How to Start a Film Career - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 9 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, director and filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how networking and initiative can provide momentum to a filmmaking career. Getting immersed in film events, classes, and seminars allows you to not only meet people working in the industry but also to learn it is possible to pursue a film career. By attending events and meeting people in the industry, you also learn the necessary requirements to advance and plan your career. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How to Improve Reality TV Storytelling - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 8 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, director and filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how reality television and documentary filmmaking differ. Working on a crime series reality TV show, Regan looks for ways to incorporate documentary storytelling techniques to improve each TV episode. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How to Adapt Creative Process From Film to Television - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 7 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, director and filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how she adapts her creative process based on product and medium. Working on her own films, she is able to wait until finished before presenting her work for review. In her television work, Regan learns to accept more continuous feedback on projects given tight production and post-production schedules. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How TV Job Helps Filmmaker Hone Storytelling Skills - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 6 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, director and filmmaker Tricia Regan hones her storytelling skills working in television. She calls television storytelling "bootcamp" given the requirements for different cuts in a deadline driven environment. As a result, she learns to be flexible to best approach how to use story building blocks for different length pieces. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How Behavior Change Helps Film Director Develop as Leader - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 5 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, director and filmmaker Tricia Regan addresses a weakness - interpersonal communication skills - to strengthen her leadership skills. After multiple films, Regan learns the technical skills required in shooting, directing, and producing. She then works on how to better interface with those around her who challenge her vision. She recognizes her need to accept responsibility and the need to find better ways to communicate with her team. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How Female Film Director Manages Career - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 4 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, filmmaker Tricia Regan battles the physical and emotional challenges of cultivating a body of work in the movie industry. After an initial success with her documentary "Autism: The Musical" Regan faces challenges and learns ways to recover and heal to prepare for future projects. The process helps her put a filmmaking career in perspective, noting even one film can make a career and many films may take several decades. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How Film Director Rethinks Career After Initial Success - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 3 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how she is rethinking her film career. In her 2009 interview with Capture Your Flag, Regan had recently won an Emmy Award for her documentary "Autism: The Musical". Since, she has had multiple projects fall through. In between film projects and working in television, Regan thinks about next film opportunities, including documentary and scripted or narrative film. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How to Cope With Losing a Job - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 2 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how she has learned to manage her emotions when a potential job falls through. As a filmmaker, Regan has experienced multiple moments when a seemingly sure thing falls through. She learns from friends and experience to release her emotion when the disappointment happens so she is in a position to move on and pursue the next opportunity full steam. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

How Getting a Dog Improves Quality of Life - Tricia Regan

In Chapter 1 of 10 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, filmmaker Tricia Regan shares how getting a dog has changed her life. Her puppy creates a positive environment at home, around neighbors, and with friends. It also teaches Regan responsibility. In the first few months, the new responsibility triggers Regan's maternal instincts. Over time, she trains her dog and finds a new companion. Regan is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker. She directed, produced and shot "Autism: The Musical." When not shooting documentary films, Regan has worked as a director, producer, and writer at ABC, NBC, FOX, and Lifetime. She earned a bachelors from Binghamton University and masters from New York University.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How Sandbox Network Creates Sustainable Leadership

In Chapter 19 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Sandbox Network co-founder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares how Sandbox creates a sustainable leadership model by focusing on the platform and not on individuals.  Sandbox is an international under-30 young leader network.  By curating an environment of young professional leaders, the Sandbox can create a friend network whose bonds last and remain relevant as members enter their 30s, 40s, and 50s.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How does the Sandbox network model make leadership development sustainable?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I believe that Sandbox and the model that we are leading with our members is a sustainable because we are trying to create a platform and we’re not focusing on the individual so we’re not just trying to teach individuals and try to grow individuals, we’re trying to provide a platform that grows individuals and I think that’s a big difference.

In terms of how it actually shapes out, for us the focus is on creating the environment where those people can really grow and if we do our job right we pick those people who are going to move and shake the world in their thirties, forties, fifties and what more sustainable thing than having those people meet really early and become friends, you know?

