Groups to follow

There are many ways to network within the film industry and I have there are new groups almost daily that form and start picking up more people.

One of the film groups that I follow is Women in Film and Television. Now of course you'd think this is only open to women however men are allowed. This is a great community that brings strong women and men together to network and plan future creativity. On the website, there is an events calendar that lists all of the WIFT gatherings which has easily been made at the same time every month (4th Wednesday of every month).

However this is not a woman's casual book club. This group does have memberships and different levels that include benefits starting as low as $40. Some great benefits that are included in all packages are discounts on products/services and the ability to attend all events and also participate in programs that WIFT provide.

As a producer, I tend to look for groups specifically to help me find people that are like me and could help me and teach me what they have learned and the mistakes they have made. A great place that I have been keeping notes on is the Producers Guild of America.

The benefits alone from this group are really great in helping in the side of social networking. There are also medical benefits, discounts on seminars, screening program and more. However it is not that simple to become a part of the group. As this is a very high and dignified group, there are strict requirements that include having a producing title in a motion picture or television or new media title. The requirements are broken down even more so on their website but let it be known that there is a heavy price to be a part of the guild. Just standard producers council costs $1,125 to apply.   

So You Wanna Be in the PGA - Episode One from Producers Guild on Vimeo.

Overall, my strategic plan is to find more groups that are like WIFT that build on community and social networking and to one day be a part of the PGA. I feel the PGA is the big time leagues and once there, everyone will know that I am serious about the work I am doing, if they don't believe so already. 

Ted Talks To Me!

Ted Talks is an interesting place overall if you have never been. What Ted is, is a way to let people's thoughts, creative abilities or logical rambles be displayed in a way that is able to go to millions of viewers.

Now you maybe thinking to yourself, why put this up on a 'production handbook' blog; where is the production part? Well let me tell you what Ted has done for me. Simply put, Ted has taken all those thoughts fighting and circling within my head and placed them in someone else's who can talk the talk. One of these great people is Jeremy Rifkin.

Jeremy Rifkin made a video called "The Empathic Civilization" in which he talks about things such as mirror neurons, soft wiring within a human, selfhood and much more. Many of you must think 'Gosh, now she is bringing science in! I am so lost'. Well fear not my friends for I have a reason for everything.

Something that Jeremy talks about that really caught my attention is being soft wired for sociability. The way he explains it is throughout the differences in time. In caveman days, you would shout and whoever was around was the only civilization that was known to exist. Within medieval days, of course they knew of other kingdoms but the distant ones were more so like aliens. Now come to today's world and everyone knows everyone in some way because of technology; twitter, date sites, face book and other social platforms have broken down those walls and created a broader emotion within us.

A great example that Jeremy used to describe today's effect on being soft wired was through the Haiti tragedy. A few hours after the earthquake happened, thousands of dollars and people were there to help because of what they had seen on the news or read on twitter.

Understanding this type of psychology I believe will help me transform and better business and overall a better understanding of what the customer needs based on what they see and hear.