60 Seconds With Creative Disrupter Rik Klingle-Watt
Rik Klingle-Watt has built his career on disrupting the status quo. As an award-winning creative director he helped elevate the plight of homelessness to a world stage, earned one client a Guinness World Record and brought dignity to Canada’s poorest postal code. Between mouthfuls of porchetta at Gastown’s Meat & Bread, institute B’s resident Freethinker and writer of Not Business as Usual gave us the inside scoop on the making of the film. And why he is so passionate about disrupting the status quo of business.
institute B: How did the idea to create the film, Not Business As Usual come about?
Rik Klingle-Watt: It’s funny, but we never intended to make a film. This was originally a research project for iBOC, institute B’s unique online entrepreneur education curriculum. While Darrell, Bix and Manfred are famous for developing the cultural foundations for incredible success stories like Starbucks, IKEA and lululemon, we wanted to focus on entrepreneurs whose companies weren’t at that level yet. But who had all taken a stand for a new way of being in business. We set up the interviews to learn first hand about their “purpose beyond profit” business models.
When we sat down and reviewed all the footage however, we discovered they shared many common experiences that seemed to fly in the face of conventional wisdom and business practices. As we dug deeper, we realized there was a bigger story waiting to be told. I presented my concept for Not Business As Usual, and the rest as they say, is history.
How did you come up with the title?
Our film is about people who are disrupting the status quo of capitalism. So I simply told the truth.
Who do you think is the audience of this film and how do you think they will respond to it?
I hope the film speaks to the person who dreams of creating something more than just a livelihood for themselves. The examples in the film prove that you can make a lot of money AND make the world a better place at the same time. Who wouldn’t want to create a legacy like that?
What was the most challenging part about working on this film?
Staying true to the authentic stories, even when they didn’t paint everyone in the most favourable light. And to resist the temptation to use this opportunity to simply promote iB and their services.
You should note that none of the interviews in the film were rehearsed or scripted. There were no paid actors, and we didn’t have an agenda, or a pre-conceived outcome when we sat down to make it. Like I said: we shot the footage first, and then figured out what our story was.
It would have been so much easier to manufacture a story or spin a particular point of view that institute B wanted to convey, but it wouldn’t have been as real. And the audience would see right through that. I think the deliberate rawness of the interviews makes the overall story more compelling. The audience will know what they are hearing is the real truth. Even when it’s not pretty.
Not Business As Usual provides a look into conscious and social capitalism and the “Pirates of Capitalism” who are taking part in it. Do you think that Pirate Capitalism is for everybody?
No I don’t. It’s a special breed of entrepreneur who chooses to operate with a purpose beyond profit. Ironically, they will be the ones who will prove to be the most successful.
Which part of the film and/or the process of making the film would you say has inspired you the most?
As corny as it sounds, it really was the stories of the entrepreneurs themselves, and how passionate they all are about making a difference. Lots of us talk about that. Myself included. But when you hear what they’ve done, and why they are doing it, you know they are the real deal. These people are putting their money where their mouth is.
I am so grateful that they trusted us enough to open up and share the stories they hadn’t told anyone before. I hope they inspire others as much as they’ve inspired us.
Rik Rocks! Always has and just keeps on doing it!
We know! We’re lucky to work with him.