Monday, October 15, 2012
Dead Ends
As I have touched on before, figuring out a dead end is in fact a dead end can be done in one of 2 ways:
- using foresight, learned from study, insight, or the lessons of hindsight, recognize a dead end at a distance, and do not go towards it.
- run into it, often painfully, and a full speed. Also known as the braille method; you smack into the dead end.
The first is decidedly better than the second. It may not be possible to see all dead ends and blind alleys in advance of finding oneself at or in one. However, it is worth considering, before starting anything, whether or not it is heading to a dead end, or even off a cliff. I am speaking metaphorically.
A dead end may be somewhat obvious like:
- a rep that loses or misplaces contract documents,
- a theatre that bounces paychecks to actors,
- an addiction to drugs or alcohol (though that is more a cliff),
or may be more subtle, like hearing someone mention that a certain type of marketing material is now all the rage and unless they get that type of material immediately they won't book certain jobs, when in fact there is no work being cast requiring that material.
I encountered a dubious thing like this recently, and it turned out this "information" was a fool's errand. So I decided to write this post. Many exposed to this "information" did not question it, and as a result may spend a non-trivial amount of time and money on something of no value to anyone ever.
I know too many actors putting their hard earned money and their irreplaceable time into things that do nothing. Nothing but waste time and money. Sometimes at the expense of their relationships and other more worthy opportunities. No one can be perfect, but it is still worth trying to spend money and time well.
In entertainment, nobody knows anything, and it is worth honing the skill of examining any information that comes your way for its usefulness and accuracy. A skill worth getting better at doing, and I'm working on it. There is a lot of bad information out there. Caveat actor.
I will close by repeating Bob Fraser's words:Do not waste your time. It's all you've got, your entire wealth.
Labels: inspiration, money
You should follow me on instagram here and twitter here.
Subscribe to the feed
this posted by David August at 8:41 PM 
comments: Post a Comment
