Interview with Gabriel Whitehead

by Kirsty Warner

On Wednesday 10th February, the Arts & Humanities Digital Skills & Creative Arts event saw four panellists gather to discuss the growing value of digital skills to the cultural and creative industries. Gabriel Whitehead was one member of this panel discussion. I followed up with him after the event to discuss how his studies at King’s prepared him for his future, and to gain advice for students who aspire to join the Creative Industries.

Gabriel Whitehead is an experienced content creator and, with an extensive understanding of animation, marketing, graphic design, and copywriting. 

He undertook King’s College London’s BA Philosophy and Film course between 2015 and 2018.

Biography

Whilst at King’s he co-founded The Shoots Group, which manages a portfolio of creative agencies and video production companies. He is currently now the Managing Director of Finance Shoots, a creative agency founded in 2018 that works with Financial Services and Fintechs. According to Gabriel, empower marketing and communications teams to create better looking, more interesting Animation, Copy, Graphics & Video.

Interview

Why did you choose the BA Philosophy & Film course? And why at King’s College?

I choose Liberal Arts because I didn’t know what I wanted to study, even after taking a gap year. It was a good way to try lots of things out like Film Studies, Spanish, Philosophy without having to commit to one discipline! I choose King’s mainly because Liberal Arts degrees aren’t that common in the UK and also because I wanted to study abroad in 2nd year. I got to go to New York and do some film school classes which was great!

You are a founder of the company Filmmakers for Change. What made you want to establish your own company? and how did the BA or your time at King’s help you prepare for this role and your future after graduation?

I was inspired to start my own company after meeting some entrepreneurs at King’s Entrepreneurship Institute. I really like the idea of being my own boss and creating something from the ground up. My time at King’s taught me to work hard and juggle multiple things at different times. That said, Uni and academia couldn’t be more different to running a business and I had a lot of adjusting to do!

If you could give any advice to students currently enrolled on a course at King’s, but with aspirations to join the Creative Industries, what would it be?

I think the most important thing at least if you’re trying to sell your creative services to other companies is to really think hard about how you can create value for them and a better experience than to what other companies provide. Creativity isn’t enough, you’ve got to be really focused on the customer or client and what they want.

Finally, name something exciting that you are currently working on or that you have planned for the future

My brother and I have just launched a new company called Edible – where we make oddly satisfying visuals for fun brands. Check out our Insta here!