Who You Know: Max Caulfield

NAME: Max Caulfield

ROLE & COMPANY: Bern, Founder & Contract Specialist

HOMETOWN: Ballymena, Ireland

CURRENT CITY OF RESIDENCE: London, United Kingdom

Describe your typical day to day at work:

First, I always start with checking my emails to get a broad outlook on what I need to accomplish by the end of the day. Then, I’ll refer to my list of which contracts need to be written that day and set a deadline time for each of them. Then, I’ll have a couple of hours full of meeting with my current clients about their upcoming projects and the kind of contracts that they need from me to ensure those projects can go ahead. Then, I’ll finish the day finalising the contracts, putting together my list of agreements to finish the next day and spend the last few minutes of my day sourcing new clients.

Tell us about your career journey and how you got your current role:

I have always worked in the music industry and when I first moved to London I worked for a record label for quite some time. I was really unhappy with the practices I witnessed, especially the exploitative contracts. I then left the label and began doing some work experience in the media law industry. From there I decided to go and study law to help artists obtain assistance and advice when it comes to the legal documents they have to sign. Once I finished my degree I started my business, my goal is to make the advice MUCH more affordable and accessible for artists.

When thinking about creative jobs, your role isn’t as widely known. What advice would you give to someone looking to become a contract specialist in the entertainment industry?

This is a great question and I wish I had somebody to ask this to when I was starting out. The best piece of advice I can give is to always trust your individualism. Your gut is never wrong. I had to forge this path myself in a certain way, Bern is a new idea and I’ve had to take so many risks without knowing what was on the other end. Every single time it was worth it, even when things didn’t go exactly to plan. You have to trust yourself because nobody is going to tell you that you’re doing the right thing all day long, you have to decide you are doing the right thing. I still get scared at the beginning of every day but the more I move forward, the more I learn that the best things for us are really on the other side of fear.

What’s your most memorable career moment?

So far, securing my first client was the best feeling ever and the first time I re-negotiated a clients contract so they would own their masters was the moment I knew I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

Is there anything specific you would like to tell people about your role?

Contracts are not supposed to be scary and intimidating, there is not supposed to be a winner and a loser, they are supposed to be there to protect us, serve our best interest, provide a protocol and nothing else. If you feel any other way about them, please get in touch with me. I would love to change that.

Name three women creatives who inspire you:

Onika Tanya Maraj aka Nicki Minaj aka The Baddest

Nicki has done so much for independent artists and women within the industry. She reminds me to speak up for myself and to never feel bad for expecting high standards. It can be very defeating at times being a woman in the music industry and I am yet to be treated equal to my male peers. I feel like Nicki experiences that heavily and watching how she deals with it has taught me never to settle for anybody treating me like less than what I’m worth.

Mindy Kaling

Mindy was my favourite writer on my favourite show, the U.S Office. She then went on to create her own production company and many successful TV shows such as The Mindy Project, Champions and Never Have I Ever. She also wrote a great movie called Late Night. She’s really funny too and I read her book ‘Why not me?’ every couple of months. She is one of the hardest working women in TV and she doesn’t get half of the recognition for her work on the office as the male writers do. Her work ethic but ability to remain positive has always inspired me.

Clare Dunne

Clare is an actress from Ireland who wrote a movie last year called ‘Herself’. It was about domestic abuse and received Oscar buzz. Irish women are often overlooked in the British media and if we’re ever represented, it’s usually for a joke or a gimmick. Which is fair enough, we love the craic. But women like Clare are setting a new precedent for the work of Irish women in the media and how they will be perceived in the future. She’s unapologetically Irish in every sense and that’s something I hope to learn from and carry into my own career.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Stop worrying about what everyone else is going to think and before you know it you’ll be in a position where the only valued opinion is yours.