Gary W. Goldstein, Writer/Producer/Author: People often turn away from what's possible or
from actual career choices because they don't know how am I going to make that a reality?
Film Courage: Gary, why do you say talent comes second to marketing
for anyone trying to make it in Hollywood?
Gary: We can never underestimate talent. Craft is everything but it's not everything
meaning fundamentally Hollywood is is is not a meritocracy it's not always
the best talent that rises to the top it's not the best projects to get financed and and produced and
bought it's often based on who has the best relationships
so while it's really important and I trust that most creatives who really want to make it
in the business are steadfast they're committed they're studying they're
writing multiple scripts they're they're always improving it's a process it's a learning so
you're always getting better at your craft and I and I don't underestimate the value of that
so talent's important but talent that is not connected up with
some form of effective marketing idea an action plan some kind of a road map to make sure that you
and your body of work get noticed it can't live in isolation talent has to be have a have
a platform it has to be announced to the world and marketed and I think that too many writers
tend to ignore them the the business side the marketing side in favor of
being very committed to their writing and and and hoping to get an agent being in other words
being passive in the face of what in any other industry would be considered perhaps unrealistic
so I think talent is not to be underestimated it's why we're all here but the talent needs
it needs a companion energy so that you are not a best kept secret does that have to do with biz dev
versus the sales mindset does that have anything yeah I mean certainly I think in a way it does
the so that this the sales person is is someone who's working against quota and within a given
time horizon in there and they're looking for a specific result which is sale their
their whole approach is geared toward getting getting the sale um
the the bus the biz dev person has a totally different job definition
a different there's a different prism or lens that they're looking through
they're looking it's like the difference almost between in the old
version agency and management one was like income driven commission driven
and the other was commissioner but it was really about developing the talent longer term mindset
in business the biz dev people people with that responsibility set are really looking at how do
I nurture and develop the future business and that's not about making sales today that's about
getting to know their business about getting to know their customer about getting to know
their needs their wants and how we can develop a mutually beneficial relationship it's being
fundamentally other focused it's not about what I need today it's about how can I help you
now and into the future let's let's let's create that pathway so that I lock in a sense of loyalty
and a deeper understanding and then we can build together so there's it's investment minded as
opposed to sales-minded and i've used that analogy for yeah certainly for creatives like be curious
be a business development person build relationships build toward a future without
the urgency without the anxiety there's no stress in that there's no need in that
now it's just a gift of genuine curiosity about the other and not keeping yourself a secret
share who you are and what you do and why you do it why you care what what was the first moment
when you knew you you had to have a create go down this path and be a creative professional
Christy Dreiling, [Author of LOL: From Homeless to Multimillion-dollar Global Business Leader] yes
yes christie's a dear friend yeah and I found her book accidentally somehow and it was
really fascinating to read especially about her upbringing and she talked about a poverty mindset
and I'm curious how we can all fall into that trap and maybe not even realize it yeah well I
think it's very common look I think that we're unfortunately I won't say mis-educated i'd say
under-educated I think there is in our system in our culture there are a lot of what I consider
really essentials that we're simply not they're not in our curriculum that we're not taught we're
not taught financial literacy we're not taught mindset we're not taught success principles
it it it hasn't yet found its way into the body politic that is our educational system
and I think that a lot of people do fall into a poverty mindset they're it's we are we are
fed a steady diet through the internet through the media class traditional media what have you
of of sensational stories because that's what solves
and it's often fear-based and fear is powerful medicine and most people are not immune to it
there's very few people who can see over that headrow and stay centered and stay present and
stay committed to their vision and their and and what what's theirs to do and we see that covid
we see it like there's a uniform response amongst most people to bad news and we see it all the time
and I think it sort of degrades our sense of manifest destiny and our vigor and our
determination of and belief in what's possible applying the poverty mindset to being active
pitching working on projects not giving up because that poverty mindset can permeate into other areas
it's not just financial poverty it's also sort of lack of opportunity the belief that you can't
actually make something happen it doesn't have to actually mean monetary value right so how do
we how do we get ourselves out of that because some people could come from some a stable middle
class environment or upper-middle class they could probably still possess that poverty mindset being
told maybe you can't make a career out of this find a find a stable position where there's a
pension very few jobs still have pensions but people often turn away from what's possible or
from actual career choices because they don't know how how am I going to make that a reality and
my understanding of life is it's really not that important to understand how
what's really important is to understand what you want be really clear about what you want and very
clear about why you want it and at that point the how is like a collaborative effort between you
the universe and seeking out the people who know the how they've been down that path and finding
your mentors and finding your collaborators finding your partners whatever it might be
but it's if you can't go in with that clarity that story that's really true and clear and
persuasive about it mostly to yourself if you believe it others will believe it right that's
that's really persuasive about what it is that you want why you want it and what you're
willing to do for it that you're committed to it the how just becomes the gap that needs to
be filled in with information and relationships and that's all available it's the determination
I think a lot of people get get stopped before they get in the game because they don't think
it's possible they think it's too hard they don't know how they have all these ideas because
it's easy not to believe in yourself it's easy to stay in your comfort zone it's another way
of saying it it's it takes a certain amount of courage to step out and do the thing that
you fear others may judge you for and by the way that you may fail at right so it's easier
to be safe and stay in your comfort zone and not take that risk but the but it's really not
because we only have one life and regret is a terrible terrible thing questioning yourself is
a terrible not believing in yourself is not being willing to take risk and bet on yourself first
it's like chopping off an arm it's just not a good way to treat yourself and and if you
surround yourself with no matter what your background and I granted it's not an equal
playing field I think all souls are created equal people are not people's backgrounds and
experiences are so so so different and but I think we do have we see so many examples of it
that kind of courage that makes people rise above a circumstance say I'm so committed to this
and no matter what my experience or what my background I am going to find the people who are
more successful who are in the direction I want to move in and I'm going to go there I'm going to
make them my target and my compatriots and what have you my mentors I think it just most people
aren't natural born leaders and they don't necessarily I read a book years and years ago
called The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness by Jeff Olson I
think is the author and in that book there was really it's he talks about habits but
the thing that makes it come to mind is there's a moment in the book when he talks
about a sociological study that was done that determined that by the age of five which I
is what first grade that by the age of five a child has on average heard the word no
40 000 times and he's hurt that same child's heard the word yes 8 000 times so literally
five times the gravity holding that belief system that human being down as there is a yes energy
uplifting or elevating or thinking oh these things are more possible for me and
that really stuck obviously it stayed with me I read that book years and years ago because I
thought my god the math of that is really a heavy weight so I think the one of the keys
really take yourself out of your the other comfort zone is don't necessarily settle for those who are
your current tribe or community or the people you hang with right like really make a decision
that you're gonna get with people who are the doers not the dreamers with the people who will
believe in you not the ones who will judge you like really consciously say I deserve better
and I don't want to say it's like fake until you make it because I actually think
everyone deserves it but if you're willing to go after what you think you can grow into
what you deserve increase your capacity find the people who are going to say yeah
we support you we not only don't judge you we encourage you.