Christian Graham16 Feb 2026
I recently attended a Q&A with director Ben Wheatley following a screening of his latest film Bulk. Wheatley occupies a rare space in cinema. He can helm massive studio tentpoles like The Meg 2, but he still returns to his roots to make scrappy psychedelic indie films with his friends.
Watching him speak about shifting between these two worlds, it struck me that his philosophy on filmmaking is a perfect masterclass for anyone trying to drive innovation in an organisation like Friends of the Earth.
Here are a few takeaways on why constraints, speed and a “just do it” attitude might be more valuable than a big budget.
You already have the means of production
One of the most pervasive myths in any creative field, whether it’s filmmaking or non-profit innovation, is that you need permission, specialized tools or a massive budget to start. Wheatley described the old guard of cinema as "priests in cloaks”, trying to convince us that filmmaking is a mysterious art form we couldn't possibly understand.
His counter-argument?
"What's in your pocket? It's a smartphone and it shoots 4K. It's unbelievable... You have the means of production. All you need to do is have friends who will trust you and go along with the ride."
In the NGO sector, we often fall into the trap of waiting for the perfect software, the signed-off budget line or the official mandate. But if you have a hypothesis and a team willing to try it, you often have enough to start testing right now.
Speed is a superpower
Wheatley shot his latest film in under two weeks. Compare that to the six-month shoots and two-year development hell of a studio blockbuster.
He noted that big movies have to play everywhere - from Burbank to Southeast Asia - which forces them to be broad and slow to adapt. A small fast project, however, has a distinct advantage. It can be "energetic and interesting again," reacting to the news and the world as it is right now.
For us, this reinforces the value of rapid experimentation. If we spend two years developing a perfect pilot, the world will have moved on by the time we launch. A "13-day" mindset forces us to focus on the core idea and get it into the real world while it’s still relevant.
Constraint creates focus
There’s a fascinating paradox Wheatley highlighted about big budgets: "Making bigger budget films... they just feel like student films, but with more people in the car park."
On a massive set, the sheer logistical weight of communicating with hundreds of people can paralyze creativity. If you lose one minute out of every sixty just trying to get people to move out of the way, you lose hours. Smaller experiments remove that friction. When you strip away the "people in the car park" - the excess governance, the endless stakeholder reviews - you’re left with the work itself.
Perfect is the enemy of done
One of my favourite moments of the Q&A was an anecdote about a missing scene. Wheatley admitted he simply forgot to film a crucial transition where the characters move from one location to another. On a big budget production, this would be a disaster involving reshoots and insurance claims.
His solution? He had Bill Nighy’s character simply narrate: "This is what's going to happen, and we don't see it."
It was daft. But it fit the tone perfectly. And it solved the problem. It’s a reminder that when we’re experimenting, mistakes aren't failures - they’re constraints that force us to be more creative. It’s far better to have a finished thing with a clever fix than a perfect project that never sees the light of day.
Conclusion
Whether it's in the film industry or charity work, things are always in a state of flux. Wheatley’s advice is not to listen to the people giving advice (irony noted) and wanting to endlessly discuss, but to look at what you can start doing today.
We have the tools. We have the people.
The only thing stopping us from making our own 13-day movie is the belief that we need permission to start.
This blog was written with the assistance of AI