Understanding Collaboration

I came up as a union organizer, and was trained to listen and move people to action. I bring this to my work. At Time Travel Productions, we develop, produce and distribute all projects in close alliance with the people and communities reflected in the films. As part of this practice, we have always centered film participants in the creative process as the authorities on their own stories. Still, as the professionals with filmmaking skills, we have a certain amount of control over the final narrative.

*Side note: this collaborative practice is grounded in awareness that the main subjects of these films are largely invisible in our society. If we were telling stories about a group or individual with political, economic or social power, then it would not be appropriate for them to be the authorities on their own stories. In that case, independent journalistic practice would require objective observation.

I am developing a partnership on a new film for which I want to find new ways to offer expertise while ensuring that film participants truly are the primary drivers of the narrative. We will bring the skill of how to craft a story so that it is understood by a wide audience, but collaboration will need to be embedded in the very DNA of the project. 

As part of reimagining a deeper professional collaboration, I searched for synonyms and discovered there are two separate sections for "collaboration" in the Miriam-Webster thesaurus; collaboration as in "partnership" and as in "coordination."

If we think of collaboration as a partnership, then we are talking about things like cooperation, which means we work together as equals; and affiliation, which implies that we back each other up. It also implies that we are building relationships, which goes beyond transactional interactions to something more meaningful. 

I recognize that relationship and connection require an emotional commitment. We will need to engage in conversations about our differences as part of the creative process.

The second section in the Miriam-Webster thesaurus is collaboration as in coordination. The idea of coordination brings up teamwork and cooperation. There is also a logistical component to this.

We will all have very different schedules and availability, and we will be dealing with difficult topics. For the film participants to drive the narrative on screen and in production, I am aware that we will need some some shared guidelines to inform our process. I ask myself, what structures can we create to provide accountability? 

If this type of deep collaboration is resonating, and you are interested in exploring how we can support your storytelling needs, reach out to schedule a discovery call.