The Great Acting Blog: “Fruitful Collaboration”

“What makes a fruitful collaboration?” – Ted Hope.

The above question is one of 25 plus questions Ted Hope asked new filmmakers to answer on his blog this week. Most of the questions are equally apt when put to an actor, and instead of trying to answer all of his questions, I have tried to answer the above question only. Collaboration is extremely important to me, and I have experienced many which have been fruitful, and for me, fruitful means that the end product was work I was proud of, that it advanced my interests, that turning up for work each day was a joy, and that I come away really wanting to work with my collaborators again. I have also experienced collaborations where the opposite was true.

 But what are the defining characteristics of fruitful collaborations?

Well, firstly, mutuality – each individual in the production sees that the success of the production as a whole, serves their own personal goals. When an individual ceases to think that the production is serving their goals, their energy and enthusiasm drop, they are less amenable, possibly surly, they seem unhappy, and complain (and worse in extreme examples). Of course, the opposite is true when the individual believes in the production, they are focused, energised and have an enormous appetite for work, they enjoy the work even if it’s extremely demanding, and we generally produce better results when we enjoy what we are doing. Therefore, the actor has a responsibility to choose to do work he actually wants to do, rather than doing something simply because he was offered a job – there’s no point moaning when you find yourself in the wrong place as a result of your own choosing. And how can an actor choose which work to do, and which work to leave alone? By defining his perfect work and measuring everything against that definition, and it’s really not that hard to do: what are your favourite films? Your favourite plays? Which parts are you burning to do? Who are your favourite actors? And what are they doing that makes them your favourite? When you get scripts for an audition, which ones excite you, and which ones seem like a drag? It’s knowing what you enjoy doing, and why.

 Respect for your colleagues is another component of fruitful collaboration, and I don’t mean respect in the platitudinal sense of “respect your elders”, I mean that the respect comes naturally; you respect your colleagues for who they are, the work they’ve done, the way they conduct themselves, the things they say. Again, being around people we respect energizes us, it encourages us to improve, we want to be at our best, and we produce better work, which, in turn, creates a feeling of self-respect, which leads to ever greater accomplishment, and therefore constant improvement. And of course, all of this is underpinned by conduct; whether you have the discipline to keep time, learn lines*, prepare correctly, and if you’re going to speak, it’s making sure you’ve got the strength of mind to articulate what you want to say concisely and precisely as opposed to self-indulgent waffle (which other people will allow you to get away with because they are well mannered), and it’s making sure you mean what you say, and if you say you’re going to do something, then make sure you do it – ensure your words carry meaning. All of this builds trust, and trust is utterly crucial for a fruitful collaboration – again: think about a time when you have worked with someone you don’t trust, and think of a time when you’ve worked with someone you do trust, and note the difference. Ethical conduct and good manners are extremely important in building trust.

And support your collaborators even if they are working on something that you are not involved with. See if you can help them succeed, or even offer a display of encouragement, which, in this era of social media, can mean something as simple and effortless as sharing their work with your own friends. Check in with them, continue conversations in between work – this can be really invaluable, it’s a form of work, even if it means just discussing films (etc) you admire, it helps to stay tuned in to eachothers’ wave length.

 In the end, a fruitful collaboration stems from a group of people who cherish what they do, and are committed to all that that implies. I say we must cherish our work, for me, there is no point doing anything else, as Stanislavsky said; if you don’t love it, don’t touch it.

What do you think?

 *I’m slightly amazed that I’m even having to mention learning lines, many moan about it as though they being treated unfairly, and some just lack the discipline to knuckle down and learn them: if you haven’t got the discipline to learn lines, you probably haven’t got the discipline to be an actor.

 Tilda Swinton got her big break by collaborating, read my blog, “Become That Person You’ve Been Looking For”. http://thegreatactingblog.posterous.com/become-that-person-youve-been-looking-for

And here’s Ted Hope’s original blog 25+ Things I Want To Know From New Filmmakers

http://blogs.indiewire.com/tedhope/archives/25_things_i_want_to_know_from_new_filmmakers/