Bossing It: Taking the Jump When You’re Ready with Mark Delottinville

Mark is the owner of Big Pig Production Co., an award-winning commercial production company based in Toronto, Canada; He has completed work for brands such as Nestle, Flair Airlines, SodaStream, Door Dash, AT&T and Sponge Towels. Mark has taken what he has learned from the commercial production side and applied it to his first narrative short film, Cruise (2022), which has screened/been accepted at over 100 festivals worldwide, including Fantasia International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Seattle International Film Festival, Deadcenter, Chattanooga. Cruise won Best Canadian Short at the Calgary Underground Film Festival and was a Vimeo Staff Pick. 

LBB> What was your first experience of leadership?

Mark> I honestly could not remember; probably something as a child, but who knows? I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. 

LBB> How did you figure out what kind of leader you wanted to be – or what kind of leader you didn't want to be? 

Mark> Figuring out what type of leader you like to be is probably the easiest thing to figure out regarding being a leader. I say this because it is always effortless to spot lousy leadership. If a business fails, you see uninterested workers and a lack of productivity or innovation; these are signs of bad leadership. What you don't see is excellent leadership because sometimes, with outstanding leadership, mistakes must be made to become more efficient, and the wrong thing needs to happen to show you the right thing. When everything is going great, and you see unmeasured success, you might think this person is the best leader ever, but sometimes you can fall into that based on previous work or taking over for someone at the right time. A good leader needs to be constant in their drive, ambition and resolve to make the right decisions even when things aren't working out the way they want. All the time, I have things that happen on my sets that would be considered mistakes from the outside; however, when dealing with them on the inner workings of a production, what people don't see is the circumstances that lead to those mistakes and whether they might have been out of your control or not and the problem solving you did to make sure the shoot ran successfully. For example, you might have wanted to get a particular shot and had been set up and on time to get everything in the morning only to have your production assistant sleep in who was bringing the camera to set (actually happened to me), and you lost an hour and a half of the top of your day. A good leader in that situation pivots to another aspect of the production so you aren't waiting around for the following setup once they get there, but at the same time cuts the shot they wanted to save the day on time, making a sacrifice in their work. You need to be able to make those decisions and then deal with the outside perceptions that come along with it, without those perceiving it as being knowledgeable of the situations that you were in. 

LBB> What experience or moment gave you your biggest lesson in leadership? 

Mark> Having a boss that allows you to fail and learn is essential. I always find that if you are in a work environment that does not tolerate mistakes, you will get the worst possible workers and environment, one of fear over collaboration and blame over learning. I worked in the casting department of a horrible reality television show, and I had screwed up on something. I have no idea what it even was now. It didn't cost the production money but may have caused my bosses some lost time or a headache. Being young, green and naive, I thought I would be fired immediately, but I wasn't. My boss asked me, "Do you know what you did wrong?" I proceeded to tell him about it, and then he asked, "Are you going to do it again?" to which I responded with no, and so after that, he considered the matter settled as long as it never happened again. Because he gave me that chance to fail, understand my mistakes, and learn, I became a better worker and a stronger person on his team. It also encouraged me to ask my boss more questions to ensure I wouldn't fail on similar tasks. I was thinking more about learning and becoming better at my job and not hiding what I don't know, thinking a lack of knowledge would make me look weak when, in fact, it was the opposite. 

LBB> Did you know you always wanted to take on a leadership role? If so how did you work towards it and if not, when did you start realising that you had it in you? 

Mark> Subconsciously, I have always wanted to be in some leadership capacity. My dad was/is an entrepreneur, so being around him on a day-to-day basis certainly shaped me without realising it. I have always been drawn to wanting to be in a leadership position, whether in school or work and once I gained the appropriate experience, at least in my mind at the time, I felt that it was necessary to start something on my own. I don't know if there was one point where I felt like today I had it in me, and yesterday I didn't; leadership is a slow build in confidence through life experience that allows you to take the jump when you feel you are ready, and that is different for absolutely everyone. 

LBB> When it comes to 'leadership' as a skill, how much do you think is a natural part of personality, how much can be taught and learned? 

Mark> As a leader, you must have some of it as part of your natural personality. Some people don't want to be responsible for others and certainly don't want to be put in that position, which is fine. It comes down to whether you want the responsibility. That is the natural part of your personality, being comfortable being a leader, being responsible for others or other things; if you have that and are comfortable, anything can be taught and learned. Every leadership quality needs to be taught and learned, but you must choose to be a leader, which is a natural trait. 

LBB> What are the aspects of leadership that you find most personally challenging? And how do you work through them? 

Mark> The element that I see the most difficult is trying to give my crew and cast all of the things they need to be successful while respecting my clients and the budgets they have provided me. Then, having to communicate their needs back to each other, making sure the other understands why they can't have certain things. Crews will ask for specific equipment, more people, more time, and a slew of different things to make the production run as smoothly as possible. The problem is that sometimes you can't afford all of that; my mantra is to put the money on the screen, at least in my business. For example, I worked with an exceptional post house that offered all these great perks; they made me a homemade ice cream sandwich. A HOMEMADE ICE CREAM SANDWICH! But do I need a homemade ice cream sandwich? No, will that make a difference with the product on the screen? No, was it delicious? Yes. But sometimes, companies need to forget about the perks and remember about the work. And vice versa for crews as well; in the end, people will see and remember the work on screen, which should be paramount to everything. 

LBB> Have you ever felt like you've failed whilst in charge? How did you address the issue and what did you learn from it? 

