The Vs. Studio Blog

No matter how talented or famous you are, unless you take ownership and produce your own material, you will always feel like a Ferrari stuck in the garage.

The actress Dakota Johnson says as much in this recent LA Times interview. She discusses her motivation on founding her production company, Teatime Pictures….

As an actress, especially when the film comes out, I’m always finding myself bumping up against something. I’m finding either it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not what I signed on to. That is not the film I wanted to make or that we talked about making.’ Cause for so long, my career has been, I prep and I show up and I do my work, and then that’s it. And I’ll come in for ADR and then I’ll promote the s— out of your movie and I’ll traipse myself around red carpets. And you don’t have any say in how it turns out, and your integrity as an artist is kind of stunted.

Of course there’s things that are stressful in terms of like, ‘OK, how do we do this? How do we get around this problem and save money?’ All the things that are so unsexy about making movies, but then I feel better about it. I feel like every single decision that is made can be made with artistic integrity, it can be creative. It can be, ‘OK, how do we make this work but still push the boundaries a little bit, still reach the hearts that need to be reached?’

It’s not about control. It’s about contribution. It’s about collaboration. It’s about really reaching for an idea and sticking to it and maintaining the integrity of whatever story is trying to be told.

Growing up on-set and experiencing so many conversations around this job and this industry and the people in it and then having my own career for the last 14 years, I think I just want to make a difference. I want to make it better. I want to have a better experience. I want to give more opportunities to amazing people to make things.

If not now, when?

Remember, the cavalry isn’t coming. You are the cavalry.

Start producing your own material. Start that production company. You’ve got everything you need. You’re more than ready.

Go.

“We lose our way when we lose our why.” -Michael Hyatt

We’re 24 days into 2022. How are those resolutions coming?

Do you know that January 19th is known worldwide as “Quitter’s Day?” A recent study of 800 million daily activities revealed that’s when motivation likely runs out and resolutions get abandoned.

So if you’re still going strong, congrats! You made it five days past Quitter’s Day. Keep up the great work.

If you’ve quit or are losing steam, don’t fret. Look at your list again. Recommit to and strengthen your “why” for each item. And if you never did a “why” in the first place, now’s your chance. Doing this exercise will help big time.

I’m rooting for you. You got this.

P.S. – Don’t quit.

“Stood alone on a mountaintop
Starin’ out at the great divide
I could go east, I could go west
It’s all up to me to decide” –Roll Me Away by Bob Seger

To wake up or hit the snooze button.

To go exercise or not.

To eat the banana or the donut.

To doom scroll through Twitter or read a few pages from a good book.

To continue working at and complaining about that soul sucking job or start the search for a new one.

To go make your art or continue waiting to get picked.

Okay okay, I know, you get my drift.

Once we realize that EVERYTHING is a decision, that we have agency, that we control the single most important thing, which is how we spend our time, because as Anne Dillard brilliantly puts it, “how we spend our days is how we spend our lives,” then we can actually do something about it. We can finally hear and connect to that little voice inside. That voice that calls us to our vocation. That urges us to fulfill our potential. That wants us to make change. Make our art. Make the world better a better place.

Or…Not. That’s a decision too.

The writer Mark Manson talks about this in a recent blog post. He writes…

Feeling like we have choices gives us a sense of control and autonomy over our lives. And that feeling of control and autonomy just so happens to be one of the best predictors of wellbeing and happiness we’ve figured out so far.

And yet, despite this simple power of choice, humans have an almost endless capacity for denial.

We deny we have choices when inaction is more comfortable, when our identity is at stake, and/or when we think playing the victim will get us an instant dose of sympathy or even pity.

But denial only gives us short-term relief in exchange for long-term pain—and that’s a terrible investment in your life.

Your reactions, your perspectives, where you place your attention… all of it—it’s all your choice.

And you don’t get to sit this one out.

Not making a choice—or denying you have one in the first place—is still a choice.

P.S. – RIP Meat. Let us never stop rockin’.

“I’m not saying that you have to be a reader to save your soul in the modern world. I’m saying it helps.” -Walter Mosley

Pound for pound, can you think of a better investment of your time and money than a book? I can’t.

All that research. All that knowledge and wisdom. All those life lessons and experiences. All that vulnerability. All that dedication to craft (It took Karl Malantes thirty years to write “Matterhorn.” THIRTY YEARS.) All that artistry.

