– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

It's hard to create

rules or maxims or principles around

creative collaboration. The chemistry of

it is so specific to each scenario, you

know? I mean, I've made

I've made like 50 films, and I'm not

sure that there's a single methodology

for creating a

an ef- an effective or positive

collaboration. Different people work in

very different ways. You know, you need

you need leadership in the sense that

you need someone who almost

creates the

the frame in which you're inside which

you're all working and

articulates

the goals and articulates in some sense

if there are principles or values

that you want to work within.

I think people are actually very

adaptable, very malleable, and can get

excited about lots of ways of working,

but I do think leadership is sometimes

about

getting people tuned into the same

frequency

at the front end so that you can get

the you know, um I don't want to say

happiest, but you can get a effective

collaboration.

I've had certain creative experiences

that

were really inspiring. I I mean, working

with someone like

Alejandro Iñárritu on Birdman, where he

analogized to the process before we even

started to uh

Philippe Petit walking on the the the

wire between the World Trade Centers

without a net. He He established that it

was going to be risky, that the idea of

a film in one take might not succeed,

but that it was worth going for, that

that putting ourselves out

into a position where there wasn't a

workaround was going to produce

something interesting. And he And I

think he got he got everybody pulled

together around the idea of creative

risk taking.

Olivia Wilde did that really recently on

this film The Invitation that we did.

She

She used a phrase I love. She said,

"We're going to stitch the parachute on

the way down

with the faith that it's going to open."

And I think what she meant in that case

is that she was willing to set out on

the journey

without knowing what the the end of the

story was going to be that we were going

to find

that we were going to actually find the

end of the story and route to making it

that she kind of gave us a scenario. She

asked us to bring our own ideas about

our characters into the mix and

permitted us to not know precisely where

we were going.

Instead of uncertainty, it turned it

into discovery. You know, and discovery

is fun and vital and feels alive and you

could take the same set of circumstances

and if everybody feels like you know,

insecure or I don't know what we're

doing or aren't we supposed to know what

we're doing,

it has a very different feedback loop

that gets created. So, you can have the

same scenario and the way that you frame

it

to people can make it a positive an

emotional positive versus an emotional

negative.

A good leader I think communi-

communicates the rules of engagement,

communicates the modality that you're

going to work in because then people can

say themselves, "Oh, that's what we're

supposed to feel uncertain. Feeling

uncertain is good."

>> I mean, why don't you try it? I'll put

it in I'll come in in the night.

We'll put them in. We'll put them in for

free.

And if you don't like it, you know,

we'll take it away.

Um we'll we'll we'll take it away and

you know, what have you what have you

got to lose? And people would sort of

say, "Okay." And as soon as he

And I I mean, I love the image of Mike

Bloomberg in with carpet, you know,

pulling up carpets and getting cables

run and putting his early terminals in.

But he said once they got on it, then

they

then they would then they never gave it

up, you know, and that and today people

still people are addicted to their

Bloomberg terminal data feeds. But I I

think that

if you can frame up like an idea you

have as something that can be tried, you

know, at like like almost like the what

have you got to lose, you know, or what

have we got to lose?

It's it's not always going to work, but

it's not a bad pitch. Like the idea of

saying, "Hey, will you let me run with

this for a minute and and in a sense

prove it to you."

When I've worked with directors who are

tight,

um

who have in some sense

a video tape in their head of the way

something's going to go,

you know, the great thing about film is

just like we're doing here, you can do

takes, right? And it's like, "Why don't

you just let me

I I used to use the line like if someone

was really giving me friction around an

idea

I had about a way to play something, I'd

just say, "Look, you know,

let me have a few. Just just give me a

few to just run an idea.

And when I'm done with the idea, then,

you know, if I did black and you want

white, then come in and say,

"Great, we've got black. Can I have

white?" And you know, and I've already

get I've I've tried my idea. Great,

let's try another one, you know, let's

try something else. Um

I like to I mean, I like to put the full

force

of whatever my capabilities are behind

any idea because it's it's a fun

exercise. But sometimes, um

sometimes I've even as an actor I've

asked for sort of just enough rope

just enough rope to tease an idea out

before you you you you shut it down. And

usually And again, usually if you put it

to someone that way

and they realize that all you're giving

them is options, then maybe you can get

someone's

someone who's negatively micro-managing

can be encouraged to

to see it as positive optionality for

themselves.

