From a One-Year Plan to a Decade in Shanghai
Graeme Kennedy left a 4,000-person town in the Canadian Rockies at 18, lived in Thailand and London, and arrived in Shanghai in 2014 on a one-way ticket — expecting to stay for one year. A decade later, the city is the place he calls home, he runs his own photography business, and he is part of the team behind a James Beard Award-nominated food documentary series.
Kennedy's first five years in Shanghai were spent in marketing and creative direction roles for a British international school and a luxury hospitality company. Photography had always been a side passion, and as he took on weekend and evening shoots, he hit a practical obstacle: without a business of his own, he could not legally accept payment for the work. He registered his photography company in 2019.
The early months were lean. Kennedy says he earned less than 20,000 RMB a month at first — barely enough for rent, food and camera gear. He took on many projects for free, shooting friends' restaurants, gyms and bars, to build a portfolio and win referrals. Within a year, the strategy produced bigger, paid jobs and a working life marked by slow months and windfall months alike.
Food became the focus of his work, and a collaboration with writer Christopher St. Cavish became the YouTube documentary series SaintCavish. Bootstrapped on a tight budget with a crew of fewer than five, its first season drew 15 million views and earned a James Beard Award nomination. Kennedy says Shanghai now feels like home — not because of the original plan, but because of the community and career he built there.
What Kennedy's Shanghai Career Shows About Freelancing and Food Media
The facts in this section come from Kennedy's own account of his career. The analysis is NewsFormal's reading of what they show.
Why Going Freelance in China Required a Company First
Kennedy's story highlights a procedural reality for independent workers in China: clients cannot legally pay an unregistered freelancer. His 2019 decision to set up a company was partly a compliance move that unlocked income from clients already waiting to pay him. As a bootstrap playbook, it is familiar — he deliberately accepted free or low-paid work to build a portfolio and referrals, accepting thin earnings of under 20,000 RMB a month in the hope of landing larger jobs later.
SaintCavish and the Export Market for Chinese Food Stories
The series' performance — 15 million views in its first season and a James Beard nomination, with a crew of under five — suggests real Western demand for ground-level reporting on Chinese food and culture. It also demonstrates a working model for independent documentary: tight budgets, local access and storytelling that moves beyond politics and headline narratives.
What a Decade in Shanghai Says About 'Coming Home'
Kennedy's description of home as something built through community and experience, rather than fixed by birthplace, is common among long-term expats. His decision to stay was less a grand plan than an accumulation of social and professional roots — a useful lens for anyone weighing what is supposed to be a temporary move abroad.
Lessons From Kennedy's Freelance Pivot Abroad
Kennedy's account is one person's experience, but it contains concrete lessons for creatives considering a freelance career abroad.
- Sort out the legal structure before taking paid work: Kennedy says he could not accept payments until he registered his own company in 2019 — after clients were already waiting to pay him.
- Budget for a thin start: he reports earning under 20,000 RMB a month initially, while covering rent, food and equipment costs.
- Treat free and low-paid work as an investment: shooting friends' restaurants, gyms and bars built the portfolio and referrals that produced larger paid jobs within a year.
- Local, culture-specific content can travel: SaintCavish's first season reached 15 million views and a James Beard nomination with a team of fewer than five people.
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