This industry isn't fair. It doesn't owe anybody a career. It's just about luck, determination, and showing up and being professional. The rest is out of your hands.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The industry is big, and if I get an interesting role, I will take it up.
It's not like a corporate job where the more you accumulate on your resume and the more hours you put in, the higher up you get; it's simply not the case. That being said, if I had known that and known what kind of career I'd get into, I still would have pursued it.
I would not encourage everyone to take up this profession. Not everyone is suited for any particular field.
I have always been focused on my job. No profession allows you the luxury of being half-focused. If you're not into it, you're not there. And the film industry is all the more harsh in these cases, perhaps because it's a business of the limelight.
The paradox of being in an industry where other people are usually the gatekeepers: publishers, editors - there are a lot of barriers to having control over your career. But coming out of hip-hop, the mindset was always to create your own.
Careers are not all up, up, up; do good work, continue to grow as an artist, and opportunity finds you. I have no sour grapes.
There's an appreciation of the whole picture of life as opposed to just ambition and circumstance and all the stuff that happens in this business. You find yourself lucky enough to be working with somebody really talented who you know and who you trust.
It is unrealistic to expect an entire profession to be completely good. There are bound to be some individuals who are stressed, who are unkind, who are a bit rubbish at their job, who are in the wrong career.
You're never going to get from the industry what you give to it. But it's worth it; you just have to be realistic.
Career is too pompous a word. It was a job, and I have always felt privileged to be paid for what I love doing.