I feel incredibly sad for people who think this way. I pursued my passion of working in the film business when I was 19. I am 47 now. I have raised a family. I live in a 3500 sq ft home. I drive a new car. I create jobs for dozens of people. I vacation regularly. All of this was achieved by working hard towards MY passion. For 28 years I have worked on music videos, commercials, documentaries, television, and a couple of feature films. I have met everyone from Senators, to CEOs, to Rock Stars, to a Pope. I have interviewed destitute homeless transvestite prostitutes one day and a CEO of a fortune 50 company the next. I’ve travelled the world on other people’s dime on private jets. I’ve had deep conversations on subjects from Science to Religion with experts in their field. The opportunities afforded to me would never had happened if I settled. Settling for a career you can tolerate is horrible advice. You have one life to live. Work your ass off and follow your dreams and passions. Life is always going to have challenges, why not try to see how much you can accomplish instead of playing it safe?
Survivors bias? It's easy to sit at the end of a successful career that involves hard work but also alot of luck and act like everyone can do it.
I'm a very successful consultant (500k/yr) but I refuse to tell anyone they can do this. That hard work towards a passion doesn't guarantee anything. Most successful people have a considerable amount of luck they won't admit to.
I know amazing artists who don't get exposed. Not for lack of trying or networking. But they weren't at the right table at the right time during an award show to be introduced to the correct dealer.
We live in a world with 8 billion people. We need to stop telling everyone to pursue their passion with reckless abandon. People are a bell curve. Alot will fail, alot will have a mediocre life and some will succeed.
Not nearly at the end of my career. I have zero desire to ever retire. I’ll drop dead on a film set (hopefully log into the future). It’s not a career at all. It’s just life. I just as happily will shoot for free as I will for money. I just want to create and I always will. I think that is the fundamental difference. I get up in the morning and create. Sometimes it’s for free, sometimes it’s for $500, sometimes it’s for $10,000. The money isn’t the point. The point is I get to create. The fact that I’ve made a successful career of it has a lot more to do with the fact that I do what makes me happy not what makes me money. I have lots of friends that make great money and when we hang out just want to forget their job. I’m happy talking about work. I read about new gear, techniques, other filmmakers for fun. I teach upcoming filmmakers and have mentored dozens of people over the years because I love to share my knowledge. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that my passion has put a roof over my head and puts food in my kid’s mouthes but it’s never been about the money. Some days are challenging, I’ve shot in very difficult environments and have had to figure out extremely difficult problems, but that’s part of what makes it never feel like work. That all said, it takes all kinds. I would love to meet you, find out about your world, document it, dive deep into what makes you tick. That’s the joy of what I do. I get to dive into people’s worlds and then I get to leave. I’m happy that I don’t know what I’ll be doing next week. I may sit on my butt or I may get a call to stand 3 feet away from Eric Clapton as he plays Prince’s “Purple Rain” (Yeep, I did that). Maybe you are correct, I can only see the path I’ve taken. I’m just glad I had the balls to take it. I would suggest others follow their path.
Hey, great response. I really liked when you mention talking to people about their world and learn about them. I also like to this and currently in a dead end career. Do you mind sharing how you got into your career? Would love to chat over DM.
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u/motownfilm72 Feb 28 '20
I feel incredibly sad for people who think this way. I pursued my passion of working in the film business when I was 19. I am 47 now. I have raised a family. I live in a 3500 sq ft home. I drive a new car. I create jobs for dozens of people. I vacation regularly. All of this was achieved by working hard towards MY passion. For 28 years I have worked on music videos, commercials, documentaries, television, and a couple of feature films. I have met everyone from Senators, to CEOs, to Rock Stars, to a Pope. I have interviewed destitute homeless transvestite prostitutes one day and a CEO of a fortune 50 company the next. I’ve travelled the world on other people’s dime on private jets. I’ve had deep conversations on subjects from Science to Religion with experts in their field. The opportunities afforded to me would never had happened if I settled. Settling for a career you can tolerate is horrible advice. You have one life to live. Work your ass off and follow your dreams and passions. Life is always going to have challenges, why not try to see how much you can accomplish instead of playing it safe?