This is part 1 of three about this subject. You can find part 2 here and part 3 here.

I remember being in London as a producer, sitting across from a licensing director (someone who is responsible for acquiring the rights to theatre and musical productions). We were reminiscing about a project we worked on together some time ago. It was like any regular conversation, until a certain point. Being typically Dutch, I said something in a direct and straightforward manner. No beating around the bush.

And then I saw it. Two big eyes staring back at me, as if I had just crossed a line I didn’t even know existed. He laughed uncomfortably and said that he had fortunately worked with Dutch people before and so brushed off the comment. Nothing dramatic happened. The meeting continued. But that look stayed with me.

I had been aware that cultures can differ, and I thought I was sensitive enough to it to navigate these differences well. But this had caught me completely off guard.

In my field of producing entertainment internationally, it’s all about leadership and communication. Reputation, timing and trust determine success. Cultural misalignment can damage all of these in a split second. Cultural intelligence is everything.

So how could I better navigate this cultural minefield? Was there some secret formula to know what to say (or not to say) in certain cultures or situations? Could I improve my awareness of these cultural pitfalls?

I found part of the answer in a book called ‘The Culture Map’ by Erin Meyer. The awareness I wanted to cultivate is called cultural intelligence. And as the above-described incident had hammered home to me, it is crucial for an international producer to possess.

So let’s take a look at what cultural intelligence (as defined by Meyer) is and how it relates to the practice of international producing, with many  personal experienced examples.  

The global entertainment Industry

When I think about the entertainment sector, it feels borderless. Broadway producers collaborate with European creatives. Streaming platforms release worldwide. International tours move from continent to continent. People work over Zoom with colleagues they’ve never met in person. It doesn’t matter in what category you work; every part of the entertainment sector is global.

One of the key characteristics of the entertainment industry is that it’s highly personal. Network and reputation are everything: clients often choose people, not companies. Part of the reason for this is that creativity and ideas come from individuals, and creative collaboration relies on trust. Therefore, it’s very important to maintain a good reputation within the sector, which you can only achieve if you know how to communicate globally.

Cultural programming in the global entertainment Industry

The fact that the industry is so global creates the idea that we are all operating within the same professional culture. But it is, in fact, an illusion.

As entertainment professionals, we may have the same goal and shared work experiences. But the cultures we have grown up in have embedded in all of us certain expectations, prejudices and preferences that dictate how we want communication and cooperation to happen. These are not merely personal but are shared by all members of a certain culture. This can be a national culture or a subculture within a country.

You can probably see the difficulty. When professionals from different cultures meet, they not only bring shared goals and experience to a project, but also crucially differing expectations and prejudices. This mindset is called cultural programming.

This cultural programming colours every email, every negotiation and meeting. It influences how we give feedback, how we build trust, how we deal with conflict, how we perceive hierarchy and how quickly we expect decisions to be made.

Most people are not aware of their own cultural programming. They assume that how they interact with others is ‘natural’ and that other people, therefore, will also behave the same way. And within their own country, this assumption is often reinforced, because people sharing a culture do in fact interact in similar ways. It isn’t until someone from a different culture comes along that people are made aware that there are other ways of interacting. That their way is not the only way.

The real problem comes into existence when people think of their way as natural and the other’s way is perceived as wrong, disrespectful or even downright rude. They are not aware that the difference is caused by differing cultural programming and instead can take other people’s behaviour personally.

A lot of the creatives are sensitive people who feel with their entire soul. Therefore, any feedback or comment can be taken quite quickly as a personal offence. A question meant as engagement can be interpreted as someone who doesn’t appreciate the work.

In the high-stress context of international producing, that can cause a lot of problems.

Producing in the international entertainment field

When I look back at international projects I’ve been a part of, most tension wasn’t caused by incompetence or bad intention. It was caused by assumptions and misunderstandings. In other words, by clashing cultural programming. Becoming aware of this not only avoids certain problems, but it also helps to build relations.

As I’ve previously mentioned, the ability to understand, respect, and effectively function in diverse cultural contexts is called cultural intelligence. You build by becoming aware of different cultural programming, but also through first-hand experience with how people express this and how one can best deal with it.

If you would like to know more about what a producer is and does first, you can read this article.

Producers who have cultural intelligence:

• Close deals faster as trust is built faster
• Build stronger international partnerships as both parties feel better understood
• Avoid unnecessary legal conflict as misunderstandings are less present at the beginning
• Protect creative energy by keeping the communication flowing positively
• Maintain reputations across markets by having good relations

Smoother interaction as a result of cultural intelligence also creates space for better ideas. When people feel understood, they contribute more openly. In a creative industry, openness is tremendously important as it allows creativity to flow.

Personal example producing during an international project

A personal example from when I  worked on a project with an Italian client. Her English was mediocre, so understanding her was already difficult. But she also had an Italian temperament, meaning that she either absolutely loved something or absolutely hated it. Everything she said was nearly shouted with a passion. At first, this threw me off. My team and I thought we had entirely misunderstood her and our idea was completely off. After a lot of talk focusing on getting the client to tell us what she saw as the issue with our proposal, we realised all she wanted was for us to switch two colours in our design. The whole concept was fine; it was just the small detail of the colour that had set her off.

Because of my Dutch cultural programming, I had assumed that the intensity of her reaction indicated she hated our entire design. But the client, being Italian and operating with Italian cultural programming, felt her reaction was appropriate and was probably surprised that we misunderstood her. So, the lesson learned here was: emotional intensity does not always communicate dissatisfaction. Had I had more experience with Italians, I might have known that. As it was, our own misinterpretation of her response caused my team to experience stress and uncertainty, resulting in less pleasure while doing the job.

This was part one – an introduction to cultural intelligence and cultural programming in the global entertainment industry and how I as a producer deal with it. If you enjoyed it, please continue to part two.

In part two, I’ll go into the eight scales from The Culture Map from Erin Meyer, and give examples and personal experiences for each scale.

In part three, I share a case study and conclusion.