Because - yes, they’re leaving with thirty but their going to cut their friendships and they’re not going to leave all their experiences behind that’s only the beginning and obviously we don’t believe that our people are at the peak with thirty we believe that’s just where they really take off and so really focusing on a very early stage and then making sure that those people going to stay in contact and going to keep the relationship to us and to each other, that’s what we hope is going to have a sustainable impact because in the end you’re right, the impact is going to be when a Sandboxer who was part of our program twenty-five years ago meets when he is fifty another Sandboxer and starts something really, really big and have a he impact and one of them, I’m just making things up, leads a country, the other one leads a massive organization decide to work together and have a massive impact in that country, that’s the kinds of things that we really hope to achieve and at the same time we also hope to make it sustainable by plugging those people back into the younger generation.

In the end it’s also about giving back and from the very beginning making clear that what they receive is also to some extent what they should give back to the next generation of young kids who are going to come and want to drive and have the same ambition, the same curiosity and the same excitement that they did when they were twenty.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How Curation Improves Recruiting and Building Community

In Chapter 18 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, Sandbox Network co-founder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares why curation matters when building great community.  Curation is about making a choice.  He believes access to people or things is not the issue today; rather it is about the right chemistry that is a result of choosing a team.  In short, it is not quality, but diversity that generates effective communities.  Ultimately, like a mother planning a large birthday party, it is about putting the right setting in place to generate experience based on group goals.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Why do you feel curation is essential for building a great community?

Fabian Pfortmüller: Curation is about making a choice and I believe nowadays we live in the age when access to things, access to people is not the issue anymore, it’s about picking the right choices and that goes for products, that goes for people, that goes for communities, that goes for schools, that goes for anything.

I would say one of the most important parts is making the right choice in picking together that group of people that come together in a community and really understanding it as curation it means also it’s not just about picking the best, it’s not just quality, it’s also diversity. Making sure you pick a diverse group of people, it’s like from different backgrounds, different genders, different language levels. At the same time also curated in such a way that they feel it’s meaningful and I believe that curation is really, when it comes to community, is the most important aspect and what really makes the base of everything you do afterwards.

It’s like a mom, it’s like a family and a mom you know? I compare diversity with in a family maybe just having ten kids with ten different people and curation is the mom that cares and that really wants to make sure that all the people in the room at her son’s birthday party actually fit together and that has many more levels and dimensions than just having different people there or having different birthday cakes, it’s really making sure the setting is right and that all the different elements fit together.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Increase Social Network Value

In Chapter 17 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares how to increase social network value.  He believes it is more important to treat a social network as a network of friends than a network of professional contacts.  Friend networks attract interest and curiosity while promoting giving and sharing to a higher degree than professional networks.  As a result, an effectively maintained friend network becomes more powerful when it is time to activate it for support.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What separates a friend network from a social network?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I believe that social networks are only then valuable if the relationships in it are meaningful relationships. Now I think it’s kind of a – it depends on how you defined friends, where that meaningful relationship starts and where it ends. I believe that treating social networks like friends networks really helps to make them more valuable, because in the end social networks treated as professional networks don’t have much interest for me, they don’t have much excitement for me because they seem very much, you have them to use them for something, that’s not really interesting.

Much more interesting is you have a real connection with the people and as we know networks are there for totally random things that you have no idea why you are going to use them, that’s how I built networks. I anticipate that it’s all about giving and sharing with the network that at some random point in my life, I have no idea when it going to come, I might need to activate my network very quickly and I believe that treating them more as friends and as the very kind of people I want to be with and want to hang out with and want to learn from is essential.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Why to Prioritize Community Trust Over Business Network Size

In Chapter 16 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares what he has learned by building the young professional Sandbox Network.  To create more effective network opportunities, Pfortmüller focuses on establishing trust within the community.  Whereas networks are more about adding contacts, Pfortmüller sees communities as platform to use trust and diversity to create foundation upon which to build out the network.  He also notes the power of informality and what it can do to close the gap between trusting communities and actionable networks.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How can networking and community building improve?

