Last Thursday iconic independent filmmakers Robert Redford and George Lucas sat down to be interviewed by renowned film critic Leonard Martin at the Sundance Film Festival Power of Stories panel. I was fortunate enough to be present for this discussion which was titled, “The Visions of Independence.” It was clear from the conversation that these two men believe in the power of independence and have experienced firsthand the value in controlling the creativity of their projects.
As an Entrepreneur turned Angel
Advice From Robert Redford:
"I can't think of anything more exciting as a kid but to hear the words 'Once upon a time,'" shared Redford. For him, those words represented a world of endless possibilities that led to wherever ones imagination wanted to take them. When we think of that from an entrepreneurial perspective, the word “Startup” has that same effect. It represents entering a world of endless possibilities.
Redford shared that there are three critical elements he looks for when considering a new project: what’s the story, who are the characters, and what’s the emotion? When looking to start a business we should be asking ourselves three very similar questions: what’s the story of this company as to why it should exist, who are the right people to bring in as my executive team to help me tell this story, and what is the emotional need we will solve with our product or service offering?
Robert Redford shared a story that took place in 1969 during the making of his first independent film, “Downhill Racer.” In this movie Redford played the part of a cocky downhill racer and he desperately wanted to find a way to let the audience experience the thrill of skiing downhill at 70 to 80 miles per hour. He tried strapping cameras to knees and helmets but nothing would work. Then he approached one of the stunt men who was an Olympic skier and asked him if he would be willing to hold the camera himself while racing down the hill. Redford shared that when the man said yes he was worried that he had just organized this man’s death. But they strapped a microphone to his boot and handed him a camera and down the hill he raced. "I'll never forget that moment when I saw that scene of him running the downhill like you were the character," Redford said. "That was the result of independent film."
It’s that passion to tell a story the way you want it told, and the vision of what the end picture needs to look like, that every great entrepreneur will need to have. They have to be willing to think outside the box, to not give up, to not take no for an answer, and to relentlessly look for solutions to whatever problems arise. They have to be able to see what the end picture should look like, inspire others to see it too, and then work like crazy to turn that picture into a reality.
Advice From George Lucas:
While Redford was drawn in by ‘Once upon a time', George Lucas was drawn in by "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....”
Aside from being the man to bring us the likes of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, George Lucas is best known for the incredible technology developed through his companies ILM, Skywalker Sound and Lucasfilms. But Lucas was very clear to express that he never developed technology just for the sake of having cool technologies. He developed technologies solely for the purpose of solving existing problems that were inhibiting him from telling a story the way he imagined the story should be told. Lucas shared, “I had a puppet and wanted it to move around and have sword fights. So I went about trying to make the technology to be able to do it.” He went on to share, "I wanted to make the process easier and to open up the ability to do more with your imagination.”
One of the critical mistakes so many Entrepreneurs make is getting sucked into trying to create something cool for the sake of being cool, rather than finding a problem that needs to be solved first, and then creating a product or service that can solve that problem. George Lucas never took that approach. He made it very clear that every visual effect he invented was developed specifically to allow them to do a particular shot or a particular movie. He identified the need first and then created the solution. If every entrepreneur out there took that same approach there would far less startups that fail.
Lucas also shared his concern that movies and entertainment today have become a bit of a circus. He shared that many movies are akin to doing a documentary on puppies where someone takes a box of puppies to a busy freeway and throws one puppy out on the road to watch it get run over, and then they throw the next puppy out, and so on and so forth, and then they call it an amazing movie. The emphasis has become more on shock factor and spectacle rather than telling great stories.
A great business should always have a great story it tells. It should have a great name and a great brand identity that draws people to it, but behind that name and brand there needs to be a great product or a great service that gives something of tremendous value to its customers. Companies that resort to shock factor and spectacle will never sustain. Success comes from hard work, genuine value, and a team of great people that put their hearts and souls into making it all work. Great companies should always tell great stories.
I loved hearing the stories of these two great men and I would encourage all of you to watch the entire discussion posted here. Toward the end of the session Redford shared that, "The future of the industry is in the hands of women and young people." He believes that our youth today want to be active, involved, and in charge. Combine that with women’s nurturing sensibilities and Redford states, “that’s the way to go.” I can’t help but wonder if the same sentiments apply to the future of entrepreneurship. Our youth today are incredibly bright and creative and they understand new technologies far better than most adults. And women, well I might be biased on that front, but no doubt Girl Power will play a major role in the future of entrepreneurship. In the words of the wonderful (not to mention still sexy) Robert Redford: Women and young people…”that’s the way to go.”
~Amy Rees Anderson (Follow my daily blogs at www.amyreesanderson.com/blog )
