On Specializing Vs.Being a Jack of Trades,
For more information, visit ‘Afternoon Delight’s’ Jill Soloway: ‘Brain Pickins’
"Perhaps I was having motivation problems because the only variety in my daily diet was bong for breakfast, pipe for lunch, joint for dinner. I harumphed, then just before I hung up, I told him, “Well … well … if writers write, then agents … age!” Ha ha! I sure showed him." - Jill Soloway on Writing.
I fear in my pursuit of demystifying success in the film industry I've become victim of that rather common problem of spreading one's focus. Soloway says "writers write." Joke and Biaggio say "producers producer." Essentially, the heart of a filmmaker is in making stuff.
Recently I've been reading a book called 'Steven Spielberg: Interviews,' Edts. Friedman and Notbohn.
Spielberg started out going through the whole 9 yards with his 8mm camera in his early teens. Not just pointing a camera, not just editing, but layering film for visual effect, composing his own score, splicing in stock footage, flash-cuts, sound-mixing, you name it.
It's an odd paradox that in order to be a good filmmaker you want to have your hands in everything at first, but having your hands in everything can sometimes get in the way at being truly competitive at one thing. Then a long time friend of mine tells me "You'll always be more valuable if you can do 10 things with moderate success than 1 thing expertly." Put that sage wisdom against 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi [Netflix]' and you'll see my conundrum. There's a delicate balance in play needed for maturing into a successful, practicing artist and there are no easy answers save one: as long as every so often you have something to show, you're going somewhere.
Let's get what we came for,
C.M. Sanchez III
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