Andy Mitchell: Producer, Director of Photography, Writer for Documentary Films

Andy Mitchell, or ‘Mitch’ as his friends call him, is a documentary filmmaker who’s worked on films that have won Emmys of all things. A large portion of his time has been spent with National Geographic, but since 2005, he’s worked independently – nabbing the best projects. His work sends him all over the world, under water, on mountain tops and beyond. In his own words:

“Today my office is the world. During the past seven years, I’ve had a backstage pass to the world, which has landed me in dozens of countries. So far, in my office, I’ve been attacked by a tapir and burned by a Portuguese man-of-war. I’ve been bitten by venomous ants on three continents and woken up by a scorpion’s sting. But the thing is, I love my office more than I ever dreamed I could. I’ve ridden in submarines; swum in the Panama Canal; worked to save scarlet macaw babies; drunk rum with tropical lighthouse keepers; wrestled crocodiles; cheered on egg-laying sea turtles; snuggled with lions and tigers, pumas and cheetahs; ridden elephants; swum in all four oceans; and snowmobiled through the nothingness of the Arctic into a never-setting sun.”

Interview

The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry?

Andy Mitchell: Normalcy is a relative thing. I sweat like a pig… but don’t bleed anywhere near as much as I used to.  Unfortunately that invincibility shield that miraculously kept me alive is wearing off… (that and having a kid.)  The kid changes everything.  I cry way too much… like, way too much.  Little House on the Prairie… oh yeah.  Pa was always so right on. Of all the bodily fluids to involuntarily excrete—tears aren’t so bad.  Which brings me to the bathroom… without being too graphic, let’s just say my poop right now probably isn’t as normal as most peoples. Living in the swamps of Congo for a while will do that to you. I’m planning the next big diet craze… the Parasite Diet—a few bugs and you’re down 30 pounds in just a few weeks.

TDN: What’s your daily schedule on a normal day?

AM: I have no normal day. A blessing and a curse. One day I’ll jump out of a helicopter into shark infested waters—and the next, go to the petting zoo with my kid. I pet wild lions, get charged by silverback Gorillas, and discover Mayan ruins—but I’m never happier than when I’m at home—family and friends, roaring fire, comfort food, a glass of wine (maybe a joint), and nothing to do but appreciate that very moment. It’s lucky to be in the moment that really matters—and actually realize it. That is what I live for.

TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise. What lengths would you actually go to, in order to delete it from your schedule?

AM: Leaving home is the hardest thing I have to do. But coming home is so great that it almost… almost makes it worth it.

TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?

AM: There are countless things I’d change about my work, industry and my profession… but I find myself ranting about those things far too much already.  The world is flawed.  Deal with it.  But the one area I feel I can make some progress is in myself.  Being the one in my circle of college friends believed least likely to do anything—I’ve made some progress, but still have a LONG way to go.  Among my many problems—vice.  I like vices… and have quite a few.  They’re really good coping mechanisms.  Luckily—kids help change that too.

TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?

AM: I could have added some… but wouldn’t skip a thing.  All the bumps and bruises, arrests and giant embarrassments along the way make you the twisted person you become.  There are many things I’d like to forget, but not erase. I thank whatever entity kept me alive through my youth. I loved Geometry.

TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)

AM: I really sucked at school. Really sucked (except for geometry). But for some reason the working world inspired me.  Luckily, I developed an intense drive the day I left college. But that’s not the question. I got ahead by whoring myself out to whomever would have me (not in a dirty way), if there was something I could learn… I volunteered for any and every opportunity I could—and was ready to do anything. Get coffee, buy extra large condoms (long story), or drive through a tornado (also a long story). There is nothing worse to me than entitlement. Real accomplishment is earned with hard work.

TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?

AM: Well, our child’s daycare would probably tell you it’s “fuck”.

TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?

AM: Finding my soul mate and procreating, hands down. Again… so cliché, but my family has given me an emotional perspective like I’ve never experienced. A bump in the road that once would have floored me for days, leaving that pit in my stomach… now seems so manageable. Which makes it manageable.

TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)

AM: Sleep?

TDN: What’s the best part of your life?

AM: I’m getting redundant here… but family and friends. Love really is the best thing out there. My ultimate drug.

TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?

AM: I’m just trying to not lose what I already have.

TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool?

AM: Will you hold it against me if I said vice? And fear of failure?

TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?

AM: I would tell anyone the same thing. Figure out what you want to do. Figure out how to do it. Do it. It sounds so simple, but when done with realistic expectations—it’s the best chance you got.

Drew Jones, Environmental Scientist: System Dynamics Modeler & Advocate for Sustainability (specifically)

Andrew (Drew) Jones works with Asheville’s Sustainability Institute, a U.S. not-for-profit organization founded by Donella Meadows. Trained in System Dynamics modeling at Dartmouth College and MIT, Drew  worked on the 1993 “Greening of the White House” as part of Rocky Mountain Institute and in 2008, as part of the CDC System Dynamics team, accepted the “ASysT Prize” for “a significant accomplishment achieved through the application of systems thinking to a problem of U.S. national significance.”

Currently his primary focus is helping improve the strength of international climate change treaties through the sharing of open-architecture, policy-maker-oriented climate simulations, which are available at climateinteractive.org. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in systems thinking and modeling in the schools of business and economics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Asheville.

The Interview

The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry? We’re happy to hear some proof if you want to supply it.

Drew Jones: I’m a serial sleepwalker and sleeptalker.  Sometimes the speckled aliens hiding in the pages of my bedside magazine implant devices in my brain that can only be removed by opening the jar of spoiled mayonnaise I am sure is hidden under the sleeping llama on the corner of the bed.  Have you seen “A Beautiful Mind”? That stuff happens to me most every night.

TDN: What’s your typical schedule on a normal day?

DJ: Make pancakes for son, Cador. Jog and wonder. Fair weather? Start a load of laundry. Commute upstairs. Type. Talk. Shower and wonder.  Type. Talk. Still fair weather? Hang laundry. Type. Talk. Hang out with family. Wrestle with Cador and talk baseball with daughter, Annabelle. Resist checking email.  Help put kids to sleep. Check email. Chat with wife, Anne Fitten, aka Edgy Mama.

TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise.

DJ: Copying, adding up, and submitting travel receipts for re-imbursement. UGG!

TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?

DJ: I’d have the industrial revolution gear up about 40 years later so today, as we are now waking up to its damaging effects (e.g., climate change), we’d have more of a head start at thriving amidst them. You said “anything”, right?

TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?

DJ: How about getting teased for being such a nice nerd in middle school?  I could skip that.  Nope, wouldn’t miss it.

TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)

DJ: Connecting to my mentor, Donella Meadows, at Dartmouth. Together we set me on my professional path — systems thinking and modeling for sustainability. Connecting to my wife, Edgy Mama, in Colorado. And finding my family path with her.

TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?

DJ: Great! (I use a lot of exclamation points!!)

TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?

DJ: When I was 20 I created a way to explore how you’d behave if you experienced the implications of your actions: carry your trash for a week.

TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)

DJ: Sleep.

TDN: (smart ass)

TDN: What’s the best part of your life?

DJ: Moments of true connection with other people.

TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?

DJ: Repeating to myself, over and over, “It is not about me.”

TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool? (We won’t hold it against you if it’s Eye of the Tiger)

DJ: Thinking about Anne Fitten’s and my two kids, Annabelle and Cador. I imagine them in my mind and I feel my “defend my family” adrenaline reaction. Then I work to channel the “fight” impulse into something more creative.

TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?

DJ: Get curious about math. Make opportunities to speak to groups often. Read everything written by Jay Forrester, Donella Meadows, Peter Senge, and John Sterman. Stay completely committed but completely uncertain. Love what you love. Find chances to apprentice. Practice. Practice.

Want more Drew? His recent TEDx talk is here.