Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Filmmaker Rick Stevenson Is Helping To Change Our World
StoryQ helps people connect the dots of their lives through storytelling and captures them authentically on film. Whether it’s children navigating life’s challenges, adults overcoming adversity, seniors reflecting on their legacies, or teams striving toward shared goals, StoryQ is committed to the significance of the story within each of us and the transformation that comes with telling it.
As a part of our series about “Filmmakers Making A Social Impact” I had the pleasure of interviewing Rick Stevenson
Rick Stevenson is leading the practice of guided verbal journaling and to unlock self-discovery, emotional intelligence and personal narrative empowerment. He has filmed over 6,000 in-depth interviews with kids and teens from 12 countries as part of a longitudinal project using his StoryQ method of inquiry dedicated to raising emotional intelligence. He is a creative and passionate combination of award-winning filmmaker and Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. He has directed, produced, and/or written twelve feature films and 100 hours of television, working with artists such as Robert Redford, Hugh Grant, Christopher Plummer, Kiefer Sutherland, Meg Ryan, and Patrick Dempsey. He’s an author, a public speaker, a husband, and a father of four who splits his time between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you share your “backstory” that brought you to this career?
Thanks for the question. It all happened by mistake. I was writing my doctoral thesis at Oxford University on world peace in preparation to be a diplomat when I inconveniently got ‘the film bug’. “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” “A Clockwork Orange” and “ET” — the combo captured my imagination, and this was long before the tech revolution made movie-making suddenly accessible to everyone. So I bought some champagne, invited a bunch of friends to a party and gave a pitch. $14k was raised that night (half of which was canceled the next morning when people sobered up), but we had some money which created momentum. The BBC stepped in with the rest of the budget and we made this little love story set in Oxford. It was Hugh Grant’s first film as well as the first film for some of the top people in the British Film Industry. It was not a great film but it was good enough to get us agents at William Morris and get distributed around the world. That enabled me to eventually direct, produce and/or write 12 feature films, three TV series, etc. It led to my life’s passion: StoryQ.com (which includes The5000DaysProject.org) and eventually the Prodigy Camp(ProdigyCamp.org), which was modeled after my experience at the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I have made too many mistakes to count, all of which have great lessons behind them. One that stands out is when I produced “Restless Natives” (a comedy set in Scotland that is becoming a musical this year). At the time, a Scottish group named “Big Country” was at the top of the charts, so I hunted them down in a hotel room on tour and enthused them about the script. They fell in love with it, and I was able to go into studio and produce the soundtrack with the legendary Geoff Emerick, who had engineered all of the “Beatles” records. When it came time to do the deal with London Records (who did not want their boys spending time on an indy soundtrack), I drove a really hard deal, including getting them to pay for the soundtrack — which is normally part of the film’s responsibility. It was such a good deal in our favor that when it came time to release the soundtrack, London Records no longer had anything to gain from the release. Hence, it never got released. LESSON: A ‘good deal’ is a ‘fair deal’ where everybody wins.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Robert Redford was my mentor. Immensely talented man beyond those movie star good looks. I learned to raise my bar from him and that the script is everything. A story? He was notoriously three hrs late wherever he went. One weekend, he asked me to come up to Sundance to spend the weekend and talk about a project. We were meant to have dinner, but my plane was delayed. I ended up being three hours late. As I walked into the Tree Room at Sundance to find him, he was there having a late dinner. I gushed an apology, and he said, “Rick, I’m the last person you need to apologize to for being late.” He had a sense of humor about himself.
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
I’m not a hardcore religious guy or anything, but it would have to be Jesus. Whether he was the son of God or just a really good man, he set forth a series of values that, if we lived by them, we could change the world.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
Two.
First, StoryQ helps people connect the dots of their lives through storytelling and captures them authentically on film. Whether it’s children navigating life’s challenges, adults overcoming adversity, seniors reflecting on their legacies, or teams striving toward shared goals, StoryQ is committed to the significance of the story within each of us and the transformation that comes with telling it.
Second, now in its 15th year, The Prodigy Camp is for tomorrow’s top filmmakers, musicians and innovators. We support aspiring teen (ages 12–18) storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from all backgrounds who have a passion, an authentic voice and a spark to change the world through the power of storytelling.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
When I started the 5000 Days Project, it was simply going to be a longitudinal documentary about growing up shot annually over 15 years. The first interview was in February 2001, and the second was in December 2001. What happened in between was 9/11, and that’s when I learned kids not only needed but wanted to talk on a much deeper level. Inspired by that need, the project ceased being about making documentaries though we still make them. Instead, it became a movement to use the StoryQ Method of documentary inquiry as a means to help kids answer their most important question: Who in the world am I? It then spread across the district, county, state, national and eventually international lines. We’ve now facilitated over 600,000 stories across six continents.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Rick: Because we give away 50% of our services to those in need, one of the scholarship recipients was a street kid from Chile. One night, I got a call telling me that he had been hit by a train. He lost his right arm and leg and had already lost his right eye to cancer years before. With his permission, we immediately put together a 5000 Days Project story reel that ended up being an appeal for help with his prosthetics. This not only attracted hundreds of generous backers but set him up to become a national hero in the Para-Olympics. I don’t know a young man with a more self-empowered and grateful attitude. He calls his left side his “lucky side.” See: https://vimeo.com/434181268/91058cf3d9
We also have a project at Sunrise, an orphanage is Cambodia. Check out this story: https://vimeo.com/454971742/6aa301eab1
Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?
1. Make people aware of StoryQ and its offerings for kids, seniors, adults and corporate teams. There is something for everyone: StoryQ.com
2. Donate to The Human Arc which supports building a library of stories for humankind while, in the process, growing the emotional intelligence of our species. https://www.humanlibraryinitiative.org/make-a-donation
3. The 50% charitable work is made possible by corporations, organizations and schools who sponsor their own projects. Partner with us to change the world one story at a time.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
4. Play the long game. Perspective is everything.
5. Persistence usually wins. Keep knocking on the door…
6. Put away 10% of your income 🙂 No one cares more about your safety net than you.
7. Eat well. Sleep well. Listen to your mother.
8. You are your biggest obstacle and asset.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Good works are pure nourishment for the soul and return 10 times what you put into them.
We are very blessed that many other Social Impact Heroes read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would like to collaborate with, and why? He or she might see this. 🙂
Well, I’m sure that if Jesus, Gandhi or Mandela were alive, they would be readers of Authority 🙂 Currently living? The Gates Foundation — either Melinda or Bill — has put their money where their mouths are. They show up and are making a difference. Warren Buffett the same. People who are not afraid to use the celebrity to stand up against injustice — Tom Hanks, George Clooney. That said, the real work is being done by everyday people who don’t get the spotlight but nonetheless, choose to do the right thing. These people range from first responders, healthcare workers, civil servants, volunteers, small business owners, educators — the list goes on. Our decision at StoryQ to give away half of what we do is dedicated to those people.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The confidence a bird has lies not in the strength of the branch on it which lands but in its wings.” Education and Experience is all about building the strength of our wings. I’m finding the world increasingly unpredictable. CHANGE is the only constant. We need to be ready for anything and everything.
How can our readers follow you online?
Check out: StoryQ.com , ProdigyCamp.org and The5000DaysProject.org
Dr. Rick Stevenson Rick@RickStevenson.com
Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin
Read or listen to my books:
21 Things You Forgot About Being a Kid
How To Be A Story Mentor: Connecting the Dots of Your Life Using the StoryQ Method
Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Filmmaker Rick Stevenson Is Helping To Change Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.