In a nutshell, tell us about Faralore’s story.
Faralore began as a creative outlet for myself. I’ve been playing and writing music for the majority of my life. It’s always been important to incorporate creativity into my lifestyle and work. But this isn’t always possible. After making the decision to leave the corporate job in Amsterdam last July, my main goal was to begin building a body of my creative work including music and short films. Music is a main theme, but my curiosities about nature and travel have opened up a lot of doors of story-telling that led to me accidentally directing a documentary in Canada, and now here we are.
Can you share your journey from corporate to filmmaking with Faralore? What motivated this shift and how have your corporate experiences influenced your approach to creative storytelling in film?
As a corporate employee, my areas of focus were in the space of employee learning and development; How organisations streamline operations and improve profitability, while developing their people. Most companies seem to prefer to live in ignorance, believing that these things aren’t compatible. But my work for companies like Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft proves that by addressing both customer and employee experiences simultaneously, the greatest gains across the business can be attained.
The difficulty for me was working inside these organisations and ultimately becoming stifled by corporate bureaucracy, and politics while being the champion of people. It was clear to me that I could have a greater impact consulting with organisations to achieve their customer and employee experience goals. I’ve been doing this for the past couple of years too. My website, BenjWeb.com, shows you a bit more about my work in this space.
I’m not sure my corporate experience influenced my approach to film, but it certainly helped me understand the power of story and communication. It’s been remarkable how transferable my skills as a corporate facilitator and consultant have been when thrown into the utter chaos of shooting a documentary. I can confidently tell you that at no point in my career have my skills in communication, leadership, process design, and collaboration been so well put to use. Ultimately, I remain focused on people, but the domain has changed.
In your work with Faralore, how do you approach the storytelling process? Can you walk us through how a concept evolves from an idea to a fully realised film project?
I’m sure my answer to this will evolve and is even likely to change entirely depending on the project. Right now, my main responsibility in the story-telling process is to get the hell out of the way. Today, that looks like building a team including indigenous writers, community partnerships in Canada, writing proposals for funding, and keeping my team focused on the next milestones.
I’m not sure film is super different to other situations where you’re moving from concept to a final project. The commonalities include defining scope, allocating roles and responsibilities, communicating consistently, adapting process flows, drafting, seeking feedback, and learning learning learning.
Many creative professionals thrive in coworking environments. In your experience, what are the primary benefits of using coworking spaces for filmmaking, and how has it impacted the projects at Faralore?
I’m a lone wolf so to say, after many years in bustling offices and traveling to meet and work with colleagues around the world, it’s a real change of pace. I know about myself that I’m better around people. I get to practice my listening and questioning skills. It’s great to seek immediate feedback on your ideas too. You never know what kind of connection you can make in life, and those forged in co-working spaces endure, I can attest to that! Being able to come into WOTSO 24/7 is a blessing as well. I’ve been coming in on weekends when it’s super quiet to really get in the zone. Having a dedicated desk where I can go wild with my post-it notes while sequencing the film has also been really helpful.
Above: Moving post-it notes around a real office space to lay out the sequence of the film.
How are you finding the WOTSO experience at our new site in Toowoomba? How has WOTSO supported your business growth?
WOTSO Toowoomba has been incredible! You can’t put a price on productivity, nor can I speak higher of the team here in creating such a powerful space. From great music to a never-ending stream of coffee, it’s had a profound impact on my current stage of building my business. Thanks, WOTSO Toowoomba!
You can learn more about Benjamin’s film here:
And stay tuned on social media:
Instagram: @faralore_
TikTok: @faralore
