We were lucky to catch up with Elliot Kotek recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Elliot, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I feel like my purpose arose from my original passion, which is/was writing. I always felt a need to write, a soreness in my system if I hadn’t written something each day or each week. By applying that passion toward something, writing for pleasure, writing screenplays, writing for magazines, it unveiled the beginnings of my purpose.
And as I interviewed other people about their passions, their interests, their mentors, their causes and concerns, I found that process of researching and re-forming and presenting those stories fairly addictive. I amassed about 1,000 interviews in a relatively short period of time with the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Stan Lee, Ethel Kennedy, Christopher Walken, Rashida Jones, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Tilda Swinton, Elon Musk, and Elmo – people who’d had a great deal of impact on others. And when that world transitioned from print media to digital video, I was fortunate to be out front of it – and, as a result, kept meeting people whose projects fascinated me, and with whom we were able to catalyze some pioneering documentary and brand-funded storytelling.
At that point, with the recognition that we were receiving for our work, and the shift in public needs for more purposeful, more authentic and less sales-focused media, my road map became identifiable – that I would only work on projects that serve to inspire, innovate and impact.
Perhaps not coincidentally I just finished a feature documentary called “The Hidden Power of Purpose” which highlights the work of four leaders who found their purpose via different pathways: career, family, spirituality and tragedy – and showcases the science of purpose, too, and the effect that living with purpose has on our brains and on our bodies.
While researching that project, I was reading Vic Strecher’s book, “Life on Purpose,” which helped me dial in my purpose further – which is to have impact on the world around us through the bringing together of creativity and community.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
At the Nation of Artists, we’re focused on creating key messaging and media (ranging from anthem videos to documentary series and features) to bring awareness to people and organizations having an impact on the world around us. We’ve been fortunate to work on projects with the likes of AARP, Accenture, Aflac, Campbell’s, Hyundai, New Balance, Participant Media, Qualcomm, Whirlpool & Habitat for Humanity International.
Our ethos is that IDEAS + EMPATHY = IMPACT. And, while we direct and produce our own content, we also believe wholeheartedly in the power of collaboration, and have proprietary approaches that we like to bring to other people’s projects in order to help them with their impact strategies. We have one approach that we call “INTERNAL, EXTERNAL, ETERNAL,” when it comes to bringing communities and advocates together to support your creative work, and another we call “The 5 A’s” where we walk teams through their “Aims, Asks, Allies, Assets and Ambition.”
Everything we do is purposeful. And while I’m often asked to speak at conferences on the topic of purpose and purposeful content and how that can benefit a company (ask us about our C.R.A.V.E. philosophy), the documentary we’re releasing at the moment with AARP, called “The Hidden Power of Purpose,” dives into the essential nature of identifying our personal purpose, and how important those conversations are. The exchanges we’ve had at festival screenings following the film have been AMAZING – so let’s have more of those, please… let me know when you feel most engaged, most purposeful – and let’s bring people out of loneliness and into points of connection.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I love to remind people that, no matter where you are in your journey, there are others on the same rungs of similar ladders in their chosen profession – and the minute you start sharing what you’re up to, a project that you find meaningful, you’re then giving other people permission to connect with you to help you make your project. So, share loudly and proudly and find your tribe, that’s when everything becomes possible.
As for me – I love getting involved, saying ‘yes’ to things that I think are cool – and I have trouble restraining that passion for my projects, which hopefully conveys to others that it’s something they should think about joining in on, too. I also love getting sh*t done, so let’s not talk about it for tooooo long – let’s get started and figure it out along the way.
I’m also a knowledge junkie, scouring all sorts of content from all sorts of places – don’t be afraid to admit that you watch reality TV or kids’ cartoons or whatever it is that you admire or find entertaining (as long as it’s legal, of course). Having awareness of what’s out there is a superpower, too. And staying for the credits to see who made it and how many organizations came together to fund it is always amazing, too, and gives you the opportunity to narrow down who you might want to work with as you take your steps along the proverbial path.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents prioritized travel and the arts over material possessions. Heading out to local theater, and taking drives up the coasts to small towns along Australia’s edges opened us up to conversations with people from all sorts of backgrounds doing all sorts of things – it’s amazing how that exposure reduces your ignorance and expands your mindset to one of abundance and possibility rather than fear, isolation and insecurity. I never got the swimming pool I wanted, but I did get an entire ocean.
Contact Info:
- Website: aarp.org/hiddenpowerofpurpose/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationofartists/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotkotek/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElliotKotek
Image Credits
Scott McDermott, Lionel Deluy, Andrew Garber
