As a dichotomy, tools matter and tools don’t matter at the same time. Give a great photographer a cheap disposable film camera you can still buy at the drug store (I love ‘em, actually) and you’re likely going to get something interesting. Give my neighbor a camera bag filled with expensive gear, and you’re going to get backlit cat photos on the windowsill…and a bag full of expensive gear.
Read MoreA FEW WORDS, AFTERWARDS
No matter how big the movie, the stage play, the broadcast, or book release, work is always ephemeral, like life itself. The play’s the thing precisely because the action of life only struts and frets for a moment upon the stage. It’s like a love affair; it’s like a perfectly prepared meal; it’s like a long-planned vacation, or even time spent growing up in one’s family home. The feelings may run deep, but the only thing that lasts are shared memories.
Read MorePRODUCTION LIFE
The quality of what you do matters to the quality of the whole. You get into production work because one day in your own past you decided that you don’t do what you do without a personal investment. What you do defines who you are.
Read MoreA REPORT FROM AN ASTEROID, A REPORT FROM THE ROAD
OSIRIS-REx is a shining light in the darkness, a story of how dedicated teams can figure out ways to pull together and do extraordinary things despite obstacles.
Read MoreREAL TIME
When we shift time and space by perceiving ourselves elsewhere, we’ve transformed our physical lives into something that still doesn’t have an adequate description. Life mediated through screens is life lived some outside of the world.
Read MoreTHERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
But once you know where you come from, challenge yourself to range outward and learn what’s going on elsewhere. Those explorations will inevitable make you more aware of the unique attributes of your own origin, but they will also make you a more powerful creator.
Read MoreYOUR INTERN MIGHT KNOW THE ANSWER
Smartly selected interns are trend spotters, idea generators, culture absorbers, hope machines. They’re looking to build lives—their own—and the by-product of that energy is often an industrious and energetic effort.
Read MoreHIGHS AND LOWS
A life spent with all things largely known at daybreak is unlikely to yield much in the way of success when the sun goes down. Success usually comes from the discovery of something that was unknown, be that a new business partnership, a piece of art, or smartly executed social media campaign.
Read MoreIMPROVISATION (or, How to Build a Car while Driving it)
Improvisation is all about noticing things you couldn’t possibly have seen until you got started, and realizing that your evolving insight is the compass needle you should be following.
Read More
BOREDOM
Boredom suggests a restlessness that must be fed
Read More