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Team Video Symphony and White Crow Productions has completed the 48 Hour Film Festival with their entry Baby Come Back. The story of a young father’s perilous and comic filled journey back to his wife who is just about to give birth to their first child. Starring Mark Bradford Hill, Jon Amirkhan, Mark Sult and Produced by Me, Barbara Weintraub and Mark Alyn.

What is it that will make your job search easier? We all want things to be easy, right. We would rather just go in and have people immediately see that we are the right person for the job and offer to pay obscene amounts of money to hire us.  We also know, from our experience, something like that is about as likely to happen as getting struck by lightening. Ah, but people do get struck by lightening.  So what are the things that can at least improve your chances of “getting struck by lightening?”

1. Know what job you want? If you don’t know what you want, you can’t expect the people looking to hire you to decide.  The truth is it is just as easy to get a job you want as any job, even easier because you want it.
2. Once you know what you want, say that you have it. I know this sounds odd and defies the logic that we cling to so defiantly. But when you realize that you get what you say you have anyway, why not use it to your advantage. If, right now, you are saying that you want a job, or you want to get a job then you are getting exactly what you say you have, you are getting “want.” If you say you have a job then you get “have.”
3. Act to reinforce what you say you have. All religions utilize this philosophy to some extent or another. Tithing isn’t just about giving money to the church it is reinforcing the notion that you have it to give.  The best way to prove that you have something is to give it away. I know this isn’t really possible when we are talking about a job. However, the more you can act on what you say you have the quicker you will have it in front of you.
4. Keep moving forward and don’t look for results. If you set up expectations that things are going to happen in a certain time frame or a certain way, then you set yourself up for disappointment, frustration and desperation. It’s ok to have a goal and a deadline for yourself, but don’t be so attached to it that you get caught up in it and don’t allow the unexpected which could send you in an exciting new direction.  Just keep doing what you need to do and keep saying what you need to say.
5. Do what other people aren’t doing. Find some new and innovative ways of connecting with people, finding out about jobs and do them. If everyone is on-line, you hit the streets and go to places in person. The more you can stand out the more people will notice you.
6. Be excited.  Express passion for what you want and what you can do. It’s one thing to say you are passionate about something and it’s another to express that passion.  People are naturally drawn to others who are passionate. A lot of the time it’s because they have lost theirs and look to you to re-infuse their passion.
7. Everything has already worked out to your advantage.  Just knowing that things have already worked out reinforces all of the above. But this has to be a deep seated belief and not just something you say. In truth, things always work out, but it’s because they don’t always work out the way we expect them to that gives the impression they don’t.  If you do all the above and stay away from indulging in negative emotions and actions then you will get what you say you have.

The truth is that most people don’t need to get struck by lightening, they just need a chance and the opportunity to show an employer what they can do.  The above 7 points, followed diligently, will give you that chance.   This is nothing new, but I believe it is important to give people a reminder every now and then, of what can make a difference in their lives.

When I was reminded of these 7 points a few years ago; dissatisfied with where I was headed in my career and watching my passion dwindle, I made the decision to combine what I knew how to do and my ability to help people, with my love of movies, media and story telling.  What happened was that without realizing it, I found myself in the perfect environment, doing what I love in all areas of my life.  You can do it to.

This Friday, February 12th a special screening of “Bela La Agente” will be held at Video Symphony at 266 East Magnolia, Burbank, CA 91502. Other short films, including three selections from 5minutehorror.com, will be screened and we are hoping to get the short film that introduced Soderbergs film at Slamdance this year. Please RSVP to brad@vs.edu or 310-926-7745.

Children learn from the top down. Whoever their influences are when they are young shape the way the act in the world. Parents, as role models, are key to how a child will integrate themselves into society. But even more than that in today’s world the people that are held up to the standard of role model are people that must hold themselves to the highest standards. I don’t mean just moral standards, but how they behave in a very public arena where there are more than their peers watching and being influenced by their actions.

Civility is a learned trait. When the crude, uncivil actions of our nations leaders are broadcast in a public forum what are our children to think? Rep. Joe Wilson’s insulting outburst in the halls of our legislature isn’t just about the breakdown of etiquette, it epitomizes the breakdown of civility. Civility is respect and what I have seen in our legislators over the past decade is an erosion, if not a flat out breakdown of respect. I am more concerned what influence this will have on our children and the direction of our society as a whole than any deficit, because once civility is abandoned we are less and less an enlightened society and closer, closer to anarchy.

