My Allegiance is Always to the Project

Regardless of the project or what everyone else thinks of the project, I always try and bring my best. I approach the project with all my acquired skills and talents.

Well… “Hurrah for me” haha. Not so fast. There is another side to this approach.

I will never disrespect my clients and or bosses.  But I never let stupid get in the way of doing what’s best for the outcome of the project and in turn the best for the people that hired me because of my abilities.

I’m not suggesting you try this at home. I’m not even suggesting you do this at all.

It’s taken me years of refining and getting my ass kicked to find the balance between doing the right thing for the project and respecting the process my bosses / clients think is best.

If you think that’s arrogant you should have known me before I found a balance. YIKES!

When I was 17, the Vietnam military draft was winding down but still in effect. I had seen a lot of the horrors of war on the nightly news and what it meant to be in battle. I have the greatest respect for those who went when called.

Having grown up with father who served in the Navy throughout all of WWII, I knew if called I’d go. BUT I was terrified.

Crazy enough, It wasn’t just the horrific scenes I saw on the news that terrified me, it was, “the need to follow orders”.

I thought…

What if the orders didn’t make sense to me? 

What if they insisted on me doing it their way?

I’m pretty sure those are the basic rules of being in the military.

I always had problems with authority especially when they didn’t back up their statements with logic or facts. Yup… even as a wee boy.

WOW! Now that sounds arrogant brat. Maybe?

My attitude regarding the draft wasn’t as self-serving as it sounds. I was concerned that my instinct to question authority, weight the circumstances then possibly draw my own conclusions, could and would jeopardize the mission and possibly get people killed.

So, what does all this have to do with working in production?? …. Well… everything! 

As time moved on (I was never drafted and therefore never had to confront that situation) I, like everyone moving from teen to adulthood, had to find my place in the world.

I always knew, in one form or another, I was heading into the entertainment biz. So, off I went ready to impose my will and amazing creative mind on the world. LOL

Well … that certainly wasn’t going to be the case.

The early gigs I landed were either playing in bands or mixing sound in clubs for other bands. That lasted for a while.

The “a while” usually ended with me storming out because I was being told to do something I thought was wrong or in a way that I disagreed with. Even if it was coming from the boss or a new band I had just joined.

It wasn’t until after several years of getting kicked to the curb and being frustrate by the “stupid arrogant people” I kept having to work for (haha), did I realize maybe it wasn’t them. 

Maybe it was me!

My grandparents where from Italy and Italian was spoken in our house when they were around. They had a phrase, quando il mondo e sbagliato guardo nello stagno, which very roughly translated means, “when the world is wrong, look in the pond (reflection)”.

Finally, I got it!  “Everybody can’t be wrong all the time. If you think they are, then it’s you”.  That understanding was a turning point in my life and kicked my career in high gear.

It is also the point of this long-winded writing.

Creatives, regardless of what form your creativity takes, believe in our personal expression and ideas. If you don’t you won’t last long as a professional creative.

BUT until you learn to compromise those beliefs and listen to the passion of others (especially if the others have been successful in the biz), you will limit your career growth.

There is so much to be gathered and learned by listening the others. I don’t mean just hearing them.  I mean listening to them, with the intent to learn something new or yield to their experience. 

It’s like a painter finding new colors. A musician grabbing a new lick from someone in the band. Or an actor watching a new way to display emotion.

If your so locked into your ways, believing you are the only one who can self-improve you, check yourself. Maybe you’re afraid to accept advice from others because your afraid people will find out you don’t have all the answers.

Maintaining that attitude will keep getting you kicked to the curb and eventually you will run out of places to get thrown out of.

Relax, I’m sure your good.  You may even be great. But you need to play nice with others or just take your ball and go home.