Brett Michael Innes didn't know if he would ever fulfill his dream of becoming a film maker. As a teenager, he knew he wanted to make movies but there were a few things that stood in the way of him accomplishing his dream.
During that time, his family went into debt, so he couldn't afford to go to film school. He also had to work at a call center just to support himself.
After some introspective thinking, Brett decided he wanted to pursue his dream of film making. So he worked a year at the call center so he could afford to go to film school. With the help of his parents and a scholarship, he was able to finish with a degree in film production.
Although Brett wanted to major in directing, he was forced to get his degree in film production. This ended up being a stroke of luck because this experience with production helped him land a contract with M-Net, the HBO of South Africa.
With the help of M-Net, Brett was able to work on his novel, Rachel Weeping, and his movie Sink, at the same time. Both the novel and movie were met with critical acclaim, which has allowed him to continue work doing the thing he loves, making films
In this episode Brett talks about adapting to your situation, why mentorship is powerful, and not letting fear get the best of you.
Here are three things you can learn from Brett:
Many of us feel stuck in our jobs or our careers. We believe it's way too late to change. Should haves flood our thoughts.
I should have started earlier. I should have taken a different path. I should have taken more chances.
If your mind is filled with should haves, I have good news for you. It's not too late. Stop dwelling on the past. Everything you've done up to this point will help you moving forward.
"I think nothing is wasted. A lot of people may switch a degree or change jobs or careers in their forties and feel that everything that led up to that point now has been wasted because they take a sharp right, but actually, it all feeds into that thing that you're doing. Now I'm appreciative of it, but when I was in the midst of it all, it completely overwhelmed me."
The most most important thing you have at your disposal is your ability to adapt. Human beings have adapted and evolved many times over millennia. Brett was able to adapt to his surroundings. You can too.
"I think if I look at myself, it's that flexibility of not saying this is the only way it's going to be done and if I don't it won't work out. If it doesn't work out this way, it's a failure. But to now see that as with water, I've just got to find the grooves that are in the landscape and the career landscape that's happening around me, and just keep going at it."
All you have to do is be like water. Even when things get in its way, water learns to maneuver through the gaps.
"Just keep being creative and to just move like water through that space. I'm able to find success and see something happen not according to my own plan."
Artists often overlook one of the most beneficial relationships they can be a part of, mentorship. Before the industrial revolution, that's how most occupations worked. You would work under the tutelage of a master. You learned directly from someone who was skilled in the craft.
Nowadays we try to do everything ourselves. We aren't interested in learning from others. Brett believes we can greatly benefit from having a mentor.
"A lot of guys disregard what someone with thirty years of experience could teach them. And for me it's that curiosity of learning from those who have gone before even though market is changing drastically and how we do things changes, there's just something incredible about just the emotional intelligence of someone who's done it before is able to impart to you."
The only problem is mentors have to be willing to take you on. They must want to impart their wisdom on the upcoming generation.
"The reality is it comes from his side, someone who is older actually seeing that they want to father or mentor a younger creative. And it is as it is in life... Babies don't bring themselves into existence... It's the parents who make them and father them and choose to impart knowledge into their lives."
Brett's goal is to become skilled enough to impart his wisdom on others. He wants to pass down wisdom so future generations can find success like he has.
"Hopefully when I get to the point where I can teach someone something, I will see that that young filmmaker who just needs someone as a sounding board, to be there for them."
One of the biggest reasons artists don't have successful careers is that they let fear control them. Instead of going out and doing the things they dream of, they do nothing. They give in to insecurity and fear.
"If I look at a lot of my peers who are wanting to do stuff, who are single with nothing standing in their way, the biggest thing that holds them back is insecurity and fear, and I don't have that side to myself when it comes to pursuing a career."
Another problem many artists have is one of perfectionism. They wait for the right moment of perfect opportunity. But there's no such thing as the perfect moment.
You can't wait for permission. You can't wait for some imaginary benevolent patron. You just have to go out and seize things yourself.
"I know a few artists who really, they don't want to do anything because, if it can't be done perfectly, they don't want to attempt it at all, and I think that's a mistake to make. It's a thing of starting to do it and not waiting for someone to pay you to do it either... If you have a job that enables you to do the stuff that stuff for free, don't try and make it so that you have to... make a career out of it. That can come later. Just do it on your own dollar."
Stop waiting to be discovered. That rarely happens. Most artists who are discovered have worked many years at their craft. They worked relentlessly at their craft with an obsessive passion.
"I think there's a big discovery kind of fairy tale that's fed by your idols or... if someone just discovers that I can tell or write a story and they'll pay me to do it, then I'll do it. That's absolute B.S. Firstly those people who are discovered... have been doing it for years and it's just the way these shows work... that's not real. It's a scene that we love because in our own heads it means that someone can wave a magic wand and our lives can be transformed in a creative lotto, where suddenly we get to do this. But some of the best artists in the world never received a dollar for the paintings that they made or the poems that they wrote. They were just obsessed with this thing and they did it. I think that's a healthier approach to how we do things."