boardrooms...

As we speak my immediate future--and that of my wife and four babies--is being decided in a room very much like the one pictured above.  In fact the similarities are eerie.  

This is one of the difficult things with working to be in the motion-picture arts while maintaining some sense of autonomy or creative freedom.  No matter how 'independent' you think you are, you're always going to have some kind of boardroom looming over you.

Of course, if you work on the 'inside' you lose your independence but because you're part of the 'family'--regardless of how dysfunctional--your future tends to be closely tied to the future of the firm.  This, of course, is why many large corporations are less effective or productive than they might otherwise be because the people on the inside have to focus on staying 'in favor' and in the 'good books' of those who sit around the aforementioned tables.

So instead of just focusing on doing their job well they have to focus (as well) on staying tuned into and in harmony with the various 'family dynamics' that are realities at their particular corporation.

So I, as and indie-producer, have much of what my life and work looks like governed by the decisions at said table and the same is true of those who are less independent, or more 'owned'.

The upside for me?  A little more autonomy and a bit more of a ruthless ethic when it comes to whether or not I get to keep working.  So long as I 'perform' and 'deliver' I should be able to stay in the good graces of the corporations with which I have a working relationship.  It really comes down (75% or so) to my performance.  The downside?  Well, since I'm not 'family' I will not be treated as such which means that there's a chance for me to be dealt with a little callously or unfairly.  That's the price of independence.

The upside for them?  They have a team of many to work with and many times the resources of your typical indie producer.  Vast resources that can turn their ideas into reality MUCH quicker than would happen if you were working outside the system.  The downside?  Well, they have more committees and focus groups and working lunches than you can imagine.  They spend a lot of time talking with their team, building consensus, leveraging interests and making sure their neck isn't stuck out too far.  It's just a different kind of game.

Seems to me that it's not so much which way is 'better'--though if 'output' is your measurement those working within the system are much more successful than those working without--but rather which way most closely suits the way you are wired and want to work.  Some people work better in a corporate structure and some work better alone.

The thing is, the resources and leverage of the corporation will always, at some point, be needed by the independent and the ingenuity and quick turnaround time and focused work ethic of the independent will often been needed by the corporation.

Which leads to days like today where an independent sits on pins and needles while, at the corporation, a meeting takes place around a table.

It's a crazy, crazy world.

T