Coping with the Creativity – Efficiency Paradox : Lessons for Classic Project Management from the Making of Independent Films

The film industry is predicated on successfully overcoming the “creativity-efficiency paradox.” The making of an independent film encounters these two conflicting challenges which must be managed with the least restriction to creativity and with the least impact to efficiency. This management challenge is also present with many industry projects. However many managers fail to recognize this paradox and classic project management does not provide the tools and techniques to cope with it. In this study we explore the making of independent films and demonstrate that classic project management could adopt some of the general best practices. Several in depth interviews with filmmakers of independent films were conducted. Our results clearly demonstrate that tools and techniques exist to maximize creativity without forfeiting efficiency. In particular the role differentiation between the director who is responsible for creativity and the producer who is responsible for the efficiency supports the decision transparency. Also the specificity of task definition and planning far exceeds the classic standards eliminating ambiguity for all involved resources and allowing for higher flexibility. The insights also lead to further advancing of the theoretical discourse in project management