Networking

I’ve just got back from an evening in Soho with Julie, Abbie and Tim who’d all been to see the new musical Lift at the Soho Theatre which was produced by our good friend, Jim. I was very jealous not to have been able to join them, but it was fun to meet them out of the show, and sit in a dingy all-night cafe on Old Compton Street eating wraps and drinking mugs of tea. Conversation kept drifting back to the recession. Everyone’s struggling at the moment. I was horrified to hear talk of people not being able to afford their NHS prescriptions. What on earth is the world coming to?

Earlier this evening I was at BBC Television Centre launching our White City musical project to a room full of the great and the good from the West of London at a drinks reception. I had to deliver a little speech about the project, which I did entirely on the hoof, but it was well received. In fact, a charming 13-year old Russian girl from one of the local schools who’d been playing the piano in a corner of the room all evening came up to me afterwards to say that my speech was “deeply inspiring.” Lots of people wanted to talk to me, in fact, and some shared really delightful memories with me. The crux of my speech was that no-one should ever feel that their stories are boring or irrelevant. I think the same about life in general. We learn so much by listening to others – particularly those with wisdom and age on their side. Furthermore, the most successful set pieces in the films I make have often come from the people who’ve prefaced talking to me by saying; “oh, I’m not interesting enough for your film.” June in Songs from Hattersley who sang Everything Replaces, and Janet, the “Upside Down” woman in my A1 film both thought their beautiful and inspiring tales were common place.

Anyway, as I chatted to the room, I realised how important networking is, and how I very rarely put myself in a position where it can happen. Perhaps if I was a better networker I wouldn’t have holes in all my clothes!