Hello, I'm here with, I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith, I'm a correspondent at NPR, and I'm here with Teresa Barrera, who is the executive producer of the film and the chief marketing officer at Publicis Sapient, and Ben Proudfoot, Academy Award winning director of the film, and the CEO of Breakwater Films. So, Teresa, I'd love to start with you. You are not in the movie business traditionally, you are an executive. What made you decide you wanted to get into the movie business and, as a company, have the company make this film?
That's right. I'm not in the movie making business, but I'm having so much fun with it that I'm actually thinking of changing careers. There's a job shortage. After this we can talk and see if I have a career. But for me, the reason I decided to do this, there's three reasons. One, I wanted to humanize technology and digital, and to really show that technology can be and is a force for good. And technology doesn't have to be the enemy, it's not the enemy, it's the enabler. The second reason, I wanted to show that digital transformation, we hear that term a lot in business, but digital transformation doesn't have to be about big business helping big business. Ultimately, it's in the service of people. And when we design solutions with people in mind, I do believe that we are creating a better world and a better tomorrow for all, not just for business, but for everybody. And I think finally is that I wanted to inspire people and to challenge them because we do live in a digital world, like the genie is out of the bottle. And I wanted to remind all of us that the more digital we become, the more human we have to be. And to me, I think that film sort of embodies that.
And Ben, you just won an Oscar for your short documentary film, The Queen of Basketball.
I know.
Thank you. It's a big, really big deal. And I imagine you have like your pick of projects after an Oscar win. What made this project the one that you wanted to do? I mean, I heard that you like got a cold call.
I did get a cold call. First of all, I just want to say thank you all for coming. I think this probably breaks all records for a premiere of a short documentary. So give yourself a round of applause. Thank you. Thank you for showing up on a Friday night. It's New York. People come to short documentaries. I got to move to New York. So, yeah, I get this cold call from Alex, who introduced the film. And he said, I'm calling from, you know, Publicis Sapient. And I said, what the heck is that? And he had seen some of my films online. And he explained what the company did. You know, digital business transformation. And I said, what is that? And he went on to explain it. And I said, OK. And why are you calling? And he said, well, we believe there are some important human stories out there in the world that are at the very end of the work that we do because it's our conviction that the work that we do changes people's lives. And we want you to find out if that's true. And I said, well, I can look into it. And I can see if I can find out. But if I don't, I'm a documentarian. If I don't find anything, we can't make it up. You know, we either have to find it's true or I have to come back and say, you know, I'm not sure if it does. And so that started the process of looking into this kind of work. And in particular, this story jumped out to me just because it was something that I thought, you know, hadn't really gotten a lot of attention. You know, anyone who's ever been on the edge of eviction or in overdraft mode at the bank knows how important that, like, last moment saving grace is financially. And I knew there had to be a story out there. And when I talked to Kirsten and she said the difference was one day between her family and her two little kids being evicted and getting the assistance that she needed, I saw right in that story that if the system was any less efficient, she and her family would have gone through this traumatic event. So I came back and I said, I think this is an emotional story worth pursuing. And you guys just saw the result.
Well, I feel like in a lot of ways, technology has been such a central part of a lot of our experiences in the pandemic. A lot of people started working from home. I feel like technologies like Zoom and things like that. We started connecting through technology maybe more than ever and watching maybe more Netflix than we used to. But I feel like technology both, you know, gave us a place to connect with other people, but also gave us a way to cope in certain ways with the pandemic. Teresa, I'm wondering, or Ben, like how you see this film and this particular moment fitting into that? I mean, obviously there were huge technology problems getting stimulus out. And I mean, this story played out in a lot of different ways. But how do you see this story kind of fitting into what we all experienced and how our relationship with technology changed?
