Film apprentice Michelina Friss
“She’s doing a fantastic job. I’m really proud…we’re working on her project right now. She came up with an idea which is around boardwalk communities and the communities that stand there on a year round basis…I thought that that was an interesting project, and actually her birthday is January the 3rd, and we hope to have the world premiere in the studio to show her project that I’ve been working with her on.”
ON WHAT HE LOOKS FOR IN AN APPRENTICE:
“One thing: attitude. I can teach you anything, but I cannot teach you attitude. And your attitude equates to altitude in this business. And if you have attitude and a feeling of appreciation and attitude of gratitude, you can go anywhere. If you feel entitled and that you’re due something, I’m afraid that you’re destined to fail. You won’t make it here.”
ON THE CORE VALUES HE IMPARTS TO THE PEOPLE HE HIRES:
“I’ve gone to a lot of different places in my life. So I made an acronym out of the word PLACES so that everybody understands what is important. Number one is P, is ‘Positive’ in the word PLACES. P is ‘Positively Passionate.’ You need to be passionate about what you do. And L is for ‘Lifelong Learner.’ Things are always changing, especially in this. Number three…is A, ‘Always Accountable.’ I take out the trash, nobody says, ‘That’s not my job.’ You really need to be accountable to yourself, to your fellow employees, workers, and to the customers. And C is ‘Courage.’ We’re in a very a frightening time in the world, where terrorism, people hate us or they’re envious of us, so you need to have a courage of your convictions. E, ‘Exceptional customer service.’ We every day roll out a red carpet for our clients….And finally is S, which is for ‘Success.’ And success to us is, we’re a for-profit company, so actually give a very big value for a very reasonable investment, and that’s what makes them come back. So in order for us to be here next year to serve their needs, we need to make sure that we meet or exceed their expectations and help them reach their goals.”
ON WHY HE LIKES THE FILM CONNECTION PROGRAM:
“I was not a very good student. I hated school. And I do think had online and this sort of thing been available, I probably would have been a much better student…It was really working with the Film Connection…that I really gravitated to the way they put the information together and link via YouTube to some information. And generally when you watch a video, there are several other things that the channel serves up and says, oh, that’s interesting, and you can really almost design your own educational path using the track to run on here. It’s an outline of things. So I really loved the way that they served up things, and I think that is the way of the future…The Film Connection can help and give you a road map to be successful, and connect you with mentors who are already successful in the industry and who can give you some additional guidance that you can’t get out of a book or reading something or even watching a video…
“I think at the end of the day, what makes me happy is being able to add value, to feel as if I’ve made a difference. And you definitely can make a difference in this industry, and getting the right education will help to make that even more efficient…You can’t lead where you haven’t been. And I think the Film Connection has kind of been there and has created this road map that certainly young people, even older people who want a new career, want to make a difference can do.”
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