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The Process is a series I just invented wherein I post links and observations about the creative process. It’s a subject which fascinates me, in my case because I am a creative professional and I find such insight invaluable in my daily work.

I count, for instance, among the most important and influential things I’ve read; Christopher Tolkien’s chronicle of his father’s writing process on The Lord of the Rings, the letters between Frank Herbert and titanic SF editor John W. Campbell that influenced the development of Dune, Nicholas Meyer’s commentary on directing his first two movies, Time After Time and Star Trek II, and Ridley Scott’s narrative covering the development of Alien and Blade Runner. We may get to all of these in time.

Don’t mistake my meaning. Yes, all of the above are very geeky things to be interested in. But that’s incidental to the point. I came to these things because I am a geek, yes, but they compel and influence me because they show deep insight into the creative process, regardless of topic or genre.

There are also specific inspirations that compelled me to create. A conversation with my friend John, a story Joseph Campbell tells about a man who tries to jump off a bridge. Though these may only make sense or be interesting if you’ve read the work they influenced.

Happily, Charlie Rose shares my fascination with The Process and so there are several excellent interviews with him exploring this topic.

The following interview really blew my mind when I saw it, because it spoke to a fertile creative environment I’ve not participated in, but envy deeply. These are three directors, friends and collaborators, but each at the pinnacle of their talent and in a highly dictatorial profession. Movie directors enjoy a level of power and tyranny over the creative process that few other professions ever come near.

That means there’s no compulsion, certainly no necessity for these three men to open up their work to each other for review and criticism, yet they do it anyway. And watching them talk to and about each other, you can’t help but be compelled by their honesty, by the creative fruits of their collaboration, and the strength of their friendship.

And you can’t argue with their results. Babel, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Children of Men were three incredible movies, all influential and deserving of the accolades heaped upon them. I think Children of Men was and has remained the most important SF movie of the last ten years, but it was so entertaining I don’t think most people noticed it.

Note that in every instance, the driving factor in their relationship is honesty. It’s how each of them met each other. “Wasn’t that Stephen King story you stole great?” “Yeah it was.” “Yeah. So why did your rip-off suck so much?”

Being honest with someone is hard. Being open to honesty is harder and more rare. It helps, I think, if you’re a Director or anyone in a position of power because you’re free to ignore the opinions of others. It also helps when everyone involved is of roughly equal talent and experience.

Listen to Iñárritu talk about how happy he was to be fighting with Del Toro, a guy he didn’t know, about his movie. That’s alchemical, I think.

So watch, and be inspired. No other requirement. And if there’s something you can think of that you found equally insightful and inspiring on the topic of the Creative Process, let me know!

EDIT: Here’s a direct link to the video that skips the TWELVE MINUTE introduction. Alas, I tried including the time stamp in the embedded video, but it didnae work.

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