Listen to the panel discussion from the online Premiere of The Edge | Bruce Anderson - Natural Humanship. This project quickly evolved from a short video promo to an award winning documentary on humans as stewards of the earth.
- From Video Promos to...
- Award-Winning Films
- Content Strategy
- Natural Humanship
Featuring:
Hugh Blanc
James O’Connor
Bruce Anderson
Hosted by Julianne Neal
I met Bruce once briefly in Trinidad working. I was actually now taking a look at the film which was actually filming and so on before my time. Just put in perspective, I've worked with AOS as a video editor, so I was just taking a look at it and Bruce happened to be in the country - he popped by and I'm not sure what you're waiting for, James to do something. And because we were all waiting, you had a brief chat with us, and in that brief moment you shared a little bit about your philosophy and the thing that I remember you telling me in in that time 'cause we only had a brief time…
It was in discussing the idea of of how we how we form at a young age, we form reactions to things. And our mind, almost like an energy saver... our mind doesn't necessarily create brand new reactions for every scenario, but rather will reference. Similar incidents and sometimes those reference reactions don't match the current scenario. And so we don't even realize that we're sort of reacting with a pre-programmed response to something, when in fact the scenario doesn't call for that response, but we are actually just being sort of triggered to an old response to something which may have been inappropriate response that we developed in the 1st place.
So this was in about probably I would say 15 to 20 minute conversation that I had with Bruce the one time we met and the one conversation I had with Bruce, and that's a takeaway that that stuck with me so well. You know, just to put in perspective my viewpoint of Bruce is somebody that you you can speak to for a brief time and learn a hell of a lot that you can take away from it. You know it's kind of... You take away what you can. You can hold on to that type of stuff so
Thanks, it was a pleasure and I'll ask you a question: So here's my question: in sharing that with you - Did that information help you, any? At anytime along your journey from then to now?
I think certainly... I can be honest, I can't necessarily tell you a specific example of overnight, and then I thought this at that point in time, but I think that it's... I won't say either that I think it wasn't something that I wasn't aware of on some level, but by bringing it to the forefront it makes it that much more impactful. And yes, it does make you It does make you take a second to consider your responses even in terms of how you feel about something, and I liken it as a writer. I liken it to credit to when you do a can you get criticism on your writing. Your instinct is to get defensive about it. Or for some people, their instinct is to automatically change what they've done, when in fact what you need to do is you need to listen to the criticism... Understand where it's coming from... Examine what you've done, and then you make the decision whether that is right for you to do that or not.
Meeting Bruce and hearing this is one thing, but Bruce doing the work with the horses, I think, is the is the key. And I like you had an awareness of these things, you know, and having awareness and and could say, yeah, I know where Bruce is coming from, but I sort of secondhand did this work in the round pen. Because I was in it with the subject that we would work with. You know, some amazing. I mean, I've made so many friends on this on this journey. But what Bruce talks about muscle memory, and and the horse, really is such an imposing way to have that muscle memory taught to you...
In this episode, we're going to share a panel discussion that was recorded after the online premiere of The Edge, a film that focuses on the work of Bruce Anderson, and I'll admit I have a personal interest in this one. I'll be joined by the director of the film, James O'Connor and writer Hugh Blanc from the Art of Storytelling and of course Bruce himself. And we get into a very interesting discussion about not just the film itself, which is so relevant now for the environment and mental health, but also the evolution of the project, which was conceived as sort of a video promo for our website, but eventually through strategic planning, became an award-winning documentary.
Back I will be right back. I gotta go load a horse! OK!?? Come back when you can! Yeah, this is the story of my life! So I'm we're gonna try it and see what happens. And I'll show up here as Miranda O'Connor. I love that - I tend to do that a lot. Actually you look like a Miranda, yeah?
This is so high tech, so you're going from zoom to Facebook. Maybe? That's how I was today. I went live this morning. I was like I'm gonna connect with Julianne now, 'cause. And it didn't work and I was like... Well, alright then I won't! You know honestly if you go watch like Twitch... and I've checked out live streaming I've looked into it a fair bit recently for just for work stuff... And it's incredible the amount of nothingness that happens and people tune into this nothingness. On Twitch the average stream watch time is like like an hour or something like it's an hour. On Facebook you're lucky to get 5 seconds, you know on your on your video average watch time, but for Twitch people spend an hour and you see someone fiddling with their camera and stuff just like this.
