NMPG Editor Blog

"He's a real nowhere man"

- John Lennon

I don't know how many times I've lost a great idea for one stupid reason: I didn't write it down! I don't know how many times it's happened because I've forgotten them all, but I know it's happened far too many times.

"If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere"

- Frank Sinatra

You can record your album in your bathroom, cut your movie in your bedroom and sell your novel online all by yourself. Or, you can go where there are other people like you, with the same interests, who compliment your skills and make your project better.

"Everyone says 'hi'"

- David Bowie

Your parents and guardians probably told you not to speak to strangers, and that's great advice for kids. For adults in the entertainment industry, that's a death sentence. Leave the house! Get off the couch! Go somewhere else!

"Good ol' rock. Nothing beats rock."

- Bart Simpson

Despite all our vaunted technological developments and modern media, we still haven't found a more reliable way to keep records than carving stone tablets.

"Faster than the speed of dark."

- Garfield Arbuckle

Copyright and trademark are widely understood as legal protections from theft and plagiarism, but there are more important and longer-lasting implications.

"The trouble with movies as a business is that it's an art; and the trouble with movies as an art is that it's business."

- Garson Kanin

"And everyone of us that makes films struggles with that, every damn day you do it."

- Charlton Heston

"If cats wrote history, then history would be mostly about cats."

- Eugen Weber

Whether the subjects of your project are monsters, aliens, animals, toys, or even actual human beings, all stories are about people.

Disillusionment, laziness and many other forces can lead to a lack of effort. It is important to avoid this temptation - for you can be the greatest impediment to your success.