I can go. Like I said, look, I think technology has really in so many ways has improved our lives and made our lives easier. And so many things, especially during the pandemic, we were not being able to do if it wasn't for technology. But I do believe at the end of the day, that is not why we do things. And again, it was part of the reason for me to wanting to do this. The why is people, being a customer or a citizen, a student, an employee. The reason we deploy technology is really to help make people lives better. And sometimes we forget that. And I think today we hear there's a little negativity you hear on technology or social. It can go both ways. But at the end, again, because technology is a tool. That's what technology is, to help. And I always tell, we are in the business transformation business. And one of the things I always tell people, like think about transformation, we use technology to help us do those things. But it is never about the tool. It isn't, because change is done by people. Transformation is about people. And it's done by people, with people, and for people. And so for me, I think, again, if you look at this story, technology is in the background, is helping Kirsten. But Kirsten had to make the decision also. She's the hero of the story. She did not let her circumstances also define her.
Absolutely. If it wasn't from one day away, if it wasn't for the automation, the digitization of the system. But also she had to make that choice too.
Yeah, I mean, it very much is a story of transformation of her, I think. I mean, the transformation that she goes through in several ways.
That's right.
Yeah. I mean, when I look at the film, for me, it's actually that. It's really a story of transformation, how she, in some ways, she transformed herself. She went back to school. She got a degree. And she's not only surviving, but she's thriving. But again, it is that. And I think we can all learn from that, being a person or a business. But you do have to sort of embrace that, embrace that change, and be able to evolve.
I think another thing is like, I think one of the great powers of movies and documentary is the ability to put the audience in someone else's shoes for 10 minutes, you know, 15 minutes. And hopefully, at least for a moment, you thought, man, what would it be like to be in that scenario? What would I do? Or you'd think, oh, I would just call so-and-so. And then you think, she doesn't seem like she has someone that she could do that for. And, you know, that's called empathy. And we all need to remember that, our capacity to have it and the importance of it. And, like, I'm Canadian. Thank you to whoever hooted and howled out there, maybe a fellow Canadian. But I've lived in the United States for, you know, gosh, 14 years. And I love the United States. I love my American friends and neighbors. And I think that this country is at its best when it leans into its empathy, when it leans into connecting with and understanding its neighbors and people across the country and people from different walks of life. And that would be my hope that, you know, people that watch this film can connect and realize that what happened, all of the machinations and all of the billions of dollars and all of the different things, essentially, we took care of each other, or you guys took care of each other in that moment, right, the government making that decision. And that can be a beautiful thing. And, you know, when I think of more of that, that's what I think of is how can we all help each other get through and get by to make the things that matter the most, family, time with each other, et cetera, at the center of our lives and not problems that are solvable.
Well, in a lot of ways, this is a film about people helping each other and through time even. I mean, the father of the woman who does help Kirsten has also helped Kirsten. And it all, I mean, but it is really a story about people reaching out sort of across borders and helping each other in really interesting ways. And from what I know this is part of a series that you guys are making. So what is coming next?
There's a musical and a West End. YeahInvesting that money in another way would not have. Yeah, I think Ben said it in the beginning that it's risky. Very risky. And I tell you for two reasons. Welcome to Hollywood. I think I'd stay in my job then. But working with a filmmaker can be very risky. It can either make your career or it can kill your career. And I'll tell you why. But the fact that you all came tonight I think is going to boost my career. So thank you for that. It's been, first of all, a fantastic collaboration with Ben. And there's two things I really have taken away from working with Ben that are actually important lessons. I think the first thing is for me has been for this collaboration, for this to happen, had to be a lot of mutual trust. I had to trust Ben with his craft and with his vision. I had to give him a lot of autonomy and freedom to do what he does. And he had to trust me that I would let him do that. Otherwise, this would never work. But that can be scary. And for me, I think has taught me how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. I had to be comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty, embrace the unknown. Because Ben is a filmmaker. And working with Ben, we had to sort of let go of traditional ways of working. It's not working with a creative agency. You have a lot of reviews and you get a lot of feedback back and forth. As Ben said, we gave him a list of contacts and we knew there was a story because we had done a case study, but we did ask him to go find a story. And like I said, he could have come back and told me there was no story. And if he did, that's where the killing in my career would happen right there. So for that to me, having to relinquish control and to sort of reinvent or change ways of working, I think has been a good lesson. And the second lesson, I think probably the most important lesson that I've learned working with Ben and watching his craft is actually the power of solving a problem by just focus on one person. That being a phenomenal lesson for me and I've learned is that no matter how big or small the problem is, you can solve it by focus on one person. Take Ben as an example. He has figured out how to solve the problem of making a fantastic film and tell a fantastic story by focusing on one person. And I was trying to solve the problem how to humanize technology and bring humanity to it. And I hope I did that today here with all of you by doing that by focusing on one person.
