If the coming year s half as good as the last for Nina Manandhar, 27, and Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky, 28, you can be sure to hear more about their burgeoning social enterprise, Hard Core Is More Than Music (HCIMTM). Based in West London, the initiative aims, through a mix of innovative projects, to create jobs in media and creative industries for young people from black and ethnic minorities and working class backgrounds. Nina and Nendie’s work was recognised last November when it was listed in the Top 100 Media Businesses in The Observer/ Courvoisier Future 500. Paul Macey talks to them about their successful vision.

January/February 2009

Hard Core Is More Than Music

What pleases you the most about the media business nomination?

To be named in the Top 100 is really good and to get recognition of your creativity through mainstream awards is a real boost. It is particularly nice when you are doing your own enterprise and people can see the value of your own brand and creation.

Last year’s nomination was the latest in an impressive list of achievements including the publication of an award winning cult fanzine and high profile events. It has been claimed that HIMTM is an influential trendsetter among urban youth and the publishing industry’. What is the ethos behind your success?

When we started in 2002 we wanted to be based at grassroots level, working day to day with young people but also devising projects with cultural institutions like the ICA and Tate Modern. Our aim was and is to bring the world of fine art and media together with inner city culture, particularly focusing on those young people who don’t have any other outlet for their creativity. We think that this works because young people jump at the chance if given the right opportunities and their vibrancy and talent are what the creative world needs.

Why did you take the decision to set up as a social enterprise and does the structure allow for innovation and creativity?

Nowadays it is more fashionable to be a social enterprise. We liked the concept as it moved us away from the red tape bureaucracy that can sometimes undermine and stifle charities while at the same time reflecting the fact that we are not driven by traditional business principles. It allows us to work with a range of organisations that take us seriously and know what we are getting at and are responsive to us. This lays the foundation for our diversity and creativity.

How did you come to work together?

We met while studying at Chelsea Arts College ten years ago and found we shared a passion for the creative arts and a burning desire to create employment opportunities and professional media experience for socially excluded young people, alongside providing a forum for them to showcase their talent in the mainstream media.

Why the focus on the media?

We not only believe in the power of the media to reflect society, but also as a tool for regeneration within communities at grassroots level. Through our creative projects we seek to harness the collective imagination and cultivate young talent. Although people know us for the magazine [The Cut], we’re not afraid of working in different mediums, although sometimes it feels like a steep learning curve with each new venture. Essentially we were driven by vision and ideology.

Perhaps the most impressive of your initiatives is the The Cut, a quarterly newspaper launched at the ICA last March, written by and for young people across London. The third edition is ready to hit the streets within the next few days. Why has it been so successful?

The young people! We have done different types of projects and have always made sure that we have represented young people in a positive way. Too often youth culture has been taken from them and exploited so we wanted The Cut to truly be representative of youth culture and have real social benefit. We are interested in representation, be it through image and words and not voyeurism. We are happy with the ethics of The Cut and believe we have a good team and a real social enterprise that is sustainable.

As you test the theory that there must be more than 24 hours in a day, seven days a week, there possibly isn’t any chance of you resting on your laurels in 2009. What do you have in store over the coming year?

This year we want to consolidate our current projects and the develop new initiatives with me [Nina] producing a new film in my home town area of Shepherd’s Bush and Nendie aiming to have her play Rameses Has Disappeared hopefully turned into a screenplay for TV.

Visit:
www.hardcoreismorethanmusic.com
www.thecutnewspaper.com

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