Akiel Gallina is a Creative and Cultural Producer working between Berlin and Frankfurt — freelancing for Art Basel (creative direction and production on Meet the Artists, Meet the Collector, and Inner Worlds, in collaboration with Nowness), Highsnobiety, and Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. He also co-founded Soft Launch, a creative studio for arts and culture, as well as Loose Ends, a nomadic curatorial exhibition project.

In this episode we talk about quitting a secure job the night before he was supposed to start, crying before his first shoot at Highsnobiety, and figuring production out by winging it. We get into the difference between being a creative producer and a cultural producer, how Art Basel happened, and what it's like bringing fashion-world visual language into the art world. We also talk about the Justice concert documentary that almost didn't happen, Soft Launch, and why Toronto never quite felt like home the way Berlin does.

Plus: Overrated/Underrated, and the return of the scratch card.

Virtual Love — The Always Work in Progress Podcast, hosted by Yared Abraham.

Guest: Akiel Gallina — Creative & Cultural Producer

https://www.instagram.com/akielgallina/ a

https://www.instagram.com/softlaunch.live/

https://www.softlaunch.live/

Host: Yared Abraham — Creative Director

https://www.instagram.com/yzyared/ https://virtuallove.wtf/

Check out my other projects: Creative Consultancy: https://byb-frame.com/ SAAS tool for artists: https://splitsheets.pro/

Artwork by: Max Gold https://www.instagram.com/maxgolddesigns/

CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Cold Open

2:48 - Meet Akiel Gallina

4:22 - Why Berlin (Process of Elimination)

7:30 - Toronto, Sociology & Advertising

10:52 - Quitting a Secure Job the Night Before

13:10 - First Shoots at Highsnobiety

18:10 - Lessons Learned & Going for It

23:46 - Pre vs Post Production

28:17 - Creative Producer vs. Cultural Producer

29:46 - How Art Basel Happened

33:39 - Making Art Accessible Through Film

37:40 - Did Sociology Degree Actually Help?

40:12 - How Meet the Artists Actually Works

43:07 - Working with Justice in Paris

49:23 - Creative Freedom as a Freelancer

52:41 - Marketing in This Political Climate

57:16 - How Did Soft Launch Start?

59:32 - Loose Ends, Soft Launch, Ex-Girlfriend

1:03:15 - How Do You Get Clients?

1:08:58 - Toronto vs. Berlin’s Creative Industry

1:12:59 - Any Dream Projects?

1:16:30 - Overrated/Underrated

1:21:50 - Scratch Card & Bye