Doing what you love! (HOFC 2023 Story)
Once upon a time, in the minster town of Rotherham, 9 Trainee Creative Producers decided to step where only a few had boldly stepped before 😊.
They were invited to Wentworth Woodhouse to begin a 14 week programme in filmmaking and interactive events. Their task was to create this year's House of Future Creatives (HOFC) event, under the banner of the Children's Capital of Culture (CCOC).
Sounds like a lot of fun, right? However, lying in wait was a series of challenges. Not just for the trainees, but for myself and my colleagues too.
There are so many wonderful questions to explore during these CCOC programmes ...
Q. How do you create a strong team culture?
Q. How do you nurture creativity?
Q. How do you support young people?
Q. How do you step beyond your comfort zone?
I like to start these programmes with a scavenger hunt around the house. The trainees solved 8 challenges in 8 different rooms and each one is inspired by my personalised list of 8 Creative Qualities.
Confidence, Observation, Curiosity, Humility, Mindfulness, Resourcefulness, Energy and Action. I believe these qualities help trainees to reach that special place that many call "creative flow" or "in the zone".
During the scavenger hunt, I watched the trainees tackle puzzle after puzzle, each one slightly more intriguing and stranger than the last. They laughed, they stumbled, they celebrated and I got to see 9 wonderful personalities gradually reveal themselves within the group.
Hunger and respect are (in my opinion) the two things that create a great attitude in a trainee and this is what we searched for during the recruitment events. A great attitude is what equips the trainees to tackle the first month of training head on; working with new people, learning new skills, leading activities and making decisions as a team.
This year's group named themselves Whistlejacket Studios, inspired by the painting of the racehorse (Whistlejacket) by George Stubbs.
(Fun fact: Wentworth Woodhouse has played host to numerous film and TV productions, including this wonderful scene below from 'The Darkest Hour', filmed in the Whistlejacket Room.)
‘The Darkest Hour’ starring Gary Oldham
The trainees then proceeded to pitch their initial ideas for the HOFC event to a panel of "dragons" for feedback.
The first phase of training is vital in so many different ways. We gave the trainees practical lessons in designing, filming and editing content using a range of resources and techniques. We challenged them every single session, by tasking them to complete drama, photography, and directing assignments. There was also the joy of exploring the fantastic "office" environment, which included over 300 heritage rooms and 50 acres of gardens.
Getting them accustomed to stepping out of their comfort zone was the foundation stage of their training and would prepare them for what was to come. Most of the trainees were used to college projects and entry level jobs, so I think it is fair to say that none of them truly recognised the scale of their task when they signed up. After all, it was a paid job, doing something they were interested in at a beautiful stately house. I'm sure they thought it sounded like a good gig on paper but surely nobody was going to let a group of 16-25yr olds lead a huge project like this ... well, surprise! 😁
When it finally dawned on them that this wasn't an assisting role but they were actually leading the creative vision for the HOFC event, there were a few gasps in the room and a couple of them said, "We can't do that in 14 weeks! That's not possible!"
And being completely honest ... they were almost right!
When I ran this programme back in 2022, it was 24 weeks from start to finish. This time, before I even met the trainees, I had to figure out how to shave off 10 weeks and achieve the same results. I had the support of my leadership team (Steve, Andy, and Mya) but it was still a very tall order. We all knew it.
It's the price of doing what you love. It is easy to say 'yes' to things because you want to do them and the wisest of us know when to draw the line and say no. However ... I really wanted to do this. The previous programme was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done in my career. Even now, I'm still connected with those trainees and I get to watch them do amazing things in their newfound careers. I was determined to achieve that same level of success again, even if it meant I had less than a third of the time to do it. I was very transparent about the challenges with my leadership team. A little less so with the trainees. I turned up every week with a smile on my face and assured them we could do it.
Then month 2 hit me like a rock in a sock. Wham! It was clear that we hadn't had enough time to develop our initial ideas or train individuals thoroughly in the disciplined art of filmmaking. To make matters harder, I threw the entire group into the deep end with a back-to-back series of live-brief mini-film projects, spanning different areas of heritage - from architectural designs, and meditative gardens, to live events in the very centre of Rotherham.
It was sink or swim time...
... You can probably guess from the smiling faces in the photographs above, that the fun continued. I am not going to pretend every day was smooth sailing. There were a few cringe worthy mistakes, from forgetting to record audio, misplacing important kit, and massively misjudging the need for coats in downpour and below freezing temperatures but it didn't break the team's morale.
Tip: Caterpillar cake can put a smile back on just about anyone's face. But in all seriousness, the time taken to encourage the team to gel in the first few weeks, and the fun 15 minute icebreakers that we started every session with, really made all the difference. We put the people first and that can be a really hard thing to do in any organisation with ambitious tasks to complete.
At the end of Month 2, the trainees, along with other young producers from partnering CCOC organisations in Rotherham, created their own studio show to share the amazing things they had been working on. They even got an invitation to share their story with the Lord Mayor of Rotherham at the Town Hall.
This moment marked an important stage in the programme. The trainees graduated to fully fledged Creative Producers and now that their training stage was complete, they returned to the planning of the big event, this year's House of Future Creatives.
I have to say, their initial pitch-concept was very promising. The previous year's group had focused their event around a 30 minute four-wall-film experience, with creative zones to try out art, music and writing activities. It was a huge success, even managing to grab a local televised news spot...
However, this year's group wanted to weave a narrative throughout the entire event, as opposed to a single film screening.
Their concept was to host an interactive murder mystery event at Wentworth Woodhouse that had a time travel theme ('Knives Out' meets 'Back To The Future'). That does sound pretty amazing, right?
