Lateral Action is a website I’m enjoying lately. It operates under the philosophy that “the most important skill for economic survival in the 21st century is creativity.”
This is a very exciting concept, especially if you have hopes of breaking into film, television, or any media production.
Co-founder Mark McGuinness wrote a great article called The 3 Critical Characteristics of the Creative Entrepreneur. Mark says they are:
1. Creativity – generating new ideas, evaluating them effectively, taking action to turn them into new products and services.
2. Collaboration – connecting and working with partners, clients, and other significant players in your network, which will probably be scattered across the globe and contain more ‘virtual’ relationships than face-to-face ones.
3. Entrepreneurship – identifying opportunities in the marketplace and using business skills to turn ideas into products into profits.
It’s easy to see how all of these principles apply to breaking into film or television. Additionally, as the business and distribution of film and TV change with technology in the coming years, embracing the above principles will help producers roll with the punches, instead of going the way of the dinosaurs.
I also really like this site because it recognizes that creative thinking is not enough. The site maintains that creative thinking must spur one into taking real action, a sentiment we whole-heartedly agree with.
Many aspiring producers we meet have very creative ideas, but never take action to bring those ideas to fruition. As we’ve talked about before when we discussed what we look for in aspiring reality TV producers, to break into film and TV, you must take concrete action to prove yourself. Those who don’t, fail.
Also refreshing is their view that the artist and the business person can and should be one in the same. I second that! Being a smart business person does not mean you need to sell out as an artist.
I think Lateral Action has a fresh, creative take on the business of creativity, and is a site every aspiring producer would do well to visit.
Thanks for the great write-up, and very interesting to get an insiders’ view of creative entrepreneurship in the film and TV industries.
No problem. Love the spirit of your website. I think one of the best things a producer can do to break into the business is to take the advice you’ve so eloquently laid out: “creative thinking must spur one into taking real action.” Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto!
[...] Post at Lateral Action.By Biagio on August 20, 2009 Mark McGuiness of Lateral Action, one of my new favorite sites, was kind enough to have me guest post on his excellent [...]
“Additionally, as the business and distribution of film and TV change with technology in the coming years, embracing the above principles will help producers roll with the punches, instead of going the way of the dinosaurs.”
Biagio, I think you’re spot on here. Particularly with regard to the changes in distribution that new technologies have ushered in. Change, of course, isn’t always bad. With the all-powerful interweb at our fingertips, there’s never been a time of greater opportunity. Taking full advantage of this opportunity necessarily means getting creative. Period. This goes for not only content, but as you mentioned, the business of getting that content to the right audiences. That’s all well and good, but I think an important question is: where exactly does creativity come from?
For example, as an indie filmmaker and entrepreneur, I know the success of my movie, Self Helpless, (and my small business) rely on both the movie’s merits and my distribution strategy. Maybe even more on my distribution strategy. And since I have very very limited funds, creativity is my best friend and only shot. So I can’t say that this is always the case, but my team and I have found that getting creative with our business strategy stems from 1) knowing our industry and 2) being brutally honest with ourselves.
The first one is pretty clear: you can’t innovate if you don’t know where your industry has been, where it is, and make an educated guess at where it’s going. You get to know this by READING. Read everything, talk with folks, and then read some more. In our case, we’re focused on the power of the Free content movement. So we’ve crafted a revolutionary, BitTorrent-first release. We’ll be releasing Self Helpless as a .torrent for seven days before we put up any DVD or digital downloads for sale. It’s risky, but it’d be riskier for us to not do something to set ourselves apart.
Second, you’ve got to be honest with yourself. How good is your film really? Who is your target audience? How do they prefer to view movies? Are they willing to pay for them? If so, when, why and at what cost? Not until you’re honest with yourself about your product, and informed as to your industry, will you be able to come to some important conclusions. Once you have your conclusions, you may be able to fill in the blanks creatively.
So I feel like if you know where you are and what you have, and where the industry is going, you start sewing the seeds of creative problem solving. Just my two cents and a shameless plug to boot! http://www.selfhelplessmovie.com, check us out.
Congrats on finishing you movie! Good luck with distribution, and thank you for the thoughtful comments. Well said!