The Great "Silver Bullet" Debate

I hear a lot of my creative friends speak of such much-acclaimed mythical beasts but never of any silver bullets to use when they magically appear. Yes. I am being vague, so let me explain.

In the creative community, especially my experience in visual art, film, and comic books, much is said about the mythical project that will come along and change everything. Or the pitch to someone who knows someone. This mythical beast will come in and make all said creator’s dreams come true.

What usually accompanies this mystical beast’s appearances is much fanfare: riches, fame, glory, and acknowledgement- the usual accoutrements of success. But he is special, this beast. For with him comes not only the acknowledgement of talent and recognition of a job well done, this mythical beasts also acknowledges the struggle for success AND the arduous path most artists undertake to achieve this glory.

As is plain to see, this is a wily beast indeed; full of guile, which often take many forms.

For the indie filmmaker, it the beast most often takes the form of a mythical connections and magical concepts that once realized or spoken aloud will bring hordes of legendary treasures: the Seven Figure Script Deal with a studio, an Agent of Love, for you and everything you do, and a the ** Manager who will ride and die for you like the Hip Hop weed carriers of yesterday.

Often these filmmakers have finished little: no polished script, no feature length anything, and at best a poorly concocted idea rarely takes into consideration ** tenants of marketing i.e. who is going to watch this and why. Real answers only please, not “because I would.”

These filmmakers often believe they can go in and do a napkin pitch, on the merits of their idea, hear a resounding yes. As much as I, and anyone doing this for a living, would like to believe in this (because secretly we all do, its how we wake up and do it all again in the morning), projects often need more than this to “magically” go through.

When confronted with this by peers, they often tell you mythical stories told around the creative campfire like tales of old. Much like the stories of gods and goddesses, these stories are nothing they have encountered themselves, but are told as if first hand experiences.

“Well yeah, and then he, I forget his name, but you know, the film last summer… yeah, it was totally sold in a coffee shop. Yeah. They invited them to the studio and the deal was signed. Crazy.”

While the stories are not quite as vague- wait, I lie to spare feelings. You know who you are, no need to protect the innocent. They usually are and sound about as silly.

Comic book creators fair a little better, but they have their own folly. Comic creative teams will often commit time and energy, and at least do sketches or initial development work. Often they will do sample pages. And while the materials may look great and be “cool”, it’s just materials for a solid pitch, which by itself is simply not enough.

What’s missing? Often two things: a) track record b) a fan base. Neither of which come without considerable effort.

First up is your track record, which consists of who you did what for, why, and how they felt about it. This is more than assembling your professional memoirs, or putting together a shiny portfolio.

What’s needed is a work history with other people, preferably companies one has heard. Though working with a big name company is not a prerequisite, the more known the better off you’ll be at the end of the day.

At the very least it needs to be a verifiable company that someone else runs. It shows that the someone is willing to pay for the creator ‘s work because it generates significant value for said company and increases that company’s own revenues.

It also gives you context and allows them to vette you and your reputation. Which is a good point to say, cultivate good references at all times. Some relationships don’t go as you want, but for those that do, get a quote or a references, Why do you think LinkedIn is so popular, but is about as fun as signing into MySpace.

These components are important because it gives people a context to understand you and your work.

You are never hired for just an idea. We are social creatures, and the hours spent working with anyone in professional environment are many and intense. Multiply that by as many numbers as you want in creative fields and it’s still not enough.

Even with best, well-oiled creative teams, personal dynamics are always in play. Everyone has days when they would rather not deal with the other people on their team- and that’s when they like one another other.

Second, a fanbase is prerequisite- even more important than your track record. How so? To be honest, a fanbase is a track record. It’s demonstrative. It’s tangible. It shows formal, bottom line, in the black thinking. And it shows that someone besides your mom likes and is willing to pay mullah your work.

Yeah. Yeah. I know you’ve got that. So what’s the big deal, right? Fans and a track record prove answer one simple question. Are you worth the risk?

It is your responsibility to go above and beyond, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you are actually worth it. Even when it is apparent to you, the other person, who is not you, and totally lame for not understanding you, and doesn’t see your vision, well they doesn’t know you.

See how many times you and your were in the previous paragraph. Thin the exact opposite manner and you are on your way with this.

It’s your responsibility to get them to know you, your work, and whatever they need to say “Yes. I want to hire you. Let’s get started.”

I know. I know. The “above and beyond comment” is wack. What about the people who didn’t have to do that? What about the ones who just made it?

Yes. That is all true and it does happen. BUT. And this is a big butt (and I cannot lie. Sorry, way to easy) it is the exception, not the rule.

