Origin Story
What’s in a name? It was a question I pondered a lot about when I was setting up my business, after all it’s what your brand identity will be forever!
So, where on Earth did Eye of the Bird Films come from? Well, in a tenuous way, it came from my dad.
My dad passed away in 2012 from cancer and he was always my greatest supporter. We shared a love for both science and technology but also creativity and film. Sadly, he had just passed away when I was starting out in videography and so has been something I’ve never been able to share with him. (I’ll save how I got to where I am now for another blog).
I wanted to honor him in my business, but rather than simply naming it after him I chose Eye of the Bird Films. Here’s why.
I grew up in the UK but my parents had moved from India. My dad would often tell me stories that he had heard from growing up in India and it was one of these stories that was the inspiration for my company’s name, and in turn, was a nod to my dad. Little did I know back then the significance of the story and the relevance it had to my line of work.
So, if you’re sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin.
The story is from the Indian epic Mahabharata involving the prince Arjuna and his teacher, Dronacharya.
Dronacharya wants to test the skills of the princes in the kingdom so he sets up a wooden bird in the tree and asks each of the princes to aim at the bird’s eye. Before they release their arrow, he asks each prince what they see. The other princes aren’t very focused because they respond by saying they can see the tree, the sky, the branches as well as the bird itself. They all miss the target.
When it comes to Arjuna, he states that he only sees the eye of the bird and nothing else - not the tree, the branches, or the sky - showing his unwavering focus. Impressed by this, Dronacharya declares that only Arjuna sees the right target and allows him to shoot. He successfully hits the bird’s eye, demonstrating his exceptional concentration and archery skills.
The story is often used to illustrate the importance of focus and dedication in achieving one’s goals. If only I’d realised this in my childhood on the many occasions that my dad told me this tail!
That need to focus and have that singlemindedness to meet the targets has become the ethos behind Eye of the Bird films and allowed me to deliver on the needs of my clients. Who knew that a children’s story could have such an impact forty years later?
