8 Mile is one of my favorite movies about an artist – maybe because it’s relevant to anyone struggling to make it.

Here’s what it says:

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Do what you can where you are. The movie opens with Jimmy “B. Rabbit” Smith (Eminem) competing in a freestyle rap battle in a dingy Detroit club. He wants to be a hip-hop emcee, and anyone can compete, so that’s where he goes. There’s no sense that music industry people go anywhere near the place, but that’s something to worry about later. For now, get on stage. Learn your stuff. Get good enough to hit that first ceiling.

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There will be setbacks. Rabbit chokes in the battle. He leaves the stage not having rapped a word, booed and laughed at. Not every set is going to go well. Some will be absolute disasters. It might be hard to imagine a young Richard Pryor or Robin Williams or Ellen Degeneres bombing in a comedy club, but they did. If you think a great author can do no wrong, try reading Salman Rushdie’s first novel, or Yann Martel’s, or Kurt Vonnegut’s. Everyone bombs, especially when they’re learning. But you have to start somewhere. Despite his humiliation, Rabbit comes back and competes again.

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Get to Work. Your life won’t come to a halt as you try to make it. One scene shows Rabbit riding the bus to his job at an auto plant, holding a pad of paper, pen in hand. The pad’s covered in his writing – lyrics, we’re left to assume. If you’ve only got enough time to snatch a few minutes here and there to work on your art, then a few minutes will have to do. Better that than waiting till you’ve got the time, the perfect work room, the energy, the inspiration, the grant. You can wait for those things forever. And even if you get them, there will always be more reasons why you can’t start yet. Get over these delaying tactics. Get to work. Find a way.

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Focus on the present, not the future. In one scene, one of Rabbit’s friends talks about the record deals they need to sign (no record company is courting any of them). Another one talks about putting the profits from their records into savings bonds so they can build their own studio. Another says they need to get “fat bitches and fine rides”. Rabbit berates them all: “Man shut the fuck up. All of us never do shit about nuttin’ and we’re still broke as fuck and living at home with our moms.” Dreaming about the future won’t help you get to that future. Facing up to the imperfect present can give you the kick in the ass to do something about it.

Be ready for a long, slow climb. Rabbit wins the battle at the movie’s finale, but there aren’t any agents or record execs in the audience who slip him a business card and tell him to call them in the morning. We grow up with the Cinderella story of success in our minds. Someone drops into your life, and poof, you never have to worry about anything ever again. But what do you do if that doesn’t happen? Rabbit leaves the club, grabs his change of clothes, and heads back to the auto plant to work a graveyard shift. In a previous scene someone asked him what he’s trying to earn all this overtime for. His answer: studio time. That’s the formula. Work hard. Save up. Do what you can. Persist. You still might not make it. But your odds are a lot better than if you stay at home, waiting for a fairy godmother to notice you.

-TJ Dawe

This is a guest post from TJ Dawe, a successful Vancouver based writer/performer/director who’s toured solo shows at more than eighty comedy and theatre festivals in the last decade and a bit. He’s got six published plays, a humour book, and his directing credits include The One Man Star Wars Trilogy, which played Off-Broadway in New York for five months. He also blogs, tweets, podcasts, and has stuff on youtube.

The people you surround yourself with can keep you from reaching greatness or they can be the one thing that keeps you grounded. Here’s what happens if you don’t know

the difference:

Duffy went from a film deal with Harvey Weinstein and gracing magazine covers to has-been in record time.

His downfall?  1. Smelling his own piss. (Believing his own press) 2. Mixing friends and family with business.

The problem with hiring family or friends in the entertainment business is two-fold:

Emotional attachment: It is impossible to make smart creative and business decisions when emotion is involved.  You need to be able to step back.  Separate yourself from the situation and look at things objectively and make the call without flinching.   If your mom is managing your career and is obviously in over her head how do you tell her to buzz off?  Answer is don’t hire her in the first place.  I’m a parent.  If my kid is kicking butt at something I’d want him  to have the best person possible to make sure he’s on the right track.  Doesn’t mean I can’t check in on them here and there.  There’s a fine line between concern and interference.

Family and friends want to protect you.  I get it.  But the ‘you’ they have known all these years will have to evolve significantly in order to face the temptations and challenges of succeeding in this business.  Learn to separate the ‘old home you’ from the ‘work you’.  They need to let go of the old you and give you room to grow. Your past can either propel you to success or hold you back.   My past is nothing to brag about (it’s actually pretty horrible) but it is also my biggest advantage because to hide it is fake and won’t hold up in the long term.  Keep your eyes on the prize.

NOTE: If you happen to hate your family’s guts then consider yourself at an advantage.  Chances are they won’t be working for you anyway so skip this bit.

Maybe your family gives you useful input.  Great. But you need to know where to draw the line. If you are among the lucky few who have a competent team of professionals with your best interest at heart working their butts off for you there is no need to jeopardize that relationship by second-guessing their guidance. The very nature of growing your brand and an intricate part of any  major career evolution is that it has to be broken down in order to be built back up.

Expectations: I am closer to my friends than I am with most of my family.  My buddy from Tops In Blue was the best man at my wedding.  Would I hire him to manage my career or affairs?  Nope.  And he doesn’t expect me to.  A lot of the business decisions you’ll have to make may be what’s best for your career but not in the best interest of your friendship.  The phrase ‘we started this together’ is a slippery slope so beware of people who are hanging on to your coat tails with this sly form of guilt.  You don’t owe anybody a damn thing.  And the world doesn’t owe you anything either. When you hire an industry professional who may not know you but is passionate about your work everybody starts on even ground.  Someone who doesn’t know you takes you at face value and all their decisions are clear and transparent.  They’re not afraid to piss you off, and you’re not afraid to give them a piece of your mind.  This is how business relationships work, as long as you don’t start talking about each other’s mamas you’ll make lots of money together and enjoy a successful career.

With success comes a lot of guilt which we’ll cover in another post.  Remember that the sacrifices your family and friends have made to support you on your journey don’t come with strings attached.  Thank them by being successful and never forgetting where you came from.  And mention GigSmacked.com in your awards acceptance speech.  (kidding)

It’s Showbusiness.  Not ShowFriends.

-Kahlil Ashanti, GigSmacked.com

I know there are some successful family/friends situations out there but it’s very rare.  Agree or Disagree? Is it working for you?  Share your secrets!   We’re here to shed as much light on this subject as possible.  ReTweet, Facebook, and share this post.  Let’s keep the dialogue going!