Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

In a collaborative medium like film or theatre, the producer needs to get everyone to care deeply about the final result. And when you’re working in small theatre or independent film, you’re asking people to work for lower pay and on lower budgets. So, how do you get them to care? First, you must have empathy. Remember,Continue reading “How Do You Get Them To Care?”

SONYA: Mikhail Lvovich. I’m…I’m just curious about something. If I had a friend, or a, or a…younger sister, and you found out she…let’s say that she…that she loves you. Loved you. How would you react? ASTROV: I don’t know. I guess I would try to help her understand that I couldn’t love her back…and I’d tell her I’m not interested in thatContinue reading “So, Go Love”

“Set peace of mind as your highest goal and organize your entire life around it.” -Brian Tracy “Keep calm and carry on.” -Winston Churchill I’ve written prior about having a daily self-care checklist, but for you visual folks out there, the above image is fantastic. (Hat tip to Sahil Bloom and Greg Isenberg for providing.)

Speaking of a daily ideas practice, why not come up with a list of ideas that might help someone else. For example, one of my favorite exercises in our Vs. Studio Producing Workshop is to have each participant come up with a list of 5-10 plays for another participant in the class. Roles that they thinkContinue reading “The Gift Of Your Ideas”

“Coming up with ten ideas a day is like exercise. And exercise makes the idea muscle stronger.” -James Altucher A great daily practice (recommended by author James Altucher) is forcing yourself to come up with ten ideas per day. It can be about anything, any topic you want, big or small, doesn’t matter. If you do thisContinue reading “Ideas Into Action”

“As human beings, we come and go quickly, and we get to make works that stand as monuments to our time here. Enduring affirmations of existence. Michelangelo’s David, the first cave paintings, a child’s figure-paint landscapes–they all echo the same human cry, like graffiti scrawled in a bathroom stall: I was here. -Rick Rubin, The Creative ActContinue reading “You Were Here”

… Well, I spent a lifetime lookin’ for youSingle bars and good time lovers were never truePlaying a fools game, hopin’ to winAnd tellin’ those sweet lies and losin’ again… I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong placesLookin’ for love in too many facesSearchin’ their eyesLookin’ for traces of what I’m dreaming ofHopingContinue reading “Looking For Love”

(The athlete or stage actor might especially relate to this post.) Why doubt yourself? If you succeed, you still have to go out there and do it again the next day. If you fail, you still have to go out there and do it again the next day. There’s no room for doubt. It’s just aContinue reading “No Doubt About It”

Yeah, that’s right, I’m the Egg Man, driving aroundKing of the town (yeah)Always got my windows rolled downReady to throwYou know, I’m the Egg ManOnce upon a timeEgg Man -song “Egg Man” by Beastie Boys I’m not sure why, but often when you think you’ve done your best work, the initial response to it is…crickets.Continue reading ““This One’s Gonna Slay””

“There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” -Amanda Gorman “Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.” –Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu “You have to carry the fire.”I don’t know how to.”Yes, you do.”Is the fireContinue reading “Be The Light”