This year I have worked on many small team projects. Meaning that we were a smaller team than what usually a regular production company would assemble to execute a project. I must say that all the projects were successfull and executed as well or even better than a bigger production could have done with larger ressources.
In highnsight, I looked at why this small team concept was successfull. I must say right off the bat that it wasn't always an all-star crew and I realize now from these last few projects that it doesn't have to be an The "Best of the Best" (BOB) to pull off an exeptional result. The real key is a good dynamic. Like most great sports stories the cast of players on the team were not an amalgamation of all the best players of the league but a rag tag crew of derelligues that rise to the occasion to win the Super Bowl ('83 Raiders) or the World Series ('94 Montreal Expos... I know they didn't win because of strike but the romantic in me likes to Dream).
This is not to say to try to get the best people but in most occassions I have been in a dynamic where it was BOB; the interactions between the various creative and administrative personel created a sculpture out of "poop". Meaning, in the end the result was looked good greek sculpture but it's composition was lacking. On my scale, good is not something to aspire to or even settle for. Basically, a gathering of the "Best of the Best" doesn't guarantee a strong result sometimes it it implodes.
I use Hitchcock as an exemple to my point when I work with directors or in creative meetings. Hitch was a genius director because he didn't storyboard the shower scene or create the sountrack for it. He got Saul Bass and Bernard Hermand to work on it for him. Genius.
Being able to assemble a great team, work with different personalities, get the right people connected with the right people on any level is talent that is underated, undervalued and often overlooked.
One last thing on The "BOB", they don't always work/interact with other properly. One thing that I noticed is that if one ore more of the extremely talented team is not participating for some reason, the team dynamic as a whole becomes chaotic and leads to the demise of the project. Film is by nature chaotic and minimizing the pieces that risk your project is the ultimate goal to put yourself in the best posible positiion. Assembling The BOB is no guarantee of success, I would even say that building a team that way decreases your chances at success.
My 2 cents... now back to the #NextNewThing.