Creativity is a word that comes to mind as I stand on the corner of the world’s most famous star studded sidewalk at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Near the spot where Lana Turner was discovered in The Top Hat Malt Shop in the 1930’s, and can feel the energy of the legendary dreamers of the past, cheering on the creative dreamers of today, to continue to turn fantasies into reality in the entertainment business.
As a Canadian, I had a lot of fun in the sun while visiting there and meeting with friends and writing contacts this past week. Entertainment found me everywhere I went. I saw Thor working out with his sledgehammer in the public plaza as people walked by and took no notice of him.
For lunch, Fred was chopping up fresh fruit stored on ice in a street cart. You had your choice of pineapple, mango, coconut, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, cucumber, oranges and pineapple. All grown to perfection in the California sun. He sprinkled spicy seasoning on top, and squeezed the juice of a fresh lime over it. It was delicious and a huge container was only 5 dollars, and filled me up for the day.
The warm blue sky and soft breezes swaying the tall palm trees gave way to the dazzling lights on the red carpet at night.
Photographers lined the red carpet in the warm evening air outside at The LA Film Festival at The Arclight Theatre. A large man beside me was taking photos of an actress in a silver suit who was about 6’4” tall in heels and super thin. I asked who she was, and he said “I don’t know who she is, but she hasn’t eaten in a month.” When I laughed, he said “No, she hasn’t!” He said it was a film from Turkey and it was all about the funding.
The night air was beautiful, balmy and warm and I was blown away by the improved air quality in the city since my previous visits over the past few decades. Real progress has been made, although it is not celebrated enough. A massive achievement by Americans, a big picture gain that gets drowned out by the latest scandal.
The creators in Hollywood need to collaborate with other creators to realize their dreams. I met a girl from LA who was heading to Vancouver to visit her boyfriend who does a reality tv show there. She said: “in LA if you put out the message about the work you want to do to enough people, the universe will rally around and get you a gig.” When I told her I was going to partner on a project with someone from a chance meeting in LA, she said “yup, that’s the way it happens here.” Like making a fresh fruit salad.
California’s population is greater than all of Canada’s, so there is a higher probability of meeting someone to create with in Hollywood.
Being part of a creative network is more important than growing your talent or marketing your brand after a certain point. You can’t work exclusively online, you need to meet people in the flesh to see if you can work with them in the future, and to find out who they are. Then you can work with people who support your success.
My hotel room had a big desk and light, and free bike rental. My Angelino friends said they would never ride a bike in Los Angeles, but I went riding around Studio City in Los Angeles on a bike anyways, and it was fun. My cell phone roaming with Virgin Mobile wasn’t so fun, as I ran out of data, and had unreliable internet and wifi. But this forced me to read, and inputting information and taking photos and thinking is needed. A wise man told me: the set of the sail is what’s important, because the wind will take us anywhere. The well runs dry if all you do is output, and by relaxing and emptying the tank, you free up space to receive new information and experiences and better content!
The creative vibe of Hollywood mixes echos of the past, with the hopes that future dreams will be turned into reality, and I long to return there soon.