Producer Phil Cooke shows why it's time for you to stop using compilation reels to showcase your work.
A few years ago, I found myself in a place in life in which I couldn’t drive my car for several months. So a generous friend bought me a good bicycle, for which I was truly grateful. Yes, it got me where I needed to go, and, sure, it got me in pretty good shape, but that bike helped me to do something even more substantial and worthwhile. It got me to slow down.
A couple years ago, I decided to take motorcycle lessons. Okay, I’ll admit it: motorcycle lessons appealed primarily to my over-developed sense of adventure, but in my defense, it’s not a bad skill for an actor to be able to list on his résumé. So I got all geared up and drove my car out to the nearby community college parking lot with visions of me whipping my bike around pylons with Matrix-like precision and ferocity...
In preparation for an acting role, I started taking martial arts lessons. It looked so easy at first...
I’ve got a good friend who is a successful writer for television sitcoms. At an event one evening, a woman approached him and asked, “How can I help my young daughter to become a successful Hollywood writer?” In his characteristic wit doused in friendly sarcasm, my friend replied: “Withhold your love from her for the next ten years.” One of the main reasons many creative people come to Hollywood – and this is at the same time rarely mentioned and rarely denied – is that they are looking for significance, a sense of actually mattering in and to this world.
I have a good friend who has what I, as a fan of the cinematic arts, consider to be a near fatal flaw. This friend of mine hates to talk about movie details or plotlines to any degree before he has seen the movie himself. He just doesn’t want to know. Some flimflam about spoiling the experience for him by finding out how any of the story goes. I know you’re thinking the same thing I am – he’s crazy, right?
Welcome to Hollywood Connect’s journal! Here you will find thoughts on a number of topics that deal with life, art, and creativity. Take the time to read, consider, and leave your own thoughts.
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If I could give my 2007 self some advice as I arrived in Hollywood, what would it be?
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