Quiet, Please.

About twenty years ago, I shot a package of spots with the great director Errol Morris.

I wrote the spots by myself--I was working solo, like I have through so much of my career. My agency assigned me an art director for the shoot because naturally on a shoot you have to have an art director.

Working with Errol, I quickly noticed something about how he worked. Often he found his shot by shooting. By trying something and adjusting and improving.

That might be a nice way of saying Errol's first shot of a scene usually sucked.

My art director didn't notice what I noticed. In fact, the moment a shot was shot he was usually up in Errol's grill saying what he didn't like. After three or four instances of this, Errol yelled as loud as anyone I ever heard. In front of everyone, he excoriated my art partner. He was essentially castrated for the rest of our week of shooting.

It's hard to return from that. I've seen it a lot on shoots.

What I learned from that is something I wish more people realized. When they're looking at work, when they're being presented to, when they're talking to someone.

There's a river in Turkey called the Menderes. It's where we get our word meander. Meander is the name of this famous architectural feature that you'll see a lot of if you're looking. Especially in an older city. 

You'll even find it on the coffee cups from old Greek diners. If you can find an old Greek or a diner. Or something not Starbucks.

Most people meander their ways to a point. Probably like I did on this post. It's respectful, kind, to give people some time. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But that's not always the most human distance.

To that end, some years ago when I was still worked at an agency, I realized that no one knew how to write or record radio. I was asked to help the 87% of the creatives and account people who were under 27 years of age. So, I wrote the presentation below to help them. Rather than bemoan I be-wrote.

It's all about giving people time to succeed. And not jumping down anyone's throat. And maybe holding some hands along the way.