The
most important thing we all learn as artist of any form, is that
rejection will be part of the deal. Near constant rejection in fact. An understanding of this harsh reality is the first step, dealing
with it properly is the other. Even the biggest names and best works
have to carve through an avalanche of rejection. Here are a few
examples that will put your mind at ease.
We all
know of Sylvester Stallone and his breakout performance (and script)
from Rocky. What is less publicized is that the executives at Warner
Bros. at the time loved the script, it was a go picture but......
Stallone said he had to play Rocky, he wrote the part for him to
play, and the Studios said no (go to 1:28 in the video). They not only said no to him as an
actor over and over, but they offered him more money in return for
making the movie without him playing the lead. This former Rambo
star stuck to his guns and the rest is film history as we know it. Now, can you imagine another actor playing Rocky? Just look at the
career Stallone has as well.
Take
the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. At one point you
could have taken it because nobody else would. One of the shows
Executive Producers, Jenji Kohan has said that she pitched the series
to every network in town before it landed on the office desk at
Netflix. This is a long running, Emmy Award winning show here. I
can’t speak for them but I have a feeling Netflix is happy Kohan
faced that rejection before the show was produced with them.
Dr.Seuss, as the story goes his first book was rejected by 27 publishers
before one said yes. I am sure his estate is glad that he pressed on
with the submissions to publishers and made it 28.
Lordof the Flies, before it was made twice as a movie it was a WilliamGolding novel. This brilliant piece of literature was treated like
the pig on his fabled island, his novel was rejected 20 times before
it was published.
Being
an Artist, I liken it to a bull rider. Oh yeah, you will be thrown
off, crashing to the ground with a face full of dirt, but to make it
you must get back in the saddle. I endured six years of rejection
until Cam-Girl, my third screenplay was the right script that was
read by the two produces it took to believe in it and make it happen. Before that I even wrote a non-fiction book that was rejected
everywhere, and that is good because that Work was substandard. For
some of you this will be hard to accept, but there are many reasons
for constant rejection in the Entertainment field, and one of them is
because approximately 90 percent of the scripts that are written, or
people who ever attempted acting are just not good enough. That is
exactly why you need to keep at it if you ever want a chance to
succeed. You should get better, you will get better, but you must be
fully dedicated and have a hunger to learn about your craft.
Some
other things that make rejection a necessary part of the
Entertainment world include, all the agents, producers and star
actors out there are just too busy to consider every pitch that
floods their email and social media every day. Rejection is the
industry’s way of thinning out herd for them. It is a vetting
process, also, it only makes sense that they would be more interested
in a project that was referred to them by a friend or have prominent
people already involved. Besides that and the time factor, the other
other reason is legality. It goes without saying that lawsuits are
very common these days, so professionals and business entities need
to shield themselves from that.
Okay
Curt, I get it, now how do I deal with the rejection? The answer is
simple... and complex. It has to be something you find on your own. There are many ways people rise up from adversity, some work even
harder, some let off steam at the gym, some vent about it through
their art, others find comfort talking about it with loved ones or
friends who also work in that field. There are plenty of film
groups, writers’ meet ups and Acting schools that can be your
outlet for this. Find what works for you, because much like
rejection itself, the art of dealing with is a part of the deal if
you want a career.
-Curt
Wiser is an author and the Writer/Director of the suspense movie
Cam-Girl now on DVD and Amazon Prime.
