Perfection is the enemy of greatness

Perfection is the enemy of greatness.

Perfection is the enemy of good. 

Perfection is the enemy of progress. 

I've heard all of these. It's time to get started. 

I would say to anybody who's dreaming of being a filmmaker. I want to discourage you from that dream right now. Stop dreaming it and start doing it.  

Bryan Singer, when he finished USC Film School, he took all of his credit cards, maxed them out, leveraged himself $20,000 into debt, made a short film with Ethan Hawke, a friend from high school, he borrowed $10,000 to rent out the Directors Guild and invited people to come see his short film. That got him his first feature film. Now... for $150 you can rent all of the equipment he used to make that short film.  

You can write it, shoot it, edit it, and put it online on Monday. Just do that. And do that every week. If you did that every week, a 3 minute film! At the end of a year, you'd know everything you need to know about editing, about writing, about story and structure. And somebody will notice you, somebody will come to you.  

It's not the film business, it's a film business. And that film business is starving for talent, but does not know how to find it until it sees it. And I don't mean read it. Shoot a movie, find people who are like you who want to make movies, even people you don't get along with. It's better to be with people you're fighting creatively with that be out there on your own.  

And make your own luck, and I promise things will come for you. I just never stopped writing.

 - Advice from Christopher McQuarrie, courtesy of The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith.

@chrismcquarrie
The Q&A