Meet the Team: Program Developer Adrian Francis

By Anthony Griffin

The acclaimed poet Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Adrian Francis , Global Bridge program developer and documentary filmmaker, constantly draws from a bottomless well of creativity to produce and deliver compelling training sessions. Both a content creator and a trainer, Adrian is in a unique position to directly observe how Global Bridge students respond to bespoke training materials. Read on to learn more about Adrian’s background, his role at Global Bridge, and the common thread that weaves together his work in film, training, and content creation.

Can you briefly tell us about your background and your experience?

I earned a BA in education and a sub-major in filmmaking. In my early 30s, I went to graduate school and earned a diploma in documentary filmmaking. I also have a CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification.

I’ve been teaching, in some capacity, for over 20 years – mostly in Japan. I’ve done everything from teaching university-level English communication classes in Japan to university preparation courses for international students in Australia. For the last decade or so, I’ve been teaching business English. I’ve been working at Global Bridge for about six years.

What is your role at Global Bridge?

I’m a program developer. One of the unique things about Global Bridge is that we produce almost all the material we use in-house. A large part of my role is working with the development team to write teaching materials: discussion courses and content that teach specific business skills such as email etiquette and global meetings. Of course, I’m also a trainer for individual and group lessons.

What do you love about your work?

I’ve always loved teaching and training. For me, it’s all about helping people realize their goals and giving them tools to push on in their own lives and achieve big things, which is very thrilling and rewarding. I also love the classroom as a kind of sacred space. You build a rapport with a group of people, and for a length of time, we’re all working together to achieve something. A classroom is a special place that has its own rules, internal logic, and supportive atmosphere.

Since joining Global Bridge, one of the biggest thrills for me is being part of the lesson material creation process. It’s exciting to work with the other members of the development team. Just knowing that we are making something tailored for the people we teach is rewarding. Since I also teach what we create, I get to see how the material works with students. We can make adjustments if needed, or when the materials work well, we can enjoy the experience.

What is your favourite quote?

I have a few, but the one I’m going to go with today is from a song by an Australian artist named Paul Kelly. He has a song called, “From Little Things, Big Things Grow,” which I believe grew out of the?aboriginal land rights movement. He was thinking in terms of social change, but I relate to it in a few different ways. For example, every project that we join or every goal that we take on – learning a language, making a film, starting a company, and so on – it’s just a matter of steps. If we just keep putting one foot in front of the other, things that are seemingly impossible become possible.

Another thing I like about this quote is that ideas that we think are silly or insignificant may actually become the opposite. The smallest things can inspire entire movements or plant seeds in the minds of others. Whether it’s your personal journey or an entire movement, it all starts with a little seed.

In addition to your role at Global Bridge, you are also the writer and director of the documentary film?Paper City. Can you tell us more about this project?

Paper City is a documentary film about survivors of the World War II firebombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945. This was the most destructive air raid in human history, but even in Japan, it’s treated as a kind of footnote—it’s not so widely talked about.

I found it strange that this wasn’t a bigger part of the story of the city and the identity of the people here in Tokyo. I thought if an attack like this had happened in Melbourne or Sydney, it would be memorialized, remembered, and a part of the way we think about ourselves. That was the start of the project: trying to understand why such a historically significant event was not talked about so much.

How does your experience with Paper City influence your role at Global Bridge?

A big part of being a trainer and a documentary filmmaker is being a listener and an observer. In documentary filmmaking we listen to what people have to say and observe them with a camera to help bring their stories to life. In training and teaching, even though we’re providing knowledge and know-how, at the end of the day it’s all about listening and understanding. We need to understand not only a student’s current situation, but also what they want to achieve. We listen to their goals and consider how the skills we teach can make those goals achievable.

Additionally, even though documentaries aren’t scripted, they still involve a lot of writing. We have to write pitches, synopses, treatments, funding applications, elevator pitches, and more. We’re constantly reformulating ideas into longer and shorter forms or drilling down into an idea. Going through that process while working on Paper City for the past four or five years has really helped me with writing and editing discussion lessons and other content at Global Bridge. This is specifically true regarding structure, flow, and consideration of the target audience.

If you would like to learn more about Global Bridge, please contact?[email protected]?or call 03-3518-2620.