Collective greatness

I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the creative fields in recent months. This week it's been film.

I watched the HBO Spielberg documentary last night. Anybody who knows me well knows how much I love pop culture. Movies are a big part of this. Obviously. Lately it's been more kids movies than I'd like to admit. I have a tendency to fall asleep around two thirds of the way in for anything of substance. But nonetheless, I love movies and this is an awesome documentary to watch about one of the greats.

One of the things I didn't know about was how Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian de Palma and Martin Scorsese all used to hang out with one another in the late 70s/80s. They were known as the Movie Brats.

One of the questions this raises for me, is this because they were all superstars that just happened to have aligned career paths, or was there some sort of synergy happening?

I think it was the latter. Yes, obviously they were all talented enough to make it past the threshold and get through the door. But they pushed each other toward success. They challenged each other. Disagreed. Celebrated successes. Learned from failures. Shared generously. All in the pursuit of making good art.

Not only did they make good art (and continue to) but they changed the movie industry forever They ushered old Hollywood into the new world, and introduced the world to new cinematic experiences.

Maybe this wouldn't have happened if they all kept to their individual ivory towers. There wouldn't have been the prologue in Star Wars for one thing. Indiana Jones wouldn't have happened either.

There is power in people who come together with a shared sense of purpose. And it doesn't have to be confined to the creative fields.