Pixar Power Bar

So this might seem like a strange tangent, but trust me, it connects.

This afternoon I needed to kill some time while I waited for miracle worker John to get the laptop I work on up and running. Instead of staring at my toes thinking about the minutes ticking by that I'm not doing homework, I put in the extras DVD that came with my new WALL·E movie. (FYI- I'm in love with that movie. I want to snuggle that little robot hardcore.) On it was a documentary about Pixar.

I've always really liked Pixar as a company, but I found a lot of inspiration in that documentary. Pixar is built on a core group of people who had a vision and no way to make that vision happen. So, they went out and invented the technology to make it possible. They stuck to their guns at every single turn, even taking on Disney. Their decisions to foster creativity, respect their employees, and not let anyone pull them away from their vision has proven to be, um, let's say just a wee bit successful. (Fun story: Disney wanted to send the original cut of Toy Story Two to theaters. Pixar didn't think the story was good enough. However, Disney wanted to put it out anyways. Pixar then stuck to the original release date, but threw out most of the movie and rewrote almost the entire thing. They did this as a unit. Everyone threw their heart into it. The result was a film that was released on time to rave reviews and huge profits.)

Watching this just restored a little bit of my faith in business. I have to admit that I've gotten pretty depressed on the idea of finding a "career" job. Everything seems so processed to me. Here's how you apply. Here's how the interview goes. Here's the way you perform your job. It's never sat well with me. Well WHY can we only communicate with journalists that way? WHY do you always give that treatment to clients? WHY does my cover letter even need a format? In my little brain, I wish everything was just a free for all. If you've just finished reading something I wrote, and you GET it, and it conveyed information, why does it matter how I formatted it, or if it follows a "standard" form?

There was a line in the Pixar documentary that really stuck with me. John Lasseter was discussing how people were fearful that computer animation would kill the hand-drawn media. He talked about how technology is just tools. They aren't the creativity. We still need people to tell the stories. As most of my classes have focused on technology this semester, I think I had forgotten this. I think I was getting bogged down by the idea that, "Well, I'm going to have to work on computers and technology all the time. And I hate computers. I just want to tell stories."
Then I watch this documentary, which deals with some of the most time consuming, laborious computer technology out there, but what they are actually doing is telling the stories they want to tell and creating characters that they want to meet.

While I'm well aware that technology is now essential and vital to the PR industry, it's just tools. They're useless if not used properly to tell the right stories to the right people. And there is room to step outside of "accepted" procedures. It might not resonate with everyone, but chances are that SOMEONE will appreciate an attempt (though it might not be fully formed) to think individually. It just gave me a little shot of vitality before I head into the job hunt jungle this week.