December 15, 2023 • 44 mins
In this episode of "There Is No_System," host Brian Behm takes you on an adventurous journey through the art world, likening it to a masterfully planned heist. As an art director, designer, and musician from Austin, Texas, Brian delves into the challenges artists face when breaking into their desired scenes. He addresses the roadblocks that might be holding you back, whether they're personal doubts, community dynamics, or larger-than-life challenges (Godzilla, anyone?).
Brian explores the concept of artistic gatekeeping and the irony of punk-rock capitalism, highlighting the sometimes contradictory nature of anti-establishment movements. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and combating gatekeeping, both externally and within our own ideological tribes.
The episode further delves into the intricacies of navigating the art world with a heist-like strategy. Brian discusses assembling a diverse "crew" of artists, curators, and other key players, each bringing unique skills to the table. He shares personal anecdotes from his experiences in Austin's film scene, his volunteer work at SXSW, and his journey to his current role at Emergent Order, illustrating how strategic networking and skill utilization can lead to success.
Brian encourages listeners to embrace diversity in artistic voices and reject monolithic views of art. He concludes with the "Gatekeeper Challenge," inviting the community to engage with and reflect on their role in artistic gatekeeping.
Music From This Episode
Introductions - No_System
The Greatest Heist - AGSoundtrax
Chicago, IL - David Holmes / Oceans 11 Score
Texas Skies - Scorewizards
Safe Ride Home Underscore - Adi Goldstein
Hacker - NikiNPhaser
Swamp Fever - John Cameron
Cinematic Ambient Guitar Indie - music2noise
Inspiring Ambient Cinematic Guitars - music2noise
Dramatic Modern Underscore - BCrutchfield
Numb Instrumental - Beachtiger
Social Networks and Getting a Job: Mark Granovetter
https://youtu.be/g3bBajcR5fE?si=bLcZYFLXLxY0EAbJ
The Anatomy of a Heist - Charles Kunken
https://www.charleskunken.com/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-heist-the-16-conventions-part-1-of-3
Sneakers - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Micmacs - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149361/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
My Sucky Teen Romance - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707821/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
My Sucky Teen Romance SXSW Q&A - https://youtu.be/VIImmmWArQA?si=6vQAeR30rdksoMVn
Blue Like Jazz - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758575/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - https://www.amazon.com/Million-Miles-Thousand-Years-Learned/dp/1400202981
—-
Take a look at No_System’s apparel and accessories at nosysknows.com ——-
Transcripts available at nosysknows.com/podcast
——-
Please like and review on your favorite podcast platform of choice. If you get something out of it, please share it with a friend.
——
Soundtracks available on most streaming platforms
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/4bWrf8AHQNxMpaUhLt3wvx?si=1nxOP7bATL6MNy7BWgTFzg
Apple Music:https://music.apple.com/us/artist/nosystem/511989797
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fifties Announcer (00:00):
There is no system is brought to you by no
system. Yes, we know thatsounds weird and redundant, but
you are just going to have togo with us on this. Stay tuned
for a special message from thissponsor later on in the
episode. Maybe I'll even hum.
You like humming, right? Hmm ?
No system your favorite or atleast one of your favorite
(00:20):
end-cap clothing brands seebeneath the surface and now
with no further fanfare, thereis no system. Enjoy
Brian Behm (00:32):
What's standing in the way of your artistic
journey. Remember, I I useartist in the broadest sense.
Is it personal doubt, thechallenging scene you're trying
to break into or let's say aGodzilla sized obstacle? If
it's really Godzilla, wellthat's a valid excuse, but on
the other hand, Welcome backfellow adventures, the vast
(00:55):
landscape that we callcreativity. My name's Brian
Beam and there is no system.
I'm an art director, designerand musician in the media space
in Austin, Texas. I'm alsocurrently the art director at
Emergent Order Foundation.
Curious about no system and theclothing and other things we
create. Dive into nosyknows.com to discover more.
(01:17):
Still getting my rhythm backwith the podcast and video
series and still getting myvoice back after being sick
this week, but stillcontemplating ideas for a
Patreon. Any suggestions orthoughts? Drop me a line at
nosis, at nosis knows.com . Inthe last episode, we made a
twist on intersectionality andlooked at it through a Venn
(01:39):
diagram of what makes usunique. We also talked about
epistemic humility. The ideathat we fully acknowledge we
could be persuaded to changeour ideas if we were given
better information. One givesus prism to see ourselves and
others and their uniqueness andthe other provides us with a
check to be able to correct ourprism. I think that a more
(02:02):
significant sense of who we arewill be the key to navigating
the gates, but I don't wannaspoil the ending.
The Voice of God (02:09):
There was no system. There is no system, no
system, no system. Episode 10,the artful infiltration,
cracking the code of creativegatekeeping. To know more about
no system, visit noy knows.com.
Brian Behm (02:38):
Today I want to treat navigating the
gatekeepers in a scene like aheist. I love heist movies. I
don't know if it's theplanning, seeing people have to
figure out how to work togetheror just watching it, how it
plays out, but I love seeingthe puzzle come together.
Fifties Announcer (02:56):
You're
Brian Behm (02:56):
Looking for recommendations. Two of my
favorites are the 1992 filmsneakers and the 2009 film M
Max . Max is a fantasy, revengeheist comedy by the director of
Amali Jean Pire Jue . It'slovely and weird like all good
Jue films are, but the filmthat I mainly want to talk
(03:17):
about is sneakers writtendirected by Phil Alden
Robinson. If you know his namefor anything, it's probably
Field of Dreams. It's apost-Cold war, spy oriented
heist film . And as much as Ilike Field of Dreams sneakers
is a much better movie. It'sstill saved for one thing they
couldn't even contemplate atthe time. Holds up haste movies
(03:40):
often focus on large ensembles.
Think about the team thatStephen Soderberg put together
for Oceans 11 and the sneakersEnsemble is fantastic. Robert
Redford, Sidney Poitier, DanAykroyd River, Phoenix, Ben
Kingsley, James Earl Jones,Donald Logue. It's completely
stacked. It's also got a filmscore that I've probably
(04:04):
listened to more than anyothers. It's not really
available save for YouTube, butit's lovely and it's worth a
listen. It's also stay tunedtill the end for a special
challenge. It's called theGatekeeper Challenge and it's
all about making your ownpersonal heist mission in the
creative world. So art andheist, not art heist . So
though they're a slew of thosefilms too, let's get started.
