Christopher Nolan Has Almost Convinced Me to Ditch My Phone
Christopher Nolan, creator of the Dark Knight Batman Trilogy and one of Hollywood’s hottest directors, does not own a cell phone. Pretty bad-ass if you ask me.
Nolan is known as an “auteur” because when you see one of his movies it’s obvious that it’s his.* His movies are drenched with his personal philosophies/thoughts/fears and it’s easy to see he’s reached a level of creative mastery that most humans never even dream of approaching.
Through his creative works, Nolan has produced (in conjunction with many talented people who he leads) billions of dollars worth of revenue** and has equally delighted both critics and moviegoers, which is highly unusual. Prior to Nolan, it was thought impossible by many film experts and non-experts alike that philosophical ideas and ambivalent truths could attract the average moviegoer, but Nolan, probably without caring to do so, proved that it was — wonderfully — possible.
Nolan is an advocate of following what he’s good at, and mostly, what he’s passionate about. He does what he feels no one else can (or cares to do) and what he himself can probably do best. Paraphrased, he philosophizes that success comes when you follow personal ideas (even when strange) to fulfillment instead of trying to meet the standards of what somebody else wants.***
Interestingly, he (Nolan) is also infamous for shutting out specific distractions. For example, he sometimes describes the ending of a movie verbally to his cast so he doesn’t have to deal with script leaks, he doesn’t own a cell phone and doesn’t answer email. He confirms that “he’s not a Luddite,” and it’s not that he doesn’t enjoy technology (because obviously, he does) but the cell phone and email weren’t something that he needed so he never cared to use them.****
I myself, as the CEO of the Harmon Brothers agency, was for some reason attracted to this seemingly “easy” decision not to own a phone or answer email when it’s more than likely that most adults in the United States (Nolan currently lives in Los Angeles by the way) are tied at the hip to these technologies. In fact, I’ve thought about Nolan’s choice for years and have even joked that maybe one day I would “go Nolan” and everyone would have to work harder to contact me. Mostly though, I seriously wondered if his decision to resist the distraction that phones and email can insert into your life had, and continues to have, something to do with his immense success and almost scary amount of influential power.
Thinking these thoughts I realized that at Harmon Brothers (HB) we have a similar tradition of shutting out specified distractions in the pursuit of creative original work. At HB, we hire a lot of writers, and when we identify a new client, we take our writers to a cabin at Sundance (the famous Robert Redford owned resort) and ask them to commit to a little game during their two-day stay: we all put our cell phones away and if anyone must get their phone out they throw $20 in a pot that is raffled off to a writer who didn’t use his/her phone during the duration of the stay.
It’s amusing and also instructional to watch the writers make this decision to willingly give up what effectively represents a series of varied distractions, and commit their bodies, brains, emotions and maybe even their souls to produce something truly original, distinct and creative….maybe even additionally delightful or appropriately shocking. One of our writers told us they feel they get more done during our two-day retreats than they could accomplish in a month at the office. It’s a labor for sure, but after the labor comes the birth.
Anyway, it made me wonder what would happen if I gradually trained myself to give up the distractions that are holding me back from Christopher-Nolan-like mastery. After all, getting rid of phones, not answering email or not binging Netflix aren’t necessarily the panacea to success or becoming a MASTER at your craft, but they could be a part of it and it’s really a matter of identifying what keeps you from focusing on what’s already inside of yourself. Christopher Nolan found his inner focus and so have many of our HB writers. I aim to continue to increase my own mastery and maybe, if my focus sharpens, you’ll be contacting me via smoke signals.
Bio:
Benton Crane leads Harmon Brothers, the team behind the internet’s most famous ad campaigns: Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, Purple, Lume, PooPourri, and many others. Benton and his team believe storytelling is the most effective form of communication and their mission is to Share Better Stories. Another article by Benton you may enjoy : What’s Your Superpower?
Notes and References:
* Want to see some famous scenes from Nolan’s films? Please enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDTMJWLugE
** Both Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises generated over $1 Billion each: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
*** I describe Nolan’s emphasis on pursuing your own passion and sticking with your personal ideas. To hear the words from the man himself, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CaDZamA2ok
*** I describe Nolan’s commentary on his choice to omit the use of a cell phone and email in his day-to-day life. To read his commentary, especially his quote about not being “a Luddite” see this wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan
This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