Fabian Pfortmüller:  I believe that for me the two terms you said, networking and community building, there is a gap already. Because I feel that networking is about gathering contacts and community building, in the way that I understand it, is really about building a community. Now what does it mean to “build a community” I believe in an ideal form community building is about creating a family feeling and creating kind of trust between a somewhat random selection of people and I believe there’s a lot of improvement in a lot of communities to be done there because in the end it’s not about how many contacts you have and how far the network is, it is really how trusted it is and I always say the currency of networks and of communities is trust.

In an economy you pay yourself with money, in communities you pay yourself with trust and what do you do to help each other usually are introductions and I know you are a master of this and kind of helping each other out with introductions, that’s kind of the bill form or that’s one of the form of that currency of trust where you say ‘I spend some of that trust in connecting you two’ so I believe more focus on trust is very important. I believe that informality is a very important aspect. I believe that a lot of networks and communities have, have too formal procedures when in the end it’s about relationship building. Where build best relationships?

When you have a tie on and a big sticker on that says ‘Hey, I’m Fred? Or are… are you better to build relationships sitting on your couch with a beer in your hand? Obviously the later - the second one and knowing that why not implement it in community building? Another thing that I would say for communities to consider is diversity. I think there is a lot of value in having expert communities and you have fifty cup makers who come together and they exchange best practice.

Good, but I think the really good stuff happens in diverse groups and I think it’s proven that diverse groups tend to create better results and very often communities are not just about meeting like minded people but it’s really getting inspired and kind of personally developing and moving on, so less of a classical professional development but more of a personal development and for that I think diverse communities are a must.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Build Trusting Relationships

In Chapter 15 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller notes why being genuine and realistic are two cornerstones of buliding trusting relationships.  He tries to live by "say what you mean and mean what you say" in daily interactions and continues to learn about his limitations on what he can do to fulfill promises.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you establish trust when building relationships?

Fabian Pfortmüller: For me it has a lot to do with being genuine, I believe building trust in a relationship has a lot to do with just being genuine of who you are and what you want to do and what drives you and most people can relate to other people if they realize they are honest. I try to live by ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say’ in daily interactions with people and being – not promising something I can’t fulfill, I used to have the tendency of always wanting to help someone even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to fulfill it, and that has been one of my big learnings is also that even though that is a good thing, right?

You want to help someone and you want to really be… be helpful and do things for that person that is only helpful if you can actually fulfill it. If you don’t it hurts that relationship more that it does otherwise, and so I try to learn now to be very realistic but at the same time also very – trying to be helpful whenever you can and I think on of the beautiful things of running something Sandbox is always trying to help other people with the community of people you have around you.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Rethink Rules of the Startup Game

In Chapter 14 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares how his experience starting multiple businesses has compared and contrasted with his initial expectations.  He learns how his atypical career approach translates into creating a nontraditional startup.  Location independence, especially encouraging his Holstee and Sandbox teams to work abroad and take trips, becomes a centerpiece in creating company culture.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How is life as an entrepreneur different than you imagined it would be?

Fabian Pfortmüller: My feeling was that entrepreneurs have a lot of holidays [laughs] yeah for some reason I thought that, I thought being your own boss means you can take holidays whenever, turned out not to be true… but having said that you know I believe that it is possible to make that happen and I feel also we talked before about standard careers and doing the atypical way, it seems also a little bit as if there is the standard entrepreneur model, like working extremely hard and kind of not taking holidays and after five, six years you have your exit or not but it’s really crazy a lot.

I believe you can shape that and what we do at Holstee for example is be very dedicated to say that we want to you know spend maybe several months a year working from somewhere else and be very open to go and take breaks if that’s, if that’s what it is for us, we say if you don’t feel like coming to the office, don’t come, either don’t work or kind of work from a café or somewhere else because in the end we didn’t become entrepreneurs to kind of end up in the same situation where someone else will kind of tell us what to do and the same thing goes for Sandbox that we – our team has moved for two weeks in Berlin, work two weeks in Berlin, now they were two weeks in London and really moving a little bit around, that is possible… but it’s not maybe how I originally imagined it to be.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How to Apply Sustainable Design to Build an Ecofriendly Brand

In Chapter 13 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares how his company Holstee applies sustainable design to build ecofriendly products.  He prioritizes values and sincerity to create positive impact across people, planet, and product.  He contrasts traditional definitions of "green business" with the Holstee focus on sustainable design, including products created by India-based NGO companies.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Given what you do at Holstee running a marketplace for sustainable products, what does it mean to be green?

