Its Been a While
Its been over 18 months since my last post. Much has changed.
The most important thing that has changed is I now have a game plan. I have a list of steps to follow that will help me turn from an outsider looking in, into someone sitting at the table making the decisions. One of those steps is ensuring this blog is current. The second is to follow the advice of a fortune cookie.
I have a quote from a fortune cookie taped to my bathroom mirror for several years now. I look at it every day and try to follow its advice during my day-to-day activities.
Every artist was an amateur first.
At face value, this is common sense. But when it applies to taking on a new venture, it becomes difficult to gain the proper prospective. We can take a look at the artisans of the past or cast an eye towards those who are dominating our culture today. The story is the same. All of the artists I admire have done the following as an amateur:
- Trained with a master
- Practiced in the public eye
- Do not work for free
- Believes and understands ownership
- Not afraid to master something new
- Makes money to make more art, music, dance, novels, plays, operas, etc.
- Never give up
With these simple guidelines, my favorites have risen to notoriety, acclaim from their peers and ensured their personal futures and the future for their families.
However, the unwritten rule here is, they all started with the means and tools that they had on hand. They didn’t wait for a rich uncle or aunt to pass or latest camera from Sony, Arri or Cannon with 128K resolution, 75 stops of dynamic range, only records in RAW and weighs less than a pound or half a kilogram.
If its an old iPhone or Dad’s 10 year old camcorder or a withered pencil and a composition notebook or plastic buckets and two random sticks, so be it.
Let’s take an example, Tyler Perry.
| Rule | Action |
|---|---|
| Train with a master | Followed every word of advice from Oprah |
| Practice in the public eye | Did not keep his early work locked in a drawer; produced as many as possible; learned from the feedback |
| Does not work for free | Everyone who watched one of his plays had to pay |
| Believes and understands ownership | Requires complete creative control and ownership of all of his projects |
| Not afraid to master something new | Playwright ↣ Stage Play Producer ↣ Filmmaker ↣ Film Producer ↣ Head of Production Company ↣ Working with Oprah |
| Makes money to make more art, music, dance, novels, plays, operas, etc. | Each project funds the next one; each new project grows in scope and scale |
| Never give up | No matter how many failures, persevered and his now helping others find their voices |
What am I going to do? I have been studying very hard: books, videos, blogs & newsletters. With the advent of MZed and Master Class, the option to receive instruction from the masters like Shane Hurlbert, Philip Bloom, Vincent Laforet, Alex Buono, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Aaron Sorkin, Martin Scorsese, and on and on and on, is just quick internet connection away. Also, many traditional brick and mortar schools, like The School of Visual Arts and New York Film Academy have extensive hands-on classroom instruction. Finding a qualified, well-experienced master is just a matter of opening a web browser and running an internet search. I’ve read, watched and sat in class, more than enough. The time has come for me to take it to the next guideline on the list: getting out into the public. Thus, I have doubled-down on my commitment to this blog.
I will use this blog to show you the WHY: my motivations, my choices, my thoughts. Hopefully, this will help me create a better understanding of both myself and you my audience. Also, if I keep my motivation, choices and thoughts to myself, how will I ever live my dream full-time?
Some of the ideas from this post are from the following books:
- Start Where You Are by Chris Gardner
- Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins