The biggest challenge I've encountered after moving to L.A. is to find a proper balance between doing film scoring for the love of doing it and doing it for the need of money. The answer I have found useful is to always keep in mind why it is that you started doing music, or art. In my case, I started really young when I was 5, and the big worry about money didn’t fully come until after graduating from college. This worry can really start taking away the joy from writing music for a living, and turn it into a stressful experience when the financial results are simply not enough to pay the bills. If you think about the nature of why you chose your profession, and your natural passion for it, it will help you to keep moving forward until bigger projects with bigger budgets come; another way of seeing it that has helped me is to think about 'bigger projects' as ‘more exposure of your work’, which is also a big motivating factor and changes the focus from 'more money' to 'bringing your message to a broader audience'. Even though there will inevitably be ups and many downs, I have found that if your aim and mind points in this more positive and ‘artistic’ direction, and not towards ‘making money’, the stress diminishes and you have a much better time doing what you love. I had the opportunity to ask about this to my favorite film composer Thomas Newman, and he said "Always do it for the love of it. When you do so, it truly translates to the audience. Eventually bigger projects will start coming and more money will come, but never lose focus of why you initially got into this". How do you deal with this balance?
Uncategorized : The biggest challenge I've enc… by Milo Coello
The biggest challenge I've enc…
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I find that by mixing up my projects - those that pay well and those I pick up simply because the idea intrigues me - on a regular basis I'm able to keep the "love" in my work, while making a decent living. Sometimes those that pay well aren't the most inspiring or enjoyable, but unfortunately when you have a family to provide for and kids that you want to give everything to, you need to take on both the great and the mundane.
Very true, when the family factor comes in it certainly must add another layer to this. I'm not at that point yet, but I'm sure the reward of knowing you will be providing for your family is great and enough to not lose focus of what moves you and your passions. Thanks for sharing your take on this topic!