Why we must take risks: success from uncertainty

The article most recommended by Harvard Business Review readers last year was an interview with Ed Catmull of Pixar, the animation company behind Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and WALL-E.

Catmull talks about a studio head who thinks his problem is not in finding people, but ideas. Catmull disagrees, calling this "...a misguided view of creativity that exaggerates the importance of the initial idea in creating an original product."

His conclusion has a lot of resonance for business:

"...we as executives have to resist our natural tendency to avoid or minimize risks, which, of course, is much easier said than done. In the movie business and plenty of others, this instinct leads executives to choose to copy successes rather than try to create something brand-new. That's why you see so many movies that are so much alike. It also explains why a lot of films aren't very good. If you want to be original, you have to accept the uncertainty, even when it's uncomfortable, and have the capability to recover when your organization takes a big risk and fails. What's the key to being able to recover? Talented people! Contrary to what the studio head asserted at lunch that day, such people are not so easy to find."

Success comes from taking risks - avoiding them leads to mediocrity.

Straight8 Teaser

Straight8 have released a teaser for this year's competition featuring half a second from each of the 175 films submitted.

You can see a shot from my entry, "Little Russia, CB1" at 0:57, an external shot of the Moving Pictures tattoo parlour on Mill Road, Cambridge:

Seeing RED at Cambridge Arts Picturehouse

I've been stuck in the house with laryngitis and a chest infection my doctor says could be pleurisy, so I jumped at the opportunity to get out as soon as I was starting to feel better. "Jumped the gun" might be a more accurate description as I turned up on Sunday thinking it was taking place then. A smirking usher put me straight.

Run by the Film and Digital Media Exchange, presented by 4K London who have one of the first RED One cameras in the UK, this was a chance to see RED One in action, followed by a hands on
demo at Anglia Ruskin University. Having heard the latter was full up, I'd committed to leaving after the initial event, so I was a little peeved when they announced the invitation-only session was now open to all. Having said that, the pros in the audience were talking a language a little beyond my understanding. Perhaps it was just as well I didn't turn up and embarrass myself.

The demo impressed me; apparently shot in the City of London at the weekend in a variety of light conditions and with no sign of the noise I noticed in the 2K version of Blade Runner projected here before Christmas.

straight8 "art" screening - Chiswick

Finally, nearly six months after delivering the completed film and soundtrack to an office in Soho less than a week after Anna's birth, "One Across", my entry for Straight8 2007, premieres. This is the first film I've had selected for exhibition after three years of trying.

We arrived in Chiswick with five minutes to spare, delayed by roadworks on the outskirts of Cambridge. Happily, three different groups of friends are already there. Not knowing (or recognising) each other, they are spread around the auditorium. Should I invite them all to sit together or leave them where they are? The films start soon - there isn't time.

A selection of seven all-time straight8 greats sets the scene. Nick Scott's "Earth To Earth" leads off with its amusing story of a man growing electrical appliances on his allotment. Diego Arredondo's typically impressive stop-motion-with-actors piece "Tequila Chamuco" follows.

The tension mounts as we're called to the stage for a round of applause, though sadly only four of the directors were able to attend. Then it's back to our seats for the first showing of the 2007 "art" selection.

"One Across" shows third and it's difficult to concentrate on the images and sound when I'm so aware of how the audience in the room are reacting. There is a slight sense of anticlimax after - I need watch it again to see if it really succeeded. Organiser Ed kindly compliments the colours and asks what camera I used (Canon 514 XL-S).

I enjoyed Matteo Pizzarello's "Knots" with it's Comedia Del'arte touches. Along with Mathew Tucker's "The Embrace" and Sam Giles's "Portrait (I May Not Know What I'm Doing)", all made great use of light, which made me feel my effort lacked some dynamism. I'm not the only one who notices forests and trees feature frequently.

Bill Rodgers's "Clapham" was cute. He later admitted to me that his actor had bailed out shortly before he was due to start filming, so he abandoned his original film. but his and still made the top 20% of films! He even used the alien mask we used in our 2006 submission "Normal".

Duncan White's "Itch" was unsettling, but it's violent conclusion wasn't universally liked. In contrast, everyone I spoke to enjoyed Coral Aiken's "Last Night, After Sex, Ali and Jerome Broke Up", with it's air of unrelenting tension. Ian McAlpin's "The Shape Of Pills, Powders and Pellets Proved Unreliable" featured a great setting and a real sense of foreboding.

The "art" selection will show again on 26th October in Nice, along with the Cannes 12 at Regard Independent.

Now we just need an idea for 2008 which will be good enough for Cannes..!

"One Across" premiering at Straight8 "Art"

My short film about Cambridge's Carter Bridge will be shown for the first time as part of this event at the end of the month:

"30 sep 2007 - straight 8 'art' - 12 loose films to pin down from the s807 crop

these films have never been seen before. be there with the filmmakers and have your questions answered in the bar. plus a few extra films, (not the cannes 12)

4.30pm the back of: george iv pub, 185 chiswick high road, london w4 2dr. it's a great venue - we used it last year"

Tickets are available from straight8.

The pub is a short walk from Turnham Green tube - and a much, much longer one from Hammersmith.

Piney Gir video big screen premiere/Straight8 selection

A big week, film-wise.

Tomorrow night Piney Gir will be launching the video to her new single "I Don't Know Why I Feel Like Cryin' But I Do" at The Renoir cinema, Brunswick Square. Also showing will be some old favourites, including the big screen debut of the video John and I made for "Great Divide". I've been preparing for the event by contacting everyone I know to find someone to transfer our beloved production to Digibeta.

After drawing a few blanks with agencies I know through work, a colleague recommended a very helpful team off Charlotte Street who produced an equally-acceptable SP version. "Just in time," I thought, breathing a sigh of relief. Within a couple of hours John e-mailed to say they would be projecting from a DVD version!

Never mind - we made a valuable new contact who kindly offered us a Digibeta version for the cost of the tape in the very near future.

The icing on the the cake was hearing from the Straight8 organisers. My solo entry (no time to sort out a team effort this year, sadly) "One Across" has been selected for their Straight8 'Art' event on a date to be announced (might be a long wait - the 2006 event was in January!).

I shot this in some time grabbed between changing nappies just after Anna was born. I had some camera problems midway through, meaning I needed to spend more time shooting. This took up most of the second day on which I'd originally planned to edit the sound, so I ended up doing that in a couple of hours before jumping on the train to Soho to deliver it.

I've no idea what it looks like - this being the point of Straight8 - so it could end up rather more arty than I intended..!