, XR and now AI.
• We have built productions, toured work, delivered workshops, won funding, supported artists, created festivals, developed immersive projects, worked with universities, collaborated with creative businesses, and helped creative people move from ideas into action.
• We are not delivering this from a distance.We are delivering it from lived experience: from making work, funding work, selling work, producing work, teaching work, and learning from the mistakes that come with actually doing it.
• Future Artists has always believed that creative people need more than inspiration. They need tools, language, confidence, networks and practical knowledge that fits the real world they are working in.Business Basics Online Bootcamp is for anyone who wants to understand the business behind creative work without being talked down to, buried in jargon, or sold a fantasy.
• Attend LIVE or watch ON DEMAND — and spend the day learning from people who have been building, producing, funding and surviving in the creative industries for over a decade.

Session 1: Foundations

What a sustainable creative career or start-up looks like in 2026

🕘 9:00am – 9:45am
🎟️ Free for all to attend included in this pages all day ticket

The opening session of the bootcamp. A practical overview of what the creative industries look like in 2026, how audiences are discovering work now, and what artists, producers, freelancers and start-ups need to understand about audiences before building a sustainable creative career or business.

• Understand what the creative industries look like in 2026.
• Explore how audiences are discovering creative work now.
• Look at how theatre, film, games, music, live events and digital culture are changing.
• Understand why online platforms, offline communities and live experiences all matter.
• Get a clearer starting point for building a sustainable creative career, freelance practice or start-up.

👉 Book individual session for free! and this is also included in the full day pass - more info https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1988314651647?aff=oddtdtcreator

Session 2: How to Start Your Creative Enterprise + Tax Credits

How to choose the right structure, understand funders, and build a creative business that can actually run

🕙 10:00am – 11:30am

Included in the full day pass or £6 for just this session.

A practical guide to creative entrepreneurship, covering all the basics - differences between working as a freelancer, sole trader, limited company, CIC, charity or social enterprise.

This session also looks at how funders think, what different structures are useful for, and how splitting your projects into a summer and winter season will radically change your approach to making work, this session also includes a bonus on-demand video on creative tax credits for theatre-makers.

• Understand the differences between freelancer, sole trader, limited company, CIC, charity and social enterprise models.
• Learn the advantages, pitfalls and responsibilities of each structure.
• Explore what funders are looking for when they support creative work.
• Understand how planning work in seasons can change your approach to projects, funding and cash flow.
• Access a bonus on-demand session introducing creative tax credits for theatre-makers.

👉 Book individual session and lots more info here: session is £6 or included in the full day pass- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1988317285525?aff=oddtdtcreator

Session 3: Funding Beyond the Usual Suspects

NGOs, trusts, foundations and charities for creative workers, producers and start-ups

🕐 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Finding funding beyond the usual arts routes. This session introduces NGOs, trusts, foundations and charities, including how to find hidden funding pots, understand funder priorities + more

• Discover funding routes beyond Arts Council England.
• Learn how NGOs, trusts, foundations and charities support creative and community work.
• Understand how to find hidden funding pots that are not always widely promoted.
• Learn how to frame your work around public, social, educational or community value.
• Build confidence in approaching alternative funders with the right language and strategy.

👉 Book individual session and lots more info: From £6 also included in the full day pass - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1988314145132?aff=oddtdtcreator

Session 4: Crowdfunding Is More Than Kickstarter

How to test demand, build an audience and prove people care before you launch

🕟 4:30pm – 6:00pm

Crowdfunding is not just about raising money. It can help you test demand, build an audience, prove public interest, gather early supporters and create evidence that funders, partners, venues and sponsors can take seriously. This session looks at crowdfunding as both a fundraising tool and an audience development strategy.

• Understand crowdfunding as more than just raising money.
• Learn how crowdfunding can help test demand for your idea.
• Explore how to build an audience before launching a campaign.
• Understand how public support can create evidence for funders, partners, venues and sponsors.
• Learn how crowdfunding can sit alongside grants, ticket sales, sponsorship and other income streams.

👉 Book individual session and more info: from £6 also included in the full day pass - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1988315638599?aff=oddtdtcreator

Session 5: (DYCP) Developing Your Creative Practice Arts Council Round 24 workshop with Jess

A practical DYCP session for artists and creative practitioners

🕔 7pm - 8.30pm - Online and On Demand with Q+A

A practical session on Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice fund, led by Jess (Future Artists Bid Writer). This session will help artists and creative practitioners understand what DYCP is, what it is not, what makes a strong application, and how to frame your creative development clearly.

• Understand what Arts Council England’s DYCP fund is designed to support.
• Learn the difference between a project grant and a creative development application.
• Explore what makes a strong DYCP application.
• Understand common mistakes people make when applying.
• Learn how to frame your practice, timing, need and next stage clearly.

👉 Book individual session and more info: from £10 also included in the full day pass - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1988315152144?aff=oddtdtcreator