Sameer is an 18 year old content creator who aspires to be the voice for those who don’t have one. His content is about social issues and hardships in Bangladesh and he highlights how we can help or at least try to help solve these problems on an individual level. I first found out about Sameer through one of his videos on Instagram where he was passionately talking about the culture of after school tuition in Bangladesh - I remember about this insane culture and how it impacted me negatively as a student so it goes to show his choices of topics are quite interesting. While Sameer is not a seasoned creator, he amassed a sizeable audience in less than a year of starting out and that impressed me enough to bring him on the show even though he is still learning the ropes. In this episode we talk about what it’s like to be a young creator tackling different topics on the internet, how Sameer tackles a growing toxic audience and a fair bit about the world of creating content for social media. 

While social media constantly opts for quantity of content, ColdFusion aka Dagogo Altraide has built an audience of over 3 million subscribers by consistently providing comprehensive, quality work over the last decade. His pieces about tech and innovation are well researched and dives deeper than most things you will see around. Furthermore, he has been making some amazing original music over the years under the stage name Burn Water and continues to push his creative ceiling. In this episode, we talk about his career so far, building an audience on YouTube, social media and big tech and even tackling conspiracy theories. Visit www.tawsifakkas.com for more information. 

Paul Ramondo is a digital marketing expert, a business owner but also the lead vocalist of a pop punk rock band called One True North based in Perth Australia.  Honestly if I listen to their music it immediately takes me back to the early 2000s so pop punk rock is pretty accurate. The reason I mention these multiple facets of his identity is because first of all the show is called State of the Creators so we deal with creative elements in arts but also his background in digital marketing creates an interesting dynamic for his creative project. Because of Paul’s background in digital marketing, he sees creativity and music in a very different light to someone who doesn’t and that’s what interested me about him. I wanted to know how he applied the analytical aspects of digital marketing to the creative side of things and if it has worked out for him. Creatives often struggle with the former so I felt this was the perfect topic and person to have this discussion with. In this episode we talk about building a presence online for musicians, his journey so far, the world of YouTube and a bit about his hair...Visit www.tawsifakkas.com for more information. 

Daniel Craig, aka, Matsu, is a photographer, a director, a DoP and an overall creative powerhouse. Daniel’s journey started as a live event photographer but today he directs music videos, TV spots, tours with artists and works with some of the biggest brands in the world like Toyota and Adidas. He regularly works with one of my favourite musicians of all time - Tame Impala and some of his photos have ended up in Times Square in New York and the Rolling Stones magazine. If that wasn’t enough, he has his own photobook called Dust - an intimate look into the life of station workers in the West Australian outback. In this episode, Daniel and I dive deep into some ideological views about creativity - we talk about what it's like working with global brands and artists, what it takes to succeed in a multi disciplinary creative path, and how his love for martial arts defined his creative journey. 

Brady Victor is a Perth based film photographer but like many of the people featured in this podcast, he also led a dual life. At the time of starting out to take amazing photos, and building his business, he was also working in the information technology services as a front end developer - but today he solely focuses on his photography business. More interestingly, him and his partner run Lekkerzine. - a popular photography platform that curates some of the best photos you will see around. On Instagram they have thousands of followers and the hashtag #lekkerzine alone has over a million posts. That goes to show their level of credibility within the digital creative circle. In this episode, I sit down with Brady and go in depth about his journey into becoming a film photographer, balancing his analytical side with his creative brain, and how to take the calculative leap into a creative business. Follow Brady at @bradyvict and Lekkerzine at @lekkerzine Find out more about the episode here: www.tawsifakkas.com/014

Adnan Fakir is best known for creating the popular documentary series “Finding Bangladesh”. He is also known in the country’s academia circuits for his work in the field of economics and is currently pursuing a PHD on it in the University of Western Australia. This episode is not only the first of the brand new season of State of the Creators it’s also probably the longest. And that’s because Adnan and I have been friends for a while now and we share interests on a wide range of topics. It’s essentially a deep dive into the world of social media, the policies surrounding content regulation, funding a passion documentary, and what it means to juggle a PHD and producing creative work.Find out more about the episode here: www.tawsifakkas.com/013

A quick update on where things stand - only for the OG listeners. Make sure you subscribe to me on YouTube as that's where all the videos will go! 

