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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have two opinions on this.  If my kid say wants to pursue a career in comedy or acting or a musician or painting...well it all comes down to work ethic.  You would be shocked when you read biographies of successful artists that underlying their success was an incredible work ethic.  We all know Malcolm Gladwell with the 10,000 hours and the Beatles...but Dave Grohl's mom essentially said the same thing...she only let him quit high school because he would gig 2-3 shows a day and was always working at his craft.  Taylor Swift same thing, walking up and down Nashville row as a 12-year old, maintaining cue cards on every record and radio executive she met so that she would remember their wives, kids, etc..  Heck, even the Motley Crue book will tell you how hard that crazy group of "traditional" f**k ups would work to make their band a success.

So, if I had a kid that just didn't "talk" about it, but actually did it...I would worry, but I would let them pursue their passion.  However, if the true work ethic just is not there, we as parents need to be willing to give some blunt talk, and perhaps redirect them to a career that maybe is passion-adjacent, but pays the bills.  I wish I had the answer on this because even passion-adjacent can "pay the bills" but not much more.  Alternatively, you talk to them and try to focus on their interests vs. the industry.

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This is an incredibly thoughtful post - thank you, PP. I'm in a 'passion' career but have worked my way to the top of it over 10+ years and I now make a very comfortable living doing exactly what I love. It's entirely possible - someone somewhere is making a stable, comfortable living in any field, but there are very few spots at the top like that. And it takes the commitment of getting through the lean years one way or another. For me personally, it was worth it, but not easy and never guaranteed. [/quote]

I lived in LA for a while and almost universally it was work ethic that separated the successes from the failures.  Sure, luck is always there but it’s the work ethic that creates the luck.

Knew a woman who came out with nothing, wrote spec scripts, TV treatments, etc like crazy.  Met with friends, friends of friends, etc in the business and set up meetings with agents, producers, show runners, etc.

Ended up getting hired as a CSI writer in its first season…talk about luck…a show that not only wasn’t canceled, but created multiple spin offs and I think is still on network TV.

Has a 9-figure net worth as she became a show runner and senior exec at the production company.

This is a complete unicorn…I get that…but her work ethic was in the top 0.1%.  Even she would comment about all the “faux” creatives/actors who think they will be discovered.[/quote]

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