Tips on Working Cross-Culturally in Entertainment
Working in different countries and among different cultures can be hard. Yet many of us in the entertainment industry dive into it and end up touring shows and creating events in and/or relocating to foreign countries to work as performers, technicians, or managers. No matter how qualified you are or how much experience you have under your belt, working cross-culturally can make you feel like a novice. What works at home doesn’t necessarily work in a foreign country, so teams and individuals are forced to adapt, compromise, and find creative solutions to get the job done.
Here are some tips for those crossing borders to put on a show:
1. Do not have expectations of how someone will deliver on a role they have been allocated.
Many jobs mean different things in different locations, and because there is no standard baseline definition of what a “stage manager” or a “technical director” does, don’t be surprised when a person implements the role in a way that is completely foreign to you. So be careful. Ask many questions—all of the questions. Discover and understand their approach and fill in the gaps accordingly.
2. Your way is not the “Right” way. It’s just a way…
Never assume you know the “Right” way to do things. Leave your college education and your work experience in your home country at the door, because once you start working internationally, rule books go out the window. Sometimes you will find yourself at the mercy of the flow of the culture or the company you’re with, and you will have to roll with it. That doesn’t mean you can’t bring your standards and procedures or your way of doing things into the job; just be prepared to compromise… a lot.
3. Listen, observe, and use local knowledge.
Every culture puts its own flavor on an event, and there are certain elements you may have to deal with that are new to you. In China, this may be a ribbon-cutting ceremony and long speeches. In the Middle East, this may be the compulsory playing of the national anthem and adherence to royal protocol. In Indonesia, you may have to deal with a general lack of health and safety awareness or care for procedure. You get my point. If you are new to a country or area, lean into local knowledge and seek out the people who can help you understand what you don’t know.
4. Create communication methods that work beyond language.
There are many things that can be communicated without words. Other communication methods become very important when you are working in places where multiple languages are spoken. Drawing sketches, making gestures or sound effects, or using a colour code and lighting cues can become replacements for the usual spoken word.
My husband once explained to a team in Thailand who spoke no English how tightly he wanted to stretch a film to create a holographic screen by mimicking the sound of a ratchet strap, calling out “Tuka, Tuka, Tuka” to the rigger. How many times he said “Tuka” was how many times the rigger would tighten the ratchet strap.
Prepare to get creative with your communications.
In the process of creating a show in Macau (of which I was Production Stage Manager), it became a common signal between the cast and crew to reply to instructions over the microphone by tapping their head with their fist to communicate to us that they understood. Using gestures instead of words can speak volumes and create an efficient workflow if you are all on the same page.
5. Respect all crew despite class, race, or pay divisions.
For all the advancements (or lack thereof, depending on opinion) made toward equality in the West, rest assured you are going to experience greater scales of inequity in other countries. You must also understand that these divisions of class or race between people are likely something you will have to navigate in order to get your show up. Understand that some people around you may be paid appallingly little; understand that there may be people who are super qualified, but who will never get a leadership position because of their race and the prejudices that come along with it. All of these things play into people’s motivations and commitment to getting the job done.
Fellow TAL contributor Tom Warneke told me once that one day, when working on a gig in the Middle East, one of his crew members got injured and he organized an ambulance to get him to the doctor (like any person would for another human being). All the locals around him were shocked and surprised that Tom would do such a thing for a Pakistani crew member. Tom recalls that even the hospital staff were surprised when he handed over his credit card to pay for the emergency visit.
Just because the people around you treat people unequally, that doesn’t mean you need to. Bring your moral standards with you and uphold them.
6. Evaluate what is in someone’s core and what’s in their flex.
A lady by the name of Julia Middleton wrote a book called Cultural Intelligence. As Oprah would say, I had an “ah-ha” moment while reading this book. Julia really nails intercultural relationships and talks about understanding yourself in terms of your core—or what is fundamentally unchangeable in you—and what sits in your flex, or what you are willing to adapt to assimilate into an environment, and how to see that in others. When you operate interculturally with this understanding, you may find more ease in your work from place to place.
For a good summary of this, watch Julia Middleton’s TED talk.
7. Seek out unifying factors in your relationships and work hard on them.
As an idealist, I always believe there is more that connects us than divides us. Especially in entertainment, there are so many common threads between technicians, crews, artists, and performers worldwide. We are a subculture as such: those who make entertainment. When working internationally, it is important to double down and find those commonalities between you and the people around you. This is often how you will get your show across the line.
I hope you get out there and enjoy the challenge.
This article was originally published on TheatreArtLife.com.
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