Mark> I have failed while in charge. Every leader has; I touched on this earlier, but every leader has had something happen at some point. You will hope that your screwup will be all right, or if you make a mistake, you catch it early enough so that the consequences are not as dire. And then, once you know the issue, you don't do it again. It sounds straightforward and naive, but it is an effortless thing to do. You wouldn't believe how many people repeat the same mistake. Remember that PA I told you about earlier and how they slept in with the camera truck and arrived late on set? Well, I sat down with them at the end of the day and told them it was unprofessional and that a mistake like that couldn't happen again. They assured me it would not happen again; do you know when it happened again? THE NEXT DAY! I shit you not; the next day, they slept in again. I am always willing to let people make mistakes, but to have the same error happen concurrently is something you can't fix. Unfortunately, for that person, I will never hire them again for any position.

LBB> In terms of leadership and openness, what's your approach there? Do you think it's important to be transparent as possible in the service of being authentic? Or is there a value in being careful and considered?

Mark> You have to be both to be the most effective. Sometimes, you need to hold back, and sometimes, you need to be blunt and honest with a situation; sound leadership knows which of those situations you are in. I am still figuring out this myself because I am a blunt and honest person, and that is how I want the problem to be told to me because I find it the easiest way to take in and fix it. Suppose you are dealing with a client, for example, who changes things at the last minute but still expects the same deadline. In that case, it might be better to be open and honest so that they know that their actions might sacrifice the deadline or lead to more incremental costs. However, a client's actions might inconvenience you slightly but not be too complicated or expensive to pull off. In that case, you are better off being more careful and considering knowing that you can still help them. 

LBB> As you developed your leadership skills did you have a mentor, if so who were/are they and what have you learned? And on the flip side, do you mentor any aspiring leaders and how do you approach that relationship? 

Mark> I don't have a particular mentor when it comes to leadership; I have learned a lot from various people. This is the best way to do it, as you will get a variety of leadership styles and see which one, or which blend of many, will work and be the most effective for you. I like to mentor people younger than me because I always wish that would have been available as a resource. It is essential to have a platform or a conversation to ask the questions you think are stupid but don't know and not be judged. This would have helped me out immeasurably when I was younger and probably saved me a ton of money. I will be a part of a new mentorship program and can share more soon. 

LBB> It's been a really challenging year - and that's an understatement. How do you cope with the responsibility of leading a team through such difficult waters?

Mark> The film, television, and commercial industries are peaks and valleys. It's essential to understand this when entering the industry and know that sometimes you will think you won't work again. Right now, we are all just going through a rough valley. This will eventually change and get better; I honestly think this is the time to be the most creative; right now, many people are pulling back and not putting themselves out there as much, whereas I encourage creativity the most, figuring out cost-effective ways to deliver new creative and ideas. The people who invest more during that downturn in the industry come out ahead of everyone else because they almost have a leg up on everyone; essentially, you are halfway through the race before everyone else starts once the industry mentality shifts. I will quote Lord of the Rings because I am a giant nerd to finish this question: "How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer." 

LBB> This year has seen the industry confronted with its lack of action/progress on diversity and inclusion. As a leader how have you dealt with this? 

Mark> This is an interesting question because from a production point of view, or at least the productions that I have been a part of, diversity and the representation of gender have become so much more apparent than when I first started. When I was a PA over a decade ago, it was essentially crews of white men and women that would be the norm in every key position, and there was almost no diversity. Another thing was that jobs were so heavily identified as either a "man's" job or a "woman's" job. For example, makeup was only for women, but grip and lighting techs were only for men. That isn't the case as much anymore. Now, I can only comment on what I see, but there is a shift in the industry to incorporate more diversity. I think it also depends on where you live; in Toronto, there is a very diverse population across the city, and there are many programs that encourage BIPOC representation in the industry, including BIPOC TV & Film, (view here). As a person in charge of hiring and sourcing crews, I think it is essential to have a variety of races, genders and sexualities all represented on the crew in some form or capacity. Big Pig Co. will continue to do this in the future as an essential part of our productions that have yet to come. 

LBB> How important is your company culture to the success of your business? And how have you managed to keep it alive with staff working remotely in 2020? 

Mark> I hate the idea of the term "company culture." It's a masking term to force your employees to be around together. Every time I went to a larger office, there was always a ping pong table or a foosball table, it was always tables, and they were always in the most annoying places. Try editing a piece of work while having a constant bouncing in your ear. A client I worked for built a new campus for their employees during the pandemic and bragged they would have a large in-house gym...in a pandemic! People couldn't even group together in public. Working remotely is fantastic. Sure, it can be lonely sometimes, but anyone who says you must be in person to get something done is an archaic dinosaur. A good company culture is paying a fair wage, not overworking people, treating them with respect, and letting them live without bothering them. "Would you like a gin and tonic at your desk?" No, I want to go home and be with my family. 

LBB> What are the most useful resources you've found to help you along your leadership journey?

Mark> The most helpful resource you have is putting yourself out there, regardless of whether you are in a leadership position. Being a part of living real-world experiences versus a classroom or studying will always teach you more about dealing with stressful experiences and what it takes to be a leader. Another thing that helped me recently was YouTube when applying for our short film festival run; I watched a series of videos from all of the people who had been there before and learned a ton of valuable, real-world advice; this allowed me to gain some of that real-world experience without having to pay for it or live it myself, which is good for people who might not have the means to do so.