Throughout my career, I’ve received and read a lot of advice, and some of it has been really helpful. Here is some of the stuff that’s worked for me:

“If you want to be a director, just start directing, and eventually people will start thinking of you as a director”
This couldn’t be more true. I swear directing is the only job in the world where you can be the boss without any experience. And what a beautiful thing. If you want to direct, create opportunities for yourself to direct. And more will come. 

“When I’m writing, I write every day” – Stephen King
The qualifier here is extremely important to me. I don’t write every day. But when I’m writing, I write every day. It helps me stay connected to the characters and the story. 

“Find a connection to what you’re called to”. 
When you do things because that’s what everyone else is doing, or because you’re “supposed” to, that’s when you get in trouble.

I’m sure there’s a lot of ways to build a creative career. Networking, grinding out content, and closely following trends, though, seem to be the quickest ways to gain a following today. Unfortunately for me, I’ve found I don’t have the capacity to sprint creatively, or keep up with the trends. I’ve found when I sprint, I burn out, and when I try to play to the audience, I lose that spiritual connection with my art that I value so much.

So, instead, I have to focus on very slowly building my craft one step at a time. Every script I write, I try to add one layer of storytelling that I missed the last time around. Every film I direct, I try one new thing to streamline the shoot, or improve the experience for the crew. Every time I audition, I focus on one aspect of my performance to improve. And I take lots of days off… just to think and reflect, because I have to. 

It’s slow alright, but hopefully over time I’ll build up my craft enough to gain a following that way. It might take a lot longer than if I were to sprint. But that’s not me. So, the only thing I can control is that the work continuously improves, that I’m always putting out the best thing I possibly can, and that the work is always true to me. And who knows, I might be 80 before I get anywhere, but at least it’ll feel good all the way through.

I’m so proud of where I am today, where I came from, and how I got here, and yet some days I still find ways to convince myself it’s not enough. Maybe it’s human nature… or the nature of someone in their 20s… but regardless of why it happens, I’d rather focus on the truth…

6 years ago I’d never set foot on a comedy stage… 6 months ago, the edit we just finished was a mess, and the script I just finished was a blank page. I’m continuously making progress, growing as a man and an artist, and enjoying myself SO MUCH along the way! What more could I want? For me, this has to be enough. This is success. And for all I’m concerned, I’m just one opportunity away from whatever comes next… so l’m choosing to focus on steady progress, and forget the rest.

I’m getting new headshots soon, and when I talked to the photographer, he said they always work with a makeup artist, because they want to use makeup to cover up any irregularities, to compensate for how the camera sees things vs. how the human eye does, to make sure each photo draws our attention to the eyes. 

I think filmmaking and screenwriting work in a very similar way. We write not to emulate life. We accept that the viewer experiences life differently on screen than in reality, so we write with that in mind. And we create to make sure every frame, every scene, sequence, and dialogue exchange, points the viewers attention to the most important information, the eyes of the movie, in whatever way serves the story best, free of distractions.

Throughout my career, I’ve often labeled myself. Comedian, actor, writer, director, improviser… but I’m realizing now I’ve been labeling myself moment to moment based on the opportunities I’m getting. When I’m getting a lot of opportunities to perform live comedy, I might call myself an improviser, or a comedian. When I’m primarily auditioning and acting for films, I might feel like an actor above all, even though I’m also focused on directing. Any label I place on myself in a moment is just a placeholder to explain to other people how I spend my time. It’s not who I AM, it’s just what I’m DOING. Who I AM is kind, curious, and hardworking… I’m interested in weird comedy, and movies that don’t take themselves too seriously. I love my family and my partner, I love sharing personal stories, and I’m so much more than I could ever fit into one paragraph. Labels are restricting. I don’t need to label myself, because I’m COLIN, and I’ll always go wherever my heart and the opportunities meet.