You Don’t Need a BAFTA to Be Trusted – But You Do Need a Reputation

At this week’s CreativeHQ clinic, we asked a simple question with a surprisingly tricky answer:

What does it actually mean to be trusted in this industry?

Because contrary to the comforting fiction we sometimes cling to, being ‘too good to ignore’ isn’t enough. Not in this economy. Not with this many producers per square metre of Soho House.

Trust,  the kind that opens doors, gets films financed, and puts your name in the “ask them first” pile, is built on something a little more nebulous: influence.

Not fame. Not followers. Influence. The kind that makes your emails get opened and your projects get quietly greenlit.

Here’s how it works, straight from the CreativeHQ frontline.

Insight 1: Influence Loves Consistency (and Hates Chaos)

You don’t need a giant following, and thank goodness for that!

What you do need is a trail of receipts:
– Showing up in the same places
– Talking about the same mission, vision and purpose that brought you into the industry
– Building a recognisable identity
– And, crucially, not reinventing yourself every six weeks

Inconsistency reads as confusion. And nobody backs confusion.

Insight 2: Visibility Is a Strategy, Not a Personality Flaw

Yes, it’s still possible to be quietly brilliant. But in 2025, if a tree falls in the forest and no one puts it on their LinkedIn, did it even get shortlisted for a development fund?

One producer shared how a single podcast guest spot turned into:
→ DMs from collaborators
→ A festival speaking slot
→ A trade feature

Not because they were loud. But because they were sharp.

Strategic visibility. Less look-at-me, more look what we’re building.

Insight 3: You Already Have a Brand – Even If It’s a Bit ‘Shabby-Chic’

The number of people in the room who admitted they were “winging their public image” was… well, validating.

So here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If you don’t own your narrative, someone else will. Probably a junior exec armed with your outdated bio and a half-remembered rumour from Edinburgh TV Fest 2019.

Time to fix that.
Start small:
– Curate your bios (people care much about GCSEs and much more about your mission for the future)
– Update your press kit with proof of audience engagement
– Share your why, not just your wins

Give people something worth remembering.

Insight 4: Attract, Don’t Chase

Here’s the good bit. Once you’ve built that solid reputation, the kind that says “this person finishes things, collaborates well, and has vision”,  things start happening.

– People start coming to you

– Collaborators appear with actual budgets

– You get invited into rooms you didn’t know existed

One CHQ member summed it up perfectly:

“I started writing articles on LinkedIn, and suddenly I was being asked to pitch for big opportunities. Attract, don’t chase!”

Exactly. And it wasn’t even a thirst trap. Just a well-argued post about the future of creative media.

Final Thought: Influence Isn’t Ego – It’s Infrastructure

This isn’t about chasing followers or launching a podcast with the words “unfiltered” in the title.

It’s about being findable, trustable, and unignorable in the spaces that matter to your career.

You already have the story.
Let’s help you tell it in a way that actually gets you funded.

🚀 Want to become that producer?

Join CreativeHQ for:
🧠 Weekly clinics with industry peers
📚 Masterclasses on visibility, pitching and brand building
🎤 Our November pitch event — where presence matters

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