Last night I attended a consultation meeting put on by Creative Saskatchewan, which is a government-funded group responsible for providing grants for the creative industry in our province. To start out the evening they asked what their focus should be. It was short notice but I was happy to come up with the following ideas.
Uniting People
We in the communications industry are in a very powerful position to influence culture for good or bad. Creative Saskatchewan requires projects to have certain qualities, one of which is “demonstrable economic and cultural benefit to Saskatchewan”. As for cultural benefit, I suggested that funding preference should be made to projects and events that serve to unite people on topics that transcend political, racial and religious boundaries. Mere profit should come second to that, I think.
I witnessed the birth of the popular internet, and with it came the promise that it would serve to unite people across the world. Judging the world today, it seems that the human tendency is to gather around us as many people as possible who think exactly like we do. Never before have people been so divided in so many ways. We tend to visit the websites that support our viewpoints, and we are cavalier about confronting people online (often anonymously) when we would never have done so in person. Too many times we share things on social media that are callous or crass, simply because the topic is interesting. The creative community is in the thick of these things, and we need to start pushing for a better way.
This would not have to be a matter of censorship, as many people in the arts community fear so intensely. It would be a matter of choosing paths which are best for our province and humankind, albeit sometimes to the exclusion of other options. Since this is public money, such an approach would be in the interest of whatever politicians are in power, because it should result in fewer complaints about what is being funded.
Yet avoiding controversy doesn’t have to be bland. For example, if there were two film projects competing for funding, shouldn’t we choose to fund the one that will be remembered fondly years from now—the one that made you cry, which celebrated what it means to be human? Wouldn’t that be better than choosing the one you will remember for the intense violence or the weird sex scene? This brings me to my next recommendation.
Promote the “Wow!”
Despite the societal problems mentioned above, I will say that today is a great time to be alive when we count our creative options. Never before have we had so much inspiration and so many tools at our disposal to communicate in amazing ways. The problem is that it is hard to stand out in the crowd, which means “the world” in today’s technological landscape. I hope that Creative Saskatchewan will serve to encourage real creative and technological innovation in our province, so that we can produce things which are unique and have true character. Games that go beyond just another Flappy Bird clone. Films that don’t end up found in the bargain bin alongside the Jackass movies. Music that both the hipsters and the cowboys can proudly stream from their electronic skull implants years from now. This philosophy could show itself both in the projects that are funded or in the events which are staged.
A Combination?
Our table group was required to write down all of our recommendations and then choose the topics of highest priority. It was funny—someone suggested that we combine both of my suggestions as being essentially the same. I had to object! It is possible to have unique, popular, memorable, best-selling products and still make them without benefit to society at large. Virtuous policy and innovative thinking are things which can walk hand in hand, but they won’t do it without some planning. There are too many creative geniuses out there who use their gifts merely for shock value, and it is a sad reality that society in general gobbles that stuff up by the bucketful then wonders why there are so many social injustices in the world.
I will admit that this article does little to help in the way of actually implementing these ideals. Every plan starts with an idea, however, and this is mine. Let’s make all our ideas fantastic, and let’s use them to lift each other up.