SEASON FINALE! Final episode of the season is here where I have done a full on Q/A + a few of my thoughts about the guests of season one and plans for the future of the show. Thassss it. Oh and thank you. You've been an insane audience. Time stamps: 00:00 Intro 03:21 Do you have any funny incidents by working on so many different projects?  (@rash_eeq)06:05 Best way to build an audience on social media and generate income? (@chowdhury19) 08:59 When you're creating content, how do you usually decide your next topic? (@nymislam) 09:55 Would you ever consider making content for TikTok? (@nahiyan.naser) 11:09 Details about TikTok. (@fzr_1.0)12:39 How does one market boring stuff - like software? (@peyajerrosh) 14:58 How do you choose the guests? (@masudul22) 16:11 What made you want to start podcasts? (@chubbmcgubb) and (@_adib41_) 17:31 What are some beginner video editing applications? (@chubbmcgubb) 18:30 Is Bangladesh going through a content revolution? (@_adib41_)19:20 Meeting Manchester United players (@sad_man07) 20:39 The future of podcasting in Bangladesh (@saadmanramikhan) 23:21 How do I research the guests prior to the podcasts? (@shahriar.rafid) 28:20 Is it possible to survive in the podcast industry if you aren’t well known from before? (@farazstein) 30:10 Tips and tricks for people getting into writing. (@iam.saquibraschid) 32:28 Advice for making the post of living abroad / away from home (@salehkaleh) 34:13 Is paid advertising the way to go for growing an audience? (@thebeardlesslad) 36:49 How does one come up with unique ideas for creative content? (@fardeen7) 39:40 In the digital age, how do you balance the time between building an audience vs. working on the content itself? (@lotusquest) 43:28 Why isn’t there a shoegaze/dreampop act in Bangladesh yet? (@derangedcontraptionist) 44:35 How is podcasting different from other creative mediums - like Instagram content or even YouTube vlogs? (@ehsanul) 48:11 Benchmarking yourself against successful creators around you and working against demotivation. (@fardeen7)Resources: 1. Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans: https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/2. Editing videos on your phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3JYYBSKUI3. Ragheeb F Moazzem's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi8IOLUEg5OrDmHJAcIYYFg

Tanzim Uddin is one of the co-founders of Togbog - a media company focused on broadcasting positive Bangladeshi stories to the world. What’s most impressive about Tanzim is that he’s made a few hundred videos - easily over the last year and has garnered millions of views for Togbog and has created a community out of it. Now just saying that by itself sells his skills short because he does a lot more in the background - like leading the team and planning sales strategies and so on. He is also a student in his final year of Computer Science and Engineering in North South University in Bangladesh.This episode of the podcast is a little bit different. This was less of an interview and more of an indepth discussion between the two of us about social media, video marketing, YouTube and career goals and a lot more. And to be honest this is how I had envisioned the podcast to be - less of the interview and more of the conversation. Find out more about the episode here: www.tawsifakkas.com/011

If you’ve been following the YouTube scene of Bangladesh from the earlier days, chances are you would have come across the name “Asif Bin Azad” from “Bhaibrothers LTD.” Asif has been one of the more popular creators from the early days of YouTube entertainment in Bangladesh, has since worked on various creative projects - from having his own interview show to directing short films to launching campaigns. His recent stint was being a Content Producer at Bongo - which is one of the most watched digital entertainment platforms in the country. He has since moved on to a few personal projects - one of which is also launching his own podcast - “The BhaiBrothers Podcast”! This also allows him to explore one of his key skills - which is being a host and a show runner.In this episode of the State of the Creators, we cover how to move into various creative verticals, how you can leverage your content to establish a career online and the general state of YouTube in Bangladesh. Find out more about the episode here: www.tawsifakkas.com/010