(04:26):
Section
The Voice of God (04:26):
One, identifying the target.
Brian Behm (04:29):
I'm not gonna tell you to stop the podcast and
read them, but I wanna give abig shout out to Charles Kan
and his three-part Anatomy of aHeist blog series. It'll be
linked in the show notes. Asmuch as I love heist films,
reading his thoughts on whatqualifies a film as a heist
goal was really beneficial.
Think of your artistic journeyas the plot of a heist movie.
(04:52):
What's the prized possessionyou're after? Is it a gallery
showing a published novel ormaybe your first album release?
You can't have a heist moviewithout having a singular goal,
something they're trying tosteal and one of the first
beats in the film has to bewhat the object is gonna be.
There might be multiple stepsin the process that feel like
(05:12):
mini goals , but the primarygoal, for example, is to get
away with stealing the crownjewels. In the 1999 remake of
the Thomas Ground affair, kannoticed the first act opens
with Pierce Brosnan eatingbreakfast in front of the Monet
He'll steal Later on in themovie. One of my life heists
was using connections to offermy VFX help on a film
(05:35):
adaptation of a book calledBlue like Jazz. I've always had
a philosophy that if I don'thave money to invest into
something that I care about, Icould try to invest my time
and, and I really wanted toinvest my time into that
adaptation. There's stories tobe told about that project, but
I want to take a look atsomething. Donald Miller, the
(05:55):
author of Blue Leg Jazz, wroteabout turning his abstract
journal into a narrative withan actual story arc in his
book, A million Miles in athousand years. Donald Miller
writes that a movie is one tinyglimpse into a timeline.
There's a distinct beginningand end. There's an entry point
to the story. For us, if we'relooking at this through a heist
(06:18):
movie, our entry point is wherewe're trying to go and at least
in terms of story, it's gottahave an ending. That means that
our goal, whichever one we'retrying to come up with, can't
be so nebulous that it'ssomething that encompasses our
entire career. We're looking atthis as a single project, our
current mission and like in anygood story, your artistic
(06:40):
journey has chapters. Whatchapter is it that you're
writing right now? What's thegoal of the chapter? What's
going on in your life right nowwhere you can clearly see
something that you wannaaccomplish? Maybe take a minute
to pause and think about yourown goals and as we dig through
the rest of the heist, it'llgive you a way to picture what
(07:02):
you're trying to steal. We'realso gonna be talking about
South by Southwest multipletimes. This episode, it's a big
festival here in Austin everyyear, and the beginning and end
of my blue like jazz heistwould be that the film
premiered at South bySouthwest. It'd be my second
film to be screened at our bighistorical theater in town.
Afterward, I'd be at dinnerwith the cast and crew
(07:23):
including Donald Miller, abeginning and an end. I really
wanted to work on blue likejazz, and then I made it to the
culmination of that project ina heist movie. That dinner
would be the equivalent ofdriving or sailing off into the
sunset. And just like myjourney with Bluelike Jazz,
think about your own artisticheist. What's your starting
(07:45):
point and what does driving offinto the sunset look like for
you?
The Voice of God (07:50):
Section two, next stop. Austin, Texas,
Brian Behm (07:53):
Almost 15 years ago, a few days before I turned
31, my wife and I moved toAustin. We started over for a
second time. We both grew up inthe suburbs of St . Paul and
moved to Colorado for workafter we got married. And when
we got to Texas, we knew ahandful of people, but no one
in the film community that wewanted to be a part of. I
(08:15):
remember getting together withour local friends for dinner
that first year and wonderingwhat 12 months of living in
Texas would do to my birthdayparty the next year. What was
it gonna be like and who wouldwe know? My primary goal was to
figure out how to become a partof the film community here.
That was my heist. We'd beenwatching everything happening
in Austin from a distance,mostly through the eyes of the
(08:37):
film blog. Ain't it cool news?
We'd met Harry Knowles who ranAin't It Cool a couple of
times, but but it really feltlike between what Robert
Rodriguez and RichardLinkletter were doing, what
Anna Kool was doing and whatthe Alamo Draft House was
putting on, that there wassomething happening in Austin
that we needed to be a part of,even though we'd visit when we
(08:58):
could, it became crystal clearthat we were gonna continue to
have regrets if we didn't tryto become a part of the
community that we'd come toadmire from a distance in
sneakers. There's a flashbacksequence when we discover the
inciting event that sent RobertRedford's character on the run
from the government. It's anessential beat in the movie
(09:18):
because it introduces us to,spoiler alert Ben Kingsley's
antagonist. For me, theflashback would be spending
time with Harry and his wifePatricia at a screening of
North by Northwest at MountRushmore. They were on their
honeymoon and following theAlamo Drafthouse rolling
roadshow around the country,we'd driven up from Colorado
because come on, it's north byNorthwest at Mount Rushmore. If
(09:41):
you haven't seen it, go watchthe film. Not now, but watch
it. One of our ways of stayingconnected to this Austin
community we're falling in lovewith was to do whatever we
could to get a dose of Austinfilm culture that year. The
closest this touring moviescreening was gonna get to
(10:04):
Colorado was South Dakota. Wewere feeling the FOMO of not
having driven to see the Alamoscreen close encounters of the
third kind at Devil's Tower. Sowe made the several hour trek
from Colorado just as we weredrawn to the Austin film scene.
Can you think about whereyou're feeling the magnetic
pole in your artistic journey?
(10:24):
How are you connecting withyour community or your field of
interest even before you arrivethat night? There were only
about 20 people who stayed forthe film. Honestly, that was
one of the reasons fortraveling in a way. It was
starting to do reconnaissanceand build connections that we
could work on more later. Wecould get higher quality time
(10:45):
with people that we wanted toknow than we would if we were
amongst a bigger crowd inAustin proper. If you're a
designer and there's a designerthat you want to know that will
be at a conference, think aboutattending. There's something
about meeting someone in personthat will always go beyond
meeting them via email orsocial media. The film that
(11:05):
evening was one of the mostextraordinary private
screenings I've ever attended.
