FILM PRODUCER | WRITER | HUSBAND | FATHER
I’ve been watching the conversation around assistants in Hollywood and the #payuphollywood movement from a distance over the last few months. If you want to get caught up, these posts on JohnAugust.com and this podcast episode are good places to start. I have a few reasons for finally chiming in: I’m a film & TV …
Stop using inanimate objects or others as an excuse to not make the thing you say you want to make. Movies can be shot on iPhones and still get into Sundance. Stories are free. Books can be written using a pencil and paper or using a free text app that comes with every computer. Words …
Just had the experience of dealing with the “we’ll fix it in post” mentality. It’s the belief that one’s lack of planning can be deferred onto people later in the chain of something being created. In film, you have the writer who comes up with the story and writes the screenplay. Then the producer hires …
We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a year and underestimate what we can accomplish in a day. Or is it the other way around? Which one helps you more? Use that version. There are three months left in 2019. What do you want to accomplish? What do you think you can accomplish? A …
The canvas theory (or “Canvas Strategy”) is a concept Ryan Holiday wrote about in his book Ego is the Enemy. The concept is simple: when you want to work with someone, offer to hold a canvas for them to paint on. You can take that as face value, but it tends to limit you to …
You can’t drive on two different roads at the same time. You can’t walk two different paths, let alone two that are heading to different destinations. You certainly can’t walk three, or four, or more. The principle is the same for our creative projects. Somehow, Derek Sivers is coming out with three, THREE books this …
In order to start making progress, you first have to accept where you are. Look around, what assets do you have, what tools, what resources? What is it that you lack, that you’re going to need to acquire in order to accomplish your goal. Taking stock shouldn’t have any emotion attached to it. You shouldn’t …
Frustration around traffic – or anything else in life that is out of your control – stems from the difference between your expectations and reality. The higher your expectations of your commute being smooth and traffic free, the more frustrated you will get when it doesn’t work out that way. The longer your commute, the …
After nearly a decade of tweaking my diet, I feel like I’ve finally found an eating plan that will help me maintain a desired weight. Over the last year or so I managed to pack on a few extra pounds, and went looking for a solution. One thing that has been a little difficult for …
I was chatting with another student in this course that I’m taking and she’d asked for some feedback on her website. At first glance, the site seemed purpose-built to attract a very specific demographic. The font, the color scheme, and the images all told me that her clients are middle-aged women. But then, she said …