In the early 2000s (before I retrained to be a secondary music teacher), I was greatly fortunate to be invited to some of the leading music and audio production facilities in the UK, perhaps the world. The primary purpose of my visits was to meet professionals at the top of their industry and to learn about the protocols that made it possible for a world-class creative product to be developed. Every visit and conversation was an absolute privilege. Not only did I meet incredibly kind, passionate and gifted people, but I learned how they were able to inspire each other, constantly endeavouring to develop the quality of their overall product. This was especially impressive under the pressure of each client’s expectations of delivering the ‘ultimate sound production’ for their (in some cases) $100million project.

It was an amazing period of learning, but I couldn’t possibly imagine the scale of the immense impact these visits would now have on my practice as a teacher. I will forever be grateful to the amazing people at Pinewood Film Studios Post Production, Films@59, BBC Radio, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Reelsound, Twickenham Film Studios, Dolby Laboratories and The Digital Audio Company.

The single most important asset of all of these studios was ‘environment’. Not necessarily the building design, comfy furniture or well-stocked fridge, but those were important too! For exceptional creative developments to occur, the environment had to be designed with purpose to enable individuals to form exceptional, trusting relationships and to maintain open and honest communications. These aspects were completely fundamental in every aspect of production. Every stakeholder had a clearly defined objective in their work, but there was great transparency and respect between colleagues with each individual seeking to encourage others or having the flexibility to support others as they needed. Every stakeholder constantly looked for opportunities to discover something new, not relying on their own understanding and were frequently asking others for evaluation or advice. There was a hierarchy of roles and therefore responsibilities, but no-one was ‘more important’ than the others. There was a genuine passion for the product and collective excitement when something new was achieved.

We can learn much from this as education leaders and it is greatly relevant to our young people. The insight of how our production industries operate at the highest level is greatly inspiring. I wonder if students ever stop to consider how creativity is truly encouraged and developed by those who create the film and video game products they experience every day. I try to keep this experience of the ‘Production Environment’ at the centre of my curriculum design as it makes such a profound difference to the young people I work with.

(No part of this post is affiliated with any of the companies listed above.)