Like the character in Talking Heads’ Once in a Lifetime, recently, I’ve been asking myself, “How did I get here?” As we roll out Drama for Change projects, they’re landing really well and having an impact. Our approach is quite novel, so I’m finally close to where I’ve been trying to get to. Of course, I never set out with this destination in mind, so today, I will share a hasty post-rationalisation of my life so far.
Country life
I grew up in a small Sussex hamlet to a Danish mum and a cockney father. From a very young age, my three sisters and I went out the door in the morning and played around the village unsupervised till it was time for tea.
As an early school report attested, I’ve always been a nature lover. “Sport: Tommy would rather pick flowers at the side of the pitch than watch the football match.” Which was a pity as my father had founded the local football club. It was his idea of rural communism.
From science to art
Secondary school introduced me to a new group of brainy kids with whom I still meet today. Two are scientists. In retrospect, I thought I was good at science because I hung out with those guys, but I really wasn’t. So, it was a bit daft that I signed up for two science A levels plus art! Foreshadowing my current role, while studying for exams, I recall being more interested in the work of TV learning theorist Tony Buzan than the content of my studies.
I was good at drawing, so I found my way to fine art. I made video art and, amazingly, graduated with a first. Prescient amongst my undergraduate activities were my thesis, Dada Spawn and the Culture of Chaos, which examined the question of whether art could change the world and a recurring theme of my work – the architecture of the “secondary reality”. My video art was shown internationally, including at MOMA, and I had my own show at the ICA. But after a few years, I quit the art world because I didn’t like its value system. I’d decided it was institutionalised snobbery.
Sidebar
Before and after my degree, I worked as a nursing assistant, which I greatly enjoyed; the NHS a better fit for my political disposition than the art world. I also played in bands. I was 18 in 1977, so exactly the right age to be a punk. The ethos of that movement should not be overlooked. It’s not the polish; it’s the idea.
The corporate world
Someone offered me a post running a little video production facility that made corporate videos. This was a continuation of the craft-like, low-budget production approach I’d used in video art. It was great for me. We were making a corporate “video brochure” at the rate of about one a month. I co-wrote the scripts, shot the videos with just myself and an assistant, then edited them. Sometimes, I even delivered the master tape and collected the cheque! It was a great way to learn. Next, I went freelance, making corporate and training content – writing, directing, camerawork and editing.
The campaigner
Meantime I was very politically active. I coordinated an initiative that made our local council the first in Britain to adopt a charter for the environment. I was one of the organisers of the first Green/Socialist conference in the UK. And I made a lot of “agit-prop” videos to support this activity. The campaigning skills I learned are currently serving me well.
Years later, in the early 2000s, in Internet 1, I got more campaign experience when I launched a research site to have some fun with the burgeoning form of the viral comedy video. We achieved millions of downloads, which was pretty amazing at the time.
E-Learning
After making more corporate films than I could count, in the 90s, I retrained in “multimedia” (that’s what they called eLearning back then). The learning and development field was about helping people rather than trying to sell them stuff, plus it allowed me to make drama.
Movies
My other activities during these formative years were making short films and writing feature scripts. I studied and took many courses in screenwriting as I worked on my scripts. The shorts were shown internationally and won quite a few awards. The features never got made. I think I’m not made for navigating that world. But the experience gave me a deep understanding of story structure.
For many years, I made video dramas (and many other types of film) for L&D. In 2003, I incorporated Nice Media.
Remake/remodel
Around 2020, we worked with Donald Clark to integrate video with AI. Donald really got me into learning theory. He’s a natural teacher who loves learning. Then the lockdown hit, and, as for many, it forced a moment of reflection. I realised that I was one of the most knowledgeable people in video drama in learning in the UK, but I wasn’t honouring my own abilities. I mainly made videos of other people’s designs or conceptions. And I knew a lot of investment was wasted because of a poor understanding of the medium. So, I wrote a book, Watch & Learn, to share the fundamental principles and knowledge needed to design and produce effective video drama for learning.
Its publication helped my confidence as people seemed to like it. And, of course, there’s no better way of learning than writing. So, my understanding of what could be achieved with the medium continued to develop. I asked myself, what is the most powerful way of using video drama in a large organisation? And that was the beginning of what has became Drama for Change.
A new beginning
You can change behaviour and culture by using video drama to hack into a “group story” or culture. It’s especially good for job roles in which people need to make judgements based on principles: customer service, nursing, policing, and management. Drama brings to life a situation in which two principles clash. People ask themselves what they would do in that situation. That gets them talking about their decision-making process. A campaign keeps the conversation going; people learn and develop for themselves.
We see the approach reflected in the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which used roughly the same ingredients on a larger scale.
That’s how I got here. What leftfield factors led you to your current job role?
Comments
7You and 6 others
Add a comment…
Open Emoji Keyboard
No comments, yet.
Be the first to comment.Start the conversation
