How to Hover

I recently received an irate email from someone who said he was interested in working with me. Well, that’s what he said.

Without our having met or spoken, let alone my agreeing to work together, he described his career in excruciating detail, complete with cliff quotes and accolades.

With such stunning levels of success, I wondered why he was contacting me.

He finally said that with all he’d accomplished, he was sure, as I would be, that there was nothing lacking in his ability or talent, but his lack of work (not that he needed to work, by the way, but rather enjoyed working) was clearly a problem with the industry and he was charging me with finding a way to market him so that the industry would see the error of its ways.

Yes, there’s all kinds of wrong with this, and while this man’s attitude may not represent the majority of talent or people out there, it also just might.

There is a roiling level of resentment that has become institutionalized by social media. Blog after blog, chat after chat is rife with commentary making the producing community wrong and the acting community right.

And does all that complaining change one thing? Has Mr. Fabulous stopped clinging to a read and sensibilities that have long since passed their sell-by date?

Nope.

All he did was identify one more person to shake his finger at. He didn’t want my help, he wanted my complicity or failing that, another target for his complaints.

After reviewing his materials I sent him a brief note saying that while marketing is a key component of a career, there were other aspects of his work that needed to be addressed and aligned with the manner in which the culture and producers now speak to one another, and if he was open to such an exploration, to get in touch for a session.

Are we surprised that what I got back was another novel, reiterating what he said in the first email, but with a more indignant froth? I did not respond lest I encourage further lobs.

The issue is not about Right or Wrong, it’s about the willingness to evolve with the Game, as it evolves.

If someone tried to qualify for the Olympics with the same program with which Dorothy Hamill won gold, they would not even make the team. Now, if you are not able to hover, mid-air, like a hummingbird, you won’t make the cut.

As one voice talent manager said to me, “ Most people do not understand how good “good has to be.”

Reinforcing a mindset that keeps you in place keeps you from playing the game the way the game is played now.

All the time, money and opportunities won’t matter if you haven’t mastered the ability to hover and stop time in its tracks.