The Idea

It’s Tuesday, the day of the Venture Workshop lip Sync. I wake up with an idea - Evolution of a Wedding Filmmaker filled with wedding filmmaker humor paired with the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, Milan or “I Can Go the Distance”, Hercules. An idea is born.

I ask some people to be a part of it but get some polite no’s. I kind of tuck the idea in my back pocket and half-heartedly shrug off the idea saying “it was a good idea.”

The Decision

Then I share the lip sync plot with one of the instructors Seth Dunlap. Like most of the people at Venture Workshop, you could feel safe being yourself around him. Seth was always creating whether it was with his impromptu dance moves or hilarious DJ’ing skills. He wears it on the outside, an outfit filled with creativity, embraced imperfections and an openness that's a pre-requisite to being a world-class creative.

I look up at Seth… Shit, our eyes meet. I know what I have to do.

Me: “Seth here’s my plot for the lip sync…”

Seth: “That's a good idea, but you know the thing about ideas is that you got to act on them.”

Game. Set. Match. The situation becomes clear. Clearer then I would have liked. There was a decision to be made.

A. I would lean into this idea that my gut was telling me to do. Listen to the voice and go for it!

B. Shrug it off and make excuses like there was no one to help me perform, don’t have time to practice or it’s not my thing. I could pretend like my gut wasn’t talking to me and be willfully blind.

Above: Jay gives his keynote on moving from wedding cinematographer to commercial.

Above: Jay has an epic camera battle on top of a mound in the dessert.

Some time passed & I tried to not overthink it. Then the forcing function, time, took effect. It was thirty minutes before the performances. I walked to the lower pavilion where the event was going to be held. I still hadn’t signed up.

Me: How many people have signed up for the lip sync?

Levi: “10 There is still time. Would you like to join?”

Me: [Insert Super Chill “I got this” Gulp] I'm in. Can I use “I Can Go the Distance” - Hercules?"

Levi: “Classic I like it.”

I’m in, its official the hardest part is over. Let's do this! [Cue epic montage] I sharpie a sign saying “Evolution of a Wedding Filmmaker.” I scan for the tables for the perfect couple and find David and Harmony., Yes! I think to myself “this could work out.” I pull up the lumetri tab in Premiere to crank the sliders like a newb. As they announce the first participant, I put back some New Mexican wine. It’s time!

The Moment

The first acts set the tone and instill some confidence in me. Kristine Rhome performed a rendition of some Christmas song, and Seth Dunlap and Colten Farrow performed a tear-jerkingly hilarious version of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It was clear that I was surrounded by a group of people who were here to have fun, be goofy and laugh. This wasn’t one of those rooms where you feel like every move you make is being a judged.

They call my name and the moment is here. I’m not sure what I do, but I buy into it and go with the flow. I do what people tell me to do with my chronic awkward dancing disorder, go all in! I pull David & Harmony up for the first part of the lip sync where I’m supposed to pose them like an awkward couple, and they nail! After that, it goes hazy a bit in my memory, but it was pure joy. I was sharing the story of a wedding filmmaker around wedding filmmakers, but more importantly, people who were fun, loving and committed to growth on their journey.

The performance concluded with the lyrics saying "But I won't lose hope, 'till I go the distance And my journey is complete," as David & Harmony nailed their romantic kiss and at that moment I knew this was where and what I was supposed to be doing at that time. That was a priceless moment.

*The moment was so priceless and hilarious that I laughed in my sleep according to my roommate Jordan Jeanty (as pictured on the right). FYI if I were to wake up in the middle of the night to my roommate sleep laughing, I would run the hell away prepare a rock to hit him in case they go all exorcist on me. I have seen too many scary movies not to be ready. Kudos to Jordan for not killing my creepy sleep laughing personality :)

The Lesson

How many times are we in a situation where our gut says, “pick up the guy on the side of the street”, “thank the cashier who is working her tail off”, “thank some military for their service”, “take this next step in your journey” or “participate in this lip sync”. Call it your whisper, your gut, your calling, your legend its always talking to us. I’ve learned you have to listen or the whisper gets more and more quiet.

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and die with their song still inside them.”

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“To realize one’s personal legend is a person’s only real obligation… and when you want something all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

In all reality, the lip sync was a low-risk high reward opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.

At worst everyone would be super supportive, or there would be a super awkward silence. It’s not like I was going to forget my lines in a lip sync.

At best, I would establish the story in my subconscious that I’m the type of person who goes for it! Who acts on his ideas and brings them to the world. Who isn’t afraid to be different because being “everyone” is already taken, they need the real me and the real you. I want to be the man in the arena as Theodor Roosevelt puts.

"The man whose face is marred by sweat and blood and who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt, Man in the Arena Speech

[That's one of the reasons I enjoyed the week so much. The instructors of Venture have created a culture for creatives to collaborate and grow in their journey. They have created a safe place to be a kid again and just learn and learn. Through their work and the attendees around you limiting beliefs can't help but disapate]

In the end, I came in second behind an amazing rendition of the SNL Song “Dick in a Box.” Sarah and her boyfriend (sorry man I forgot your name) absolutely killed it! You can see a photo of us to the right.

I walked out of that night and eventually the workshop with a newfound level of trust in who I am. I brought an idea into a reality.

What are you putting off? What's your lip sync? Where you can you take your first step? What's the big scary step that you keep hiding in your closet? Go for it! As Seneca said, “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”

It’s always better together. Let’s do this! What's your first step? Let me know! Also, I’ve been low-key been writing a lot recently because it helps me communicate more clearly. This post is very average quality if not below average but to be good at something you have to be bad at some point. So this is a big deal! First post complete, whoop whoop!

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Enjoy!