What are three things you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
1) You can say no. This is a powerful word that you can use in many situations. If you are being asked to do something dangerous to you, an actor, other crew members, or something is just plain dodgy, you can say no. We’ve seen enough instances in our industry of accidents of all kinds happen, and sometimes it takes someone in a position of power to say no, so everyone can slow down and figure out a better/safer way to accomplish the task. You can also say no to working with people who aren’t kind, or don’t treat their crews respectfully. You can also say no to a job that interferes with your wedding, a vacation, you child’s graduation, or other once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s okay to say no – people will either understand it, or they won’t, and long-term, you don’t want to be working with the kind of people that don’t understand that you have an important life outside of work.
2) There will always be work. If you are good at what you do, the phone will always ring. I say this because a lot of us, especially early in our careers, pass up important events to work. I missed trick-or-treating on Halloween with my son, vacations with my family, birthday parties, and put off going to a doctor when I was hurt – all because I didn’t know that it was okay to ask for time off. Your work family seems very important, and they are, but not at the expense of your actual family or your health. They will get by without you for the day. It is okay to ask for time off to go to the doctor or dentist, and it is okay to request time off for important events that will only happen once.
3) You only have one body – take care of it. We work in a demanding job that requires heavy lifting, with your body being in awkward positions under duress for extended periods. At some point, your body will fight back if you don’t actively work to protect it, and you will be forced to stop the madness while your body recovers. In some cases, this can be a simple overuse injury, and in other cases, you can be out for months. I speak from experience – we don’t think about our health when we are young and strong – we only think about it when it is taken from us and we are in pain. Start a workout and eating regiment at an early age – you’ll feel better, look better, and you won’t be limited as you get older.
4) Extra credit. This is obvious now, as we’ve all been out of work for months with the WGA and SAG strikes, but it is critical to stash money aside during the times when we are working and flush, to help us get through the times when we are waiting for the phone to ring. Nobody ever thinks about this when they start in the industry, and are only made to take notice when the work goes away due to a strike, or your main DP retires or takes a job for months out of the country and isn’t able to bring you along, or your job ends and nobody you know is hiring, or any of the other of the countless ways you can find yourself between jobs and out of work. Take a little bit out of your paycheck each week and put it in an emergency fund. It won’t take long for that fund to grow to a decent size that can sustain you through the hard times. You should be working towards 6 months of living expenses in reserve, if not more. Once you’ve made it through the hard times and are back at work, make sure you start filling up the fund again, because there will inevitably be another dry spell, and it isn’t always easy to spot when it will hit.
Being nice is more important than being good. Don’t get me wrong, you need to do good work, but before you are good, nice will keep you in the game. Be an ass and you’ll likely never get to good.
You may have a huge amount of pressure on you but your job is no more important than anyone else’s. Everyone has a job, has responsibilities and has an outside life. Keep that in mind and help them so when you need it they will help you. It’s about the team, not about you.
You are going to fail. Everyone fails. It’s not about the falling down, it’s about the getting back up and sometimes that will be harder than you can imagine, but you’ll do it and you’ll learn. Learn from your mistakes.
Family first. If you have kids, they don’t care about the job you are on, they care that you are home for their birthday. Trust me when I tell you that when they are long gone from home, you will remember helping them blow out the candles, not the epic oner you operated instead of being home for them.
As life expands and your career grows, try not to expand your financial needs at the same rate. There may be unforeseen career moves in your future that need that you not work as steadily to be available for the moves. Making choices can be difficult when you can’t afford to say no.
When we are young we can feel invincible. If you happen to be incorporating steadicam as one of the tools you use to tell story, they are heavy. They put stresses on your lower back, hips and knees. This WILL deteriorate those places on your own body. Don’t take it lightly and learn an effective routine to stretch and strengthen all areas affected. Trust that this effort will make a difference and not bothering will shorten your career and quality of life.
Read the script and visualize the story. Your investment in the story will shine in your operating. There will be times when you don’t get much direction and your interpretation of the story will be desperately needed. Enjoy that you make that difference even if you don’t get to shoot it your way.
1) To invest in Apple, Google and Amazon
2) That listening is better than talking
3) It’s the people along the way that count, not the shots you make.
