Productivity to me right now is about communicating to create a solution. It’s about articulating my ideas to larger groups of people and companies who may not get it right away. That’s often looked at as a bad thing, like, “Oh, man, these people don’t get my ideas.” But what I’ve learned is that it just takes some expert-level communication to paint the picture for different people you’re working with.
For example, in [the upcoming ABC series] Abbott Elementary, which is set in my hometown of West Philadelphia, we have a scene that takes place in a nail salon, and I really wanted it to look like a West Philadelphia nail salon. When I first saw the pictures, it wasn’t right. That’s another thing, knowing that it’s going to be okay. Your next step is to communicate in a real way. Rather than saying, “This is all wrong,” saying, “Let me explain what I envisioned.”
The salon couldn’t be too big because in West Philly, the buildings are small because it’s an urban area. The bowls you get your pedicures in looked too fancy. If something’s too fancy looking, I personally think it’s probably a bad nail salon. What’s in the nail salon? You [need] some earrings and stuff in the corner and some products you can take home. I wanted it to look a certain level of congested—that makes me know I’m going to get my nails done well. What does the art look like on the walls? Does it look faded? Because this isn’t a new place.
That was two weeks and four different departments of communication. What helped was having people around who want to listen, learn, execute the vision, and use their expertise to get a particular story told.
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