Tim Fresher, a local media entrepreneur from Sheffield joins us today to explain his life in Sheffield and how he became successful in the media industry, as well as how you can do the same. Tim Fresher has already netted a wealth of £3.5 million over the last two years, which is an incredibly amount to say his young age of only 22 years. Tim has created numerous success short documentaries, short films and TV Shows, and has recently taken the time to invest in another sector of the media industry - Magazines. He created his new startup magazine company only a few months ago and has already netted £350,000 from the Dweller magazine alone. Tim acclaims his success towards the magazine being something he aimed towards earlier on in his teenage years. Tim also explains in his interview what he thinks needs improving in has home city of Sheffield and really goes into detail about how you can follow him into success…
What has made you choose Sheffield as you main place of home and work?
Sheffield was always my place of residence, my parents lived here, my grandparents lived here and that is also why I chose to reside here. Sheffield has always had a unique buzz about it that nowhere else could compete with; a certain presence keeping me perhaps. It has always been known to me that Sheffield has been highly industrious, even though the industry has never really hit main stream headlines. And I guess that is what I intended to bring to the table at first.
What did you do in Sheffield as a teenager, before getting into the media industry?
Well I've always really been looking up to the media industry from being a kid. I started working as a paper boy (someone who delivers newspapers) at the age of 14, which gave me my first bit of income. Other than that I spent a lot of my time playing football for fun with friends of mine. We used to head up to Norfolk heritage park quite a lot as the football pitches up there were normally unoccupied unlike they are today. Another perk of heading up there was that my friends enjoyed playing games which gave me something to begin writing about when I created my first mock review at sixteen. In the later stages of my teen years I became occupied most of my time with university, and due to being at the university in Sheffield this meant that on free days heading out to bars was also something I did a lot to find out more stories of which I used in my magazine I was doing for my university course. The overall outcome meant getting more well known by locals which got my name out there a bit. I also think the greenery of Sheffield made for a better childhood, having the ability to get outdoors and meet new people i really think did kickstart my career.
Do you think Sheffield could improve since you’ve been a teenager?
Obviously as a resident of Sheffield i really think that Sheffield has been a place that is better than a lot of other places. Seeing Sheffield in a broad sense i believe that the green area as well as the people are still the same friendly people that i knew about when i was a teenager, but as i venture more into depth of the city you can see a lot has changed. I mainly notice the bad small things due to being a media writer so some of the things i think need to improve are just my opinion. Firstly overall the litter count has increased from when i was a kid, whose fault this is i don’t know, but what i do know is that for the most part it spoils the green city setting, especially when you see rivers with crisp packets in them. Another thing i think needs improving is less graffiti. From being a teenager graffiti was apparent but the city is now using it as art, which in some respect is good, but in small amounts. The graffiti I am talking about is the kind of spray can mess you don’t really want to be seeing on the streets as you’re wandering through. Finally i guess Sheffield needs a bit of change in the social life. Only recently have more people steered away from being social but it is evident. I don’t think Sheffield is at fault for this but i do believe it is something that the council should prioritise trying to change. Whether it is more social events or just trying to introduce new activities, I think it is something that must happen for a change.
What do you think made you successful in the media industry?
When i first started considering the media industry it was really something that i personally though was a far reach for anybody of my amateur level to contend with; however i think this conspiracy is really something that I hope to have disproved to many people. At the age of 20 i was competing directly in the market with experienced directors and documentary producers, but all i wanted to do was make sure that mine was viewed even 10% of the amount of a more successful director. Luckily i think this push for me was the key factor to being successful in the industry, as i always strived for better work in my future projects. I also think having a lot to write about in Sheffield helped with the success as well. For me personally, making sure the words you choose are appropriate for the audience you intend to go for is key, and also using catchy titles for all the media you create. YouTube (a google company) has also really helped with my success allowing me to post previews of my content as a teenager and receiving constructive criticism which helped me improve even more.
Where do you plan to go from this stage of your career?
After thinking long and hard about this, i realised that media is something i will continue to pursue for the rest of my life. Money might not be an issue but i love wandering around and finding new items to create or write about, there is something fun about doing so; I guess it is the fact you don’t know what to expect per article or show you do or write. Over my time stories from different places have really built up a picture of an area so i would love to continue this tradition of mine of finding new places, exploring them, asking about them and writing the overall experience i have. Not only that but i hope to explore more TV show categories in the future, and i think Sheffield’s Doc Fest would be great for this. Meeting new also talented people and experienced individuals may just give me the inspiration i need to create a new project.
What inspiration can you give to young people like yourself who wish to pursue a successful career in the media industry?
I think the biggest thing is getting yourself out there, a media producer can’t be useful sat at home doing nothing, so visit festivals, go to bars, meet new people and explore new areas. The biggest thing i can say coming up is to get yourself over to Doc Fest in Sheffield as it is local and you can meet extremely talented people whilst doing it. Everyone has something to gain by following their dreams as well, but start early to get bigger later on. I really do believe even from doing a daily paper round that can be enough to prompt something new. Read other content that other professionals have wrote, whether a magazine article or a book, and always carry cards you if you plan on going standalone. This can be extremely useful as it gets your name out there but also means that you can branch out from others as well. I have given out numerous business cards to people and it ended up being one of their friends that contacts me in the end. Finally as part of the media industry use the medias tools to also get out there. Social media and the internet in general is a great way to get advice and write online articles. Explore TV shows and even a place to post your first documentary or two.
Tim Fresher left us his contact details for anyone who wishes to contact him more, or just even view some of the spectacular content he has created himself. You can follow him online on social media @tim_fresher-media or visit his website:
www.timfreshermediagroup.co.uk. Finally you can even pop him through an email at
tim.fresher@talk.timfreshermediagroup.com.
