Friday, October 7, 2011

Getting Jobs in Entertainment question 950: how many movies do I have to watch of someone's before I ask them to mentor me?

There is no magic number. While I HIGHLY encourage you to do your research on people before asking them to mentor you, my concern with this question is to make sure that you're not using it as a procrastination method. Watch at least two, for a business and guidance mentorship. If it's a creative mentorship you'd want to watch as many as possible because if the person refers to something pertinent to the craft in a specific movie, you want to be able to say you saw it.

Never lie about seeing a movie that you haven't. Use it as an opportunity to say that you were waiting to watch it until after you spoke so you could get directions on what specifically to look for.

Back to the business and guidance mentorship. Because it's more about business advice and guidance, you won't really be talking about the films, you'll be talking about how the person got the jobs and maintained a career.

Most people will tell you that it was luck meaning they had talent and an opportunity. Don't fall for it. Dig deeper. Successful people aren't always aware of or are too humble to admit, that they are doing something right. I know PLENTY of talented people who got a "lucky opportunity" and then went straight back to the struggle grind. There is more to it than talent. They are doing something right that has to do with their work ethic, attitude, and more than likely going the EXTRA mile. Find out what they did on that extra mile... that's where the gold is.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visitwww.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com

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Getting Jobs in Entertainment question 1280: I grew up in India and as a result English is my second language (cont'd)

"I grew up in India and as a result English is my second language. I  am looking to improve my comprehension when I read my text book...