So welcome to the future... So perfect then as as "now livestreaming" pops up in the corner! That's me - always entertaining. You're a hoot Miranda. Alright Julianne, do you wanna do you wanna do this? Then you can introduce Bruce's Chair while you're here. Or so yeah.
Bruce is actually out helping somebody load a horse, which is story of his life I guess, and so I'm happy to be here with James and Hugh and we're going to talk a little bit The Edge | Bruce Anderson - Natural Humanship So you guys, I mean... has technology not being crazy today? And here he's back, he's back! So you know, fashionably late. Welcome everyone to the star of the show... No, the horses... Let's get that right, the horses are the star, not me. That's very true, Bruce, that's very true.
I met Bruce once briefly in Trinidad working. I was actually now taking a look at the film which was actually filming and so on before my time. Just put in perspective, I've worked with AOS as a video editor, so I was just taking a look at it and Bruce happened to be in the country - he popped by and I'm not sure what you're waiting for, James to do something. And because we were all waiting, you had a brief chat with us, and in that brief moment you shared a little bit about your philosophy and the thing that I remember you telling me in in that time 'cause we only had a brief time…
It was in discussing the idea of of how we how we form at a young age, we form reactions to things. And our mind, almost like an energy saver... our mind doesn't necessarily create brand new reactions for every scenario, but rather will reference. Similar incidents and sometimes those reference reactions don't match the current scenario. And so we don't even realize that we're sort of reacting with a pre-programmed response to something, when in fact the scenario doesn't call for that response, but we are actually just being sort of triggered to an old response to something which may have been inappropriate response that we developed in the 1st place.
So this was in about probably I would say 15 to 20 minute conversation that I had with Bruce the one time we met and the one conversation I had with Bruce, and that's a takeaway that that stuck with me so well. You know, just to put in perspective my viewpoint of Bruce is somebody that you you can speak to for a brief time and learn a hell of a lot that you can take away from it. You know it's kind of... You take away what you can. You can hold on to that type of stuff so
Thanks, it was a pleasure and I'll ask you a question: So here's my question: in sharing that with you - Did that information help you, any? At anytime along your journey from then to now?
I think certainly... I can be honest, I can't necessarily tell you a specific example of overnight, and then I thought this at that point in time, but I think that it's... I won't say either that I think it wasn't something that I wasn't aware of on some level, but by bringing it to the forefront it makes it that much more impactful. And yes, it does make you It does make you take a second to consider your responses even in terms of how you feel about something, and I liken it as a writer. I liken it to credit to when you do a can you get criticism on your writing. Your instinct is to get defensive about it. Or for some people, their instinct is to automatically change what they've done, when in fact what you need to do is you need to listen to the criticism... Understand where it's coming from... Examine what you've done, and then you make the decision whether that is right for you to do that or not.
Meeting Bruce and hearing this is one thing, but Bruce doing the work with the horses, I think, is the is the key. And I like you had an awareness of these things, you know, and having awareness and and could say, yeah, I know where Bruce is coming from, but I sort of secondhand did this work in the round pen. Because I was in it with the subject that we would work with. You know, some amazing. I mean, I've made so many friends on this on this journey. But what Bruce talks about muscle memory, and and the horse, really is such an imposing way to have that muscle memory taught to you. It's very difficult to explain. Bruce is a better job than I do, but you gotta in the round pen. I recommend everybody worked with an animal that's bigger than you.
What I got that I think came across well in the documentary too is is the idea that it's an honest gauge. Whereas if you're talking to somebody, or you're gauging somebody and their reaction versus your reaction, that person is bringing their own reactions and their own muscle memory to it, whereas with with the horse you're getting an honest response that really doesn't care what your political stance is on the particular matter. You know it really doesn't care. It's just going to be honest with you, and I think that that's that's something that to me it comes out in the documentary that captured it nicely as well.