As Ryan Holiday states…

Books are an investment in yourself—investments that come in many forms: novels, nonfiction, how-to, poetry, classics, biographies. They help you think more clearly, be kinder, see the bigger picture, and improve at the things that matter to you. Books are a tradition that stretches back thousands of years and stretches forward to today, where people are still publishing distillations of countless hours of hard thinking on hard topics. Why wouldn’t you avail yourself of this wisdom?

Cmon. It’s a no brainer.

Put down the phone and go read a book. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.

“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” -Seneca

The goal, the big dream or vision is often what motivates us to start. To finally take action. And we do need something to shoot for. Otherwise we’ll just drift. But it’s when the goal becomes just another signpost on the road. When we fall madly in love with process, so much so that we’d do the thing anyway, regardless of outcome…that’s when we know we’re on the right track.

Paul Shirley writes about this in his excellent book, “The Process Is The Product”:

To accomplish anything challenging and worthwhile, we have to care enough to push through the times when we want to stop or give up—when our phones are too tempting, or when the prospect of another job interview makes us nauseous, or when it’s the end of the workday and we don’t really want to do all those sit-ups because it would be a lot easier to flop onto the couch and watch TV. Sometimes we call this desire “passion.” Sometimes “motivation.” Sometimes “grit” or “determination” or “resilience.” But really, it’s this: in the long run, it feels better to do it than to not do it. As in, we like it. That’s the trick: turning the pursuit of a long-term goal into something that’s inherently enjoyable by figuring out what it is we love about the day-to-day of working toward that goal.

This is turning our process into our product—setting a long-term goal, coming up with a system for how to arrive at that goal, and then becoming so captivated by our system that the goal stops being a destination and starts being a signpost on the route to fulfillment, meaning, and long-term satisfaction.

“Anger to people is like gas to the automobile—it fuels you to move forward and get to a better place. Without it, we would not be motivated to rise to a challenge.” -Mahatma Ghandi

Anger, if properly harnessed and contained, can fuel you to the starting line. But be wary, it burns white hot and like nitrous oxide, the boost runs out super fast.

Love is the only fuel that gets you to the finish.

“The greatest of human emotions is love. The most valuable of human gifts is the ability to learn. Therefore learn to love.” -UJ Ramdas

“I will greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I do this? Henceforth will I look on all things with love and I will be born again.” -Og Mandino

P.S. – One other thought about anger…My friend, mentor and sage acting teacher Howard Fine constantly reminds his students that anger is a secondary emotion. It reveals or is a response to the primary emotion which is hurt.

“I you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you you do you have to keep moving forward.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Whatever you’re working on, whatever passion project you’re trying to manifest, whatever change you’re trying to make in this world, what matters most is that you keep moving forward.

Some days it might not feel like you’re making progress and that’s okay as change isn’t linear, but no matter what, just keep going. Chin up. One foot in front of the other. Forward. Forward. Forward.

“Practice not doing and everything will fall into place.” –Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“I can talk, I can speak, I have something to say,…The language of great writing frees you of yourself.” -Al Pacino

“I’m a vessel for other people’s stories and other women’s lives.” -Meryl Streep

Don’t worry about “acting” the part well.

Instead, allow the part to come through you. Get out of the spirit’s way and just channel it.

Be its vessel.

You’re the psychic medium between the art and the audience.

P.S. – “Day-O, Day-O…Daylight come and we want go home”

“There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.” -Coach Finstock’s advice to Scott Howard in Teen Wolf

Speaking of the 80’s and giving advice, remember those ad campaigns for Dry Idea anti-persperant? A celebrity would look into the camera and tell you their three “Nevers.” The last one always being “Never let them see you sweat.” Like this one and this one and this one.

In the spirit of that campaign, here we go…

Never let them see you act.

Never let them see you act.

Never, I mean never, under no circumstances, ever, ever, ever, let them see you act.

P.S. – “The Zen Teachings Of Bobby Finstock”

“I want to practice to the point where it’s almost uncomfortable how fast you shoot, so that in the game things kind of slow down.” -Stephen Curry

Yes, you worked really freakin’ hard to get to this point.

Now it’s time to drop the work and let go.

Make it look effortless. Better yet, Stephortless.