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"IF YOU SOLVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS, YOU GET TO COME HOME"
In the 2015 Ridley Scott film adaptation of the Andy Weir novel The Martian, our hero, played incredibly well by Matt Damon, is thought dead when a storm hits the surface of Mars and the rest of the expedition crew are called to evacuate. It turns out he is of course alive and so starts the story from virtual obliteration to survival, to his ultimate rescue through a series of unbelievable and original solutions, many never before tried and entirely unique to his circumstance.
In watching this story, I was struck by the lessons we could take from it for the arts and entertainment industries current state of demise and the many questions we find ourselves asking as we stand on the wrong side of the disaster wondering what the path back will look like.
How would Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney respond to our challenges?
Firstly, the Coronavirus is not going to co-operate. Measures are required to control it. Hopefully a vaccine will be found soon and we can have confidence that it will be controlled. But left to its own devices, it is not going to co-operate.
Secondly, is our industry going to die? It’s had a pretty serious heart attack in recent weeks and is on life support, but no, the arts will survive, there will be a future demand for entertainment.
And thirdly and most perhaps most finally, let’s explore the theme of death a little more. Where might we die? Will we lose some of our best talent who simply cannot afford to continue in this industry? Likewise graduating talent who, having witnessed what has happened to the industry they wanted to be a part of, decide the risks are simply too great to continue to pursue that career choice. The same question can be asked of technical talent. Will this hit be too hard to recover from? Will they return to more in demand trades such as carpentry, electrical etc. Staffing a show has only been getting harder, the virus may make it impossible for a while. And what of our creatives?
The answer, as Hollywood has a tendency to provide, came perfectly wrapped in a 20 second piece of script just before the credits rolled. Our hero, now teaching graduating astronaut students advises as follows…
“The question I get most frequently is... "When I was up there, stranded by myself... "did I think I was going to die?" Yes, absolutely. And that's what you need to know going in because it's going to happen to you. This is space. It does not cooperate.
At some point, everything is going to go south on you. Everything is going to go south and you're going to say, "This is it. "This is how I end." Now, you can either accept that... or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... then you solve the next one. And then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home.”
Yes, when everything went south (on a number of occasions), Mark Watney found the strength to begin. He also, eventually, had the backing and support of the significant resources of government and the skills of his crew that wanted him to be saved.
As challenging as the journey ahead may be. Here’s to us all coming home.
Originally published on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/craig-donnell-0465a79_some-thoughts-on-the-rebuilding-of-our-industry-activity-6663600114357153792-wYeG
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The Martian 2015, Ridley Scott