This Post originally appeared on the blog ScreenCraft. ScreenCraft is dedicated to helping screenwriters and filmmakers succeed through educational events, screenwriting competitions and the annual ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship program, connecting screenwriters with agents, managers and Hollywood producers. Follow ScreenCraft on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
While the below post, originally written on our ScreenCraft blog, centers on screenwriting, these inspiration scenes can apply to anyone in any career or seeking out any seemingly unreachable dream against all odds. So please, read and watch the below if you're in need of some inspiration. Put yourself in that context and put your own story into the context of the below. And always, always believe that yes, it is possible, no matter how hard it seems or how difficult it has been...
You’ve been laboring at your art and craft of screenwriting for a long time. There’s been nothing but constant rejection -- or worse yet, silence. You’ve written screenplays, honed your skills, and you’ve submitted them to contests. Nothing. You’ve queried the powers that be to no avail.
Some of you have only been at it for a couple of years. Some for a decade or more. The dream is beginning to fade as cynicism begins to blind you from that hope that kept you so driven for so long.
Sound familiar?
Screenwriters, actors, and filmmakers have struggled with the same ailments for decades. Why? Because it’s hard. The film and television industry is damn hard.
However, the names we see on those opening and closing credits today in film and television are the previous wave of novice screenwriters, actors, and filmmakers. They too once believed at one time or another that it was time to quit. But they didn’t. The legends that we still watch or remember once believed at one time or another that it was time to quit. But they didn’t.
So today, ScreenCraft offers some inspirational moments that all screenwriters should watch when they’re feeling that dark cloud hanging over their head.
Art imitates life and life imitates art. So sit back and watch each of these cinematic moments. Put yourself in those characters’ shoes and supplant their conflict with your own. Let the hope return, if not for a moment. Let that fire be ignited once again.
RUDY
Most know the story. Rudy’s dream is to get into Notre Dame so he can have a chance to play football for his favorite college team. He doesn’t have the grades, so he attends a junior college and works as hard as he can to get into Notre Dame. Watch this clip (and yes, the clip includes his rejection later on in the film as well)…
Screenwriters know this feeling all too well. Query after Query. Rejection after rejection. We come close, only to be pushed further away.
In Rudy’s case here, now it’s his last chance. His last semester. One more letter of acceptance or rejection…
Dreams can and do come true. There are no promises, but they do come true. And this moment -- which I’ve experienced myself -- whether it’s signing that first deal, getting hired for that first assignment, being on set for that first produced script that you wrote, or seeing your name in the opening credits, it’s beautiful. It’s energizing. It’s pure inspiration knowing that all odds are against you yet somehow you still made it.
ROCKY BALBOA
Life as a screenwriter -- let alone life itself -- is hard. You take a beating emotionally. All too often, when that hope dwindles, you start to point fingers at other people. You start to blame Hollywood. You start blame the powers that be. Hollywood is a tough place. It WILL beat you to your knees and when it does, it’ll beat you down permanently if you let it.
The life of a successful screenwriter isn’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit (rejection) and keep coming back. It makes you want it more. And if you don’t, then it’s not for you. But if you do, you keep fighting. You keep writing. You keep believing. In the end, you thank those that rejected you because without them, you wouldn’t have been pissed off enough to want to prove them wrong.
Mr. Holland’s Opus
The film tells the story of Glen Holland, a musician that put his dreams of being a composer aside as he raised a family and taught music classes at a high school -- a job he didn’t want but learned to love. He continued to write his own symphony as he worked the day job. Year after year and decade after decade. Never once seeing his dream come true. Until…
Screenwriters live for that moment when their dream is finally realized. They’re forced to work their day jobs or stay at home with the kids, always with that dream on the distant horizon at a seemingly impossible distance to cover. You live for the dream. The moment. Don’t ever give up on it. Don’t ever lose sight of it.
Chariots of Fire
Never give up. When it feels like you’ve tried and tried. When it feels like rejection has got the best of you. When it feels like you’ve stumbled and the competition has passed to distances you can’t possibly make up…
Get up. GET UP. Write that next amazing script. Write those amazing characters. And then put your head back and kick it into your final gear and finish that marquee script that will take you the distance. Do it for your family, who have hopefully supported you throughout this journey. Do it for those that never had the chance to try. Embrace the faith and hope that has brought you this far, whether it be religion, spiritualism, fate of the universe, or your sheer will to see this race to its end.
For many of us, it’s not about money or fame. It’s because we were given a gift. Whatever our beliefs are, be it from above, from within, or both, we tell stories. That’s what we do. And when we’re telling those stories in whatever way, we feel the pleasure of life. Pure life. Honor that. Embrace it. See the race through to its end despite everything against you.
The Pursuit of Happyness
How many times have you seen the look on people’s faces when you tell them that you want to be a screenwriter? Most of the time, it feels like pity, doesn’t it? Maybe your parents told you that you could never do it. Maybe your significant other. Maybe your friends. How many times have you felt like people are just keeping you away from your dreams? How many times have you gotten that negative feedback from one of your scripts that makes you feel that you’re no good and won’t amount to anything as a screenwriter? When people can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do it.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t do something. This dream you have? You have to protect it. If you want something, go get it. Period.
And then, maybe one day, you can experience something like this…
These moments, and many others we’ve seen… this is happiness. And it’s possible.
"Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, godlike feature that only the special among us will ever taste, it’s something that truly exists in all of us." -- Will Smith
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