In Africa’s ever evolving and growing creative landscape, there’s one organisation making waves through how they uplift emerging creative talent in film, digital media and music. The BAI Foundation, led by two creatives Kibare Njuguna a Film Producer and Yalezo Njuguna a Storyteller, was founded with the vision of uplifting the African Creative Arts especially within new digital media.
They achieve this through curating multiple podcasts such as the Afriquan Film Podcast and All That Yazz, a top 10% most shared podcasts globally on Spotify in 2022. Through their flagship events Afriquan Film Festival and BAI Showcase, they’ve also created a space where young filmmakers, digital artists, and entrepreneurs can thrive. But behind the scenes, an innovative approach to managing freelance collaborations is helping them run smoother events - thanks to Bloo Money.
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We sat down with them to learn more about the BAI Foundation and how they used the Bloo Money App to streamline working with freelancers at their latest event, The BAI Heatseekers.
"The importance and necessity of Bloo Money is the fact that it simplifies a pain point" - Kibare
The BAI Heatseekers, a multidisciplinary arts festival that displays trailblazing artistry growing amongst the youth within film, new media, music and digital content; whilst also offering masterclasses, workshops and networking events within the festival.
Running a festival that attracts and impacts hundreds of participants who are seeking valuable conversations from industry experts and workshops on key skills, also means collaborating with a network of freelancers—from film crews to content creators to create this experience.
Previously when organizing events like the Afriquan Film Festival and BAI Showcase, they had collaborated with hundreds of freelancers and service providers, encountering the following challenges in the process:
"One of the things which we always had a problem with is being able to get invoices on time from freelancers. So sending them a form to fill out where they put in their details and we can generate an invoice from their side after the details they have put in, has helped us manage everything in one place" - Kibare
The invoicing app helped BAI Foundation to streamline all their financial interactions with freelancers, whilst also empowering their freelancers who didn’t use invoicing tools to submit an invoice in minutes.
"For the actual process of getting invoices from freelancers, it’s become a lot simpler because it is being done by Bloo Money. For a number of our suppliers we have been one of their earliest paying clients and in some cases, first paying clients for their services. We take great pride in not only paying for these services but in assisting in the portfolio building to enable them to look for more work." - Kibare
The BAI initiative has been key in giving dozens of local filmmakers in South Africa and content creators their first festival film screening opportunities, which in multiple cases have spurred filmmakers to want to make more programming to better their craft. They’re now in the pre-production phase for the next season of the Afriquan Film Fest which is estimated to start in November/December 2024. Afriquan Film is an initiative that spotlights African Cinema, showcasing the range of our storytelling as well as exploring the realities of creating cinema working within this industry.
BAI Foundation isn’t just building opportunities for African creatives; they’re creating a sustainable future for the continent’s entertainment industry. And with Bloo Money, they’re ensuring that both their team and freelancers are supported every step of the way.
If you're an events business or curate festivals and looking for a better way to manage invoicing and payments for your next project, check out how Bloo Money can work for you.
We offer a range of plans to help businesses of all sizes manage their invoicing & payments to freelancers or suppliers at scale.
