Film Media, Mental Health and Neurodiversity

04/30/23 • 53 min

In this episode, I sit with Rayna Lountzis Rayna is an entrepreneur, and a mother currently engaged in her Doctoral degree in film studies. She has not been diagnosed with any particular neurodiversity but suspects she has symptoms of ADHD. Her self-development journey started 3 years ago after which she also started her company, "Rayna Arts" last year.
Rayna focuses on self-image because she believes authenticity is crucial. Authenticity involves showing up as yourself always, irrespective of the environment. She had to start removing the false ideas about herself to find happiness and a sense of fulfillment. Due to her neurodiversity, Sarah also has difficulty being herself completely but strives every day to attain the kind of freedom that comes with authenticity.

Rayna works on a project called "Evolution Film" which addresses mental health and disability quality in the film industry. Most of the members are neurodivergent and from various backgrounds.
The "Evolution Film" Project started with filling up the gaps in screenwriting jobs. The latest research shows that 9 out of 10 people in the film industry are either struggling with mental health or are disabled. However, some have not disclosed this due to the stigma.

It should be noted that the nuance surrounding mental health often leaves a stereotyped picture of insanity. However, this is not always the case with mental health as there are mental health issues with not very obvious presentations. People need to understand that mental health conditions just need treatment like any other ailment without the stigma.

A change of perspective can also be beneficial; shifting focus from what is undesirable to what is desired, while putting aside all the struggle, traumas, and emotions to reveal our true selves.

Take Away from Evolution Film: Events coming up on the 3rd of May and 19th of July are available on the website”. www.powervibe.club and www.evolutionfilm.org
Check out "Care and Well-being in the Film Industry" on Eventbrite!
Date: Wed, May 3 • 13:00 BST https://www.eventbrite.com/e/care-and-well-being-in-the-film-industry-tickets-615795239137?aff=eand
Addressing Mental Health Symposium: www.amh23.org or to pre-register email : [email protected]

Sarah is offering a six-week coaching program for neurodivergent and neurotyp

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A change of perspective can also be beneficial; shifting focus from what is undesirable to what is desired, while putting aside all the struggle, traumas, and emotions to reveal our true selves.

Sarah is offering a six-week coaching program for neurodivergent and neurotyp

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🔒 Understanding AgilePM - come learn with me part2

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There are 8 principles of DSDM and compromising them puts the project at risk. The principles are; focusing on business needs, on-time project delivery, collaboration, never compromising on quality, incremental building from firm foundations, developing iteratively, continuous clear communication and lastly, demonstrating control. While trying to maintain control of the project, if stakeholders present a frustrating attitude, the best approach may be to relinquish some of the responsibility.

Every decision taken in a project should be in line with the project goal. It is also crucial to deliver projects on time as this is often the most important success factor. Late delivery can undermine the rationale for the project; it can result in government fines or missed opportunities. Teams that work in active cooperation will outperform groups that have poor cohesive operations. Collaboration increases work speed, shared ownership, and understanding. In DSDM, the level of quality to be delivered should be agreed upon at the start and all work must target that level.
One of the key differences for DSDM in the Agile space is the concept of establishing firm foundations for the project before committing. DSDM advocates first understanding the problem and solution, without excessive detail which can stagnate the project. DSDM encourages incremental delivery of the solution which promotes stakeholder confidence.

DSDM promotes iterative development, frequent demonstrations, and comprehensive review for timely feedback. DSDM was designed to improve communication efficiency. It is crucial to be in control of the project and solutions, hence, team transparency is required. ISFs (Instrumental Success Factors) are factors required to position DSDM projects for success. Risks must be identified early and addressed. The DSDM project approach must be accepted and understood by project stakeholders and participants. Notably, in order to deliver the right thing at the right time, the product may deliver less than a hundred percent of the initial solution.

Building an effective solution development team for successful delivery focuses on 4 elements; empowerment, stability, skills, and size. Each member should be empowered to make decisions based on their expertise while the team also makes decisions as a whole within its boundaries.

For DSDM to be successful, the business must commit the necessary amount of time at all levels. This relies on three elements; the first is the commitment of business time which provides the business direction to shape the project solutions. The second is the

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Come learn with me AgilePM The DSDM Process

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In this episode, I explain the DSDM Process, with emphasis on the phases involved and their roles in the project life cycle.
The DSDM approach to development and delivery is both iterative and incremental, such that features are delivered in order of importance starting with the most important. DSDM integrates project management and product development into a single process. Often, DSDM alone is sufficient but may be combined with another methodology.

The DSDM Process Module comprises a framework that shows the DSDM phases and is used to derive the project life cycle. The Pre-project phase ensures that the right projects are started and set up based on clear objectives.

The Feasibility Phase determines whether the proposed project is technically feasible and cost-effective. This decides if further investigation is justified or if the project should be stopped.

The Foundation Phase takes preliminary investigations from feasibility to the next level. It establishes a fundamental general understanding of the business rationale and the potential solution to be created without deep detail included. It lasts just a few weeks despite the size of the project. The aim here is to understand broadly the scope of the work and determine the project life cycle based on how DSDM will be applied to the specific need of the project. For smaller projects, it may be merged with the feasibility phase. Foundations may be revisited after each deployment phase.

The Evolutionary Development Phase is to evolve the solution, hence it requires the solution development teams to apply certain crucial practices to ensure the solution meets the business needs and technical standards. Using timeboxes, the solution development team creates solution increments iteratively, testing continuously while moving forward.

The objective of the Deployment Phase is to bring a baseline of the evolutionary solution into operational use. The release may be the ultimate solution or a subset of it, and after the last release, the project is closed. The Post Project Phase assesses how well the expected business benefits have been met. The lifecycle of the project is defined and agreed upon as part of the foundation phase.

DSDM recognizes the value of agility in project productivity when managing the necessary constraints in a corporate environment. DSDM can be configured to cater to projects ranging from small to large projects by determining an appropriate level of formality with which products are created. For a more comple

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