Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“If there is a better performance by a man in the history of film in America, I don’t know what it is…What was extraordinary about his performance, I feel, is the contrast of the tough-guy front and the extreme delicacy and gentle cast of his behavior. What other actor, when his brother draws a pistolContinue reading “ON THE WATERFRONT: Takeaways”

“You can do anything, but not everything.” -David Allen “Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.” -Naval Ravikant I can’t quit you babySo I’m gonna put you down for awhileI said I can’t quit you babyI guess I gotta put you down for awhile -song,Continue reading ““Nice To Have” Or “Must Have”?”

Sleep, comrades, sleep and restOn this Field of the Grounded Arms,Where foes no more molest,Nor sentry’s shot alarms! Ye have slept on the ground before,And started to your feetAt the cannon’s sudden roar,Or the drum’s redoubling beat. But in this camp of DeathNo sound your slumber breaks;Here is no fevered breath,No wound that bleeds andContinue reading “A Limitless Fuel”

“DESTINY is a feeling you have that you know something about yourself nobody else does. The picture you have in your own mind of what you’re about WILL COME TRUE. It’s a kind of a thing you kind of have to keep to your own self, because it’s a fragile feeling, and you put itContinue reading “Keep Your Destiny To Yourself”

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” -Zig Ziglar “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” -Robert Byrne If you don’t know what your purpose is, find someone who knows what theirs is. And help them fulfill it. Clear the path forContinue reading ““What’s My Purpose?””

“Compete like hell.” -Michael Jordan “I have a competition in me.”- Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood The best athletewants his opponent at his best.The best generalenters the mind of his enemy.The best businessmanserves the communal good.The best leaderfollows the will of the people. All of them embodythe virtue of non-competition.Not that they don’tContinue reading “Love and Competition and Cooperation”

Strive only for love and excellence and generosity. Release the need for institutional validation or commercial success. (Most often, it’s not correlated with talent or skill anyway.) If you do this, then you can rest assured in the knowledge that regardless of “industry trends” or “technological changes” or any other kind of shifts, your artContinue reading “Always In Style”

Speaking of good and bad thoughts and the power to choose our actions… The Trappist Monk Thomas Keating teaches this beautiful contemplative practice: Imagine yourself sitting on the bank of a river. Observe each of your thoughts coming along as if they’re saying, “Think me, think me.” Watch your feelings come by saying, “Feel me,Continue reading “Floating Down The River”

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” -Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning Good news…No matter how bad your thoughts are, no one knows them and no one cares. All that matters are yourContinue reading “Good And Bad Thoughts”

Speaking of doing things on spec and asking yourself how far you can take a project on your own… This article on the making of the just released, independent film “The Last Stop In Yuma County” is inspiring on many levels. I especially love the below quote from writer/director Francis Gallupi who after being fedContinue reading “As If It’s Happening”