Hi, I’m Finn, dubbed the ‘Fintern’, amongst other nicknames by in-house funny guy, Nick. I’m responsible for a lot of the things that go unmentioned in the agency – website updates, headshots, small tweaks and the like. But being the youngest (and coolest) here, I am able to introduce some marvels of modern tech to the team. The likes of AI image generation, 3D environment capturing devices, weird and wonderful workarounds, and most things tech-orientated. Pretty cool, hey?

You know what else is cool? In high school, my friend and I were in the top 2.5% of players in an online fighting game, Brawlhalla. We even considered ‘training’ (seriously, we called it training) at lunch break. I know, I know. Very cool.

Speaking of high school, unbeknown to me at the time, I already knew a leading force at next Thursday. I had actually been to his house without realising. As luck would have it, four of my five highschool classes were shared with my friend, Travis… who turned out to be Creative Director Andy Iles’ son! As Trav knew my dreams of working in Film, he encouraged a meeting with his dad. That meeting took place in the room adjacent to where I am writing this, roughly four years ago. I didn’t work with nT until a TVC shoot late in 2022. They didn’t hire me though, a production company they engaged hired me. I sat at the back of the room, next to the funny guy mentioned earlier, bouncing ideas of rescheduling to him. I didn’t know his role, let alone that he worked at next Thursday but he encouraged me and set in action the rescheduling I highlighted. That led to work on website videos, a small re-edit then this internship. The universe at play.

Dan encouraged me to write this blog as a synopsis of my time here so far. It’s been good! Infact I have never felt more creatively driven. I’ve had the opportunity to hone my craft in unexpected ways, such as curating code to automate design elements to make an impossible client budget actually work. That’s the coolet thing I’ve done so far. But that doesn’t mean more isn’t coming! I’m a big AI guy. Not late 2023 AI guy – I’m a late 2021 kinda AI guy. And although that isn’t as impressive as knowing about it pre-COVID, it still makes me feel like I have wizard-level knowledge. Currently, I’m working on internal AI image generations for the nT logo. There’ll be a cool video, I’m sure you’ll see it.

I don’t love hyping myself up but you’re here already. 437 words, and you’re still reading. I appreciate it. To summarise, I’ve taken part in 20 odd photography exhibitions and have won two major Australia prizes. That said, my favourite photography accolade was exhibiting in the Olive Cotton exhibition in 2020.

I like to think I can approach any barrier creatively, including conception, production and editing. So far it’s worked for me. I retain a mindset of “this can work” and double-down to find solutions, even when they don’t come easily. Mindset is everything, and nT allows for me to broaden mine.

Being 22, I don’t know what I want. Where I want to be. I mean I kind of know but… it’s just an idea based off a feeling. The feeling of being at nT is good. I like it here, so until the day I’m dreading seeing Andy, Nick, Dan or any other of the lovely people that make next Thursday, I’ll leave. I once quit a job after my first shift because I didn’t like the way the manager talked of other staff. Heh… good times. Anyways, I wouldn’t be here if the culture was off and fortunately for me or anyone who gets to know these people, they’re solid.

And more than anything, I know these guys have my back. As I moved back to Brisbane from Melbourne to peruse this internship, Dan sat me down and made me ask myself, “is this what I really want?” “Is this internship worth leaving people behind?” and from that moment, I knew the quality of this team. I knew I wouldn’t be exploited as is too common among young ambitious creatives. In that moment I knew I was more valuable than the work I could produce, and it meant a lot. Cheers Dan. Cheers nT. Thank you for all you’ve taught me so far.