What are the benefits of working with different generations?  Well, I found out the answer last Tuesday night and I suspect, more of the answer will be revealed over the next six weeks.

Many of those who read this blog know that I was recently selected to be a member of a local council’s Intergenerational Film Project.

The City of Kingston sponsors and supports people of all ages to be part of this project that encourages filmmakers of all ages to work together to create a short film on the theme of “Transitions”.  I wrote about this project and how I was selected in the blog post How Working Out Loud Inspires New Passions.

As part of this project, the council provides training and equipment for the film crews to plan, shoot and edit their short film. The training is once a week over six weeks and the final movie will be screened at a local cinema.  To say that I’m ecstatic to be a member of this project and to work with a variety of people of all ages, backgrounds and expertise in filmmaking is an understatement.

I don’t believe that this opportunity would have revealed itself to me if I hadn’t shown my work or ‘worked out loud’ through my amateurish attempts at creating videos (vlogs) that show me in the process of learning.  If I didn’t publish my reflections, blogs, videos publicly through this blog or my You Tube channel, people would never have known my interests and this opportunity would never have transpired at the right time that it did.  So there’s an argument for having to show your work no matter how amateurish, half-baked or incomplete it is.

You’re really denying yourself an opportunity to learn, live and grow if you don’t share your insights in a way that is relevant, meaningful and personal for you.

Our first session last week was an opportunity to meet each other, introduce ourselves and participate in some team activities that enabled us to learn more about our strengths, motivations, and passions.  We were randomly placed into our multi-age film crews and immediately you could see the value of this.

In my team, I have a 67-year-old novelist and active community service volunteer; a 61-year-old Argentinian filmmaker who has not had opportunities to be involved in the Australian film industry since emigrating to Australia 12 years ago; a 17-year-old student (who we have yet to meet as she wasn’t there on the night) and a wonderful young man aged 12 years old whose enthusiasm and passion for making films impressed me greatly.  Truth be told, I was in awe.  He showed me some of his video animations that he made on Adobe After Effects, Instagram account, and website where he openly shows his work.  As I was chatting to him, I felt a kindred spirit who loved community, filming and storytelling.  I’d love to be able to share his website so that you can see some of the amazing short films he has created but I am mindful that I may need to get his approval or permission first.

We signed a whole heap of approvals to film paperwork and although I cannot share video and photos here of actual people and the work, I will share what I can for you to get an idea of the process.  While the first week was all about getting to know each other, next week we will start with learning about making a short film.

This flip chart is being written by a 12 year old. Respect. #intergenerationalfilmproject pic.twitter.com/rrG0DWbSsp

— Helen Blunden (@ActivateLearn) April 26, 2016

The entire project is also being filmed by another filmmaker who will create a documentary of the whole process.

I expect that I’m going to be amazed at working with young people as well as people who are older than me but are driven by a passion for learning.  Everyone there talked about the need to be continually learning something new or going out of their comfort zone and everyone welcomed the fact that they’d be working with people from diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences.

This project has got me thinking about the ages of people in my network and I’ve realised that there is a lack of young people aged 0-25 within it.  I feel that I’m missing out on their views, vibe and perspectives of youth and welcome every opportunity to work with them. I feel that I have a lot to share to these ages about how they can stand out and share their passion through social media and networks which in turn would help them in their life and career.  In return, I know that they can teach me a thing or two such as being fearless and looking

In return, I know that they can teach me a thing or two such as being fearless, looking at things with a genuine curiosity and questioning things openly.