If you want to be good at something you have to have perseverance.
You maybe familiar with the famous quote from Malcolm Gladwell whose research found that across many faculties, if you want to be good at something in our career, you need to spend 10,000 hours of practice.
My interest in perseverance started when I enrolled in the Master of Screen Arts and Business at AFTRS (The Australian Film Television and Radio School), a course designed to create the next generation of leaders in screen business
Of course a masters requires a thesis to be written and my area of interest was ‘The Art of Perseverance in Feature Filmmaking’. I interviewed over 40 filmmakers in Australia who had had a feature film or documentary theatrically released. The fimmaker had to be the driving force behind the film. I wasn’t interested in how a film get made, there are plenty of resources available for that. I wanted to look at what inner drive is required to do so. The human condition.
People are like bicycles. they can keep their balance as long as they keep moving. Albert Einstein
The results are long and varied but from the discussions seven types of perseverance can be clearly identified by the filmmakers.
Creative Perseverance: maintaining your creative vision
Financial Perseverance: the first to pay out, the last to get paid
Technical Perseverance: keeping on top of tech
Professional Perseverance: maintaining your 'cool' - showing how you can lead from the top
Mental Perseverance: Making sure you are checking i on yourself, seeking advice, getting support
Physical Perseverance: specific to filmmaking, making sure you are match fit!
Personal Perseverance: making sure you have your personal responsibilities covered and your loved ones buying into the project risks
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The rest of this article can be read in Issue One of the TEN ALPHAS magazine The Art of Content, available here along with the other feature articles:
Shining a light on unbelievably beautiful content, with Alex Kesselaar.
Why editors make the best directors, with Adrian Powers
Getting savvy with your content strategy, with Monica Davidson
Why do our brains crave infographics? with Jess Milne
The Art of Perseverance, with Nick Bolton
A strategy for your content strategy, with Jess Milne