Film Courage: How do you keep faith in yourself
and in your craft during turbulent times? Brad Rushing, Cinematographer: Boy is that
a good question! Talk about dirty laundry. I have this terrific career coach. Her name
is Erica Wernick and she’s really fabulous. You should interview her. She’s got a book
coming out. I’ll send you her information. But she would probably punch me
in the arm for saying this, but there was a time early in my career (early on
in the 90’s) where I was so frustrated and so down and didn’t believe in myself and I just had
this revelation You know what, I’ve set a goal. I don’t have to believe in myself. I just have
to do the steps that I committed to doing to get me through the valley of the shadow of death and
that worked for me. It was a device that worked for me and I feel like occasionally I still have
it. I mean I think a lot of people like Erica talk about how important it is to believe in yourself
and to believe that your success is inevitable. And that is also very powerful. I just find that
my brain is a little more complex in terms of the things it does to me. I don’t know
that I am always in the driver’s seat and quite honestly I deal with self-esteem issues.
I really do. I think a lot of people do in this business. Your identity is tied up in your work
even if you don’t want it to be because you put so much of yourself into it and if it doesn’t do well
or even if it does well I mean honestly the irony to me of having something successful and praised
and then not having a lot of work, that’s even worse than having something criticized because
if least if they criticized it you are like okay it’s garbage, I get it. But if they say it’s
awesome and then the jobs don’t follow you’re like where’s the karma, where’s the payoff,
we made a deal. So that is harder for me. I do try and keep faith in myself and you know
honestly when I do have crisis with the system or success is a nebulous thing I really get basic
and I go back and remind you know Brad you're an artist. That was the contract you made. You never
said you wanted to be rich. I don’t care about being rich. I would like to be self-sufficient.
I’d like to be secure. If I was rich it would be okay but I’d be donating, helping, and I mean
I just don’t need a super yacht and an island. But I remind myself of the contract that I made
was that I wanted to be an artist, simple as that. I look at the work that I’ve done, I look
at the work that I am doing and even if those people don’t like it or those people don't
like it or even if everybody likes it and I don’t get a job or an award, it’s like you know what?
You’ve got to do the work. Somebody gave you the toys. Somebody gave you the sandbox and they let
you build your sandcastle and then that’s enough. Film Courage: Do you think a lot of success
is luck or success can be orchestrated? Brad: I want to believe it
can be orchestrated and I know people who feel very strongly
about that and I feel…I feel it can be influenced. I don’t know if I
believe it can be orchestrated in a guaranteed way because for a hundred people doing a
hundred things more or less the same they are going to have different outcomes because
they are going to know different people. They will be at different moments in time. It will be
a different project. They may have a different mode to their personality or their energy.
I don’t know? It can be simple things. I’ll give you an example. I have people who
message me out of the blue and if people message me and they have a specific question and they say
Brad what light did you use in that particular scene or they say would you look at my resume, I
respond to them. People who hit me up and they say How are you doing? I just don’t even answer
because how do I…I don’t need any small talk and how do I answer that? So the point being
is that the way you interact with the world be it me or be it those persons emailing me you’re
going to get a different response depending on what you put out there and I've forgotten
your question but I hope you answered it. Film Courage: Oh you did, you did. Because I
was saying is success - is a lot of it luck or can it be orchestrated so it sounds
like it might be sort of a combination? Brad: It’s got to be, it really has to
be because what is it they say? Success is preparation meeting opportunity right? You
have to be prepared. If you go into that meeting, if you luck out and you get that meeting but you
don’t know squat you’re not going to impress them. But if you are a genius and you’re an introvert
and won’t go out and do the meetings, then you are still stuck and just for anybody who is an
introvert I am a terrible introvert. I am so shy but I want this more than I want to be shy so
I just…I’m not an actor but in that way I am an actor. I will go do the act and I’m not always
good. If I’m in a crowd and I don’t know anybody and I don’t have a wingman, that’s kryptonite. I
shut down and I sit in the corner to this day I am ashamed of it but I’m powerless. But if I have a
wingman, if I don’t have somebody else to help me or at least find “Oh, I know that person!”
They can introduce me. When I was a little kid my mom would say do you want a slurpee? And I’d
be sitting in the car and she’s say you have to go in and get it I would just sit there
and cry because I didn’t want to go in by myself I was so shy, so
it was hard you know. But if you want something enough then you do the
things you need to do. One of my favorite sayings right now because I’m looking to level
up. Look I mean I could be at the top and I’d still be looking to level up but there’s this
great but there’s this great saying and it’s if you want something you’ve never had before you
have to do something you’ve never done before and sometimes that might be obvious but sometimes
it’s surprising. Just the other day I had this realization because I’m a workaholic and I drive
myself like crazy and I was reading Erica’s book as a matter of fact [Meant For This: The Mindset
And Strategy To Achieve Your Most "Impossible" Dreams by Erica Wernick]. Meant For This -
go out and buy it. It’s a really good book but I had a thought that was really kind of
a non-sequitur. It wasn’t really relevant to what I was reading but I thought Brad you
need quiet time. You need to stop and just be quiet whether you meditate or just watch
the world go by because you don't do that and that's surprising because my logical brain
said well that’s not going to get you anywhere. But then I start thinking because I know that
you just can’t go 24 hours even though I have because you will wear down. You will lose your
acuity so maybe that is the thing? Maybe I need more breaks and more quiet time because maybe that
will make the time I do spend with working just that more focused and that more effective.
It’s better to spend five really effective minutes than an hour kind of unfocused, tired and
distracted. So that was the thing that I thought that's interesting because that’s a thing I hadn’t
done before and it's not what I would have guessed but you know that’s just kind of the thing about
success is when people ask advice about success or about being a cinematographer or being
on set or meeting people or networking, everybody wants the formula, they want the
roadmap. They want the A-B-C equals D and I get that because as humans I think we're wired
that way. I want that but guess what? I’ve never found it. It’s just always different. It’s a
moving target and you learn as you go and you take your best guess and you try it and
if it doesn’t work then you’re like okay it’s not working, I’m not going to quit but let me
try something different. Let me revise it. Can I go this way? Can I go that way? Can I show up with
flowers and chocolate? Can I get my buddy to do an introduction? Whatever you know. It’s not about
stopping it's about okay this isn’t working, let’s think of something else. Let’s reinvent and
even something that does work for awhile just like the market changes, just like the
technology changes it’s like you know what? It used to work, it’s not working
now, try something different. Film Courage: So being internal (an introvert),
maybe needing quiet time, did that work for you growing up in Houston? How did you turn that…like
if you needed to turn on…and I’m just stereotyping here…but the Southern charm and being sort of
larger than life, which you do have that side to you. I can see it, but how would you manifest that
if you had to walk into a room and sort of own it? Brad: If I know people, it’s easy.
If I know some people, it’s easy. But part of it is having generosity
towards the other person. I think that one of the things that I tell young people is
if you approach a relationship, if you want a meeting or you want to connect with somebody,
do not approach it from what can they do for me. I am going to ask them for a job. I am going
to ask them to give me something. The best way to approach it is to be like what can I give
them. What do I have to offer and you don’t have to be an experienced filmmaker. We are blessed
with social media where we consider this person likes going out on a boat, this person
likes dogs, and that person likes to paint, and this person maybe went to your school and
this person is maybe friends with your uncle, I don’t know? But we have the ability to do
due diligence on people in a way that has just never been possible before. I do that and I
recommend that people do that and you go and you do your homework and then they’re not a stranger
you know because you find that think Ohhh! The like comic books or their favorite movie is my
favorite movie or they like the same band I like. That takes a lot of the edge off of because the
part of the fear is like I don’t know what to say? But if you guys both like Doberman Pinschers,
now you have something to talk about. And it’s lovely for the other person
because you know what all day long they are getting calls oh give me a job.
I want to be a PA, will you make my movie? And they are like Oh? You want to talk about
my dog? Here’s a picture of my dog. They are so happy. And that’s the thing because you have
to remember this is a business of relationships. It’s not a business of parasites and prey
you know? It’s your friends, you want to work with your friends. You’re going to call your
friends, you want to work with your friends. Everybody likes hanging out with their friends and
this is a business where you have the ability to hire the people you like. It’s just like in your
life. Think about that one friend who always asks you for something. They always want you to come
over to their house and do them a favor and buy lunch and they never reciprocate. How excited
are you to spend time with that person? But think about the other person who calls you up and says
Oh, there’s this new movie and you would LOVE it! That’s the person you’re happy to hear from.
So when I meet with people I try to be able to offer that and also when I follow up and
in social media I’m like Oh hey, here’s an article I think you’ll like about butterflies,
here’s a butterfly article. And it’s not just a cynical thing because I think it’s cool that
they like butterflies. That’s cool. So when I am in a position of meeting people one of the things
that that mindset precipitates is that it makes you listen because you don't know what people
want if you don't listen to them and a lot of people will tell you that in meetings you don’t
want to do a lot of talking. You want to listen and then talk strategically and to the point.
And so I think if you listen people are going to tell you their story and they’re going to
tell you what they need. And I’ve had that many times where they are like Oh I was on this film
shoot and there was this thing and I’m like oh yeah. Well the next time you have that happen let
me know because I know a guy. Or oh well let me tell you what I did once in a similar situation
and I think that’s again you're being friends. I literally years ago stopped leading with my
website. Like the most aggressive thing I will do now is put it in my signature because if people
are interested they’re going to look for it. I reach out and talk to them about their Doberman
Pinscher or their horse or their butterflies. I mean that's how I build it or I compliment
them like Oh that commercial you did was really beautiful or or hey I am also friends with so and
so. I've done lunches with people and we spend…and this is somebody that yeah I’d love to work with
them and we spend the whole lunch talking nothing having remotely to do with film and as we’re
getting up to leave they say “Send me your work. I might have something coming up.” But how
much more powerful is it for them to ask then for me to be like Ohhh! Look at my stuff! Because
they get that all day long and again you just don't want to be that person. I don’t want…maybe
somebody does but I don't want to be that person. So that is how I handle it and also it takes
the pressure off. I have nothing to prove, I’m not selling anything, I’m not a salesman.
I would be a horrible salesman. I’m pretty good at being nice to people. I’m pretty good…I mean
something I care a lot about is other people. How can I help them? And again, maybe it's
not even me maybe it’s like you should meet this person. I’m really good about that just be
a matchmaker of these two people need to meet and sometimes it's obvious why they should meet
and sometimes it's just like y’all have similar personalities and I don't know what’s going to
come of it but you should know each other so that's my answer to your question as a shy person
you know how do you go in there. I go in there with a sense of generosity and relating
as a human as opposed to a salesperson. Question For The Viewers: What was
the best part of this video for you?
