Freelancers And Creatives To Be Recognised By New ‘Hnry Awards’ Offering $25,000 In Prize Money.

New Zealand, Tuesday 18 February 2020 - Award-winning FinTech company Hnry, has announced the launch of an annual award aimed at New Zealand’s freelance and creative community, with $25,000 prize money up for grabs.

Coinciding with World Creativity and Innovation Day on the 21st April 2020, The Hnry Awards will aim to recognise creative talent and self-employed freelancers. Challenged with a month to submit a piece of work around the theme; ‘what does independent earning mean to you?’, entrants have creative choice over their submissions, which can range from songs and videos, to illustrations, designs and sculptures.

James Fuller, CEO of Hnry, a company known for making financial administration easier for independent earners, says this award will give independent earners a chance to win some financial freedom as well as showcase their work and raise awareness of the industry as a whole.

“The Hnry Awards will aim to raise awareness of independent earners and showcase our country’s top creative talent in front of industry experts. We want to hear and share the good, bad and the ugly of freelancing, contracting, or working several side hustles or gigs. Whether you’ve been a creative or freelancer for 10 years or 10 minutes, all entries will be considered equal,” says James Fuller, CEO Hnry.

The entries will be judged via a blind judging process, with the panel including Annie Ackerman, CEO of The Big Idea and Brendon McLean, Group Business Director of FCB, among others.

Annie Ackerman has herself contracted for most of her working life, and says the gig economy is “abuzz” at the moment, and that freelancing should be celebrated more.

“I’m a freelancer and proud. When you look at the creative arts, the kinds of people we engage with at The Big Idea, it’s essentially populated by freelancers. They’re the classic role models for how to make extraordinary things happen; people come together for a project, they know their roles, they blur boundaries, essentially working towards the end goal. One of the challenges freelancers face is how to stand out in a crowd. The Hnry Awards will celebrate and recognise creative talent and hard work,” says Annie Ackerman, CEO, The Big Idea.

Creative judge, Brendon McLean, who says he “stumbled” from university straight into being self-employed, says self-employment is fraught with difficulties, but with over 400,000 New Zealanders classing themselves as self-employed, this growing segment of society needs to be recognised more.

“One of the challenges for freelancers is the confidence to actually take the leap and do it, or if you unexpectedly find yourself there, finding the confidence and support to embrace it. Anything that celebrates and helps build that confidence is a good thing. The Hnry mission is so on point,” says Brendon McLean, Group Business Director of FCB.

Submissions open on February 24th and close on March 21st 2020. The panel judges will name the 10 finalists on March 30th, with public voting to decide the top three. The winner will be announced on April 21st.

Entries are open to New Zealanders over 18. One entry per person. Detailed entry instructions can be found at hnry.co.nz/awards

Hnry aims to make life easier for the self-employed by removing all financial admin, and letting independent earners focus on their paid work. Hnry, winner of the Emerging Gold Service Award at the Wellington Gold Awards 2019, and a finalist in the New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards 2019, is an end-to-end tax agent service that uses cutting-edge automation to calculate, pay and file all tax obligations, charging just 1% of the self-employed income (capped at $2,000 p/a). Hnry’s mission is to give freelancers, contractors and self-employed their freedom back, by being their trusted financial sidekick - enabling them to get back to doing what they love. You can find out more at https://hnry.co.nz/.

© Scoop Media