For anyone interested in taking on a similar type of challenge, I strongly recommend reading Blake Snyder's book 'Save The Cat'. I shared some chapters with the team that included a range of story-outlines, one of which is the 'Whydunnit' story model.
The biggest challenge, despite having a very cool concept, was that we had 6 weeks left to write a script, find actors, film and edit films, rehearse live acted scenes, design escape room style puzzles, while simultaneously marketing the event.
I say "we had 6 weeks left" because working relationships changed at the halfway point. The trainer/trainee relationship dissolved and everyone was assigned a role (director, writer, producer, marketer, set designer etc) and we became a single team working towards a shared vision. I maintained some control over the project but as an event producer and filmmaker.
The Creative Producers had to step up their game. The new role came with increased levels of creative freedom but also a lot of added responsibility. They quickly discovered that they had to take it up another gear. I don't think some of them even knew at the time if they had another gear to shift up into.
The team of Creative Producers in 2022 hit this point in week 10, which earned its deserved title of "the dreaded week 10". I was determined to try and avoid it somehow this year. I considered how we could dodge the bullet, so to speak, but I was unsuccessful and we hit "the dreaded week 10" again, only this time it was in week 8.
I forgot to mention earlier that this was a part-time 2 day a week programme. So when everyone turned up to our Monday session in week 8, a lot happened in 48hours.
We selected project roles. I already knew that four of the team members were gunning for the film director position. I also suspected that we had very few candidates for roles like sound recordist but we managed to negotiate a path towards everyone getting a role they were happy with.
Then we turned our attention back to the murder mystery concept.
Now, coming up with a half-decent idea shouldn't be under appreciated but when you compare how many people can come up with a good idea versus how many actually ever see that idea through to completion, you start to realise how much works goes on in the middle bit.
The reason why it was named "the dreaded week 10" is because for two straight days, the team sat in a board room asking hundreds of questions about how their idea will work, down to the tiniest detail. Most of the time, conversations went round in circles until a eureka-moment revealed itself, providing one small piece of a ginormous metaphorical jigsaw.
Developing an original event concept by committee is not easy and there is no guarantee of achieving it. Many of the other organisations operating under the CCOC banner gave their young producers supporting roles on pre-planned project briefs. It's a less risky approach.
In comparison, I offered our team at Wentworth Woodhouse a blank canvas and the opportunity to let rip. I honestly believe that is one of the most rewarding opportunities to give someone; the chance to play the way we did as children and I think it's one of the reasons so many Creative Producers volunteered to come back this year and support the new team. They knew how hard the halfway point was because they had experienced it 12 months earlier. They also knew how satisfying it was to reach the other side and they encouraged our new team to see it through.
Personally, I loved the challenge because it pushed the full extent of my own creativity - as a facilitator and a content creator - but sure enough, around 2pm on Tuesday afternoon in week 8, I started to see people's heads bow, eyelids droop, and steam coming out their ears. Their brains were frazzled.
But we did it! Two weeks later we had a 35 page script and by the following week we had our cast sorted and our filming dates scheduled.
I've got to give it to the team, they really stepped up. Even when a cast member pulled out last minute they rallied together and found a replacement within 24hours. The team's WhatsApp group was on fire that day. I was very impressed.
The cast and the additional crew members became part of our clan. More and more joined each week and it was very exciting. The prospect of making an amazing film and then showcasing it within the interactive HOFC event generated a lot of giddy anticipation.
One thing that I championed throughout was a little daring. To maintain the group's "time travel" idea, which later became exploring film eras through flashbacks, I gave them a little nudge to explore new ground, which included;
Silent film storytelling combined with silent disco headsets.
A visual effects (CGI) stunt with falling debris.
A classic car aerial drone shoot and rear projection driving scenes.
A sci-fi studio set with practical 70s film effects.
The film production itself demonstrated what a highly motivated team can achieve with very little time and budget. In a matter of weeks, they produced clips for 5 "fake" films (see below).
The event's story premise follows the career of fictional film icon Harold Marchesi. At the launch event of his new film 'Deadly Deception', someone is murdered. Each stage of the murder mystery reveals clues about Harold's past, with twists and turns behind every door.
When the tickets went live for the event, I was shocked to discover that all 300 of them were booked within a matter of days. At first, we thought it was a technical glitch but it wasn't. People were excited to come and check out the team's murder mystery event - entitled 'Scene of the Crime'.
There are so many things I would love to share about the event but if I did, the chances of anyone ever reaching the end of this article would be zero. Therefore, I've put together an event highlight video to give you a glimpse...
It was an emotional night and I'm sure anybody who has spent months working towards a project showcase like this can relate. The event opened and closed with live-acted scenes. There was a moment when a character stormed into the room and screamed "Murder!" It sent chills down everyone's spine.
I have to give a shout out to the amazing team of chaperones, who guided the attendees around the "clue rooms", which were a series of interactive spaces, with hidden clues. Each room demonstrated new and inventive ways of using Wentworth Woodhouse as an event venue.
The most magical moment was when the Creative Producers walked onto the stage at the very end of the event and bowed to a room of applauding attendees. I was standing in the middle of the room, watching their faces. I knew we had done it. It was the same feeling I had last year. Honestly, there's nothing quite like it.
“We make an awesome team!”
This is what Sophie (Creative Producer) shared at the end of the programme ...
Thank you for reading! (Seriously, that's the longest blog I've written 😊)
I am an independent digital skills trainer and video content creator. If you would like to find out more about what I do, please get in touch.
Tom
