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Back in 1999, while in college, I embarked on an ambitious, crazy project with one of my best friends: producing a feature-length, psychological science fiction coming-of-age thriller using only a Hi-8 camcorder, a janky digital editing setup, a cast made up of our friends, about $5,000 earned from summer jobs, and a whole lot of idiotic overconfidence. I was going to be the next Spielberg. After two years of intense production and post-production (including half a dozen special effects sequences), and a lot of obsessive fortitude, we finally premiered our 86-minute film "Wired Awake" at Vassar College this week 23 years ago. Watching it with a 300-person audience of friends, family, and peers from college was simultaneously the most terrifying, humiliating, exhilarating, and empowering experience of my young life. Was the film any good? Ehhhhh... No. Not really. It was overlong and not particularly well written, but it WAS impressive for a couple of college kids with no money. It was innovative and completely groundbreaking for its day. So why share this now? 1. Maybe it's just being in my 40s, but I can't stop thinking about that chapter and the sense of freedom and possibility. 2. And with how much is changing and in flux right now with #design, #technology, media, and the #agency business, I'm stuck on just how much being innovative and thinking big is gonna be more necessary than ever. Forward progress arises from daring to take big risks and maintaining the (sometimes naive) determination to follow through. Onward.

14 views Jan 16, 2020 Either you're doing it on purpose or by accident. Words that explain it all, or nothing at all. Pick the red or blue pill? Know your reference is another sci-fi movie. Movie editing is the illusion of movement. The same illusion that your mind is moving as you read this. What changes? Your personal time left and nothing at all. ~ https://lnkd.in/g4_GGqh6

Check out this story from Merissa Ware, one of our Gray Media Future Focus Interns.

I had a really indepth, interesting and very strong chat with a couple of our new CSOs in the FP division. I actually queried the latest hire on some base knowledge areas, ie namely tax rates on superfunds and so forth and they werent too sure on an answer after 4 odd weeks of employment. My response was strong, but fair, and I pointed out that if they wanted to be successful coming to work and expecting to learn between 9-5 is just not enough especially in the earlier months/years. If they REALLY wanted to excel then they needed to put in the learnings after hours and literally become obsessed with knowing facts/figures/scenarios etc. Similar to school, I am a firm believer that you go to school to participate, and the true learnings are down after hours with repetition and with trial and errors. No different to the elite athletes, you train as a team to participate but individual skills are developed on their own/after hours. Its something so simple, however is rarely communicated with the youth today - they are in control of the outcome, and is based on their input.. the whole Kobe Bryant story "practice 2 hours twice a week vs 2 hours 3 times per day 6 days a week..."

If y'all didn't track this, here's the new WGA schedule of minimum pay for variety shows (aka talk shows), per week -- $5,024 now, goes up to $5,200 on 5/2/2024, and then $5,382 on 5/2/2025. So over a quarter of a million a year, for lowest level staff jobs. Plus, there's always side stuff, like doing warm-up for your own show, acting in sketches, shows being rerun in other markets, residuals during re-runs, etc. These are the pinnacle of straight joke-writing jobs. You get paid more when you move up to producing, or head writing, but those are different skill sets than straight up, "Hey, we need jokes," "Great, here are jokes." When I started at The Late Late show back in 04 or so, I think I was at like $3,700? So, yeah, guilds/unions matter. Also, here's a link to the full sched of minimums -- https://lnkd.in/gGKt_pvm

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https://lnkd.in/eKk8wyDd Such a powerful film of what being given opportunities in life can offer. Help others less fortunate than you or those that don’t have a voice when you can. That’s in life, in business.

Two steps process to advance in the career: 1. Watch the movie "Matrix - part 1". 2. Aknowledge that there is no spoon.

#Disappointment #A_Person #Schlinder's_List #IRCC As a researcher from the Global South, I have faced many challenges, including limited access to even the most basic research equipment during my thesis studies. Despite these obstacles, I’ve always been determined to find ways around them, working tirelessly day and night to ensure my data was accurate. After more than 10 years of hard work in academia—passing countless exams and overcoming numerous hurdles—I was thrilled to finally secure a PhD position. It felt like my dreams of becoming an academic researcher, and perhaps a university professor one day, were finally within reach. I had been accepted to work under the supervision of a highly respected professor at a prestigious university, The University of British Columbia, which made me incredibly excited and optimistic about my future. But now, I’m facing a huge disappointment: my visa. For almost a year, I have been waiting for my visa to begin my PhD. Despite sending numerous inquiries (almost pleading), the only response I’ve received from IRCC has been to “be patient.” My question is: does the person responding to me truly understand the situation I’m in? Do they grasp the significance of an entire year of a person’s life? I’m 28 years old, and I feel ashamed that I’m still relying on my parents for support, simply because I cannot begin my next career step. I feel ashamed toward my former supervisor, who has waited patiently for me all this time. I feel ashamed when I think of my colleagues, who began their academic journeys long ago while I remain stuck in limbo. It reminds me of a dialogue from Schindler’s List, where a factory manager weeps after realizing the importance of a single person’s life in this world. I think it is worth to watch this movie these days: https://lnkd.in/gE9fYVpb Now, having lost my PhD position due to this delay, I don’t know how to define myself anymore. Should I blame the country I was born in? Should I blame someone else? It seems that IRCC doesn’t fully understand how difficult it is to wait an entire year with no options for the future. To me, this feels like a clear case of decisions being influenced by nationality. I don’t know what to do at this point. This level of disappointment is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I think I need some time to figure out how to move forward. At this point, I’m not looking for a solution to all of this, even MY LOST PHD POSITION. I just hope that in the future, everyone involved understands the immense stress that comes with this process. We need to remember that behind all the digital characters, there are actual persons. I am a person, who has been forgotten by everyone. #IRCC #UBC The University of British Columbia Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada / Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada

What if we positioned young people as the customers in education, and really heard their voice on why the structures we currently build in education don't work for them? How can we remember the uniqueness of humans and move away from an input/output framing of learning? #educationaltransformation #youngpeople #pupilvoice #education