AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

The Los Angeles Times

Lights, Camera, InterAction turns firms’ employees into film crews in team-building exercises.

The idea that Hollywood has something to teach corporate America about good business practices might sound like the inspiration for a new comedy movie.

But that’s the quite serious premise behind Lights, Camera, InterAction. The Los Angeles firm turns groups of employees into production crew members for a day, imparting lessons in teamwork and creativity by having them make their own commercials.

“We believe filmmaking is the perfect teaching tool for the business world,” said David Wendell, the company’s co-founder and a veteran TV producer. “A film crew is very similar to a corporate structure. There are all these different roles that people are playing and they have to learn to work together to make their vision a reality.”

Lights, Camera, InterAction — its slogan is Team-building, Hollywood-style — has carved out a niche in the unglamorous world of corporate meetings and events. Companies spend millions of dollars annually on retreats and team-building exercises for their employees, supporting an industry that boasts half a dozen trade publications and thousands of planners.

Typically, companies serve up activities such as building rafts, running obstacle courses and going on scavenger hunts to foster unity among corporate divisions and bridge multicultural differences among employees. Such esprit-de-corps exercises, reminiscent of an episode of “The Office,” frequently provoke more eye-rolling than high-fives.

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