Some creators are hardwired to work solo. Then there are others who thrive off of collaboration. As a creative platform, we’re fascinated by these dynamics, especially the one where people take part in a long-term creative partnership. There’s no denying that there’s something magical when two (or more) creators mind-meld over an idea and passionately discuss and debate the ins and outs. It’s difficult to find your perfect creative significant other, however - someone who not only understands your sensibilities but can help you develop them further. We humbly suggest Tongal as one way to search for them!
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We wanted to take a closer look at successful creative partnerships and better understand their DNA. So, whether they’re your brother, your mother, someone you met in the first semester of film school, or even on Tongal, we talked to seven talented dynamic duos in our community to find out how to start and grow a healthy, productive creative partnership. Not surprisingly, many of them worked together on their answers:
What was your first collaboration?
“The very first thing that we collaborated on was a spec script for the Daisy Super Bowl Project [on Tongal] from roughly a year ago. While it didn’t win, we had a lot of fun writing together and decided to continue collaborating. Also, it didn’t hurt that our script was a finalist.”
- David Kilgo and Richard Mather, Writing Partners
“As brothers, our parents forced us to spend time with each other… for 15 years. Our first “real” collaboration was when Brandon was doing his senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and Justin was in the Marketing Department at the United States Mint (he sold coins for more than face value.. what a genius!). Brandon was writing and directing a film of six funny commercials and Justin gave Brandon a few ideas. To this day, we still argue who came up with some of the final (funnier) ideas.”
- Justin and Brandon Kieffer, Brothers and
Writing/Filmmaking Partners
“JP and I met in film school at Florida State University. He shot my very first film (a 5 minute short shot on 16mm!), and we've been working together ever since.”
- Melissa Rossi and JP Perry, Writing/Filmmaking Partners
“We met in 2013 during our first year at CalArts. As the summer break approached, we thought it would be a good idea to collaborate on a project so we could make the most of our time off. We pitched for a few Tongal projects, but ultimately decided to go all in and animate a Wildcard video for a Disney Band-Aid Brand Bandages project. We won! From there, we've worked together on tons of projects, and our animation has certainly come a long way.”
- Alexa Morita and Minhee Kang, Animation Partners (Good Golly)
When did you first realize “this could work”?
“Whenever I realized that Taylor was as crazy as I am. Very few people would be willing to go on a crazy puppet-filled backpacking tour, or make a 48 hour short film using puppets - especially when it’s just the two of us working from beginning to end on each production. She was excited to go along with my ridiculous schemes, and (even better), contribute an equal amount of her own.”
- Steven Dirckze on Taylor Tofflemire, Puppeteering and Filmmaking Partners
“I had a feeling that ‘this could work’ when it became obvious that Doug was a huge fan of animation, had a solid background in writing for animation, and was cool with workshopping an idea to the point that I deemed necessary to workshop something until it was in a good place to start up on the writing phase.”
- Doug Lieblich and Chris Cimino, Writing and Animation Partners
How do you work together? Do you divide and conquer, does someone take the lead on the creative while the other focuses on the nuts and bolts, etc.?
“The latter. I (Melissa) focus on the creative side as our Writer/Director, while JP focuses on cinematography and all the technical stuff. While these are our main domains, we also co-produce and co-edit most of our projects, so there is a lot of creative collaboration as we swap hats constantly.”
- Melissa and JP, Writing/Filmmaking Partners (Gray Cat Films)
“I feel our partnership works great because we both have initiative. I’ll be working on one part, while David hashes out something else. I don't have to worry about him, because I know he's doing something proactive. I write in uncontrolled bursts and David can make sense of my ideas and help me focus them. Hopefully, David proof reads this for me.”
- Richard and David, Writing Partners
“I build and operate a vast majority of our puppets. When building a new character, we discuss the look verbally, and afterwards Steven prefers to sketch the concept designs. We both write, but Steven's strength is threading a thorough story and my strength is dialogue. We tend to pass the drafts back and forth until we are satisfied. Directing, camera work, and editing are all Steven. He is the digital wizard with reliable direction. Both of us pump out creative ideas. I think we're both a little nuts.”