I still look back on it withfond memories. Afterward we
went down to Keystone and hungout with the crew who were
traveling with the draft house. We talked all evening about
what it would be like to moveto Texas. You know, your goal
is gonna be different than whatmy goal was, but are there
(11:28):
similar moments where you getcloser to the thing you want in
your life, even if you're notquite there yet? If you're
writing a book, do you haveauthor friends who are also
writing? Breaking into a newscene is about more than just
showing up. It's aboutunderstanding the dynamics, the
people, and finding your uniqueentry point. Remember, it's not
(11:50):
just about being there, it'sabout being strategic and
intentional. Now let's flashforward. We've moved to get
closer to this community welove, but how are we gonna get
in? We were gonna have to stakeout the joint, do more
reconnaissance, and that's morethan just observing. It's about
(12:11):
understanding and finding ourplace in this new world.
The Voice of God (12:15):
Section three, doing our recon .
Brian Behm (12:18):
Going back to sneakers. Our friends have
stolen what they were asked tosteal, but they get double
crossed and there's a murderand our hero gets kidnapped.
Bishop Robert Redford'scharacter wakes up in a car
truck , he can hear soundsoutside the vehicle he is stuck
in, and when they arrive at hisdestination, Bishop fading in
and outta consciousness,discovered that he's being
(12:40):
framed by the old friend. Heabandoned now the fall guy,
he's knocked out again anddumped on the street where he'd
been taken. Now the team has toplan the real heist or go to
prison for something theydidn't do. Whew . Okay, that's
a long-winded way of getting toone of my favorite scenes in
the movie. David Strahan, whoplays a blind hacker named
(13:02):
Whistler, asked Bishop aboutthe sounds he heard. I'll let
scene play out. He
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:07):
Threw me in a trunk, drove around in
circles. It could be a hundredmiles away. It could be next
door, it could be underground,it could be in a sky, rise ,
forget it.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:13):
Bish. What did it sound like?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:15):
What
Whistler - Sneakers (13:16):
The road when you were in the trunk,
what ? What did the road soundlike?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:21):
Oh , I don't highway a regular
highway.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:24):
Well, did you go over any speed bumps? No
gravel. Uh , how about abridge?
Martin Bishop - Sneake (13:32):
Bridge?
Yeah. Four bridges in the Bayarea.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:36):
Was the Golden Gate fogged in last
night?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:39):
Yes.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:40):
Did you hear a fog horn ?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:43):
No.
Scratch the golden gate thatleaves three.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:49):
What did it sound like? Did you go
through a tunnel in the middle?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:52):
I'm not, no. Scratch the bay. Well
that leaves two San Mateo andDunbarton.
Whistler - Sneakers (14:02):
What did it sound like?
Martin Bishop - Sneaker (14:07):
Lower.
Lower . There was a recurringsound
Speaker 6 (14:22):
Like
Whistler - Sneakers (14:23):
Seams in the
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Concrete
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (14:34):
But further apart.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Yeah,
Brian Behm (14:45):
So they didn't know where to go and they navigated
back to where they needed to goby using the unique skills they
had available. Whistler saw theworld differently because he
was blind. That meant that heknew the sonic questions to ask
Bishop that could lead them inthe right direction. They knew
where he had left from, sothere were only a small number
(15:07):
of options to get them headeddown their path. For me, I'm a
researcher, call it my A DHDsuperpower, but I will rabbit
hole into something with thebest of anyone. I didn't know
how to break into the filmcommunity here, but I knew that
if I were gonna figure it out,I needed a map or a schematic.
If you're a pirate
Pirate (15:27):
Pirate's life for me,
Brian Behm (15:29):
You need a treasure map and if you're a bank thief,
you might need the buildingplans . For me, I needed a
social map of the community. Inthe clip, Whistler had access
to noise generators andsequencers that let him find
the sonic signature of thebridge. Bishop had crossed the
tool that I had available wasTwitter or X . Still can't get
(15:50):
used to that. Side note, I dowanna admit that there's an
aspect to this next story thatinvolves something adjacent to
social engineering andinformation security. Social
engineering involvespsychologically manipulating
individuals into performingspecific actions or revealing
confidential information. Ineffective social engineering,
(16:10):
the target often doesn'trealize they've been
manipulated. Unlike astraightforward con, social
engineering is typically one ofthe first steps in a larger,
more complex scheme. It'sessentially about influencing
and tricking people into makingdecisions that might not
necessarily line with theirbest interests. It's important
to clarify that my use ofTwitter for networking within
(16:33):
the film community wasethically grounded. I wasn't
getting anyone to shareanything, I was just using the
information that was alreadypublicly available and then
carefully listening, I justwanted to connect and engage
with people in the industry andlearning about people ahead of
time allowed me to go in withas much knowledge as I could
gather. And for me, I knew thatit would be mutually
(16:54):
beneficial. I was a designer,it was sort of smart and sort
of funny, and I thought therewere things I could offer them
that would make their lifericher. They weren't getting
robbed, they were gettingbrined . I guess instead of
deception, they wereencountering genuine
engagement. Getting Bryantmeant forming a real connection
based on shared interests andpotential collaboration. It was
(17:18):
sort of like I was my ownoperator. Like Batman has
Alfred talking to his ear. Ihad myself telling me about the
upcoming mission specifics. Solet's break down what I had
available. Just like we wereplotting our heist, I knew who
the primary bloggers from,ain't It Cool , were usefully.
Their Twitter handles were thesame as what their Ain't a cool
(17:39):
writer name was and more thanone of them lived in Austin.
Felt like I didn't necessarilyhave the social standing to go
directly to these bloggers. Youknow, I didn't always have the
most self-confidence at thetime they were public figures.
Sure I could be friendly andsay hi to movie , but was there
an easier way? How could I earnthe trust of higher status
(18:02):
people? Well, for one, I couldget to know the people they
interact with, the proverbialsecurity guard at the bank or
the bank teller. The cool thingwas that Twitter did that you
could easily see who someonewas replying to and determine
whether that person was inAustin. And once you discovered
that if they followed eachother, you could start to piece
(18:23):
together the people that theywere interacting with. Work
your way backward, looking atthe Austin people they interact
with, and you could start topiece together a map of a good
chunk of the socialrelationships that revolved
around the Alamo in a cool andthe film community. So what's
our takeaway here? It's allabout the reconnaissance.
