Craft of Creativity
This year Walt
Disney Imagineering (WDI) is celebrating its 60th year of creating
magic. At the 2013 D23 Expo there were five panel discussions to celebrate this
accomplishment. The craft of creativity was the third in the series. Chris
Montan, Tom Fitzgerald, Eric Jacobson, Daniel Jue, Joe Lanzisero, Kathy Mangum
and Joe Rohde came on stage to discuss the Craft of Creativity.
Each panel member
discussed how they came to be a Disney Imagineering. All of their stories
started with, “Well, that’s a funny story...” They also shared how they develop
their skills, gained confidence working with multimillion dollar projects, the
emotional thrill and satisfaction of working with something that will be
permanent (such as a ride) and the complexity working on such projects. They
also talked about the difference of creating a show for the stage, television
or movie and a production (like a ride) that someone could touch, walk/ride
through an experience differently every time. There is also discussion about
the difference between a show that a performer (creator) never gets to see (as
stage actors often don’t) and a show that they can go back and see again and
may even take their mother-in-law to experience.
Well caught my
attention the most was there reminiscing about the culture of Disney
Imagineering and the Disney Corporation. They talk about the culture of
mentoring. Also they discussed the fact that you do not own the knowledge that
you have but you must pass it on to the next generation.
Another
interesting topic of discussion was how different values influence the design
of a location. A good example is the Aulani Resort in Hawaii. The Imangineers
work hard to make the Aulani Resort culturally relevant. The Imangineers worked
closely with the local Hawaiian community to make sure that the Aulani Resort
is truly Hawaiian. In my opinion the greatest example of this is how the hotel
was named. You get a have to watch the video to find out how it was named.
This panel was
very thought-provoking. It encourage me to think about how I should share what
I’m good at, mentor people around me and encourage them to their highest level
of excellence. I should also look for things that I am not good at and see how
I can learn about it and find someone to mentor me.
Below is the video
of this fantastic panel discussion:
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