Wayne makes the world of the arts his business

Wherever his career has taken him, though, he says that the secret to his success is that he treats the arts as a serious business venture.

“Too often the arts world is seen as a folly or something that you do for fun or that you have to supplement with other work to make your art but I have always seen myself as being in business,” he says.

“The arts is my business, I am entrepreneurial in what I do and I use my skill set to build new partnerships or enter new markets.

“The first question I ask myself, though, when I’m embarking on any new project is ‘is this a viable way to make a living?’”

Wayne graduated from Bretton Hall with a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Dance and worked extensively in both the UK and the USA as a dancer and choreographer.

In 2006 he retrained as a film maker and in 2006 launched the Wayne Sables Project, which has become one of Yorkshire’s premiere multi media companies specialising in combining the arts and technology within the professional, corporate, community and educational environments.

His film Familiar Struggle, choreographed and performed by Barnsley dancer Keira Martin, was named Best Experimental Film at the Montreal Independent Film Festival 2021 and also saw Wayne take the best experimental director prize at the LA Sun Film Fest 2021.

This was followed by Fluidity, a documentary about Doncaster’s only drag group, and Hidden Stories from Westgate Voices, the documentary about the way in which music became central to Wakefield Westgate’s successful regeneration.

Last autumn saw the launch of The Glass House, a touring £60,000 interactive installation funded by Arts Council England, Cast in Doncaster, Flux Rotherham and both Wakefield and Barnsley Council.

The piece had a debut at Cast in Doncaster and then went on to win acclaim in Barnsley, Rotherham and Wakefield, paving the way for a national tour later this year.

Wayne has also been invited to join BAFTA as a Connect member in recognition of his contribution to the industry to date and in recognition of a promising career ahead.

“My dad told me right at the start of all this that it didn’t matter what I did but that I had to invest 110 per cent into it no matter what,” Wayne says.

“I have worked in fast food places and I have worked in night clubs collecting glasses but I never allowed that to block the route I decided to take.

“The aim has always been to seize every opportunity and be the best version of myself that I can be, making the most of the resources that I have.”

Having his own family also helped Wayne to focus on creating something that was commercially viable.

“I think because I do take it seriously, I have built a reputation where people want to pay me for what I do, which is what it has to be about,” he says.

“When you see yourself not just as an artist but as a business, you approach things with a slightly different perspective, you ask yourself what is the artistic value, does it match the ambition and does the budget allow everyone to be paid fairly.

“It helps too to develop a true sense of the value about the work you are doing and what you’re worth which helps other people to take you more seriously.

“Once I was able and confident enough to articulate what I thought about my work and my values, I started getting more meaningful work and was able to develop the projects I wanted to do.

“I’d definitely not saying anybody who has a different model is wrong but for me this works .

“I have made the arts my business and that means I am making a living out of something I really enjoy.”