Maybe we'll get into this. But at some point you know we talk about why did I do this film and why did Bruce call me and why did I say yes? And because it was a lot of like: It was kind of a well... If you go I'll go. And that I think some people can relate to it like you challenge yourself and you're inviting me along to the challenge. I mean, it's it's kind of a perfect storm for me. If you look at the first film we made. I got hooked on that with with our good friend Chris Dennis and the Between Worlds Documentary we made because he was doing something with this and and and trying to change the status quo. And I felt like what Bruce was doing was,very audacious and he's trying to change people's status quo and mental status. I like that challenge and I like being challenged to produce it.
Well I could just tell that there was a definite chemistry between this whole group. I think we knew from the phone conversations that there was something - the story was there and you asked what we wanted to do with it. And I was like "we want to send it to the Equus Film Festival!" And I didn't even know what the Equus Film Festival was, but I had heard of it and I said, yeah, that's what we're doing.
I want to get an update from you. You know, in terms of trajectory, what has it been like to own this film? Because really, that's what at the end of the day, you know you're you're left with something very tangible. I think people would be interested to know, you know, what is the impact of that on an organization? Something that can go to film festivals and that level of production.
The impact that all of this has had is that it is the reason that we contacted you in the first place. Bruce's work is very unique and everybody hears of natural horsemanship all the time... and that's the buzzword of the day. But natural humanship is Bruce's work and it's totally different. And so on the surface, you know, Perrelli or John Lyons, or you know, all of these other systems, but it's not that and so we just kind of couldn't explain it. And we kept trying, kept trying and so to have a visual is great because you can talk about something all day long. But the way you captured it is so unique and so I mean your your way of storytelling. Your retelling and the feeling that I get when I see it It's not like any other documentary I've ever seen. And so to be able to have this packaged up... It doesn't tell the whole story and it's not a training film. You know, we've had people ask "are we going to see training?" Well, you'll see a little bit, but you're seeing more of the results that have happened in people's lives. And to me, that's what we never could tell any other way, and so you know I mentioned the Equus Film Festival. This film has been all over the world! It's it's been to France. It's been shown, you know, all over the United States and Canada, and that's a whole other story that we could do. So it's been life changing because there was no other way to do it, just no other way. And so Bruce is traveling. There are clinics and things happening all the time because of it, so this is phenomenal. Bruce, take it away... set up.
So here's my take, James. I started on this journey. And this thing evolved and it was in me. And it was like I need to get it out. You understand? And I need to find some sort of medium to spread it to people. But not just any medium, you know, because as you know, this is pretty special and you have to have somebody with a unique talent that is able to already have that feel for that environment that we have. You were able to create a visual image of what I was feeling. And you did it so well, capturing all those different bits and pieces.
Have you ever thought about writing a book because - what you're talking about - telling your story? If you're positioning yourself, you talked about video and you talked about needing to find the right medium. You can still write a book. It's something that I'm thinking of doing myself. I recommend everybody at least write your own story. You don't have to publish it, but was that ever an attraction that you that you thought? Well, maybe I'll do that instead?
So I'm I'm smiling right now, because Julianne did write a book and it's so difficult because this is an ongoing evolution. The other thing is, it's also an evolution for me, because this is my journey of my growth that I share with others. So not only am I learning about this system through the horse and then trying to understand it and translate it, but then trying to actually put it together and organize it. And then of course I wanna do it justice. You understand? I don't want to mess it up because it's so important to do it right especially where we are right now in our world with all the COVID-19 stuff and the pressure it's created. And so you are constantly pleasing everybody at the same time. And and now I'm sort of getting a little better, but where I'm realizing - forget about trying to please everybody. Just please yourself in what you're writing because not everybody is ready for it. Yeah, and at least start moving. But what I like about what you did and have done, and hopefully we continue - is that you have done a really good job introducing it to people. Which if you listen to those parts of the work. ... This was before all of this COVID that if we keep doing what we're doing it's not going to be beneficial to our environment. And lo and behold, look what happened. So I feel that this work is so crucial. But because people don't read that many books, I felt that maybe do some other visual something because I feel that that is where unfortunately people... they can't handle too much reading. Now, im not saying a book isn't a good thing.