Every day we hear more and more gloomy news about the economy, about the job market, our standard of living, and every day we listen, hanging on every word, wringing our hands, fretting about our future. This is the time when people who have a natural compunction toward the negative feel vindicated, are quick to say “I told you so” and become emboldened about their philosophy of lack, while those with positive attitudes become marginalized, beaten back by the incessant flood of negative news and dire warnings.
It’s all an illusion. Both the negatives and the positives are perceptions driven by words, by what people think and not always by what is real. We depend on “experts” to tell us how to perceive and what to believe when it is, and always has been, our prerogative to make that decision.
There are, of course, quantifiable facts. The unemployment rate is hovering around 10.5% in California, wages are decreasing and people are loosing their jobs. But these are cyclical events that have been rising and falling for as long as man has been keeping records and as an individual we have little if any control over them, however, we do have control over how we perceive them, how we feel about them.
So, how does this effect my job search you ask. Getting a job is all about perception, it is all about what we can and cannot control. We can choose to give in to the negative information and quiet panic, or we can go positive. That is a choice, even though I know it doesn’t feel like one when we are in the middle of our despair.
How many times have you had the experience of being in demand because you are already working, or having too many projects and not enough time?. Or the minute you decide to go away for a vacation opportunities start to flood in? This is a natural law of the universe at work. You are perceived as a person who has the abilities, knowledge, talents that are needed because you are actively doing them and are in demand by others. You have a positive outlook.  You are the same person who is sometimes looking for a job, and doesn’t have a lot of projects. The only difference is one of perception.
When you start giving voice to the negative side of things, you see only that and not the positives, then you start doing things based on that viewpoint.  The hardest thing to do, and the most heroic, is to keep being positive in the face of a mountain of negativity. The astronauts of Apollo 13, facing the direst of circumstances, overcame their feelings and moved towards a solution. There are countless examples throughout history of similar events and people that overcame them.
I know this sounds crazy and counterintuitive, but the only way to succeed in the face of negative “proof” is to act as if it is the way you want it to be. Say that you can, that you are what you desire to be, that you do have experience and knowledge and money and then start acting in a way that backs up what you say.   The funny thing is, the Universe, God, whoever you believe in wants to give to you what you say you are. If you say you “want” something then he, she, it will give you “want.” Not to get Biblical or anything, but in the beginning there was the word. Say it, mean it and it will be.
So, bottom line, here are some ways of overcoming the negativity and panic about your job search.
1.      Be busy. Whatever that means for you, work out, plant a garden, do volunteer work, start your own project. When you are busy doing something it tends to take your mind off of the negative. It also proves that you are someone of value. The more you do, the more you will be in demand.
2.      Have a plan and work it. Decide for yourself what you are going to do each day. Have a goal and then once you’ve reached it give yourself a reward and up the anti the next day.
3.      Be proactive, don’t ever wait for someone to do something for you or for them to get back to you after an initial contact. You have every right to keep checking in with a prospective employer or contact until they give a yes or no answer.
4.      Stay away from negative people and information. The more you support your positive outlook the better. Let’s face it, we all get down at times, but that is when it is most important to keep the above techniques in mind and remember we always get what we say we have.

Armed with these tactics, you will prevail and overcome what you need to overcome in your job search. Remember, however, it may not always be comfortable or easy, but know that you already have the job and it’s out there waiting for you.

The healthcare, banking and housing issues are about people and their relationship to other people. How they treat others is the fundamental, underlying concern that runs through them all. How can a country that, for the most part, stands up for human rights be so woefully lacking in standing up for individual rights over the greedy, self serving, misanthropes. We are duped by power, trusting in those that have it as if they hold some special elixir. Believing that if we could just get a taste of it our lives would be like theirs and we would be happy. It is a form of violence, violence that leaves no outward bruising, that draws no blood, but it is violence when one person cares so little for their fellow human being that they would do them financial and psychological harm to further their own ends. It is more than greed, it is a fundamental lack of respect which, for an “advanced” culture is unacceptable.
If the human factor is not considered, no matter who the protestors or proponents, then everyone loses. We are a race of beings that is endowed with individuality, and yet are of one. If we do not honor each other, we do not honor ourselves. At some point we have to deal with our “sin,” and it will not be anything we can anticipate. As our current financial crises illustrates. Take that as an example of what we as individuals will encounter if we do not care for those that are part of the world/universe we inhabit.

Slowly, I am getting up to speed on putting this and my other sites together. Please bare with me. I will soon be offering a variety of content, projects and of course my personal views on the world and l welcome your input.

Here is the trailer for the short film I just did with Kristian Gabriel.

Enjoy

Hey Guys,

Here is the short promo for the documentary that I’m working on.

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