Working In Entertainment

 Here's the thing about making it in Hollywood...actually a few things...

you'll never feel like you made it. You will always feel like a fraud. That's normal. Maybe you will feel like you made it if you can support yourself and have relaxing moments to yourself. To me, that's retirement. Making movies is a lifetime of tension. But good tension. Bad tension is when you answer to others, using THEIR money, of course.

Never overlook opportunities. Be in plays. Direct plays. Write plays. Tell stories that are interesting to you. Have themes that connect people. Don't direct or write anything that compromises your life goals. Making the next "Avatar" is cool. Doing it for money is lame. Well, you don't have James Cameron's budget. Doesn't mean you can't condense that story into something manageable. He stole it from the story of Pocahontas. Some say "Fern Gully"

Also, don't listen to people like me. I've been working now near two decades in Hollywood. hard to believe. But damn near longer working that I spent in school. My advice comes from the small successes I've had. It might not be the path you want. I certainly hope your aim is higher. However, I hope your expectations are reasonable as well. I think I've always had reasonable expectations. There's less disappointment there.

I have a co-worker now who thinks I'm bitter because I never "made it" in Hollywood as a director. I don't have the patience to tell him the freedom I have now with the mini-production world I was able to create. Nor would I want anyone who only sees the studio system to understand that. I know plenty of people who think if you don't work for the big studios, you haven't made it. Which has its own truth. But to me, "making it" means you still make movies and love them.

Entertainment can be a LOT of things. Most of all, it's to remind people your thoughts and feelings are normal. Universal truth is what they call it. Strive for human interaction. You will feel much more enriched. Observe and comment. Never judge.