Cliche Camp: Do What You Love

We were listening to the commentary track for The Incredibles the other night, and Brad Bird was talking about how hard it is to remember every little thing that went into each frame, because it took FOUR YEARS to make the movie, and my wife and I were struck with the same thought: four years to make the film, and a moment’s glance for people to dismiss it, if they don’t like something about it. Can you imagine someone snubbing FOUR YEARS of your passion?
And that’s where the lesson begins.
I’m in the camp that says there’s truth in cliches. (It’s a boring camp. We just sit around making gimp lanyards and saying, “There’s truth in cliches.” We don’t even have singalongs.) One of the cliches I like very much is: “Do what you love.”
Do What You Love
How can you survive in Hollywood? Celebrities are constantly hounded by the media. The general public is willing to share their opinion on every little thing you do, even if it’s a painful opinion. Hell, Tom Cruise even told Brooke Shields she sucked for having post-partum depression after having a child. Sure, they make money, but how do people working in Hollywood survive the emotional roller coaster of having their work and their lives critiqued in detail constantly?
I think it lies in doing what you love. If you were a storyboard artist and got paid a decent wage to draw visuals of what would become a motion picture, wouldn’t you be just as thrilled to draw forty different endings to the film as to draw one? If you were LOVING the effort of doing the artwork, would it matter how much of your stuff got implemented?
This is tricky. I’m not doing what I love right now. I’m doing what pays me well. And therein lies a lot of discontent, n’est pas? However, here’s my secret: I find WAYS of doing what I love. I find every opportunity I can to teach classes, write and draw content that explains our complex technology, and present to people inside and outside the company.
Are there ways YOU do what you love at your place?
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