“We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.”
—Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines
All Posts in 'Obstacles to Vision' Category
Will Smith’s Wisdom
Great video with compiled clips of Will Smith sharing the wisdom he’s picked up through his life. I’ve long been impressed with Will and the depth of his character. I don’t believe he’s just a star, or an actor, or one of the elite with extreme amounts of talent. He is a powerful example of achieving one’s dreams, and, from what I can tell, a humble, passionate, loving person who wants to share the joy in his life with others. Enjoy the great words of wisdom from Will:
“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
—Michelangelo
Quote of the Week—January 4, 2010
Genevieve Clay is following her vision as a writer/director
Genevieve Clay, writer, director, and filmmaker, is dead-set on making her mark on the world. She is the recent winner of the tropfest film festival, and isn’t stopping there. She has some great advice for filmmakers, though I’d say it’s probably great advice for anybody:
You’re going to get criticised sometimes and some of your work isn’t going be great and you’ve got to be prepared for that. You’ve just got to push through anyway and say, ‘that film doesn’t define my talent’. Experiment with what you’re doing, don’t be boxed up.
You’re not going to make something great on your first go. You can’t think that you’re some freak genius even though you might be, you still need people to mentor you and talk to you and say ‘this is working and this isn’t’ and don’t be offended just take it on board.
And lastly, just suck it up. It’s cutthroat and disappointment is the biggest killer of dreams and the only person that’s going to stop you from getting where you want to go is yourself. If you can just suck it up and keep going no matter what the disappointment is, you’ll get somewhere.
Self-sabotage is the smartest thing you can do if you’re sabotaging a self that is not really you.
—Armond Demele
Quote of the Week (2)—December 28, 2009
Question the masses
I believe this applies to everything in life. I’m a religious bloke, but feel strongly this even goes for religion. There is a difference between questioning and doubt. The former is almost always healthy, where the latter almost always destructive.
Too often we take what others say as gospel (public education, for example), only to find out we’re miserable when we act on their advice. Find your own voice, and speak up.
Don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of never trying.
*Jessica Hagy blogs at Indexed and is the author of a wonderful book of the same name.
You always pass failure on your way to success.
—Mickey Rooney
Quote of the Week (4)—December 21, 2009
You’ve heard of Pixar, right?
How about the documentary titled The Pixar Story? If you haven’t seen it yet, find it, and watch it as soon as you can (hint: look on select Wall•E DVD/Blu-Ray discs). The Pixar Story is a great doc about Pixar’s epic struggle to become what they are today. I think its safe to say that most folks probably think of Pixar as an overnight sensation that hit it big with their first feature film, Toy Story. That’s what I thought, too. I didn’t know how wrong I was until I saw this enlightening film about one of the most storied companies in our recent history.
What strikes me most is the amount of passion, vision, and pure perseverant love the Pixar folks have for what they do. They aren’t going to a job every day. They are doing what they love. They believe they are doing something that is making a real difference in peoples lives. Its no wonder they have been so successful at making their films.
“Pixar is seen by a lot of folks as an overnight success. But, if you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
– Steve Jobs, Pixar
Steve, no doubt, was a huge asset in the key moments of Pixar’s development. He spearheaded the IPO, giving pixar the real legs they needed to make it in the big time.
“We learned the important thing is not the idea, the important thing is the people. It’s how they work together, who they are that matters more than anything else.”
– Ed Catmull, Pixar
Difficult to argue with that philosophy. It’s hard to imagine a company with this type of outlook not having bucketloads of culture and passion.
Do what you love, the money will follow (just ask Fede Alvarez)
(See the embedded youtube video after the jump)
No doubt millions of people are asking themselves and others right now: “How can I score like this Fede fellow?” Also undoubtedly millions will try to do what he’s done—they’ll try to make the same kind of soup, only to find out the recipe ain’t working for them the same as it did for Fede. So what was his secret?
From avclub.com:
CBC News reports that Fede Alvarez, a Uruguayan man who made his 5-minute sci-fi short Panic Attack for $300 and “just for fun,” has landed a deal with Sam Raimi’s GhostHouse Pictures to direct a feature-length film…budgeted at $30 million.
(emphasis added)
and from yahoo news:
“…apparently nothing gets by Hollywood these days. [Alvarez] told the BBC, “I uploaded ‘Ataque de Panico!’ on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of emails from Hollywood studios.”
Long story short, a bidding war ensued. The offer he pocketed: A $30 million deal with Sam “Spiderman” Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures. That’s a nice return on investment.
It looks and sounds like Alvarez understood a key principle to success: follow your vision. Do what you’re passionate about, and eventually you’ll hit it big.
In this day and age, everyone has been trained to do what other people love. Untold numbers of people will see this incredible youtube video, and they’ll try to follow Fede’s passion in an effort to achieve success in their own lives. Maybe a better use of our time and efforts would be to discover what we love as much as Fede Alvarez loves filmmaking—then do it.
Thank you, Fede, for showing us that we can do what we love, and the only obstacle we really need to overcome is our own self-doubt.