What a pleasure

I have literally JUST finished a 3 day shoot for a new client Ellel Ministries for whom we have recorded an 18 part half hour series called Living the Life with Peter Horrobin (the founder of Ellel) – and WHAT a pleasure it has been.

Firstly let me say if you are a Christian broadcaster out there you should SERIOUSLY consider airing this series. It’s basically a Christianity 101 type course dealing with the foundational aspects of the Christian Faith. Peter is a gifted communicator, highly engaging who has a real knack of communicating deep things in a gentle and uncomplicated way that is very easy to listen to and packs a punch – it also looks great (I would say that wouldn’t I).

Why was it such a pleasure? Well for 2 main reasons, first the crew I pulled together did a GREAT job both technically which I would expect but also how they fitted in really and became “part of the family” for the 3 days – even though some are not yet Christians they operated as total professionals, were not aloof and didn’t mind the questions from the inquisitive people at Ellel – on fact this is something we really welcome – if we can help and impart some of what we have learnt that’s a positive thing for us as it says YOU value what WE know – and all the crew really rose to occasion – thanks to you all.

The second reason is the ministry were a JOY to work with – a breath of fresh air. There was no strife, no unrealistic demands and they just good to work with. Our crew kept commenting on how refreshing it was to work with “nice people” – and I believe this was one of the main factors that enabled us as a team to produce good work as we wanted to do a good job, go the extra mile and make it work as well as we possibly could “for them”.

There is nothing worse than working for people who are not nice – particularly when they are a Christian ministry – and in all honesty its such a BAD witness to the non Christian crews we often work with – just be nice it honestly is not hard.

Well done Ellel – I look forward to working with you again and I know all our crew would feel the same – and well done to the crew – you really did a great job, thanks. And if you as a broadcaster want to know more about the series (we’ve got to do the post production first) – but its well worth broadcasting – let me know.

What can you potentially learn from this regarding how to work with 3rd parties and consultants?

Firstly, as a ministry if you bring in outside contractors MAKE THE MOST OF US – Ellel did this, they identified a few people who have an interest in this area and asked us if they could sit in “behind the scenes” on the recordings – we were more than happy to do this and answer their questions – and I believe they found it helpful – we really don’t mind and it will help you develop people for the future if you ever want to do this by yourselves.

Secondly, allow us (as professionals) to get on and do the job that you have asked and paid us to do – give us a clear brief (which Ellel did) and then allow us to run with it and bring our creativity to play to achieve what you want – it works better this way.

Thirdly, realise that filming things for a specific purpose will change your internal dynamics of the meetings – if you want a great product then please be flexible, technical problems can happen and if for example we have a problem and need to start again – then go with us – we’re there to deliver the best we can and sometime that means you have to help us – Ellel and Peter were incredibly gracious in the way they allowed us to do what we needed – even if it meant as happened on one occasion that 8 minutes in we had to do a complete restart – BUT trust me when you see it back you’ll be delighted you did – work with us rather than against us – then we’ll achieve MUCH more.

Fourthly, prepare, get ready to make the most of the money you are spending and our time with you – work out how you can best benefit from our time together and have a clear and specific focus in mind of what you want to achieve.

And fifthly, be nice, at the end of the day you may have a purpose and a focus – BUT God may have a different purpose – the seeds you can sow by your witness into the lives of non Christians who maybe part of our teams can have an eternal impact – and at the end of the day that’s what it is about.

Ellel – thanks, it was a pleasure.