Understanding the landscapeyou're entering and the people
(18:45):
you're interacting with isn'tjust about observing, but truly
understanding and finding yourplace. Something you wanna keep
in mind is you're navigatingyour own scene. So once I had
that social map, there's a muchlower barrier to start
following someone on Twitterversus friending them on
something like Facebook.
Facebook was personal. Yougenerally needed a relationship
(19:07):
to connect with someone there.
Twitter was the wild west. As Istarted interacting when I was
at a movie, I could talk topeople afterward and say, oh
hey, by the way, I'm BeamCreative on Twitter. It would
gimme a slightly warmerconnection to build from,
particularly if we'd tradedmessages back and forth. Even
better, when you met someone inperson at a film event, it
(19:28):
would make it richer when you'dengaged later on on Twitter. It
wasn't an overnight tactic, butwe quickly became familiar with
the people we wanted to knowand started to build
acquaintanceships andfriendships. If you're paying
attention and reading betweenthe lines, you can glean a lot
about someone by how theyinteract online, and that's
beyond them sharing theiropinion on whatever movie
(19:50):
happened to come out that week.
Salespeople use a lot of thesame tactics when they have a
sales call. They'll putinformation about the meeting
into a database so that thenext time they meet that
person, they can ask aboutsomeone's kids or if they
brought up their love golf, howtheir golf game's been, makes
people feel seen, wow, I shouldbuy from this person because
they're really paying attentionto me. I was doing the same
(20:12):
thing, but with social media,if you're a designer trying to
get a job at a studio going inthrough the front door, it's
not the best option. You'regonna be competing with 8,000
other people when a job postinggets listed. But a significant
number of jobs don't even everget listed. If you participate
in user groups in yourcommunity like A IGA or
(20:34):
Independently organized Meetup,you might run into someone who
knows someone who works at theagency you wanna work at. You
might be able to meet thatperson they know and if you
befriend them, you might be theone they call on to help with
some project. That guy who'sthe creative director at the
agency, he's gonna be hard tomeet, but the junior designer,
they're gonna be flattered ifyou start asking them design
(20:55):
questions and being interestedin their story, it's gonna be
your way in the door. Summarizeall of this. It's key to
understand the social landscapearound you. It's not just about
having the right tools likeTwitter in my case, but also
about using them strategicallyto build relationships and make
meaningful connections. So nowthat we're in the door of the
bank or film scene and havemade our connections, we need
(21:19):
to strategize about theapproach and execute our plan
after the break. Let's uncoverhow to make the most of our
groundwork
Fifties Announcer (21:31):
In today's hustle and bustle. You don't
necessarily know who to trust.
Can you even trust anyone?
Well, at no system, you cantrust us for high quality
apparel that will speak to yourinner anarcho capitalist . We
have the things that you neverknew you needed at prices that
are still on the right side ofhyperinflation. We can't
promise you that you'll be ascool as little Johnny down the
(21:52):
street, which you'll definitelybe cooler than you were before.
You had no system apparel,whether it's our bad asses of
thought and action collectionwhere punk meets Austrian
economics or our fun andamusing death metal logos.
They've got things that willtake you a wardrobe and make it
at least 12.5% cooler. Actualstatistics are not available.
(22:13):
You're just going to have totrust the disembodied voice.
You know, your propagandizedmind likes to trust anonymous
authority voices coming out ofthe, either I'm not even alive
and I trust the voice. Ofcourse the voice is me, but who
am I really? This year, I'mparticularly fond of the Too
long didn't read Death Metallogo, t-shirt and the you know
(22:33):
more than you think you do,glitch shirt. We've also still
got the classic, not greater orless than design . Visit noy
nos.com to see the collection,see beneath the surface and get
your new clothing from yourfriendly no system.
Fifties Announcer Humming (22:56):
Ooh , ooh ,
Fifties Announcer (22:59):
There is no system. Join the Snark
Rebellion and pick up your newclothing today. No system.
Brian Behm (23:08):
So we've started to do our reconnaissance and we
know who the people are aroundus. Now we need to get into the
building, like we mentioned,can't walk in the front door,
right? Well, not without somekind of disguise anyways,
mission Impossible. Moviesaren't technically heist
movies, but there's a heist inthe movie Ghost Protocol that I
(23:29):
love. Even Hunt and Simon Pegscharacter use a projection
screen to navigate a Russianhallway without being seen. It
tracks the eyes of the gardenas he moves, it animates the
projection on the screen. So itseems like his perspective is
the same. We need to figure outhow to use the tools and
special skills that we have.
Those skills are gonna be ourteam. A heist isn't just about
(23:52):
watching and waiting, it'sabout action and making
careful, but bold moves insneakers when they're stealing
back the box. There's bothmotion sensors and heat sensors
in the room where it's beingkept. The team ends up having
to hack the thermostat to raisethe room to body temperature,
and our thief very carefullymoves at a speed that won't
(24:13):
trigger the sensor. For us.
Volunteering our skills andoffering a helping hand is like
finding the secret passage intothe vault. It's about showing
up, not just online, but in theflesh. And when you do, you
bring your unique skills like akey card to those previously
locked doors. A friend justyesterday was having issues
(24:35):
with the color of her video onInstagram. That's something
that I've run into and I hadsome semblance of an answer, so
I passed it on. It generallyjust doesn't do any good to
keep knowledge to yourself. Oneof the reasons our parents have
pushed college has been becausethe diploma became a security
key card into the door of anorganization. You'd unlock a
(24:58):
better life. Yeah, you'd alsolearn and become more
well-rounded, but it's thediploma if you're self
motivated and learning.
Anyways, I'm a dropout. I'vegot an associate of arts and
broadcasting and several yearsof college and all of those
were spread out across multipledegrees because I had
undiagnosed A DHD. And now thatI look back on those years, a
(25:22):
lot of things make a lot moresense. As important as a
diploma could be. The networkof people that you went through
school with is potentially,actually not even potentially.
It is more valuable aftercollege. Everyone goes off in a
different direction and leaveswarm connections in many new
(25:44):
areas. Having relocated beforeI completed my degree, I didn't
have that. Have you heard thatcliche? It's all about who you
know. It's generalization, butthe reality is that it's all
about who you loosely know. Theacquaintances end up being more
beneficial. A 2022 HarvardBusiness Review article
(26:06):
investigated whether strongconnections, your family, your
close friends or weakconnections were more helpful
in transitioning to a new job.
