The idea that Hollywood has something to teach corporate America about good business practices might sound like the inspiration for a new comedy movie.
But that's the quite serious premise behind Lights, Camera, InterAction. The Los Angeles firm turns groups of employees into production crew members for a day, imparting lessons in teamwork and creativity by having them make their own commercials.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 69 words Type of Material: Correction
Hollywood team building: A caption with an article in Monday's Business section about a firm that turns companies' workers into film crews for a day to foster teamwork, said its accompanying photo showed Greg Cebulski of Lights, Camera, InterAction, left, helping InterContinental Hotel employee Nedim Hasonvic. The photo, above, actually shows, from left, Hasonvic, Rafik Ghazarian, who also works for the hotel, and John Knowles of Lights, Camera, InterAction.
"We believe filmmaking is the perfect teaching tool for the business world," said David Wendell, the company's co-founder and a veteran TV producer. "A film crew is very similar to a corporate structure. There are all these different roles that people are playing and they have to learn to work together to make their vision a reality."
Lights, Camera, InterAction -- its slogan is Team-building, Hollywood-style -- has carved out a niche in the unglamorous world of corporate meetings and events. Companies spend millions of dollars annually on retreats and team-building exercises for their employees, supporting an industry that boasts half a dozen trade publications and thousands of planners.
Typically, companies serve up activities such as building rafts, running obstacle courses and going on scavenger hunts to foster unity among corporate divisions and bridge multicultural differences among employees. Such esprit-de-corps exercises, reminiscent of an episode of "The Office," frequently provoke more eye-rolling than high-fives.
"It's not the typical drudgery of a corporate event where no one wants to be there," said partner Sterling Lanier. "What we say is, 'this is the most fun and innovative team-building exercise you've ever seen.' "
Lights, Camera, InterAction offers clients an opportunity to thrust their employees into the pressure cooker of a commercial shoot, and the results of the exercise can be instantly judged. The firm uses a network of directors, writers and producers to coach employees -- divided into teams of 10 to 20 -- on how to conceive, write and shoot their own 60-second mock commercials (although the vast majority of real TV spots today last 30 seconds).
Participants get a crash course in operating cameras, assembling props and directing the action, doing just about everything themselves except for the final editing, which is handled by one of the professional facilitators.