I've almost never started any enterprise

by myself. I mean, you can't in film.

I've written things

but every business I've ever started

I've done it with partners. Not people I

hired who were good, but with with

partners. Like

to me like 1 + 1 + 1 = 10 is like

has always been a winning formula. I

val- you know, I value partners

intrinsically and I think I've been

pretty good at picking them. I think you

know, you have to pick your partners

really carefully and I've been really

really lucky. I've worked with and I've

worked with a number of people on

multiple enterprises because my

experience was so good and we wanted to

do it again.

And that's true. Certainly in

filmmaking, you build you build

people who you're like, "Oh man, I I

don't ever want to go to battle again

without her on props or without him on

production design or without you know, I

mean, you you build your team. You build

a team that you can

uh but but then other times you look at

the bespoke needs of a project and you

know

you're looking for someone with a real

specific

set of skills. It's funny, I mean, it's

2026 but I still think conversation

we're still people and the fastest way

to determine whether

you vibe with someone is it's to ask

questions.

Um

you know, I mean, it's funny. One thing

I've kind of learned over time is

obviously I can be

I'm I I I can say what I think about a

thing, but if you're really trying to

recruit people and you're trying to

figure out is this the right person for

me? Sometimes you got really got to

learn to when to shut up. You know what

I mean? And and and in a way make sure

that you know, you leave the space open

and see how other people fill the space

cuz it's really the only way you're

going to learn

what they've got, you know? I mean

anybody can sort of yes you if you over

explain what you're looking for. I think

if you

if you if you [music]

leave a lot of empty space, you'll see

what someone else fills it with and

you'll learn a lot more.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
maxim /ˈmæksɪm/ C2	noun - a short statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct
methodology /ˌmeθəˈdɒlədʒi/ C1	noun - a system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity
articulate /ɑːˈtɪkjuleɪt/ C1	verb - to express an idea or feeling fluently and coherently
malleable /ˈmæliəbl/ C2	adjective - easily influenced; pliable; able to be shaped
analogized /ˈænələˌdａɪzd/ C1	verb - to make a comparison between two things
uncertainty /ʌnˈsɜːrtnti/ B2	noun - the state of being unsure or lacking certainty
vital /ˈvaɪtl/ B2	adjective - absolutely necessary or important; essential
modality /moʊˈdæləti/ C2	noun - a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced
bespoke /bɪˈspoʊk/ C1	adjective - made to order; custom-made
intrinsically /ɪnˈtrɪnzɪkli/ C1	adverb - in an essential or natural way
enterprise /ˈentərpraɪz/ B2	noun - a project or undertaking, typically one that is difficult or requires effort
optionality /ˌɒpʃəˈnæləti/ C2	noun - the state of having choices or options available

Key Grammar Structures

• I'm not sure that there's a single methodology for creating an effective or positive collaboration.

  ➔ Existential 'there is' with complex noun phrases

  ➔ Used to assert the existence (or lack thereof) of a concept in a professional context.

• You need someone who almost creates the frame in which you're inside which you're all working.

  ➔ Relative clauses with prepositions (preposition stranding vs. pied-piping)

  ➔ The phrase 'in which' is a formal way to link the environment to the action.

• He established that it was going to be risky.

  ➔ Future in the past (was going to)

  ➔ Describes a plan or prediction made from a perspective in the past.

• She was willing to set out on the journey without knowing what the end of the story was going to be.

  ➔ Adjective + infinitive (willing to) + gerund after preposition

  ➔ 'Willing to' expresses readiness, and 'without knowing' uses a gerund after a preposition.

• Instead of uncertainty, it turned it into discovery.

  ➔ Phrasal verb 'turn into' + noun

  ➔ Used to describe a process of transformation from one state to another.

• If you don't like it, we'll take it away.

  ➔ First Conditional (If + present, will + infinitive)

  ➔ Used for real, likely future possibilities.

• I've almost never started any enterprise by myself.

  ➔ Present perfect with adverbs of frequency

  ➔ Connects life experiences up to the present moment.

• The fastest way to determine whether you vibe with someone is to ask questions.

  ➔ Superlative adjective + infinitive as subject complement

  ➔ Uses a superlative to focus on the most effective strategy.