MFG NEWS / NOUVELLES DU MFG

Posted March 10th, 2008:

MFG member Terri Foxman writes:

I'm doing research for a documentary directed by award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Josh Freed. The film is called "My Messy Life" and it's an exploration of the dynamic in the relationship between the messy and the neat from Josh's point of view. Josh is admittedly and happily in the messy camp. Josh has a very messy office that he believes is an idea incubator that helps him think and work creatively and outside the box. He suspects that chaos and creativity are somehow linked for many people and the film sets out to explore this.

We have almost completed the documentary and are looking to film two more sequences in Montreal:

· We know that for many couples a big issue is messiness versus neatness: one partner is neat and the other is just plain messy. We are looking to film with a couple who love each other very much but for whom the messy vs. neat issue is a real battleground in their relationship. We would like to film the couple in their home talking honestly about the challenges of a messy and a neatnik living together. The film does not pass judgement on either. The interest is in the dynamic between the two. We are interested in a warm, infectious debate with a dose of humour.

· We are also looking for a family who does not try to get their kids to stay neat. They like the chaos; neatness is not a priority. They may even believe that forcing their kids to be neat is counterproductive to their emotional growth and that a laissez-faire attitude will foster curiosity and creativity.

And there are experts who believe this as well. We interviewed David Freedman, science journalist and co-author of “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder” who said, “If I could change one thing, it’s the way people don’t give kids a break about being messy. Kids should be messy, kids need to be messy, playing is about being messy, education should be messy, and yet, the parents and teachers try to drill it into the kids at a very early age -- Put all your toys away or you’re going to lose them. We’re going to punish you if you’re not neat and organized -- I think if you let your kid be messier, I think you’re going to end up with a more creative kid, I think your kid will be smarter, if they’re somewhat messier. I’d love the word mess to mean, to have more connotations of creativity, of personality, of stimulation, I think there are a lot of wonderful qualities to messiness that really tend not to go with the word, and I think they should.”

In both cases we need articulate people who will be open to talking on camera about these issues.

We are on a crazy deadline and are hoping to film either this week or early next week. Please let me know as soon as possible of your recommendations. And please forward this to anyone who you think may be good for this.

Terri Foxman

Film researcher

514-288-0369