Without a track record, there is no buzz. Without buzz there are few opportunities, especially in an age of so much content white noise.

Am I saying that such luck breaks slash opportunities do not come about? No. Am I saying the opposite, the only way to get on is through the grind because no one ever gets a luck break? No.

The point I’m making is to be balanced and prepared for opportunities by creating a track record, growing an audience that will eventually become your fans, and yes work hard along the way.

When the mythical beast comes, and it will, your track record, your fans, and the experience you’ve gained and the passion you’ve sharpened, these are the silver bullets you need to slay the mythical monster when he shows up. Not Chance. Not Happenstance. They just bring him to your door because they recognize the markings you’ve put up. The rest is up to you.

Does that mean no more magical thinking? Not at all. I believe all the magic in the world is at your fingertips. You just have to accept it and move through the doorway to claim it.

Hope that helps in your own quest to be creative.

Till then.

- C

the King of Gaffes

I was out the other night celebrating a friend's birthday. We were all having a good ol'time. Shots were  downed. Dancing broke out all around. And of course there were several pretty ladies to whom we did our best impressions of "take me seriously."

While I'm not impervious to a few rounds of take me seriously, I usually sidestep a lot of it. This particular gal was lovely and a delight to speak with, as everyone's presence around her immediate vicinity seemed to denote. Somehow, as always happens with take me seriously, politics inevitably come up, as it is a subset of TMS.

As stated previously, I'm not particularly prone to rounds of TMS (especially in front of ladies) or politics for that matter. However, it was politely phrased in the form of a cock blocking question. And I paraphrase: "yo, what are you two talking about- politics!? Which everyone knows to be a challenge to your manhood, so who am I to resist such a delicately positioned proposal.

While it certainly was not my plan to do speak of politics in the conversation, this potential gaffe accusation on their part eventually lead us to the King of All Gaffe Makers, Mr. Mitt Romney, who was quickly brought up to be incompetent, or moron, or something of that sort. After all we were all stanky, no good liberals, and seeing as that is how we think, the conversation went down that path.

All that being said, I found myself defending Romney. Weird. I know. It felt weird. My goal was to impress the girl, not flirt with the GOP. Even though I'm sure the Grand Ol'Party must have cute girls too, they were not there... but I digress. My purpose in the conversation was to say Mitt is not a buffoon who doesn't know how to speak. No. Quite the opposite. Mitt is a man who knows exactly what he wants to say.

The problem is, as it is with many of us, he doesn't want to say it in a certain context, i.e. his current political spotlight. No offense to anyone, but Mitt, from what my liberal outlets tell me, is a bit of a jerk. I know, I'm being kind in my liberal description of Mr. Romney. What can I say my mom, raised me to be Southern Gentleman. 

Back to our pal, Mitt. The dude is just an ass, plain and simple. Maybe a I nice one once you get to know him, but the stuff he does and says, well it belies that sort of attitudes usually reserved for people that category. And the gaffes, they happen because his self-editor runs so high, he isn’t sure what to say, because his internal thermostat runs counter to everything he has to say and do in public as a politician. 

Everything knows and has done in his life as a tireless servant of capitalism, is different than what he has to say to keep us masses happy. Example, "you sucked at your job, you are now fired. Be gone." The problem is you can't fire the American people. I know. Mitt knows. It sucks. We all agree.

What does any of this have to do with running a presidential campaign (i.e. politics) and further more the party and beautiful lady!? 

Not much, except saying what you feel at the moment is important. Mitt is learning this. I'm learning from Mitt. Hopefully you are leaning this from me. Why? It will keep you from gaffing and coming off as more of douche than you are currently. 

Case in point, I didn't want to talk about politics,  as I often feign ignorance on these things. I wanted to make a point about people. I got some eye rolls from the guys dancing around the pretty lady. But I said what I needed to amd they proceeded to hit on her the rest of the night until such time they had to say their goodbyes and she immediately came back over to me to continue our conversation.

Only thing is she had a man of seven years. Guess I'm glad I didn’t say everything that was on my mind. Or else I might have left the party with a swollen lip. Just kidding. Unless you thought that last part was funny. And then I double mean it. 

-Till Then!

Blogger vs. Wordpress

So I haven't decided if I am going to make the big plunge to a Blogger account.

I am very partial to Wordpress. I have lots of cool photos up that I like. Which have been made completely useless by Tumblr. Thank you for screwing up my micro-blogging aspirations Tumblr team.

And while Google+ is a great integration feature for Blogger, Wordpress is that silky smoothness I expect online. Blogger still feels like a clunky counterpart, a Dell computer that desperately wants to be a Mac.

IDK. We'll see how it goes.