Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacki Moonves. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jacki, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
A Lil Guide To Keeping Your Creativity Alive:
Hey there! Are you in a rut? Feel like everything you do is trash? Have you sat awake in bed for hours waiting for that perfect idea to come to you, only to realize you are the least creative person who has ever walked this earth and why bother anyway because the robots are coming for our jobs? Me too, pal.
But cheer up, kitten! Each day is an opportunity to become the next DaVinci or Beyoncé or Person On The Subway Playing The Musical Saw With Surprising Prowess. So hop out of bed and bask in your ethereal, waning time on this planet. No need to put on pants — just get up and follow this handy checklist to activate those brains of yours before they fully atrophy.
Step 1: Nourishment.
They say breakfast is good for stimulating your creative energies. But even breakfast can be an art project! Choose three unlikely ingredients from the depths of your kitchen and surprise yourself with a new gustatory invention. EXAMPLE: Salami-wrapped meringues sprinkled with a dash of Old Bay. Watch out, Emeril!
Step 2: Flow State.
Not all ideas have to be good. Let yourself be bad for a bit and crank out some unintgelligible stream-of-consciousness schlock. The first draft of anything will always suck, so let it suck. Perhaps you’ll unearth a kernel of wisdom in there somewhere, but no presh. Revel in generatiing something truly abysmal, and get that out of the way before you start on the real stuff.
Step 3: Movement.
You won’t find any fresh inspiration inside your house, so it’s time for a change of scenery. Pop in your earbuds, perhaps indulge in a bit of the Devil’s Lettuce, and venture forth into the wilds of your neighborhood to explore what the day has to offer. (Oh yeah, this is the part where you should put on pants.) Let your most recent playlist guide the mood as you amble through the streets observing your community and its unique lawn decorations. About 15-20 minutes in, I guarantee you’ll figure out a way to solve that problem with your script that you’ve been stuck on for months. The answer was so obvious all along — make the story take place in an imaginary country! Eureka!!! Thanks, Walking!
Step 4: Consume.
You are not a machine, you are a human being. One cannot constantly output a never-ending stream of great (or not so great) ideas without taking some time to input content made by other people. Read a book. Watch a show. Guzzle 55 minutes of Instagram reels and let the algorithm nurture you. Try to avoid buying those super cute mushroom hoop earrings from the ad that popped up in your feed, because that’s probably not a legit company with a name like LUX4CHEEPforUu.
Step 5: Actual Work.
What is creativity without the occasional finished project? If you really want to feel productive, you unfortunately have to be productive. Do the damn work. No whining, just make some tangible progress. Put the phone down and be an adult for a few hours, if only to prove to yourself that you can be an adult for a few hours. Snacks help.
Step 6: Rest.
Bedtime! Wow, what a day it’s been. You must be zonked. But don’t tuck yourself in too tight, because from 12:26am until 4:18am, you really will have that creative epiphany you’ve been waiting for since sunup. I know you need to wake up early for your “real” job, but if you don’t record these thoughts right now there’s no way in hell you’ll remember all the brilliant nuggets cooking up in your mind. There’s a reason these ideas will be plaguing you all night long, and it’s because THIS IS YOUR MAGNUM OPUS. You’ll never be able to sleep once this concept solidifies, so don’t fight it. If you share a bed with someone, make notes under the covers so the light doesn’t wake your boo. Now write! Write your little heart out and don’t stop until your eyes are burning, you future MacArthur Genius!
Step 7: Review and Polish.
Wait, did I just stay up all night writing questions about worms on my phone?
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an LA-based Director of Photography. While I shoot all types of content, I am most passionate about filming comedies and action flicks (preferably the union of those two genres). I’m immensely grateful to the Emerson College admissions department for assigning me the Cinematography major, because I barely had a clue what that was before I matriculated. Turns out this job’s a hoot! I’ve been lucky enough to work with some outstanding filmmakers on six continents and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. LOUDLY ANNOUNCING MY DESIRE TO FILM A PROJECT IN ANTARCTICA, WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING, YOU CAN TAKE MY FIRSTBORN CHILD JUST GET ME DOWN TO THAT MYSTERIOUS ICY CONTINENT.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three things that had the greatest impact on Achieving My Dreams:
1) INSATIABLE CURIOSITY. Say yes to everything, take big risks, ask every question, follow a mule into a canyon, and whatever you do remember to fact check stuff you learn at parties before regurgitating it to everyone you see.
2) RESILIENCE. The film industry can be sexist. Racist. Ableist. Confusing. Exhauting. Emotionally devastating. At some point, it will shatter your precious heart. Please don’t let this stop you. The further you advance in your career, the fewer jerks you have to deal with because you’ll eventually end up working with your friends. That part rules. Remember that it’s delusional to think you can be loved by everyone, so you might as well be yourself times ten. Good people will be magnetically drawn toward your energy, so let it radiate as bright as possible. They are the ones who deserve your best efforts.
3) KNOWING HOW TO PERFECTLY SAUTÉE ONIONS SO THEY GET REALLY BROWN AND FLAVORFUL LIKE THE ONES YOU SEE AT A HOT DOG STAND. Here’s whatcha do: Chop the onion. Heat the pan and add butter (for flavor) and oil (higher smoke point). Once the butter is melted, toss in the onions and stir until they are uniformly covered in fats. Let them sizzle without stirring until the bottoms brown a bit. Pour 1/4 cup of water into the pan, scraping the bottom so that all that good crusty stuff is released. You’ll notice the onions absorbing all those little particles as you stir — onions are porous, water is the universal solvent, you’re just flavoring the onions with onions! Anyway, let those bad boys sit in the pan until they again start to turn brown. Pour in more water and repeat the process several more times. This is gonna take about 20 minutes, so you might want to throw on a good podcast. You’ll know when they’re done. Salt to taste.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Nerds Gummy Clusters. Eat the entire bag in one sitting. Feel mostly better. Works every time — prove me wrong, Internet!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jackimoo.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jackimoo.dp
Image Credits
Jonah Z. Helms, Rueguh, Devon Kelley
