I have been involved in many teams or projects throughout the years. The reading for this week “What is Collaboration Anyway?” is designed to highlight some standards for team work, and conflict resolution practices that can help with mainting a team. I have had many bad experiences working within a team. One in particular was for a short film that I produced (the title shall remain anonymous).
I was asked to produce a film for a friend located overseas, and she has allocated a director already. We only had about two weeks to produce the film, which is an extremely short turn around. We ended up getting another local Producer involved because of his connection with a high profile actor. Therefore, we ended up having three producers.
The production was pulled off, with a few problems that were resolved on set, and the main point taken from the on set experience is that communication is key. We had failed to communicate certain things to the crew about what was needed which reduced the quality of the production.
After the film was made, some constructive criticism was passed on to the editor and director, asking for things to be improved. A certain level of professionalism was expected, usually when feedback is received, it is evaluated and either taken on or disregarded. However the reaction from the director was unprofessional. He ended up getting drunk and calling the other local producer and verbally abusing him over the phone. I then had to resolve this conflict, and then sit with both the director and editor in order to get the film finished.
On reflection, the feedbacl could have been passed on with more tack, verbally or in person to ensure that no feelings were hurt. However, the whole experience did leave me less willing to undergo short fil projects in the future.
It also goes to show the importance or relationships. When you find good crew that you can get along with, you stick with them and use them again. This is how the industry works. If you conduct yourself in a way that is less than satifactory, people will not want to work with you again and your career will be shortlived.
After almost two years, I did end up maknig another short film, Mel and Rana, as I received a grant from HP. This experience was amazing. Communication was crucial, as again there was a very tight deadline. We had just over one week to orgnaise the short film. Everyone who came on board was aware of the tight deadline, and on set the vision was acuraly communicated. I am glad that I went through the previous experience of a short film, as it has taught me a lot about how to communicate with people.
—
Hyde, A, Linksvayer, M, Kanarinka, Mandiberg, M, Peirano, M, Tarka, S, Taylor, A Toner, A, Zer-Aviv M, 2012 ‘What Is Collaboration Anyway?’, The Social Media Reader, pp. 53-67.
