TEAMWORK

Since we share the producing and directing credits on the projects that we do together, people often ask us how that works. Do we split every task exactly down the middle? Do we make every single decision together? Do we take make a tidy little chart to keep track of who is doing the things that neither on of us likes to do but that are necessary to get the work done? Thankfully, the answer to all of these questions is no. Really, the point of having a production partner is to do less work, not more - so we are both fortunate to have found someone that we can trust to do the things that she says she will do and to make decisions that the other will likely be pleased with. Although we communication a lot about what we are each doing, we do not have to micro-manage each other every step of the way. We’re also both believers in the two-heads-are-better-than-one school of thought – although I say that with the caveat that one obviously has to like the head that one is collaborating with! But fortunately for us, Michaela and I have found that working as a team allows us not only to do things that we would not have been able to do alone, and also makes the doing of them a lot more fun.

Perhaps one of the reasons that our collaboration feels very natural to us is because we are both of a mind that documentary filmmaking is such a collaborative medium already. Let’s face it: it is very unlikely that you are going to be able to film anything interesting if you barge onto the scene with potential protagonists and expect to be let into their lives immediately or you approach a topic or a person without a genuine curiosity and willingness to learn something new. Patience with and honesty in building relationships, a true desire to learn about and understand other people’s points of view, an open-ness to doing things differently than you might have imagined: these are all things that are key not only in documentary filmmaking but in a co-producing and co-directing relationship as well. Also crucial to both documentary filmmaking and a successful creative partnership is a willingness to check your ego at the door and to remember that - while your voice as a filmmaker and your point of view are obviously important – ultimately the filmmaking process is not about you and what a great director you are. It’s about making a great film, and humbly and gratefully accepting the help of others on the way. Without the help of others, a documentary filmmaker is pretty much sunk.

So how does all this work for us, practically-speaking? Well… we brainstorm, divide up and carry out tasks as our individual circumstances and interests dictate, discuss some more, reorganize and move forward based on the results of our work, talk again, and continue on in that vein until the project is done. In this way, the film evolves into something that we both have ownership of. This general approach continues regardless of whether we are working with a larger crew in the field, or whether I am filming and she is doing sound, as we are for this project.

More power to teamwork!