Bunny Blog

This past weekend I had a very unpleasant interaction with a fellow creator who is in the process of making a feature film.  He’s written a script that’s very solid, good even, and he asked for people to read and critique it.  I did.  And then I discovered that he wasn’t looking for a critique at all, but for unabashed praise of his genius.  He refused to accept that there were any problems or inaccuracies in his script, and an already unfortunate discussion just went downhill from there.

But there’s a silver lining to every cloud, right?  This whole thing got me thinking about my creative philosophy for success, and how it might differ from other peoples’. I thought it might make a good discussion.

A moment of backstory, then.  I went to film school, a very good one. I’ve participated in lots and lots of “Is film school worth it?” debates and I don’t have a perfectly clear answer. For some people it’s great and for some people it’s not. But there’s one thing you’ll learn in a good school (film school, or any kind) that you may not learn anywhere else, and that’s how to be objective about your work. No matter what kind of hotshot, arrogant young kid you are (and I was!), going to school with a couple dozen other hotshot, arrogant young kids will teach you humility, and it will teach you how to take a critique. One of the best ways to learn how annoying you must appear to be is to see others acting the same way.  I consider myself very fortunate to have formed this company with my peers who come from the same background, the same drive to improve themselves all the time.  They are good, honest, direct people, and that’s something you cannot buy.

Someone recently shared this transcript of a lecture done by legendary Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch after he discovered he had terminal cancer.  His story is inspiring and wonderful, and his outlook on creative endeavors is spot-on.  This is a man who achieved great things in a relatively short life, and died happy.  I’m proud to subscribe to his philosophy and sad to report his death last week.  A few excerpts:

 …he put his arm around my shoulders and we went for a little walk and he said, Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant. Because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life. What a hell of a way to word “you’re being a jerk.” [laughter] Right? He doesn’t say you’re a jerk. He says people are perceiving you this way and he says the downside is it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish.

Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it.

Anybody can get chewed out. It’s the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. As opposed to, no wait, the real reason is… We’ve all heard that. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.

How do you get people to help you? You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest. I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term.

No one is perfect, and no one’s work is perfect. There’s no shame in that. In this profession, your personal feelings simply do not matter. All that matters is the end result. If you allow yourself to become blind to other peoples’ suggestions and good ideas, you’re not only hurting your own work, but also hurting your relationship with those people. The very best friends I’ve made on this site and elsewhere have been the result of honest, sincere discussions and collaborations where neither party was afraid of insulting the other… because everyone involved cared about making the work as good as it could possibly be, end of story.

This is the only way to grow as a creator.