Creative Fields: Journalism

Building a Complex World in Simple Steps

Pipeline Artists

What we learned creating cross-platform fantasy storyworld Ballads of the Distant Reaches

Some of today’s most ambitious stories take place within enormous, shared universes. Think of Game of Thrones, Star Wars, The Witcher, Marvel, The Lord of the Rings—the list goes on and on. Typically, these movies, TV shows, books, video games, and comics draw their inspiration from older source material. Storytellers like J.R.R. Tolkien, George Lucas, Andrzej Sapkowski, and George R.R. Martin created these worlds decades ago, but the worlds they built continue to provide rich material for contemporary writers and filmmakers. And there’s near insatiable demand by audiences and Hollywood alike for stories told within these massive fictional universes.

Full article: https://pipelineartists.com/how-to-build-a-story-world-in-simple-steps/

How To Make a Short Film Without Going (Totally) Crazy

Pipeline Artists

There’s no right way to make a film, but there are things you can do to help it go more smoothly.

A short film can be creatively fulfilling, a way for a writer or director to start bringing their vision to life, and—if it’s successful—a gateway into the film industry. Unfortunately, just because a film is short doesn’t mean that it’s easy or cheap to produce. Like any film, it’s a complex, potentially stressful, and complicated undertaking. Fortunately, you aren’t doing it alone, and there are concrete tactics that will help your production go smoothly and your vision come to life.

I completed principal photography on my second short film, a spy thriller called Sleepers, in April 2022. While my first film (Crossing Acheron) had been an extreme exercise in limitations—pre-vaccine COVID restrictions, a budget of $3,000, a crew of four (including me), and one on-screen actor (complimented by voice actors)—the script for Sleepers required a larger production.

Full article: https://pipelineartists.com/how-to-make-a-short-film-without-going-totally-crazy/

The Dividends of War: How Ukraine’s Entrepreneurs and Economists Are Fighting Back

Templeton World Charity Foundation

“A lot of perceptions” changed for Maxim Shkolnick, a Ukrainian real estate entrepreneur and financier, on February 24, 2022. “I woke up in my house around five in the morning, and my wife was like, ‘we’re being bombed.’ Surreal concept, right? And then another missile hit.” He pauses. “When a ballistic missile hits the ground three clicks away, it feels like they are just bombing the yard.” His house, a sturdy building made of “hard bricks” was “trembling like it was in an earthquake.” Now safely in a neighboring country, Shkolnick says the hardest part of that moment was looking into the eyes of his wife and two children, seven and twelve, and seeing pure panic.

Since those first bombs fell, the world’s attention has been fixed on Ukraine as the Russian army has laid waste its cities and turned it into a nation of refugees. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bid to conquer and absorb Ukraine has run aground against determined resistance from the nation’s military and civilians and a flood of foreign aid and support. While the Ukrainian armed forces deserve credit for fending off the onslaught, the country’s private sector has also transformed it into a wartime economy virtually overnight. Ukraine’s economists, small business owners, entrepreneurs and diaspora business community have been instrumental in making the sustained defense of the country possible.

Full article: https://www.templetonworldcharity.org/blog/dividends-war-how-ukraines-entrepreneurs-and-economists-are-fighting-back

Do You Really Need An HQ?

Chief Executive

Hybrid offices are challenging old assumptions and putting CHROs at the middle of a revolution in how we work.

Over drinks on a recent rainy, early-Fall evening in Soho, the chief executive of a rapidly growing tech firm was debating the merits of leasing office space for a new global headquarters in Manhattan with an executive from a major stock exchange. Her company’s business was surging thanks to the peculiarities of the pandemic economy and large customers such as Amazon, and she had been on a hiring spree, snapping up tech workers in San Francisco, New York and Tel Aviv. The growth had translated into globe hopping travel for her as well. Wouldn’t it be nice to get everyone together in one place? But was it worth the price? And did anyone besides her actually want it?

Full article: https://strategicchro360.com/do-you-really-need-an-hq/

The Compensation Race Is On, And Anyone Could Win (Or Lose)

Chief Executive

As wages rise, CHROs keep quiet and offices are on the chopping block.

Unwelcome and unexplained specters seem to lurk everywhere these days. The Covid-19 pandemic, while ostensibly on the wane in nations with easy access to vaccines, continues to sow volatility and uncertainty in people’s lives and the markets, and the new Delta variant has many worried about another winter of isolation. Meanwhile, businesses large and small continue to post physical and digital “help wanted” signs without results. From investment bankers to dishwashers, there suddenly seems to be a dearth of talent. A grim spectator might conclude that a labor shortage could be related to the death of more than half a million Americans. It’s not that simple.

Full article: https://strategicchro360.com/the-compensation-race-is-on-and-anyone-could-win-or-lose/

How Top CHROs Are Surfing The Talent Tsunami

Chief Executive

The coronavirus pandemic upended the world of work, and now heads of human resources are pulling out the stops to win the war for talent.

The coronavirus pandemic has already changed the world. The human tragedy is almost unfathomable, and its economic impacts continue to reverberate. Virtually overnight in March 2020, millions of workers shifted to entirely remote ways of working, and businesses that depend on frontline workers—from retailers to restaurants to factories—were forced to implement layoffs and new safety measures in the face of a raging virus and economic downturn.

Full article: https://strategicchro360.com/how-top-chros-are-surfing-the-talent-tsunami/