Spinning Out of Control?

Remember those guys on The Ed Sullivan Show from the 60′s, who used to spin plates carefully balanced on top of poles? They’d spin the plates, one at a time, being very careful not to drop one. Round and round the plates would spin, with the poor sweating soul in the jumpsuit running back and forth to each plate, giving it a spin if it was slowing down.
He looked like he was having fun, but I never forgot that slight grimace on his face that said “If I let one plate drop…just ONE plate…my career is OVER!”.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to producing.

More times than I can count in the 14 months that I’ve been at this, I’ve felt like a project was about to drop to the ground, and my job with it. There is a multitude of things to remember – “Did I call the client back like I said?” “Did we resolve that one issue from last week?” “What did we quote them again?” “What do you MEAN it’s not working!?” “Funny, I could have sworn you said they’re be no more changes.”. There’s more email exchanges than time in the day, and half the time I feel calling would be better (but I’d better make it quick!). I find that the lunch I brought to work for the day becomes the dinner that night, and the early morning sun that accompanied me on my drive to work is long past gone, replaced by the dusk that says ‘by the time you get home, 45 minutes later, your kids will either be in bed, or WORSE…a day older!’

And yet we do this every day, not because we have to, but because we want to; deep down we know that if we keep every plate spinning, they’ll come back tomorrow wanting more…more of our time, energy and passion, and that’s what keeps us in business (and hopefully me employed).

And so, after the lights have gone down and the audience has gone home, we carefully take our plates down, knowing that tomorrow is another day, full of phone calls, emails, edit sessions, client lunches, contracts, checking deliverables, production meetings, organizing on-set production shoots and maybe even a bite or two of our lunch.

That is, IF we keep all those plates spinning.