Posted by:
Tevai
(
)
Date: October 16, 2017 02:20PM
rt Wrote:
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> As far as the broom closet lady is concerned, I
> think an important addition is that you have to
> really mean it, and that only works if you are
> genuinely interested in the other person. You
> can't fake that.
Within the entertainment industry (which is the focus of this advice, though it also applies throughout general life), there is a now historic paradigm which is played out constantly, new generation by new generation.
"The industry" attracts very high numbers of larger-than-life people who have personality disorders (in some cases, the individual talents of these particular people appear to DEPEND on the personality disorder), as well as people who fall within normal mental and emotional health parameters, but are just "not nice" people: they're selfish, they are users, they are uncaring, they are gratuitously mean, and they are convinced they are God's gift to whoever they choose to spend a moment or so of their time with.
They are really difficult to work with and to be with in the kinds of high-stress conditions that are normal, everyday life in the industry...and "behind the camera" or "in front of the camera" doesn't seem to make a difference, because these kinds of people can be found just about everywhere.
There is also a very high and ungovernable element of "chance" which frequently comes into play in the industry, and the legendary "real life" stories (some of which actually happened; others did not), are part of the industry culture because they DO happen...at least, from time to time. Some behind-the-camera exec's babysitter, s/he realizes at a difficult casting meeting, would be PERFECT for a key role in an upcoming film or TV show. The kid who is the best friend of someone else's offspring, ditto. The guy who is schlepping the mail from office-to-office gets the opportunity to add his "two cents" to a story structure dilemma, and suddenly he has a position on the writing team, which is followed by great success and an Oscar (or something similar, anyway ;) ). Steven Spielberg (so the story goes), in the pre-beginning of his career, got onto the Universal lot and just lived there for awhile, camping out in unoccupied offices for the night, using the lot restrooms and cafeterias...and (very importantly) reading the ever-changing contents of executive and producer wastebaskets. During that time he got to know "everyone" on the lot (all of whom thought he was a Universal employee), and when an opportunity arose for Spielberg to become part of the story/script process, he grabbed it.
In the future that we all know this young Spielberg was going to have, do you think that those who meanly dissed "the kid" were likely to get the assignments, the projects, and the ultimate success via Spielberg that they COULD have received by simply being polite to him, instead of being asses to him?
So the advice I was given was not about faking interest, but about being a mensch: greeting the broom closet lady when you see her (instead of ignoring her), knowing her by name...basically, acknowledging her existence and (implicitly) her importance in the overall goals which everyone in the building (or on the lot) are trying to achieve...
...because someday, she (or someone SHE knows!---this is HOLLYWOOD!...the place where "everyone" knows "everyone else"!) may be the exact person YOU need the most to advance your own goals at that moment in time.
(The industry sociopaths and industry narcissists are the ones who would never understand or follow this advice, because they are too absorbed in faking basic respect and empathy rather than feeling it. Some of them get away with this for their entire careers, but most of them don't, and they fizzle out fast as the film and TV equivalents of "One Hit Wonders.")
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2017 02:28PM by Tevai.