Our Guiding Principles

Our Guiding Principles

This blog is a departure from the type of information we have historically written in our blogs, but Daniel and I agreed that it was important and relevant in today’s business climate, to share a bit of our interior consciousness.

As business owner’s we have to make decisions every single day. Some are important enough that they can change the trajectory of our business forever, while others can be trivial. Why is that distinction important? Because regardless of the gravity of the decision, they should always be made with purpose and clarity. We execute this initiative through the establishment of our Guiding Principles.

Many businesses have a purpose, mission and/ or vision statement, that defines WHY the business does what it does, HOW it’s going to accomplish that, and WHERE the business wants to inevitably be. While those are all important collectively and on their own, that isn’t what we’re talking about here. Those are just synonyms for a business plan. Which, for the record, is absolutely necessary if you intend on venturing into entrepreneurship.

Guiding principles, while fluid and flexible by nature, become part of the foundation of the business, upon which all future things are built. The list of innovators, leaders and thinkers that agree with this conceptually is long and notable, and as such so is the understanding that there is no exact science to establishing them. There is no wrong or right way, as long as you take the time to be honest with yourself.

And it doesn’t matter what business you’re in. Whether your selling a product or a service to a consumer or a another business, guiding principles become a relevant function of the overarching business plan. In our case, we decided that simple, straightforward and well thought out statements would best serve our intentions.

I. We believe in something greater than our own self-interest.

Why is this important? The success of a business is most often directly connected to the leadership at the top. And as such, so is the failure. Sacrificing long term progress for immediate gratification is typically the underlying cause of failure, along with EGO (a topic we’ll address in a future post). Embracing humility, having a fluid plan of execution and prioritizing the business needs over personal gains are just of few examples of how this principle comes to life.

II. We do what we say we will do and when we say we will do it.

Pretty obvious right? But think about how poor the level of service has gotten in some of the largest and most “successful” companies in the world. It’s laughable at best. And when we continue to accept it, we become complicit actors in the scheme, and the bar continues to drop. Change starts with the person staring back at you in the mirror. Characteristics like honor, integrity and respect are cornerstones of this principle.

III. We meet the world head-on as stand up professionals.

Be yourself, own your craft, and when the going gets tough, stand tall with distinction. Be relentless about what you’re passionate about. This life will test you; know that in advance and believe you’ll survive the battles of this war of sorts.

IV. Excellence comes from within; attitude dictates our actions and behavior.

Confidence is reflected in almost every decision that we make as humans. We’re not talking bravado and arrogance, but commitment to purpose. Individually and as a team, we honor that reality by putting in the hours, doing the work, and being prepared for what is ahead, under all circumstances. We are artists yes, but words are irrelevant, we want to be judged by our actions and behavior.

V. We stay committed to our craft and to creativity. As perpetual students we must delve deeper and will not rest on reputation. We embrace the inevitability of change.

We’re filmmakers at our core. But entertainment mediums are changing rapidly and we have to embrace these changes and be willing and able to incorporate these nuances into our business model. This means we cannot force on people what we want; we have to be willing to listen and learn. And we cannot go into tomorrow riding the success of today. We have to earn each day as it comes.

So there you have it folks, a little insight into us and how we define our guiding principles. We appreciate you taking the time to read this blog and look forward to sharing more of our story, along with other originally curated information and media with you.

Learn. Survive. Thrive.

Paul Pantozzi – Owner/ Filmmaker

The Survival Summit