Yeah, yeah. We have an online course now and the book is actually part of the online course. So we've made it through our first cohort, which was so appreciative and the folks who joined that some of them were watching the premiere I could see today. So they've done the intro course. It's going to be a helpful tool for that, but anybody we meet, anybody that comes into the picture and wants to know about Bruce's work. The first thing we say is you've got to watch The Edge because there's no training video I can do, or anything else that really captures it the way that you've captured it, so I've learned a lot from you. I mean you motivated me... and inspired me in the beginning, so I used to dabble before. And then you made me love film.
Anyone who's listening - Julianne is now... you know, we do this. I do this with all my clients. I love to teach and I love to make sure that you guys at the end of the day could take your own project and go "alright, I'm just going to make Part 2. Let's go!" you know?
Do you feel that the work that you did on The Edge is even more applicable now? With everything going on with COVID, than ever before? Yes. You remember that scene? I was talking about how you can either come and work with us or you can deal with Mother Nature? And remember that scene where I was like: yeah and good luck with that? Is that happening now? And the thing is... What you put together... You understand? You tailored that to sort of share the words of warning. You understand, right? And and look where we are! What's frustrating about where we are with the pandemic is that I think people look at this and I know because I grew up in the tropics, in the forest with you know, an abundance of wildlife all around... but people don't do that these days. This project was all about domestication right? To bring the language from the film back. And I worry that the pandemic makes people who are very domesticated fair nature even more. We don't need to fear nature, we need to stop destroying it and interacting with it on a destructive level. So would it not be fair to look at (the horse) Nunki and what happened to Nunki, as a metaphor of what's going on in the world right now? Which has been shown through COVID, but if you look at the work that you did on The Edge, it's giving people a heads up that we need to stop what we're doing or if we're going to go over the edge... and we're starting to go over the edge! So therefore, if you think about it, the pandemic is kind of like Nunki.
Are we going to be leading a team of researchers going back in time to recover human DNA to bring us back because we went extinct over something like this?
You mean like Terry Gilliam, right? You talking about 12 monkeys yeah? Yeah, yeah.
And hopefully like covid like Nunki, this would be sort of like a heads up. Come on people. How much pressure do we have to put on ourselves to change what we're doing and break that cycle? Which is what you sort of captured in the film, which is what I talk about trying to. OK, I'm done alright... I'm sitting here... It's been a long, long 3 days.
I'm the Director, I'll call it! Cut!
So the plan for the the new version - will be hosted on YouTube, right?
Yes, this is an independent release, and that's something that I wanted to talk about. You know, because the shelf life of these things and the usefulness of them forever and then you can release the version that you want, whenever you want. And whatever platform you want, how can we slice this up so that you're just dealing with one issue at a time rather than a whole story that segues from one to the next. Just take one issue and do that bit. And then what you would write for the copy…
So now it's really about content strategy. If we had a LinkeIn platform, we just want to talk about this one issue today. That will be our article and this is our 30 second video. To go along with it. Same with the training materials, so stuff like that is: shelf life, ownership of the film, releasing it independently, doing whatever you want with it, taking it down when it's not relevant anymore... You know?
Well, we can't tell you enough how much we appreciate what you've done and everything that's come along with it. Life changing it really has been so yeah. That's why I'm here. It's life changing for me to do, you know. And I and I guess I'm lucky because I get to do this more than once. I get to do this with every project. I mean, we just did a farming video. I will say that the good thing to me is to see how much they appreciate you in Canada, because I'm not kidding when I say award after award and that you're in this community. They they are loving what you're doing, and so whether it's a farm or a hospital or whatever, you're telling whatever story you're telling. I mean, you're making a difference, and so that's important.
I think I'm I'm giving it - and Hugh is a part of this too 'cause he's part of the team - we're given it. everything we've got right now. The funny thing is, if I say that and I think back, I think I've been giving it everything I got now... for a loooong time, you know?
Thank you guys so much. I'll save it... send it and we'll talk soon.