August 19th, 2016

The significance of practical creativity is what defines business, culture, and even personal dreams.
 “Without vision, people perish.”
    Here at The Meeting Place, we are launching a new monthly media series called The Blue Door Project. Within this series, we will spotlight young entrepreneurs who’ve had the gumption to create and achieve big innovation all for a greater cause. Each month we'll pick from a sleuth full of these examples and profile them on Instagram and within this blog.  We also hope to use The Blue Door Project to create transparency within how we give and distribute our donations with a quarterly update. So here we go!    
    
Up first, for today’s success story we sat down and interviewed the leaders of The Initiative Production Company.  Led by a team of 30 somethings, this group has chosen a different path. Each member works off raised support, taking no wage to do what they love; making movies that impact the world. So what were we looking to get out of this group of creative innovators? Three things: their advise on how to get started, how to work within a team, and finally, how to face and confront fear.
    
It's been said that everyone is on some level creative, but only a few have learned how to hone their skills, and even fewer, how to take those skills and make an impact.  I keep coming back to this quote by Henry David Thoreau, 
“If you’ve built castles in the sky they needn’t be lost, that’s where they should be, now put foundations under them.” 

    Confidence is built within the members of The Initiative within the context of community. To develop, even in their differences, a few members of the group have formed what I would liken to a modern CS Lewis, JR Tolkien writing group called The Regents. This group started 3 years ago in the heart of Brisbane; the name being after the place they’d meet to write, The Regent Theatre. 
“With writing, writers block is caused by fear.”  says Charis Joy Jackson,  "The point of the group is to inspire each other to keep writing even during times of doubt." 

 Commitment to the task of writing, was the initial draw for the group, then providing a space for feedback and encouragement. For those of you who too, are writers, take this piece of advise to heart: Don’t stop writing, you will analyse yourself out of the flow and into perfection.
CS Lewis said, “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original; whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will nine times out of ten become original without ever having noticed it. "

The Regents now meet, here at TMPC on Saturday mornings, and we are thrilled every week to see them!

    As a production company, when writing a screenplay where multiple writers are involved, preferences must be laid aside for the greater good.  The leadership feels the team itself must agree on where they are headed first, then take premeditative measures to set goals in light of their destination.
    "Writing must resonate. If it resonates it’s grounded in something with emotion. That is how you sort good ideas from the mediocre. When you write a world you must play by its rules. Writing a screenplay is much different, it’s visual. Know your craft, and when breaking the rules do it purposefully and not accidentally, bringing attention to the audience.” Jason Solari

    Our final question for The Initiative Pro was:  What advise would you give to young creatives on facing the obstacle of fear? Fear has many faces: success, failure, not being enough… it has in fact slain many creatives.  Their advise? Process, and air out an idea with a group of trusted friends. Then move on to people outside your creative circle, and even outside your preferred style for honest feedback. You know that you’ve found a winning idea when you, your harshest critic, can speak out an idea, and see that the feedback is the response you were hoping to get: impact.
“Just try. You’ll never know what you’re capable of. If you have the fear of measuring up, come to the writers group!” Charis Jackson.

 "Confidence comes with time, and seeing people respond to you. Do it. Try it. Learn. Try again. I love this quote by Leonardo Da Vinci, 'Art is never finished, only abandoned.'" Brenden Bell

"Fear will always be your companion. When you believe in it it will destroy you.
Do film, don’t just talk about it. Creative people move forward. If you aren’t moving it will kill your creativity.” Jason Solari

    Here at TMPC we toast the work, and the writing styles of The Initiative Production Company. In selecting our first group to spotlight, the word "visioneering" came to mind. This means a clear mental picture of what could be and the conviction that it should be. Having heard and experienced the back story of the groups first full length feature film, The Umbrella, there is no more fitting a word. Finally, the group recently finished filming their second feature film, The Out of the Woods Project. This film is about a man suffering from feeling lost in the woods of his own life and fighting to keep the one thing that’s ever mattered to him, his family. If you like what you’ve heard, or if your interested in their latest project, check out their website, https://theinitiativepro.wordpress.com. theinitiativepro.wordpress.com