It's not the art scene we'retrying to break into, but it is
a useful analogy. Theirdiscovery. Testing the
hypothesis of a 1973 paper onthe strength of weak ties used
(26:27):
LinkedIn connections on who youmay know to study, whether the
earlier papers hypothesis couldbe confirmed. It turns out that
it could. Here's MarkGranovetter, the author of the
original study, talking abouthis discoveries. A lot
Mark Granovetter (26:41):
Of times when people would tell me that they
found their job through someonethey knew, I would say to them,
oh, so you found the jobthrough a friend and over and
over again, people wouldcorrect me and say, no, no, no,
not a friend, just anacquaintance. Just an
acquaintance. When you hangaround with your best friends,
they tend to know each otherand you form a clique with
them. Uh , and their bestfriends are kind of the same as
(27:03):
your best friends. So if youwant new information, if you
want to be clued in on thelatest styles or trends or
information , uh, then youought to go to your weak talks
. Your seventh and eighth bestfriends, they're in different
circles from your circle andthey connect you to the , to
those other circles in a , in asense, they are your windows on
the world.
Brian Behm (27:22):
My social networking map ended up being
more valuable because a lot ofthe people that I was meeting
were still acquaintances. Theybecame one of the tools I could
leverage with the other toolsor members of the heist team.
One of those loose connectionswas my friend Emily Hagens.
Here's Harry Knowles.
Introducing Emily at South bySouthwest in 2011.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
Oh man, this is Stan p . About a decade ago I
got an email from Peter Jackson, uh, say that he had gotten a
letter from a mother in Austin, uh, named Megan Hagens, who
said that she had this littledaughter that , uh, wanted to
be a filmmaker and Peter said,Hey, look , uh, she's in your
(28:07):
town , why don't you, you know,help her out. I hardly did
anything, but the great thingthat's happened was over the
past 10 years has been myprivilege to get to know and
watch Emily Hagens sort oflearn as a filmmaker . More
than that, though, the thingthat has been really
extraordinary about living inAustin for the past decade, the
(28:29):
the Hagens era , um, is doesthat , is that we, we've gotten
to see an entire community sortof , uh, gather around , uh,
the vision of Emily Hagens andtry to help her in the best
ways to achieve harder andharder visions that she has
(28:51):
that she's wanting to get uponto the screen.
Brian Behm (28:54):
At the time I mostly knew of her. There's a
documentary called Zombie Girlabout her making a feature link
zombie film at age 13. When Imet her, she was still in high
school and working on her thirdfeature. Yet that feeling that
you're feeling about being onaccomplished, that is
definitely the same feelingthat I had. A friend
(29:15):
freelancing for me at the timewas working as a producer on
this newest film, my Sucky TeenRomance. It was at the height
of the Twilight Craze and thefilm is about vampires hiding
out at a sci-fi convention. Imean, we're better to be out in
the open as a vampire becauseit was a vampire film. They ran
into the issue of needing tofigure out how to remove
reflections from a mirror. Theyalso didn't have anyone who
(29:38):
could do the work because myfriend Paul, the producer, was
working with me. He knew that Imight be able to solve their
problem and what started as ahandful of shots ended up
ballooning into dozensthroughout the production.
'cause I've done a lot ofthings in my career. I picked
up a lot of random skills and Iwas able to use them on the
film for a whole myriad ofother things. My favorite piece
(30:00):
that I worked on on that filmwas a set of postcard sized
bubblegum trading cards. Thosecards, God, they're one of my
favorite silly projects. One ofmy calling cards, no pun
intended, is that , uh, I lovedoing the extravagant thing. It
can sometimes take somethingthat's just work and make it
into art. In anime animatorscall these moments Kuga , where
(30:26):
they bring all of their energyto a specific shot. You know,
most anime is shot on twos orshot on threes, and that means
that it's, it's shot at either12 frames per second or eight
frames per second. Japaneseanimation as a style is
designed to be cheap to make inthese moments of kuga , they in
a lot of cases, will end upgoing in and hand animating
(30:49):
every frame, and so you go fromeight frames per second to all
of a sudden these beautifulcouple of seconds that are like
24 frames per second, theybring all of their energy to a
specific shot instead of justanimating the mouth that's
moving. Maybe they carefullyhand animate a perfect
explosion or the way a muscleripples in an arm. It's the
(31:09):
type of thing that can shine alight on the thing that you're
spotlighting even brighter. Iwas asked to do visual effects
work, and I did, but the cardswere the unexpected gift where
I was also able to help themarketing and surprise and
delight the filmmakers and thepeople that we got to give them
to. The most effective thingyou can do is to find the
moment where you can go aboveand beyond for someone. Keep
(31:33):
your eyes open to places andsituations where you might be
able to help. I should alsomention that design helped the
film get finished. I submittedmy poster to a contest that a
plugin manufacturer called RedGiant was having to get set
dressing for a film they wereshooting. A lot of film people
aren't designers, and myposters stood out about the
(31:54):
other things that had beensubmitted that drew their
curiosity and they eventuallyended up gifting us software
that we were able to use to payother VFX artists to finish the
picture. I talked earlier abouthow my social media
reconnaissance was aboutknowing that I could make their
lives better. This is the exactkind of thing that I was
talking about. I saw that therewere needs the team had and
(32:16):
'cause I had built arelationship, I was able to
step in when that situationhappened. When you put yourself
into the same situations, youcan be there to help solve
someone else's problem. Sidenote, the bright side to doing
silly and extravagant things, Igot to give Guillermo del Toro
a pack of the trading cardssouth by Southwest that year.
(32:37):
More importantly, the aftermathof my Psych Teen Romance is
that it led to pretty mucheverything else that's happened
for me in Austin since then.
Not too long after the film, Igot asked to do VFX work for a
short film with a director whowas friends with Emily. He'd
seen my work and he wasimpressed that director and his
writing partner were friendswith the people at Rooster
(32:58):
Teeth . They're the peoplebehind the Halo based Machinima
series, red Versus Blue. Thoseloose connections led to a
referral to help them with VFXand the referral got me in the
door, but it was a bit ofunintentional deception that
got me the job. One of theother bits of recon I did when
I first moved to Austin was tovolunteer for South by
(33:21):
Southwest. I spent every summerfor 15 through 35 attending or
working for a music festivalcalled Cornerstone. We talked
about that festival in one ofour first episodes, and it's
worth going back and listening.
