Collaboration
Before starting work at New Community I had worked almost entirely by myself, everything from pre-production to production & everything in between. This solo endeavour created a variety of challenges as you would expect, being the audio engineer, director of photography, producer, editor & director creates a creative tension making it hard to make unbiased decisions that will serve the project as a whole.
One of the most exciting parts of any project for me is that early stage where you are still dreaming up ideas, when it’s still in its raw embryonic form, untouched and fresh. This stage comes to life in particular within collaboration, bouncing ideas off of each other, moulding and shaping the heart of the project allowing it to breathe & flourish and have the best start possible.
So many great innovations have been birthed out of collaboration, take the Apple 1 computer created by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak & Ron Wayne back in 1976, a small team producing what would later go on to be a product used by millions all across the world. I think as humans we were made to create together in partnerships and collaboration, bringing unique experiences and views on the world coming together to produce beautifully rich art.
I am beginning to learn that there is a beautiful humility in collaboration, a deep focus on the end creation rather than the individual creators.
When working on the ‘Miracle’ Christmas production last year, I was struck by the power & potential of collaboration, stepping back watching the creative team come together was incredible, below are all the creatives involved.
Miracle Collaborators:
Chris Smyth / Creative Director & Writer
Pete Coggan / Film-Maker & Composer
Josh Hailes / Motion Titles & Bass
Suzy Casserdy / Lighting Design & ‘Hippo’ Operator
Sam Whitehead / Lighting Set-Up
James Stenning / Lighting Set-Up
Sarah Amankwah / Spoken Word Artist
Alice Goble / Actress
Daniel Graham / Actor
John Piper / Actor
Leila Lawton / Vocals
Joshua Thorpe / Vocals
Nathan Brown / Sound Engineer
Bowo / Runner
Josh Hales / Drums
Ally Taylor / Trumpet
Tamsin Calder Brown / Violin
Karen Barnes / Cello
Sophie Smyth / Cello
Jack Frederick / Film Audio Mix Engineer
As a creative team we love getting to collaborate with other creatives, artists who think slightly different to us and will dream up an idea that we would have otherwise missed. 2017 is going to be a year for daring projects, taking more risks and creating in ways that we haven't yet explored, if you would be interested in interning with us or collaborating on a project then ping us an email at [email protected].
