The Vs. Studio Blog

“Don’t demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.” -Epictetus

To get to where you wanna go…

..You must first fully accept where you are now.

For more on acceptance, listen to this excellent podcast episode with Navy Seal Jocko Willink. Specifically, the riveting story he tells of highly decorated U.S.M.C. Chesty Puller and his son Lewis Puller (also a decorated Marine and Pulitzer Prize Winning author of the autobiography “Fortunate Son”). The difference in outcomes for the two?…One fully accepted the events in their life. The other never quite did.

For the actor…

Care way less about whether you were emotional. Whether you were “feeling it” up there. That you were moved.

Care way more about whether your audience was.

“They went, the Ghost and Scrooge, across the hall, to a door at the back of the house. It opened before them, and disclosed a long, bare, melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.” -“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

The urge. The calling. The vision. The passion. The deep need and desire to make that piece of art.

It doesn’t come around all that often. It may only come once or twice in your lifetime.

But fail to heed it, rest assured…

…It will haunt you.

Measure your success by what others think and say about you and your work.

Don’t have your own internal scorecard of excellence.

Try to please.

Don’t have a plan.

Be inconsistent. Do things only when you’re “feeling it.”

Don’t have a strong why.

Blame others when things don’t go your way.

Be boastful.

Seek praise.

Don’t be generous.

Don’t guard your time and attention.

Don’t listen.

Don’t communicate.

Be late.

Don’t set deadlines.

Don’t forgive.

Don’t be curious.

Be closed minded.

Forget empathy.

Don’t be vulnerable.

Don’t risk.

Don’t answer your heart’s call to go make your art.

“Indifference is the elixir of love.” -P.M. (a college buddy)

Prescription for your Hollywood dreams…(Or any desire for that matter.)

Want it.

But don’t need it.

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” -Meister Eckhart

No matter what success you’ve enjoyed in the past, no matter your reputation, no matter your past awards, reviews and accomplishments, the next project you do will feel like you’re starting all over again. Or to use a filmmaking term, you’re “back to one.”

As it should be.

Having a beginner’s mind keeps you hungry and humble. Forces you to work just as hard on creating and producing this project as anything you’ve done before. You’re appropriately terrified.

“Back To One” also prepares you for the long slog ahead. Especially when it comes to marketing. Getting people to show up.

Because no one’s coming based on what you did in the past. They’re only coming because the project is awesome AND you work your butt off to let them know about it. You consistently tell them how passionate you are about it and why it’s for them.

Not gonna lie…it always feels great to be asked, to be picked. It’s validation.

Know what feels even better?

To not need any validation and pick yourself.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” “What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?.” Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

“Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost.” -― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

Having a midlife crisis? Wondering “what does it all mean anyway?…”

You could go out and get yourself a shiny new sports car.

OR.

You can take that energy and angst and go make some art.

That’s what Dante did.

And the result was “The Divine Comedy.”

Go make your masterpiece.

“To hell with circumstance, I create opportunities.” -Bruce Lee.

“When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.” -Sun-Tzu, The Art Of War

For producing (and most things in life), mindset is everything. It’s why much of this blog (and someday if I ever write a book and/or do a podcast) is devoted to just that. Yes, strategy and tactics are important (and we go over these in detail in The Producing Workshop), but I believe that if you have a strong enough “why” and have truly decided to produce something (meaning there’s no turning back; you’ve burned your boats, you’ve “thrown your cap over the wall”), you WILL figure out the “how.”

And the producing mindset is an empowered mindset.

Let me say that again.

The producing mindset is an empowered mindset.

It means that if you’re willing to figure out what you’re passionate about and wholeheartedly embrace all the seemingly unfun, administrative, boring, yet vital producing tasks…And do them with creativity. With excellence. With generosity…If you work as hard on them as you do on the “fun stuff”, then you will be rewarded. You will be empowered.

To do what?

To create memorable experiences for yourself, your fellow artists and the audience you seek to serve. Who get to witness your passion in action.

Isn’t that why you made the crazy decision to become an artist in the first place?

By having a producing mindset, you’re just ensuring that your fate isn’t in the hands of some fickle industry. But rather rooted firmly in the clutches of your empowered grasp.

“(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. Finding great material and talented people to execute it, is everything.

But you don’t need to wait until you become a famous Hollywood actor to form your production company. You can do it right now. Start one! All you need is a burning desire to consistently produce material that you either source or write yourself. Or both.

And do it with excellence and generosity at all times.