"Part: 14 Listen to Michael Davis's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski
Click Here to listen to Micael's In Search Of Heroes Interview
www.TheGuardianLine.com
www.urbanministries.com
Michael Davis: Actually, my philosophy is just a little bit different. I think it is important to surround yourself with people who support your dreams, yes, and I also think it is important to surround yourself with people who do what you do who are better than you. I think competition is probably the best teacher. When you see people and you see what they can do at their age, or they are the same and you see how much better somebody is than you, that makes you work harder than anything else.
One of the problems with art schools is a lot of the instructors are working professionals so they don't tell students everything they need to know, because they are training their own competition. If you are an illustrator, and I want to be an illustrator, why am I going to tell you all of my secrets so you can go out and possibly get my job?
So one of the things I tell kids is that their instructors have a responsibility up to a certain point, but your success is all on you. Your instructor is not responsible for your success. Your success is all in how hard you work when you leave that classroom, how hard you work when you leave your day job and go home to work in your studio.
There are so many actresses and actors who come to Hollywood, and they get these jobs working at restaurants and such. I know this one particular young lady, very smart, who has five or six jobs, and she still thinks she is going to be a big star, although she complains all the time. I told her one time, "You know, your job is your craft. These jobs that you have are to simply make sure you can eat. Your job is your craft. So if you are working 18 hours, maybe you should work 8 hours and do 16 hour perfecting your craft. But if you don't put in the time... Everybody who comes out here is pretty, or handsome, and can act. Everybody who comes to L.A. is that person. So you have to make sure you do due diligence, that your work ethic is far and above, because everybody is talented.”
Everybody is good at what they do. When you are from Larryville, Kentucky and you come out here, it is about making a living at doing what you do. You have to raise your game.
Ralph Zuranski: You think it is important to be unique and stand out in some special way? Different than everybody else?
Michael Davis: Yeah. Absolutely. I think there are three important things. Know your craft, if you are a writer, a photographer, an actor, a cinematographer, be excellent at what you do. Never stop learning. Know the history of your craft. Some of them, their entire knowledge is based on some comic book guy they like to draw. That is like saying the only movie star you like is Wesley Snipes, but you don't know who Humphrey Bogart is.
And three, show your individuality. A lot of people come out here and go on every single audition that they can. A lot of people come out here and think it is a numbers game. In some ways, it is a numbers game. If you go to a million auditions, you are bound to book a job. Let's say you audition for Martin Luther King. If you are a white guy, you are not getting that job.
But you get people who go to auditions who are looking for people who can swim and they go there hoping they can fake it. If actors and actresses would define what they do and say, "Okay, I am making these calls to these agencies and these casting directors and I am going on these auditions because these are the things I know I would be good at.” If they would define it as a business they would do a little better, yeah. To answer your question, which I forgot!
Ralph Zuranski: To be unique, to examine oneself in that area.
Michael Davis: A lot of people out here are actresses and I am lucky enough to work in the industry. I ask people, are you a singer who can act, or are you an actress who can sing? Don't be a singer/actress. Pick one. But this whole singer/actress thing, it is like jack of all trades, master of none. I have done a lot of different things. I have done TV, graphic design, illustration, comic books, but for me it is the same job.
I create content. That is what I do. I create content. TV, comic books, illustrations; this is all the same thing to me. Creating content. I am not a TV producer; I am a guy who creates content. That is what I do. And a lot of people, they want to be everything. "I am a singer; I am an actress; I am a ventriloquist; I am a juggler!” Nope. I create content.