In the wake of Sunday's Golden Globes, I was thrilled that the film Flow won the award for best full length animated feature.
Yeah, sure the main character is a cat and I love cats along with millions of YouTube and TikTok viewers, but this film was a transcendent story not limited to felines and our universal love of them.
It's the story of a diverse group of animals who, in the aftermath of a world-destroying tsunami, come together on a sailboat, work together to overcome challenges of survival in their new world of water, and discover the incredible power of collaboration.
The director, Gints Zilbalodis, explains that he wanted to introduce the long continuous takes we see all the time in live action films to an animated film, which has never been done before. And he maintains that this would allow us to experience life through the eyes of the animals. It certainly worked!
But even more impressive, this film was his directorial debut and the first time he ever had to work with a large group of people. He's very candid about how it taught him the power of collaboration in the absence of egos, and talks about how the synergy of co-creation was a powerful force beyond his wildest dreams.
And it won a Golden Globe Award.
It's also nominated for an Academy award.
I think this is a wonderfully synchronistic example of the extraordinary power of the dream that we're making a reality here at Connected.Pictures.....
Carey Corr
Thanks for sharing this amazing story. One thing that caught my eye was that this is the first film this director has made and that he was candid about learning during the process. It shows us clearly that anyone with a vision to create should be allowed to attempt their creation. All too often in the old paradigm, you had to "prove" yourself to be "granted" the right to make a film. For me, this is nonsense and a sign of the undo power of a gatekeeper. That said, making a movie is a complex, expensive and demanding thing and that, wrongly for me, is used to justify not giving opportunities to first-time directors. The question isn't about whether you've done this before, it is are you willing to not pretend you know, when you don't? In essence, can you put your ego aside and learn from those who have experience and want to help your vision become a reality? This is true co-creation and it doesn't just go for the new movie makers. Jennifer has a wealth of experience, is a fantastic teacher and we are glad she is part of the Connected Pictures team. Jennifer and I will be sharing some thoughts on this very subject soon. Stay tuned.
Here's to co-creation!