And Ben, what about for you? Was there like a trust issue involved too? Was it like a mutual trust fall?
You know, I'm Canadian so I'm very trusting. I mean, I don't lock my house. You've been in the US long enough for that. You would think. You ask my friends, they'd be like, oh God, yeah, he needs to lock his house. I honestly, I didn't hear any ulterior motive. When I talked to anyone, I just heard, we think there's a really good story here that's emotional. We don't know exactly what it is. And we know you're good at this. And we know you'll tell us if we're wrong. I don't know. It sounded earnest and clear to me. And my faith in them, my trust was rewarded with trust on the other side, right? This was not a, you know, there's no client on set. There's no rigorous back and forth storyboarding. It was kind of like, okay, see you at the end. Which is very unusual and very trusting, which I'm very grateful for. But that's not the norm. And that's kind of why a lot of branded content or branded funded entertainment often ends in not a great product is because there's too much clash of who's in control. And we got to get the logo in there. We got to get the product in there or whatever. And there's something that's beautiful that's happened here, which is trust, literal interpersonal trust that's happened between a small group of people with a very clear goal in mind. And I think that's a beautiful thing and a replicable thing that can allow filmmakers to tell important stories in collaboration with brands if that freedom and trust is there. And certainly, I mean, our whole business at Breakwater Studios is based around that. So I hope to see a new generation of filmmakers coming up, hopefully working in the short documentary format. Any filmmakers out there? Short documentary. There's one right there. There's a lot of money in it. Oh, so much money. You ask my friends, they'd be like, oh, God, yeah, he needs to lock his house. I honestly, I didn't hear any ulterior motive. When I talked to anyone, I just heard, we think there's a really good story here that's emotional. We don't know exactly what it is. And we know you're good at this. And we know you'll tell us if we're wrong. I don't know. It sounded earnest and clear to me. And my faith in them, my trust was rewarded with trust on the other side, right? This was not a, you know, there's no client on set. There's no rigorous back and forth storyboarding. It was kind of like, okay, see you at the end, you know, which is very unusual and very trusting, which I'm very grateful for. But that's not the norm. And that's kind of why a lot of, you know, branded content or branded funded entertainment often ends in, you know, not a great product is because there's too much clash of who's in control. And, you know, we got to get the logo in there. We got to get the product in there or whatever. And there's something that's beautiful that's happened here, which is trust, literal interpersonal trust that's happened between a small group of people with a very clear goal in mind. And, you know, I think that's a beautiful thing and a replicable thing that can allow filmmakers to tell important stories in collaboration with brands if that freedom and trust is there. And certainly, I mean, our whole business at Breakwater Studios is based around that. So I hope to see a new generation of filmmakers coming up, hopefully working in the short documentary format. Any filmmakers out there? Short documentary. There's one right there. There's a lot of money in it. Oh, so much money. Yeah, no. There's not, you know, the thing is, it's not about that. And any filmmaker, you know, if you want to make money, don't become a filmmaker. But what there is, is there's an overlap in intention. Filmmakers' intention to tell a beautiful story that can enter the hearts of an audience in a room like this, which is so rare for me to be able to experience. I'm very grateful to have had this experience. And the intention of a brand to tell an important story that's important to you. And that's, you know, the Internet is a beautiful thing. So we'll see now that it's released. Hopefully a lot of people will have that experience. The Internet is a beautiful thing.
Well, thank you so much to Teresa and Ben. And thank you all for your attention. Thanks for coming, everybody. Thank you. Great to see you. And a big thank you to Pooblesses Sapien for sponsoring this event. Thank you.