Ambition, talent and luck... (oh my)
To be successful in any venture, activity or vocation... the above three things are vital. In an earlier post, I wondered what the percentages were. Well, I've found the answer:
Ambition: 65%
Talent: 30%
Luck: 5 %
Actually.. I made that up. But I suspect I'm close.
I'm a writer & producer: professionally, in the corporate video world; amateur-ally, in the film world. And I live every day wanting to improve myself through my work (a telling statement that I'll just leave alone right now). With this question, this thing about percentages, comes a couple of secondary questions:
-Can any of the above three equal 0%
-How many of these can we control?
So... can any of the above equal zero? I maintain (with a slight qualifier on luck) they cannot. Some may say that Michael Bay (ARMAGEDDON, THE ROCK, PEARL HARBOR, THE ISLAND) is a talentless hack. He's not. Bay may not be an artist, but he knows what he's doing. To be successful one needs some talent.
Ambition? Absolutely. You cannot have zero ambition and be a successful filmmaker. Don't try arguing the point.
Luck? That one's arguable. Planets have to align somewhere down the line to get a project made. Somehow luck has to play a factor, right? Common sense tells me it does, but what the hell do I know. Also, since this is the only one we can't control (answering the second question), let's just agree it doesn't matter that much.
That leaves:
Talent
You either have it or you don't, some may say. I don't. Filmmaking is a craft, and as such can be learned. Sure, it's a heck of a lot easier if you have some splashes of genius in your noggin, but without it -- though you may never elevate the form past your own abilities/desires... or ambition to "learn"-- you can still craft a perfectly serviceable, perhaps even successful, film.
Ambition
This is the big one. You absolutely, without doubt, need ambition. Need it, need it, need it. If you have Fellini with no ambition, you have no 8 1/2. Gotta, gotta, gotta have it. You need to wake up every morning, and go to bed every night with that ambition in tact. You can't let it run your life, but you need to find that balance in your life in order to maintain it.
Anyway.
Luck... you may need a smidgen. Certainly don't count on it.
Talent... it makes things easier, and you need to develop SOME.
Ambition... lots. Oh, yeah... lots.
Just had to get that off my chest.
Ambition: 65%
Talent: 30%
Luck: 5 %
Actually.. I made that up. But I suspect I'm close.
I'm a writer & producer: professionally, in the corporate video world; amateur-ally, in the film world. And I live every day wanting to improve myself through my work (a telling statement that I'll just leave alone right now). With this question, this thing about percentages, comes a couple of secondary questions:
-Can any of the above three equal 0%
-How many of these can we control?
So... can any of the above equal zero? I maintain (with a slight qualifier on luck) they cannot. Some may say that Michael Bay (ARMAGEDDON, THE ROCK, PEARL HARBOR, THE ISLAND) is a talentless hack. He's not. Bay may not be an artist, but he knows what he's doing. To be successful one needs some talent.
Ambition? Absolutely. You cannot have zero ambition and be a successful filmmaker. Don't try arguing the point.
Luck? That one's arguable. Planets have to align somewhere down the line to get a project made. Somehow luck has to play a factor, right? Common sense tells me it does, but what the hell do I know. Also, since this is the only one we can't control (answering the second question), let's just agree it doesn't matter that much.
That leaves:
Talent
You either have it or you don't, some may say. I don't. Filmmaking is a craft, and as such can be learned. Sure, it's a heck of a lot easier if you have some splashes of genius in your noggin, but without it -- though you may never elevate the form past your own abilities/desires... or ambition to "learn"-- you can still craft a perfectly serviceable, perhaps even successful, film.
Ambition
This is the big one. You absolutely, without doubt, need ambition. Need it, need it, need it. If you have Fellini with no ambition, you have no 8 1/2. Gotta, gotta, gotta have it. You need to wake up every morning, and go to bed every night with that ambition in tact. You can't let it run your life, but you need to find that balance in your life in order to maintain it.
Anyway.
Luck... you may need a smidgen. Certainly don't count on it.
Talent... it makes things easier, and you need to develop SOME.
Ambition... lots. Oh, yeah... lots.
Just had to get that off my chest.
posted by Marty at 8:15 AM
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