THE POWER OF NICE
Open Sky is a small production company with big ambitions. We’re artist-led and one thing we have in common with lots of production companies of our size and set up, is a shortage of time and money with which to make the kind of projects that we aspire to. Happily, we’re finding that what we need for the quality and scale of our productions to increase, whether that’s film, theatre or digital theatre, is quite simple. It’s nice people.
When we’re looking for new collaborators it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of trying to work with whoever is currently having a moment in the sun or someone whose commercial success is undeniable or someone who promises that this job will lead to a promised land of future projects. Using such criteria has never worked for us. Instead, we look for collaborators who have the right talent for the job but who are also humble, honest and fun to be around. In a word, nice. We would never hold profile, success or opportunity against someone but if they have all that but they’re not nice, they’re not for us.
In the early stages of a project the nice ones will allow fragile early concepts to flourish without crushing them with ego and self-obsession. They’ll encourage you to step into new areas where you’d otherwise be too nervous to tread. When the creative process gets hard or baffling, instead of explosions of stress and drama, there’ll be camaraderie in the face of adversity. Such collaborations create a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm to go on to produce and distribute the work.
Similarly, this energy carries over into rehearsals and production. The nice ones are always the most hard-working crews, the bravest performers and those most committed to ensuring the work is the absolute best that it can be. The set or stage become places of quiet industry, the gentle hum of effective cooperation only interspersed with occasional cheers when something succeeds and outbursts of sympathetic or self-deprecating laughter when something misfires. It creates a safety net of positive thinking so we can take artistic risks knowing that, even if we fall, some smiling individual will catch us. That means failure is not only painless but also leads to the vital learning that ensures next time (or the time after that) it does work.
Inevitably such friendships, forged in creative crucibles, age well. You stay in touch. You go to see each other’s work. And this leads to another great benefit of nice people. They meet and recognise other nice people! When you need new collaborators or when you’re diversifying the kind of artists you want to work alongside or when you’re simply looking for new ideas to spark your own creativity, getting recommendations or references from nice people makes it so much easier. Your network grows. Your capacity to make work grows. Your perspective is broadened. Investing in new people and new projects becomes less risky, more fun and more likely to produce startlingly good work.
So don’t talk to us about fame or fortune or future glory. It’s kinda boring. But if you want to talk about making great work with nice people, we’re right there with you.
Cast and crew of The Ceremony, part of of MicroPlays: Polarity by Open Sky, photo credit Kie Cummings