I helped run their mediacoverage and as I was getting
settled in Austin, I leveragedthose skills to start
(33:41):
volunteering with theproduction team at South By the
biggest perk of volunteering isthat you get a badge to the
festival. I was pretty brokeand still am so honestly it's
good deal. It was a couplethousand bucks whiling away my
volunteer hours in the editsuite. I asked if I could make
some graphics for what we weredoing. Again, I'm not getting
(34:01):
paid, so the supervisor said,sure, sounds great. When I made
a new motion design reel, Iused those graphics I'd done
for South by and when theRooster Teeth people found it,
they were super excited thatthey had found a title designer
who had quote , done workunquote for South By . They
thought the work wasparticularly prestigious when
it was really just me beingallowed to make cool things. We
(34:24):
never know what thing is gonnalead to the next thing. If we
go into a situation and try tobe helpful and bring our best,
generally, that pays off downthe line, and even if it
doesn't, you can feel good thatyou're able to help in a
situation and solve a problem.
Now, think about your ownunique set of skills. How can
(34:46):
you strategically use them tonavigate your professional
landscape? Remember the mostunconventional methods, those
are often the ones that couldbe the key to your success.
Section
The Voice of God (34:58):
Four, happy endings.
Brian Behm (35:02):
It wouldn't be a heist movie if they didn't
somehow get away with it at theend. Seeing the 2000 person
premiere of my SCU Teen Romanceat a grand and historic theater
called The Paramount here inAustin was the happy ending I'd
gotten into the scene and thatscene led to a lot of other
opportunities that film. Myfirst IMDB credit only came
(35:23):
after I was in my thirties. Ibeat myself up a lot for the
fact that I didn't achievenearly enough in my twenties. I
don't know if that's truethough. All the skill sets that
got put into play when we wereon the heist, they were things
that I picked up earlier on.
When I got my A DHD diagnosisat 42, I went through a similar
(35:43):
depressive moment, mourningwhat I could have accomplished.
My wife to her credit, told meto shut the hell up. Do you
know how much you accomplishedwithout knowing, and she did
have a point. I also had tothank the A DHD for the fact
that all the rabbit trails thatsent me down gave me the tool
chest I needed to pull off theheist. Once we moved here, we
(36:07):
are constantly moldingourselves into the next version
of who will become and on along enough timeline, a little
inflection from picking up anew skill can send us on an
entirely new adventure. Butwhat about the gatekeeping? Was
that the McGuffin of ouradventure the entire time? To
an extent, I'm not saying thatthere aren't gatekeepers out
(36:31):
there guarding domains out ofmisguided good intentions or
fear. The outsider, you can'thelp but look on something like
X or really Twitter before itbecame X and see that there's
gatekeepers out in the world.
But gatekeeping isn't always anexternal obstacle. Our brains
gatekeeper every day. It'sinternal. It's the mechanism to
(36:54):
cope with the overwhelmingflood of life stimuli. Take a
look at my A DHD experiencewhen it's acting up. I can't
filter. My struggle with A DHDis the internal gatekeeping.
It's like my brain isconstantly filtering a deluge
of stimuli. Sometimes it missesthe mark. This internal
(37:15):
struggle is pretty much amirror of the external
gatekeeping we often encounterin our creative journeys. I
take in every sound, every site, and fricking A , it's
overwhelming. Misophonia tooplays its part. Some sounds
that are innocuous to most candrive me to distraction. It's
(37:38):
not irritation or annoyance,but my brain's uncontrollable
response. My struggle with ADHD exemplifies internal
gatekeeping. You know, there'ssome fascinating science that's
been developing recently calledthe second law of
Photodynamics. Second law ofthermodynamics says that energy
can only become more chaoticentropy or stay the same
(38:02):
picture, ice becoming water andthen water becoming steam. The
least chaotic is ice, but as ittransforms, the molecules get
more and more disconnected. Butthe second law of info dynamics
in simple terms is the inverseof that. It suggests that
information systems become moreefficient over time. They shed
(38:25):
what's unnecessary. It's kindof like our creative process
where we constantly refine ourskills and focus and we become
more adept at overcomingobstacles. We can picture our
brains or our scenes whenthey're properly filtering to
get the central bit ofinformation that needs to be
focused on. Melvin vsan saw theevidence for intentional
(38:47):
mutation in his second law invirus DNA, but then he could
see the same patterns expandingever larger into the universe
as a whole. It was like to him,the universe was intentionally
making zip files of itselfhumorously. This also made him
say that he can't disprove theidea that we're living in a
simulation, whether we'reliving in the matrix or not,
(39:10):
like the way information systemstreamlined peak efficiency. We
as creatives also undergo aprocess of honing our skills,
shedding unnecessary doubts anddistractions to reach our full
potential. The first time youdo something, it feels rough,
right? My first podcast and my10th podcast are different
(39:31):
experiences. I'm more efficientat going through the process
and I have a better idea ofwhat I can cut out. That
adapting over time is ourgrowing and refining and
becoming more efficient. Idon't know if this ties into
the law, but have you heard thesaying about how you do what
the people around you do? JimRohn says you're the average of
(39:55):
the five people you spend themost time with. The heist of
breaking into the Austin filmscene was an intentional
discussion, was an intentionaldecision to be around people
who were making and not justconsuming film. I put myself in
the stream of that culture andfound myself adapting and
becoming more like the people Iwas around. Hopefully, some of
(40:19):
those people became more likeme, and as we build those
relationships, suddenly thegatekeepers stop paying as much
attention because suddenlyyou're not seen as an invading
virus to be filtered out. Youknow , thinking about all of
this, while I've been writingthe script, I , I realized that
(40:40):
every challenge, every instanceof gatekeeping, both internal
and external, was a chance togrow. Your journey's gonna be
unique, but every small stepcontributes to the larger
story. You have to embrace thechallenges as opportunities to
evolve. We can adopt the ElonMusk approach, metaphorically
(41:01):
speaking, and face ourgatekeepers and tell them where
to go. Bob, Bob, are you here ?
