Shut Ins Included

One thing that I have always been amused by are fair-weather friends. I have been very lucky in my own life that those who I have befriended have remained my friend through thick and thin. I’d like to think I have good taste in people, but what I really think it comes down to is the ability to know what environment I’m in will dictate the level of sincerity of those who populate it. For many years I worked on low to no-budget films and within seconds of meeting someone on a set you could tell the ones that were really into making films and those who were just showing up to say they ‘work in film.’ Those who were sincere about making films, as in, that’s all they wanted to do in life were in staggeringly short supply. Needless to say there were only a few people I met and became friends with from those days, but the vast majority of those I worked with have faded off in the distance. One tell-tale sign of phonies in your circle of acquaintances is when you need to call in a favor or when you have something that could raise all ships with the tide, like a film premiere. They tend to be fantastic places to network or just catch up with those you worked with for all those weeks. Those who don’t show up were never the real ones to begin with. The reason they don’t show up is because they actually don’t have anything new they are working on.

This brings me to Substack. Since I’ve joined I have really enjoyed reading and writing for the platform. I’m not sure if platform is the right word but it sounds good to me. When I started posting I had made quite a few quick friends who were fast to respond and always had encouraging things to say. They were cool and so I would always at the very least follow them. I would read their posts and if I had anything interesting to say I would post a comment. This behavior went on for a while and then slowly I would notice that some of them missed their usual day to post their new work. All the while I was still posting on my usual day. What was missing when I would post was their input. When they would get around to posting I would notice that was when they would read my work. At first I simply thought that they were just not on Substack at all, but as we all know, we get notifications when those we subscribe to post.

The truth is something a bit more typical and something I saw in the indie film scene. When someone doesn’t have anything new, they act like no one else does and times are only great for them when they have something to share. I don’t really keep up on my numbers because I love to write and to me it keeps me sharp, and that’s why I post. To all those who follow me I truly am thankful for each one of you and I do my best to keep up on what’s new from all of you. I’d like to think of all of us as a community. Shut ins included.