Act 4 Internal Action: BURYING THE EX
– DIG DEEPER by David Johnson
As the founder of Act 4, I feel it is important to talk about why we are making one particular film on our slate, BURYING THE EX.
We formed Act 4 to produce political and socially relevant content to spur action.
So how does BURYING THE EX fit our mandate?
No, we are not making a ridiculous case for zombie rights… Or more importantly making light of the values we respect.
In this case, the value and the action is an internal Act 4 action, this is about support and encouragement within our team. Act 4’s very own Alan Trezza wrote the screenplay and it turns out he has written a charming story that will make for a fun and hopefully a successful film. This will be Alan’s first produced full length feature film as a writer and we are excited to see this come to fruition.
It has been gratifying to watch the project come together, starting with the attachment of the perfectly suited, legendary director Joe Dante (‘GREMLINS’, ‘The Twilight Zone’). From the terrific producing partners, to the agents who have stepped up to help put together a wonderful cast and the below-the-line talent, it’s all coming together.
Start date set for November 14, 2013 — right around Halloween…
To put this action into a larger more generalized scope, in the language of the rather dry business school literature, this is about employee empowerment; to allow team members to pursue what is important to them and thereby creating value for the individual as well as the company. It starts by having some discretionary power, and responsibility, to make decisions.
Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Marshall Goldsmith, speaks to this point, addressing employers, essentially saying that…
…it is not enough for a company to just to say it gives discretion to its employees, rather the employer needs to provide a safe environment for creativity and allow for discretion.
I use discretion and creativity here interchangeably because in this discussion I think it is a continuum.
What I would like to see…
I would like to see examples of employers’ encouragement of empowerment and of employees’ initiatives to do so. It doesn’t always start with the employer from the top down — ours didn’t — but the environment has to be safe for it. If you have personal stories of this from either perspective, please share with us and if you don’t, maybe think about whether you should?
And, wish us luck on the film!
How to Act…
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DIG DEEPER Contributions from David Johnson, Edited and Formatted by Adam Paul Smith, Image by Adam Paul Smith
All content herein © 2013 Act 4 Entertainment, LLC
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