Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“(Great) material is your currency.” -Brian Grazer What’s the first thing most actors do once they gain some clout in the industry? They form a production company. Why? So they can use that clout to find great material and manifest it for themselves and others. Because they know that’s the game. It’s the whole enchilada.Continue reading “Start Your Production Company”

Playwrights… What’s the play you’d write if after you finished–rather than sending it off to various theatre companies across the country, hoping against hope they’d read it and pick it for their upcoming season–if instead, this were the last play you ever wrote AND you were on the hook to produce it yourself? Go. WriteContinue reading “What’s The Play?”

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” -Michelangelo The below parable is from author, psychotherapist and Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello. I highly recommend his book, The Way To Love. This parable isContinue reading “Eagle Or Chicken?”

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make.” -Corita Kent Acting requires ACTION. What is your action? What do you want from the other person? So much so that you’d “die” ifContinue reading “Wrong Action?”

Flashback. 1986. A great song and video from the phenomenal Ms. Jackson! Warning: If you do click the link and watch, be prepared for the song to be stuck in your head all day. Great song aside, “what have you done for me lately?” is not the best way to think of people. It’s shortContinue reading “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”

A great question to ask yourself… “What am I the best in the world at?” Or if need be, modify to… “What could I be the best in the world at?” Put real thought into the answer. Think of all your skills and interests. Think how they may combine and intersect with one another. GetContinue reading “Best In The World?”

“Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao.” -Lao Tzu ““You paddle a little on the left and little on the right and you paddle a straight course.” -Jerry Brown’s “Canoe Theory” of Politics Balance does not mean everything in harmony at all times. Yes, we ideally would love toContinue reading “Balance”

“There is one place that you have not looked and it is there, only there that you shall find the master.” –The Last Dragon “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” -William Henley, Invictus If you haven’t seen the 80’s cult classic, “The Last Dragon”, please do soContinue reading “There Is Only One Master”

“Today I will be master of my emotions. And with this new knowledge I will also understand and recognize the moods of him on whom I call…No longer will I judge a man on one meeting; no longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today. This dayContinue reading “…For Now”

The old school way of making a decision by jotting down pros and cons still works. (Another great exercise to do in tandem is “fear setting” which Tim Ferris explains here.) But it’s not just the number on each side that wins the day. It’s how powerful and meaningful they are to you. A singleContinue reading “PRO and Cons”