Rishire Writes

I’ve been hearing this for a couple of years now. Ever since I really set my heart, mind, soul, and body on the entertainment industry with all of the force of being an adult, people have been telling me that it’s all about connections-who you know and who they know. Of course talent plays a part in the success of an entertainer, but really think about it. How many talented people do you know that post Youtube videos or reserve their performances for their shower heads and stuffed animals really make it? How many people are sitting around choking with talent but not being noticed? Why do you think that is? It’s because they don’t know anybody! People don’t pay attention to people who don’t know people! The redundancy of that sentence was on purpose-I want this to get through.

In the various studies that I have read for class, I have found an interesting statistic that I am now going to paraphrase/completely make up. When I say statistic, I mean something completely different, something that doesn’t involve numbers but that kind of seems like a statistic…Let me know if you’re still following. Talent is only half of the equation. When you consider big name acts that aren’t even that talented (coughLadyGagacough), then you could even consider it to be less than half of the equation. What really makes a successful artist or actor or any form of entertainer isn’t how well they come across, it’s who’s helping them come across. Get it? You could have talent coming out of your ears and no one will notice or even care if you don’t have a well organized, crafty team to market that talent and make people care. It’s as simple as that (not really). Of course there’s more to the entertainment business than that, but that’s really the skeleton of it all, if you know what I mean. Feel free not to quote me on any of this-I am merely a student of the stuff after all.

As hard as it is to hone a craft, it’s also quite difficult to build a crack team of talent exploiters. I don’t use that word negatively; it’s just a term people use in “the biz.” Again, I’m just a student, so I’m practically making this all up. Don’t hate! This is my blog! Anyway, like they said on Monday’s episode of Teen Wolf, “a pack is only as strong as each individual,” meaning your success depends on the individual strengths of each member of your team, including yourself. It takes hard work, dedication, sweat, tears, and maybe even some actual human blood (which may or may not have to be yours) in order to really make it. No one has made it just by chillin’ on their parents’ couch no matter how cakey people like Justin Bieber seemed to have had it when they broke onto the scene. Sure, he was discovered on Youtube, but you best believe he worked his butt off to get where is now. Didn’t you hear that he threw up on stage at one of his concerts then continued to go all out for the rest of the set? That’s called dedication mixed with extreme exhaustion. Appreciate! With all this talk about Justin Bieber and Teen Wolf, I’ve completely lost my train of thought and forgotten what I was talking about….Squirrel!