It Pays To Follow Your Passion (Most Of The Time)

Passion makes things happen.

This is never so clearly evident as with Finnish video-making cult hero Timo Vuorensola or Hugh Hancock of Strange Company. Timo created Star Wreck, a Star Trek parody, while Hugh was responsible for Bloodspell, a feature-length machinima film made using the gaming engine from Neverwinter Nights.

The two of them, along with Iolo Jones of TV Everywhere, shared some insights behind what drives them in an exclusive new media discussion at the Singapore Digital Media Festival 2008. They certainly didn’t start their creations for monetary reward, although they are now somewhat rather compensated for their efforts.

Unfortunately such thinking is not quite so prevalent here in Singapore. Some of the bloggers present at the discussion, including me, bemoan the fact that many UGC creators here are simply too fixated on financial rewards –  or as Coleman Yee points out, extrinsic motivation – instead. Timo shares how Star Wreck was in some part funded by unemployment and student welfare checks from the Finnish government. (OK, we don’t have the dole here so this option is out of the question for us Singaporeans.)

But Timo and Hugh will still advise us to follow our passion. Passion got them to where they are today after all.