On September 19,2009 Producer Steve Eccelsine provided our membership with insight both sobering and joyous about the business of Hollywood. Steve read one of my favorite essays from his excellent book "So You Want To Be A Producer" called "All That Glitters." It shows a producer passionate and heartfelt but with an eye cocked askance on this silly business of making movies.
He has generously allowed us to post it here.
A video reading by Steve is also available on the website for the book here
ALL THAT GLITTERS
A lot of people choose to travel in life s slow lane. They tow the line, chugging along doing the speed limit, trying to get through the day without rocking the boat or being noticed. At every fork in the road, they take the path of least resistance and glide along under the radar. They never raise their voices or toot their own horns. Somewhere along the line they have, “Go along to get along” tattooed on their souls.
And then there are people in Showbiz. We have chosen to tromp on the accelerator looking to discover how fast this baby can go! This is a lifetime quest to determine how high is up? What’s next after we climb this mountain? Contrary to certain religious beliefs, this may be the one and only E-ticket we’re ever going to get so we better damn well enjoy each spin of the globe.
It is a study in opposites attracting. Everyone reading People magazine or watching through the fishbowl filter of Entertainment Tonight or Extra, Extra must think a busload of ADD kids has overturned and are running wild in the candy store. Looks like we’re hardly working while being paid a king’s ransom and having way too much fun! At least this is the image presented to those traveling in the slow lane. The truth of the matter is far less glamorous. Most of us inside the fishbowl are dedicated, hard working pros who hope to be proud of the work we do when we're lucky enough to find it. This is the part that they don’t see. Must never see.
There really is no advantage in shattering the illusion. If they ever knew how hard it is pursuing this dream, they’d be laughing at us instead of dreaming about being amongst us. What we want is their stability but we just aren’t willing to have the mind-numbing tedious life to get it. We are hell-bent on winning life's Trifecta: to work on projects we want to, with people we want to, and get paid what we ought to.
We voluntarily got suckered into this vortex, seduced by the lights, the glamour, and the pr omises. Nobody put a gun in our ribs and said, “Stick around, you won't believe what happens next!” We have missed numerous exit signs that would have taken us back to the real world. Nobody really prepared us for the slow roasting over the spit. Hah! It was in the fine print on page 27. Forgot to read the manual? Tough luck – there is no manual.
The twists and turns that our career takes often feels like trying to pick up that elusive bar of soap in the shower. We look terribly foolish doing it and we’re certainly in the right position for our daily bout with our opponent. One big problem is that we love pirouetting on thin ice, waiting for it to crack beneath us to see if we still have enough speed to reach safety without drowning or getting wet. Can’t really help ourselves because we're simply action junkies looking for our next fix.
Anybody who hasn’t written at least one acceptance speech while cradling that imaginary gold statue can now leave the building. I wonder what deceased funnyman Sam Kinn ison might’ve said at that moment? ………It would’ve been worth the price of admission.
