13 May Being resilient and adaptable by the creator of Mad Max

On 5 May the ABC 7.30 Report screened an inspiring interview that spoke volumes about being resilient and adaptable. Leigh Sales’ interview with George Miller – the Australian creator of Max Max* – is worth watching to reflect on the merits of being resilient and adaptable in life and career.

As an aide-memoire, I have picked out some of George Miller’s observations from the interview.

“It’s strange, you know, you always wonder – as you age you wonder where the time goes. It happens to all of us.”

Speaking about the first Mad Max made in 1979, “We ran out of money and for one year I was confronted with all my mistakes. And … that taught me a hell of a lot. [I] said, ‘OK, next time, I’m not going to make the same mistakes.’ And of course, I always make the same mistakes or new ones and you keep doing it until …”

On mastery, “I doubt there’s much in life you can master, but cinema is certainly one of those that no-one will ever master. It’s too comprehensive in its skill set. It’s vision, it’s sound, it’s music, it’s spoken word, written word, it’s colour, it’s composition – it encompasses so many of the arts …”

On adaptability, “The creative life is an unpredictable one, but it’s really important to have a fallback, not just for safety, but to broaden your bandwidth and broaden your perspective”.

More on being resilient and adaptable

+ When one door closes you can open the next one

+ It is possible to be happier, but not for the reasons you may think

* Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miiller’s latest movie has just been released world-wide. It is a post-apocalyptic action film and the fourth in Miller’s Mad Max franchise. It the first Mad Max film not to feature Mel Gibson in the title role.

The ABC has expressly approved the use of this link to the ABC 7.30 Report interview with George Miller.