Fabian Pfortmüller: We think about that a lot and we actually don’t call ourselves a green company because it’s a very fuzzy term, what does it really mean to be green? Nowadays every single big company has something on it’s logo that says ‘We’re green’ or ‘We care about the environment’. I believe to be truly green or to be sustainable is to be genuine and to really - you as a brand not just say like ‘Oh, we going to recycle some stuff’ but to be really caring about those values.

The way we treat it in Holstee is that we say whatever we do needs to have a positive impact on all stake holders involved and we summarized it in people, planet, product: the people who work on it, the planet that kind of gets the resource and the product itself needs to be something that’s not going to fall apart after five days or so, that needs to be sustainable as well and… in terms of is that green or not, we have a lot of products which are not recycle material, so they’re not green in the classical sense but they were done with an NGO that hires some of the poorest women in India and gives them like jobs and treats them well and gives them fair wages, we think that’s just as important.

Fabian Pfortmüller on What Makes Leadership Impactful

In Chapter 12 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller frames impactful leadership as results driven and sustainable.  Fabian notes leadership is not only emotional nor is it temporal.  He shares insight from a friend that we totally overestimate what one can achieve in one year and underestimate what one can achieve in five years.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How do you define impactful leadership?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I think there are different levels to that question. The first level that comes to my mind is I believe leadership is impactful if it’s not just about talking but if there’s an end result if there’s a bottom line and I see a lot of leaders who have – who run organizations or projects which are really good in stirring up emotions and getting people excited about something but they don’t get the work done and I believe impactful in the end has to do with getting the work done.

The second aspect of that is… length, is time. I believe impactful has something to do with just keep doing it for a long time and not just do it in one shot. I believe very little impact is done with just doing something once but if you something over a certain period of time and you keep doing it I believe that’s where the real impact comes and I think that’s also important for leaders to drive that and to be the example of that. One friend once told me that you over estimate how much you can get done in one year but you totally underestimate how much you can get done in five years, I think it’s very true, you know?

Impactful leadership has to do with driving the five-year boat not just the one-year project. And I believe in my very personal opinion impactful leadership has to do with realizing and trying to better understand what the larger impact is of what you do, because we all don’t live in a bubble and we all don’t live in a little microcosm, we’re are all somehow connected in the bigger world and so what we do at Holstee or at Sandbox hopefully has ripple effects into third, fourth, fifty degrees and I think leadership requires to… you can’t know that but you can try to understand it and you can try to make sure that all the different stake holders involved are treated fairly in a positive impact.

Fabian Pfortmüller on How Learning to Fail Educates Entrepreneurs

In Chapter 11 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller notes how accepting and embracing failures provides great entrepreneurial education. The process helps learn from failures and better anticipate future failure signals. Personally and professionally, he finds value reviewing failures, including with his co-founders at Sandbox Network. Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com). He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Where has failure been most helpful in your education as an entrepreneur?

Fabian Pfortmüller: Learning to fail is one of the most important aspects of being an entrepreneur. Some people do that very naturally and they just fail and it’s kind of – it’s easy and they go on and move on, I’m not that person. When I fail, you know, it’s hard and it’s like, it’s a failure, right? But learning how to deal with that, anticipate it, kind of be like ‘yeah, if you try out things, certain things are not going to work out, that is totally normal’ and accepting that has been one of the most important aspects of my life and I believe that what you can really learn is to make that part of your life as an entrepreneur to take the time and really reflect on failures, and I believe there is failure which is total failure and you just went into insolvency or have bankruptcy, that’s a very extreme version of failure, but there are many small failures which are easy to over look.

And I give you one example which, how I for example tried to deal with that. With one of my co-founders at Sandbox, very close friend, which I know for a long time, we meet every half year for a full day where we not just debrief our projects but we debrief out lives, we write down everything that happens and we systematically go through what was good, what was bad, what worked, what didn’t, what learnings can we take out of it? And because we know that lots of things fail and it’s totally normal and being able to really take that seriously, invest the times to take learnings out of that in a project environment as well as a personal environment is very, very valuable.