How to Be More Creative, According to Joseph Gordon-Levitt We may be physically apart, but the actor and entrepreneur says we can (and should!) still find ways to creatively collaborate.

In these socially distant times, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a message for entrepreneurs and artists alike: You can still come together to collaborate! He's best known for collaborations on film and TV, where he's starred in projects like Inception and (500) Days of Summer — but with production schedules halted, he's been spending even more time with the company he founded in 2010, HitRecord, which has seen a surge of interest. HitRecord began as a production company, but it has evolved into a platform that enables people to launch and join artistic projects. (In August, it won an Emmy and launched a partnership with the ACLU.) "People don't just post things they've made on their own and say, "Look what I made,' " he says. "People contribute to each other's projects. It's a beautiful thing." Even from afar, he says, there are many ways we can all create together.

I imagine you haven't been on set for a while. What's it been like?

I've found that during this strange time of quarantine and isolation, it's been really helpful for me to stay creative — to do something creative every day. But for me, it can be hard to do that alone. Just, you know, staring at a blank page and being like, Now I will write! Right now, I'm going to make a song! That can be tough. I grew up in more collaborative environments, on movie sets or doing shows, et cetera. I really feed off the creative energy of other people.