- Taylor and Steven, Puppeteering and Filmmaking Partners
“We're jacks of all trades - each of us writes, builds, animates, edits, and much more. We are extremely balanced in our work; we work truly as a cohesive team to get things done. No one is limited to one thing, but instead, we do a little bit of everything to keep the workload even and manageable.”
- Alexa and Minhee, Animation Partners
(Good Golly)
How has your creative partnership grown over time?
“I think we’ve become more creative as we’ve figured out our limitations and where we can push them. The puppets have slowly gotten more complex, our digital effects have gotten better, and we’ve learned each other's strengths and weaknesses throughout the various stages of production. Puppets can’t often be filmed from the waist down, either because they don’t have legs, or because the puppeteer’s head appears in the shot. We struggled a little bit with this in the beginning, but over time Taylor’s gotten better at intuitively knowing how to hold the puppets when on camera, and I’ve learned better ways to match her movements to avoid breaking the illusion. We’ve also become a lot bolder with some creative choices, allowing us to film things in ways that we wouldn’t have attempted before, rather than simply writing around potential issues.”
- Steven and Taylor, Puppeteering and Filmmaking Partners
Do you ever butt heads over creative decisions? How do you find a middle ground?
“If people say they don't butt heads, they're probably lying. The difference between "arguing vehemently" and "arguing angrily" is that the former is productive and the latter is not. It's important to remember that opinions may differ when collaborating, and more important to hear your partner out. It becomes dangerous territory when a compromise cannot be reached. It's not always essential that one person has to acquiesce per se, but, once each person has had time to speak their mind, you both need to put your heads together and come up with a viable solution. No problem between two collaborators is too great to solve.”
- Doug and Chris,
Writing and Animation Partners
“In the very beginning there were times when we butt heads, but through the years, we realized that if we’re both not excited about a narrative direction then... it isn’t working. After all, we have very different perspectives. So... when our mindset aligns, we know we’ve found the magic!”
- Katy Rhamey and Kate Rhamey- Gierke, Mother/daughter and Filmmaking Partners
What is your biggest accomplishment as a creative team so far?
“Nat Geo Wild’s Late Night project was definitely a big moment for us.”
- David and Richard, Writing Partners
“Oh... this is an easy one, winning Tongaler of the Year, of course!”
- Katy and Kate,
Mother/daughter and Filmmaking Partners (KR Squared Productions)
“When the government shut down in 2012, Justin took full advantage of his free time to jumpstart us as a team. We found Tongal (and other crowdsourcing sites) and began investing more in our video submissions. We started receiving recognition and awards for our work, which led to private invitations from sites to create videos.
What we pride ourselves on most is that we can still be successful doing what we love while living in two different cities, with day jobs, along with a wife and two awesome (and demanding) little daughters (or a sister-in-law and nieces depending on which one of us you’re talking to).”
- Justin and Brandon,
Brothers/Writing Partners
What is your favorite quality in your creative partner?
“Whenever there’s a gap or a missing beat in a script, Richard has a knack for suggesting things that not only fit, but give the story added strength.”
- David and Richard, Writing Partners
“Melissa is Gray Cat's secret weapon for one reason: she brings heart to our work. She has a knack for finding the essence of every story, scene, and shot, which enables us to focus on what is really important.”
- JP and Melissa Rossi,
Writing and Filmmaking Partners
(Gray Cat Films)
“I can’t say there is just one quality... so I’m going with two. First and foremost, I love that Kate has so much respect and admiration for her crew. She’s really built a work-family in which everyone moves together for a common goal. One of our interns coined it as “KR Squad,” and I think that really sums up the mentality of our team. The second thing that blows my mind about Kate is that she rarely gets her feathers ruffled. No matter what the curveball, she’s always looking for solutions and never wallows in the problem. Her mindset is can do and let's find a way to make it happen, which is refreshing and awesome!”
- Katy and Kate,
Mother/daughter and Filmmaking Partners (KR Squared Productions)
It seems the keys to success in maintaining a creative partnership is sharing responsibility, trust, honest and open feedback, and learning to compromise. Have you ever worked with a creative partner before? Share your experience with us in the comments below!
