Just in case somebody needs to see this today:
- Jon Hamm didn't make it until he was 36. He was a dishwasher and even a decorator on a porn set before fame.
- Jane Lynch got her big break in Glee at 49.
- Kathy Bates got her big break at 43 with Misery.
- Ken Jeong got his at 40. He was a stand-up comic for fun to get away from the stress of the doctor job he hated.
- Samuel Jackson got his with Pulp Fiction at 45
- Morgan Freeman was 8,000 years old. That's a slight exaggeration, but he was very old.
- Quentin Tarantino was just some quirky guy who worked at a video rental store.
- JK Rowling was denied at publishing houses over and over for Harry Potter because apparently it was "On the nose," "An idea that wasn't in right now," and 200 other stupid excuses we all hear all the time.
- Stallone was homeless and sold his dog to provide for himself. When "Rocky" blew up, he bought the dog back for $25,000 because he could.
- Did you know I could probably make bullet points until my fingers hurt with this subject? That I could give you like 200 examples, and these examples took two minutes to find?
Listen, we chose this. A filmmaker's journey is not like business. It's not an easy, year-by-year, gradual ascendance to success. You either make it or you don't, and you will sacrifice time, emotions, and resources even if you don't make it.
But everyone I mentioned above was just like us. They waited tables, stared at debt with tears like me, and wondered, "Am I completely delusional or is this actually going to work?"
They didn't have to go to that next audition. They didn't have to make that next screenplay. The world could've gone on and they could've decided to sink in and blend in and these names would mean nothing to you.
They didn't blend in, though.
I won't. I hope you don't.
I am on a mission to put my name on this list, like you wouldn't believe, and I've chosen this over a nice 401k and fancy suits because people have proved that rags to riches in this industry is VERY possible, and there's NO REASON you or I can't make it other than the excuses we make for ourselves.
It is up to us all. We can choose to be gritty, persistent.
Fives years deep of rejections and funny looks, but I do not care. When you network with me you will still see the fire in my eyes, and that fire is VERY far from going away any time soon.
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Good for you! Let me know if you wish to exchange scripts!
I'm fired up now, Danny Range. Thanks, coach! :D I'm rooting for you and us all to have these success stories!
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Jon Shallit I responded to your private message, buddy! I appreciate you reaching out.
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@mauricevaughan Glad to hear it and same here!
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Danny Range Thanks for this. I have 3 scripts and haven’t sold one... YET. For every day I'm excited to write and stay up most of the night because I’m in the zone, there’s a night I’m haunted by imposter syndrome and fighting the nagging thoughts that I’m nowhere near good enough.
But with every script, I feel myself getting better. Better at writing visually. Better at crafting dialogue that’s not so clichéd, on-the-nose, or overly expository. That’s what it’s about. Keep writing and feel yourself seeing it more with each word, even if there’s still further to go.
That’s why I do it. I have a story to tell, and one day, everyone might see it.
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Beautifully said, Danny Range!
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Neil Jaye Glad this hit home for you! I go through the same thing. I'll win a contest or something and I'm like, "See! All this visions I have, all the guidance I feel I've received, it's real. I'm onto something." Then I'll get denied on pitches and I go to sleep thinking, "Maybe I'm nuts, maybe I'm wrong about this."
It's just a battle. And to win all you have to do is not give up and keep fighting through that.