Happy Bloo Monday 👋 💙 Happy Bloo Monday 👋

The weekly newsletter for business owners, organisations, team members, and solo entrepreneurs (freelancers) — designed to add some colour to the Monday blues and replace it with a touch of Bloo.

This week, we’re closing the loop on our Fintech x Film series with a reflection on our own presentation at HEATSKRS CON 2025 and we’re also sharing practical advice for small businesses on working with digital marketing freelancers, written by one of our incredible collaborators, Tshimologo Leburu.

Here’s what’s inside:
🎬 The Bloo Money Story — why we started, the Bloo Grape Showcase, and the benefits of using Bloo.
🌍 Working With Freelancers — Tshimologo Leburu on how small businesses can succeed when hiring digital marketing talent.
🚀 What’s Next — collaborations, events, and new playbooks coming your way.

🎬 The Benefits of Using Bloo Money on Your Productions

As we wrap up our Fintech x Film series we’re still feeling energised from how well the Bloo Grape Showcase turned out 💙.

What started as an idea with Grapefruit Gardens to bring together filmmakers, industry specialists and film lovers became a vibrant space where stories were shared, lessons exchanged, and collaborations sparked.

Bloo Grape was established to mix creative empowerment with financial literacy to ensure that emerging filmmakers not only produce remarkable stories but also build viable careers.

The impact was clear:

🌍 Community Building: Connected over 70 filmmakers, industry stakeholders, and sponsors, fostering collaboration and shared learning.

📚 Capacity Development: Delivered 8+ hours of financial and creative exposure, equipping participants with practical tools to strengthen their next projects.

🤝 Partnership Ecosystem: 9+ sponsors and partners across film, finance, and tech including Multichoice, Hollard Film Guarantors and BAI Foundation. Securing vouchers and benefits for film makers from Gauteng Film Commission and Sinema Agency.

🚀 Proof of Concept: Successfully piloted the Bloo Grape Showcase, with +25 film submissions, proving the industry is eager for platforms for indie film makers and knowledge transfer. We’re excited for the next instalment of this experience in 2026

But our vision doesn’t end with workshops and showcases. It extends into how productions can practically run smoother when powered by Bloo Money

During our presentation at the Fintech x Film workshop we focused on the benefits of using tech to manage film production spend:

✅ Simplify Onboarding & Compliance

• Add new cast, crew, and freelancers with all compliance requirements captured upfront.

• Approvals flow seamlessly between departments to avoid bottlenecks.

• Categorise workers as Payroll Contractors, Non-Payroll Contractors, VAT or Non-VAT Entities.

• Store bank details, CIPC docs, IDs, and contracts in one secure place.

📄 Standardise Invoices & Streamline Payments

• Receive invoices from your team in one format no more back-and-forth or missing details.

• Separate rates, amounts, and invoice types clearly for smoother accounting.

• Audit-ready reporting with fewer headaches.

• Process bulk payments directly from the dashboard, with suppliers able to track when funds will arrive.

💰 Real-Time Budget Tracking

• Link invoices and payments to specific projects for a single source of truth.

• Line Producers can update working budgets and connect them directly to payments.

• Slash the time spent on cost reporting admin everything you need is in one place.

👉 Whether you’re running a short film or a multi-million-rand series, Bloo Money helps productions stay compliant, transparent, and financially stress-free.

💻 Working with Digital Marketing Freelancers: Some tips from Tshimologo Leburu

We’re excited to share this week’s contributor piece from Tshimologo Leburu.

She’s a freelance digital marketing specialist with over four years’ experience supporting companies in global markets. She is also the founder of Virtual Africa, a client acquisition agency that connects talented South African digital marketing freelancers with opportunities worldwide.

Driven by the need for flexibility and autonomy, more individuals are turning to short-term, project-based work instead of traditional full-time jobs.

However, as much businesses are adopting remote with freelancers many are still hesitant either because they’ve tried to work with a freelancer in the past and the experience wasn’t great.

Or they haven’t adapted their processes which are tailored for full-time employees to work with freelancers.

Here are Tshimologo’s key lessons for small business owners when working with freelancers remotely:

✨ Clarity is everything be clear about your goals, deadlines, and results. The more specific you are, the better the freelancer can deliver.

📞 Regular check-ins build trust weekly calls or quick WhatsApp updates help keep projects on track and avoid confusion.

🎨 Give space for creativity trust freelancers to do their work. Share feedback and ideas, but avoid micromanaging results are stronger when freelancers can take ownership.

💸 Be upfront about budgets and timelines transparency avoids awkward surprises and sets the tone for a professional, fair collaboration.

Why this matters? freelancers in South Africa are brimming with talent but they need businesses willing to trust, collaborate, and create space for them to shine.

When done right, small businesses get world-class support at affordable rates, and freelancers get opportunities to grow their careers globally.

🚀 Creative Opportunities to look out for

Goethe-Institut Project Space 2026 Open Call | Deadline: 30 September 2025

The GPS grant offers up to R100,000 to support three artistic projects in rural and peri-urban South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini in 2026. Projects should engage local communities and focus on professional arts production, including collaboration between rural and urban spaces. → Apply here: https://www.goethe.de/ins/za/en/kul/kul/g26.html#i10899965

🚀 What’s Next

Stay tuned for our next newsletter we’ve got exciting things on the horizon 💙

📅 October Event Coming Soon – We’ll be announcing our next event shortly, building on the momentum to create more spaces where creativity meets finance.

🔌 Ecosystem Opportunities – We’ll also be sharing more opportunities across the wider creative and fintech ecosystem, so you don’t miss out on grants, partnerships, and platforms designed to help your work grow.