Just make sure you run yourrace. Focus on your story and
let the small personalvictories cascade into more
significant triumphs. Remember,the micro, the micro often
leads to the macro in the end.
(41:24):
It's about the art ofnavigating through around, and
sometimes even with thegatekeepers, both real and
imagined. But before we wrapup, let's translate the
insights into action. I wannachallenge you to apply the
strategies in your own artisticjourney. It's time for you to
plan your heist, and time foryou to navigate through your
(41:46):
own gatekeepers.
The Voice of God (41:49):
The call to action, the gatekeeper
challenge design your personalheist mission
Brian Behm (41:54):
This week. Your mission should you choose to
accept it, is the gatekeeperchallenge. I want you to
identify a scene or a communitythat you want to be a part of,
pinpoint the key individuals inthat scene. Then think about
one action you can take tostart building a connection
with that community. I'm notsaying it has to be complex. It
(42:16):
could be as simple as startinga conversation on social media,
attending a virtual event, orsharing your work in a forum
related to that scene. I wantyou to step outta your comfort
zone and make a move towardsyour goal. Email me at
nosis@nosisknows.com or tag meat Nosis knows on Instagram
with your action and progress.
(42:37):
Let's break down the gatestogether. Next episode. We're
gonna dig deeper into politics,but hang tight. It's more about
figuring out how to navigatewhen the politics don't
necessarily line up with thepeople you're spending your
time with. We'll be exploringthe tricky dance between our
art and our personal beliefs.
It's like trying to paint amasterpiece while walking a
(42:59):
tightrope. It's thrilling, butit's definitely challenging.
I've got some stories for you,like that time, my blue hair
made waves in the mostconservative spaces and the
post-election atmosphere atRooster Teeth . Trust me, it's
been a wild ride. But here'sthe real kicker. We're not just
sharing woes. We're talkingsolutions, talking strategies
(43:24):
and how to keep your artisticfire lit and burning. No matter
if someone's trying to pourwater on it. At the end of the
day, it's not about fittinginto a box, it's about breaking
out of it, creating somethinguniquely yours. Although,
ironically, as a designer, Italk a lot about how I need a
box to be able to design. Inworst thing in the world is
(43:46):
when somebody tells me that Ican do whatever I want. So I'm
always gonna be a set ofwalking contradictions, but go
with it. It it makes sensehere. I hope you'll check it
out. Also, please share theseepisodes with your friends. If
you've gotten something usefulout of it, share it so that we
can grow our little snarkrebellion. You can find me on
all of the social mediaplatforms at NosysKnows and the
(44:09):
shop store at nosysknows .com .
Above everything else though,always remember that there
The Voice of God (44:16):
Is no system.
There is no system is brought to you by no
system. Yes, we know thatsounds weird and redundant, but
you are just going to have togo with us on this. Stay tuned
for a special message from thissponsor later on in the
episode. Maybe I'll even hum.
You like humming, right? Hmm ?
No system your favorite or atleast one of your favorite
(00:20):
end-cap clothing brands seebeneath the surface and now
with no further fanfare, thereis no system. Enjoy
Brian Behm (00:32):
What's standing in the way of your artistic
journey. Remember, I I useartist in the broadest sense.
Is it personal doubt, thechallenging scene you're trying
to break into or let's say aGodzilla sized obstacle? If
it's really Godzilla, wellthat's a valid excuse, but on
the other hand, Welcome backfellow adventures, the vast
(00:55):
landscape that we callcreativity. My name's Brian
Beam and there is no system.
I'm an art director, designerand musician in the media space
in Austin, Texas. I'm alsocurrently the art director at
Emergent Order Foundation.
Curious about no system and theclothing and other things we
create. Dive into nosyknows.com to discover more.
(01:17):
Still getting my rhythm backwith the podcast and video
series and still getting myvoice back after being sick
this week, but stillcontemplating ideas for a
Patreon. Any suggestions orthoughts? Drop me a line at
nosis, at nosis knows.com . Inthe last episode, we made a
twist on intersectionality andlooked at it through a Venn
(01:39):
diagram of what makes usunique. We also talked about
epistemic humility. The ideathat we fully acknowledge we
could be persuaded to changeour ideas if we were given
better information. One givesus prism to see ourselves and
others and their uniqueness andthe other provides us with a
check to be able to correct ourprism. I think that a more
(02:02):
significant sense of who we arewill be the key to navigating
the gates, but I don't wannaspoil the ending.
The Voice of God (02:09):
There was no system. There is no system, no
system, no system. Episode 10,the artful infiltration,
cracking the code of creativegatekeeping. To know more about
no system, visit noy knows.com.
Brian Behm (02:38):
Today I want to treat navigating the
gatekeepers in a scene like aheist. I love heist movies. I
don't know if it's theplanning, seeing people have to
figure out how to work togetheror just watching it, how it
plays out, but I love seeingthe puzzle come together.
Fifties Announcer (02:56):
You're
Brian Behm (02:56):
Looking for recommendations. Two of my
favorites are the 1992 filmsneakers and the 2009 film M
Max . Max is a fantasy, revengeheist comedy by the director of
Amali Jean Pire Jue . It'slovely and weird like all good
Jue films are, but the filmthat I mainly want to talk
(03:17):
about is sneakers writtendirected by Phil Alden
Robinson. If you know his namefor anything, it's probably
Field of Dreams. It's apost-Cold war, spy oriented
heist film . And as much as Ilike Field of Dreams sneakers
is a much better movie. It'sstill saved for one thing they
couldn't even contemplate atthe time. Holds up haste movies
(03:40):
often focus on large ensembles.
Think about the team thatStephen Soderberg put together
for Oceans 11 and the sneakersEnsemble is fantastic. Robert
Redford, Sidney Poitier, DanAykroyd River, Phoenix, Ben
Kingsley, James Earl Jones,Donald Logue. It's completely
stacked. It's also got a filmscore that I've probably
(04:04):
listened to more than anyothers. It's not really
available save for YouTube, butit's lovely and it's worth a
listen. It's also stay tunedtill the end for a special
challenge. It's called theGatekeeper Challenge and it's
all about making your ownpersonal heist mission in the
creative world. So art andheist, not art heist . So
though they're a slew of thosefilms too, let's get started.
