Have Fun

The great thing about working in a creative field is that, in one way or another, most of us are right brainers who are happy to have found ourselves on a team with others of our ilk. Don't get me wrong - You will occasionally find yourself on a set with someone (or several someones) who work better in under duress, and so that's the environment they nurture.

Our work can definitley get stressful - it is business, after all - but I think individuals in our field who create stress for themselves and those around them are:

1) shooting themselves in the foot, because the crew (and the client) will remember it...

2) forgetting that a crew is a team. Everyone wants the shoot to turn out well. Nurture the team, and the end product will always be better...

Here's the deal: Creative jobs are, in the end, fun. I don't envy lawyers and doctors: individuals for whom the result of their work could mean the difference between freedom and imprisonment, or life and death. We're just making good pictures. Pictures that tell stories. Sometimes, they're important stories that need to be told, and other times we're just helping advertise something or someone. Either way, we're damn lucky to be doing it.

So, when you can - and as often as you can - remember to have fun. The approach will reflect in your work, and - as an added bonus - you'll probably live longer.