Collaborate with people you dig.

I just got back from a week of shooting in Israel. It was my first time there, and I was blown away by the people, art, culture and history. This is the 5th project I've worked on with friend and producing partner Jordan Olshansky—founder of True Stories—and part of an ongoing film series we started years ago about artists and their creative process. More on this soon.

There've been a few articles recently about how brainstorming's for the birds. And I totally agree. I've never come out of an all-day brainstorming session at an agency where the work got better, smarter or more distinct. Most of us are afraid to say something stupid, and groups tend to be more squeamish with uncomfortable silences.

But group collaboration is different than group think. The goal is to make something, then and there, and the casting for who's involved is key. I freelanced at Apple earlier this year, and as is pretty standard there I was assigned to a room with a half dozen other creatives with their own sets of egos, talents, tastes, and experience. It wasn't competing teams, it was one little agency inside an agency, and you could tell pretty instantly there was a common connection.

While everybody in the room wanted to be the one to "solve" it, nobody fought for their own idea. Nothing was precious. We were each of us more concerned about the idea vs my idea, and the work that came out of each day was better for it. It really came down to something a student of improv once told me about performing. If you're on stage trying to be the funniest one up there, the group will probably fail. But if everybody on stage is concerned with making the other person funny, the group will succeed.

Jordan and I are big believers in the idea can come from anybody. We were lucky to find some really talented people in Israel to help us produce this next film of ours. And the spirit of collaboration pervaded the entire shoot. I can't wait to put the finishing touches on this project and share with the world, and also can't wait to jump into the next project with like-minded folks.