Perspective of success.

I just wrapped up what was possibly the busiest start to a new year I have had in my career, and after a very rocky 2009, this was VERY welcomed.

It being the new year, there have been an onslaught of new interns that have started working. The typical fare, you can see immediately the ones that will amount to something and the ones where you just wonder…. what are they thinking… they are going to get eaten alive in this business.

Well, the guy managing the interns ran out of stuff for them to do and had them follow me around. Now, I don’t move very much. And for someone to follow me around really just involves sitting in a chair and watching…. So I got to spend 1 on 1 time with each of them over the last couple months and 2 of them really stood out. The first reminded me of myself. He was constantly asking questions, driven to do something at whatever costs, and just immediately jumped right in. You really can see the passion in this kid. He wants this.

The other that stood out, was COMPLETELY the opposite. Now, he may have the exact amount of enthusiasm about his dream, but he definitely isn’t expressing it. He NEVER asked me a single question. I asked him, and his responses were under 10 words, everytime. And on days when he wasn’t shadowing me, I would catch him peeking around the corner into my edit bay staring at me… still never saying anything. lol. it was rather odd. funny. but odd.

I came in from lunch one day and there was an intern sitting at the front desk and I had to pause a second. For a moment, my head went right back to 1998. Working in Nashville, TN right out of college, I was the staff PA at Stephen Yake Productions. When the receptionist would go to lunch, part of my daily duty, was to man the phones and play video games on her computer while she took a break. I just snickered.. what a killer time that was. So many people around that inspired me. People that I wanted to be just like. Mike Ashcraft directing a music video, teaching me to document/journal my experiences as each project is a new adventure that I need to remember and take things from project to project to get better and better. Darla Korieba showing me how she does a radio edit of the dialog before she covers. Dan O’Connell teaching me the processes of maintaining a system. Sylvia Avalos (who managed the interns / PAs) telling me to go sit in a bay and watch Darla or Patty cut. To go sit with Mike and pick his brain. And ultimately, Steve Yake and Randy Brewer giving me opportunities to work even tho I was NOT qualified.

The stuff that I got from these guys, I literally use now, EVERY DAY. These were people that made a HUGE impression on me. So much so that 12 years later, I can sit in an edit bay on the other side of the country and remember their faces, their expressions when I walked into their offices. People that listened to my stories and ideas and encouraged me… I realized, Dang I am now on the other side. All those years ago when I would peak around the corner to see if they might invite me in to watch what they do…. I was thinking, I can not wait to be like them. I can not wait to do that. I can not wait to be the guy sitting at the console running the AVID. The director yelling back at the producer when he is trying to change the vision for a piece. The guy that walks into a production company for a meeting to pitch a project, and says hello to the intern covering phones during lunch.

Now I sit here. That guy. After a rough 2009, I sit here wondering how in the world am I going to take my career to the next level. How am I going to get to the point where I am “successful”. And I realized, success is all about perspective. Because 12 years ago, I don’t know that I would have really believed I would be where I am today. 12 years ago, I would have given my right arm to be where I am today. How quickly I forgot. How easy it is to look at where I sit now, and feel underachieved. Until I look at where I came from and how far I actually have come. Of the 25-30 people I went to school with and interned with, I seriously can only think of 3 or 4 people that are still working in the business and doing what we all started out to do. And for that I am thankful to be one of the few still going after it. I am stoked for the projects on my plate this year. 2010 is going to rock. I hope and pray that I can rock the world of the interns that pass thru my life just like those of you that rocked mine.

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