When graphic design graduate, Rachel Smythe, 35, tried to get a foot within the door of new Zealand's inventive trade in 2008, she was rejected at every turn. She sent her portfolio off to multiple companies, submitted artwork for quite a few guide proposals and tried to promote her artwork prints at conventions however nothing labored. Eventually her dream became a passion and as a substitute she went into advertising. Their working lives have been dogged by financial uncertainty and a changing office, that has seen a decline in conventional profession paths and an enlargement of the gig financial system, exterior in many nations. But new technology has opened up recent opportunities. We discovered more about the career paths of three individuals and inventive groups, asking them how the pandemic expanded their fanbases and finally their incomes. In 2016, Ms Smythe got here across a cellular app called WebToon featuring weekly comics that folks might learn on their phones - a digital model of the manga and manhwa comics well-liked in Japan and Korea. Only one month later she had gained 1,000 subscribers and by late 2017, WebToon asked her to turn out to be a paid creator for the app. She says it seemed too good to be true when the corporate first approached her. Today, Lore Olympus has 5.2 million subscribers. In November, a Penguin Random House e book comes out, and an animated sequence is in growth. Ms Smythe now works 70-hour-weeks to meet her deadlines however nonetheless finds it difficult to elucidate her occupation and career journey to different individuals. WebToon, owned by South Korean tech big Naver, has 72 million customers a month. In 2020, WebToon brought in 820bn Korean won (£508m, $702m) in revenues. Several comics featured on the app have been made into hit Tv-collection and movies in South Korea, and the artists have change into celebrities. The app has turn into so in style that traditional comic book firms now want to work with it - Marvel and DC Comics signed a deal in August. The app's high creator made a staggering £7.6m last yr, however WebToon says creator incomes range widely. It has even helped drive a cultural shift - it's now thought of far more acceptable for young folks in Korea to pursue full-time careers as comedian artists. Graphic art and design isn't the only inventive field that's been actually challenging for millennials to interrupt in to. For the founders of Viva La Dirt League, the early years were additionally a battle. Video editors, Alan Morrison, 33, and Adam King, 32, and actor Rowan Bettjeman, 37, met working in New Zealand's film and Tv industry. They've been making YouTube videos poking enjoyable on the video recreation trade for 10 years. However the trio says the first six years had been difficult. Mr Morrison and Mr King saved their day jobs till 2017. Within the early days all cash earned went to pay Mr Bettjeman's rent so he may edit their movies full-time. Mr Morrison. The actors and the cameraman kindly labored without cost. But there were quite a lot of scares. Sometimes they might wake up to seek out that a YouTube algorithm had modified and their videos stopped being monetised overnight. But their onerous work finally paid off and so they now have 3.5 million subscribers. Today, Viva La Dirt League has 50 individuals on the payroll, including forty contractors. Shoots price as much as $50,000 a day and so they often work with major video game publishers. In the end diversifying revenue streams across several platforms was essential in order that they all the time have their "eggs in many baskets", with Facebook and Patreon offering extra consistent income. They have turned down at the very least six overseas Tv and film deals, wanting to retain full inventive control of their work. Could a reboot make social media a nicer place? Just how exhausting is it to recycle a jumbo jet? Online gaming has supplied entertainment, connection and even solace for many individuals all through the Covid pandemic, so, it is perhaps no wonder there was huge development within the sector, that means extra folks can now make a full-time living from gaming. Specifically, there was a surge in folks taking part in more traditional games - such because the 47-yr-previous tabletop roleplaying recreation referred to as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) - on-line collectively. D&D creator, Wizards of the Coast, tells the BBC that social content material has been transformative - introducing new fans to the style. This growth in interest has led to a surge in work for Critical Role, a bunch of eight skilled voice actors in Los Angeles who routinely stream themselves playing the D&D sport stay and sometimes costume-up in character. Liam O'Brien, 45, says the Critical Role collaboration was a "pleased accident" - a bunch of "nerdy" pals and colleagues happily taking part in a personal D&D game. But in 2015 they experimented with stay-streaming the sport, and located there was an enthusiastic viewers. Laura Bailey, 40, one of the Critical Role solid. In the early days their weekly show appeared on the YouTube channel Geek and Sundry, but over time it has developed into a major media enterprise, with its own production company, studios and webpage. In 2019, Critical Role broke Kickstarter's file for many-funded film project, raising $11.4m for a 12-episode animated sequence. Amazon has acquired the streaming rights for two seasons. The characters and their adventures have additionally attracted a multi-e-book deal with Penguin Random House and even a toy-licensing deal. Taliesin Jaffe, 44, says voice appearing is such a tough industry to break in to that it has been fascinating relying on common work . Echoing the sentiment of different creatives now finding huge success with on-line fanbases, the true magic, Mr O'Brien says, comes from the new discovered freedom streaming has given actors. There's also big cash to be made. Mae Karwowski, founder of influencer advertising and marketing agency, Obviously, says each Viva La Dirt League and important Role have created "a whole new style of leisure". She and Joe Gagliese, boss of the world's largest influencer expertise marketing agency, Viral Nation Group, believe both are actually incomes not less than seven figures per annum, and that their business models are sustainable.