I’ll Be....Passionate

My old friend John Daly, who died last year, spent more than 25 years at the head of Hemdale Films.
In that time he made over 100 films and won an incredible 13 Oscars.
Tommy, The Last Emperor, El Salvador and Platoon amongst them.
With the film industry’s legendary multi-million dollar pitching I was sure John would be able to give me an insight to improve my own “craft “.
I asked him how he knew what to invest in?
How did he know which films would be hits?
His answer was simple, “No-one knows a hit from a miss I always invest in the same thing.”
He then told me a story.
Way back in the early eighties, he sat through a presentation by a young writer-director called James Cameron.
He had a vision of an unstoppable cyborg, tasked with killing the mother of a resistance leader who was yet to be born.
Cameron knew not just the Terminator’s back-story but that of all his characters, he knew their complete life story, also what happened next, and he understood the technology he needed to realise his vision.
He’d created a world that he inhabited - it was his passion..
As John told me, when it comes to investment, you should always back the guy with the passion.
His view was when you’re passionate about something, you’ll find a way to make it successful.
You’ll also find that it becomes contagious – it takes over the pitch, infuses the story you’re telling, and convinces the client.
Passion can’t be faked.
So if you feel it, share it.