(04:26):
Section
The Voice of God (04:26):
One, identifying the target.
Brian Behm (04:29):
I'm not gonna tell you to stop the podcast and
read them, but I wanna give abig shout out to Charles Kan
and his three-part Anatomy of aHeist blog series. It'll be
linked in the show notes. Asmuch as I love heist films,
reading his thoughts on whatqualifies a film as a heist
goal was really beneficial.
Think of your artistic journeyas the plot of a heist movie.
(04:52):
What's the prized possessionyou're after? Is it a gallery
showing a published novel ormaybe your first album release?
You can't have a heist moviewithout having a singular goal,
something they're trying tosteal and one of the first
beats in the film has to bewhat the object is gonna be.
There might be multiple stepsin the process that feel like
(05:12):
mini goals , but the primarygoal, for example, is to get
away with stealing the crownjewels. In the 1999 remake of
the Thomas Ground affair, kannoticed the first act opens
with Pierce Brosnan eatingbreakfast in front of the Monet
He'll steal Later on in themovie. One of my life heists
was using connections to offermy VFX help on a film
(05:35):
adaptation of a book calledBlue like Jazz. I've always had
a philosophy that if I don'thave money to invest into
something that I care about, Icould try to invest my time
and, and I really wanted toinvest my time into that
adaptation. There's stories tobe told about that project, but
I want to take a look atsomething. Donald Miller, the
(05:55):
author of Blue Leg Jazz, wroteabout turning his abstract
journal into a narrative withan actual story arc in his
book, A million Miles in athousand years. Donald Miller
writes that a movie is one tinyglimpse into a timeline.
There's a distinct beginningand end. There's an entry point
to the story. For us, if we'relooking at this through a heist
(06:18):
movie, our entry point is wherewe're trying to go and at least
in terms of story, it's gottahave an ending. That means that
our goal, whichever one we'retrying to come up with, can't
be so nebulous that it'ssomething that encompasses our
entire career. We're looking atthis as a single project, our
current mission and like in anygood story, your artistic
(06:40):
journey has chapters. Whatchapter is it that you're
writing right now? What's thegoal of the chapter? What's
going on in your life right nowwhere you can clearly see
something that you wannaaccomplish? Maybe take a minute
to pause and think about yourown goals and as we dig through
the rest of the heist, it'llgive you a way to picture what
(07:02):
you're trying to steal. We'realso gonna be talking about
South by Southwest multipletimes. This episode, it's a big
festival here in Austin everyyear, and the beginning and end
of my blue like jazz heistwould be that the film
premiered at South bySouthwest. It'd be my second
film to be screened at our bighistorical theater in town.
Afterward, I'd be at dinnerwith the cast and crew
(07:23):
including Donald Miller, abeginning and an end. I really
wanted to work on blue likejazz, and then I made it to the
culmination of that project ina heist movie. That dinner
would be the equivalent ofdriving or sailing off into the
sunset. And just like myjourney with Bluelike Jazz,
think about your own artisticheist. What's your starting
(07:45):
point and what does driving offinto the sunset look like for
you?
The Voice of God (07:50):
Section two, next stop. Austin, Texas,
Brian Behm (07:53):
Almost 15 years ago, a few days before I turned
31, my wife and I moved toAustin. We started over for a
second time. We both grew up inthe suburbs of St . Paul and
moved to Colorado for workafter we got married. And when
we got to Texas, we knew ahandful of people, but no one
in the film community that wewanted to be a part of. I
(08:15):
remember getting together withour local friends for dinner
that first year and wonderingwhat 12 months of living in
Texas would do to my birthdayparty the next year. What was
it gonna be like and who wouldwe know? My primary goal was to
figure out how to become a partof the film community here.
That was my heist. We'd beenwatching everything happening
in Austin from a distance,mostly through the eyes of the
(08:37):
film blog. Ain't it cool news?
We'd met Harry Knowles who ranAin't It Cool a couple of
times, but but it really feltlike between what Robert
Rodriguez and RichardLinkletter were doing, what
Anna Kool was doing and whatthe Alamo Draft House was
putting on, that there wassomething happening in Austin
that we needed to be a part of,even though we'd visit when we
(08:58):
could, it became crystal clearthat we were gonna continue to
have regrets if we didn't tryto become a part of the
community that we'd come toadmire from a distance in
sneakers. There's a flashbacksequence when we discover the
inciting event that sent RobertRedford's character on the run
from the government. It's anessential beat in the movie
(09:18):
because it introduces us to,spoiler alert Ben Kingsley's
antagonist. For me, theflashback would be spending
time with Harry and his wifePatricia at a screening of
North by Northwest at MountRushmore. They were on their
honeymoon and following theAlamo Drafthouse rolling
roadshow around the country,we'd driven up from Colorado
because come on, it's north byNorthwest at Mount Rushmore. If
(09:41):
you haven't seen it, go watchthe film. Not now, but watch
it. One of our ways of stayingconnected to this Austin
community we're falling in lovewith was to do whatever we
could to get a dose of Austinfilm culture that year. The
closest this touring moviescreening was gonna get to
(10:04):
Colorado was South Dakota. Wewere feeling the FOMO of not
having driven to see the Alamoscreen close encounters of the
third kind at Devil's Tower. Sowe made the several hour trek
from Colorado just as we weredrawn to the Austin film scene.
Can you think about whereyou're feeling the magnetic
pole in your artistic journey?
(10:24):
How are you connecting withyour community or your field of
interest even before you arrivethat night? There were only
about 20 people who stayed forthe film. Honestly, that was
one of the reasons fortraveling in a way. It was
starting to do reconnaissanceand build connections that we
could work on more later. Wecould get higher quality time
(10:45):
with people that we wanted toknow than we would if we were
amongst a bigger crowd inAustin proper. If you're a
designer and there's a designerthat you want to know that will
be at a conference, think aboutattending. There's something
about meeting someone in personthat will always go beyond
meeting them via email orsocial media. The film that
(11:05):
evening was one of the mostextraordinary private
screenings I've ever attended.
I still look back on it withfond memories. Afterward we
went down to Keystone and hungout with the crew who were
traveling with the draft house. We talked all evening about
what it would be like to moveto Texas. You know, your goal
is gonna be different than whatmy goal was, but are there
(11:28):
similar moments where you getcloser to the thing you want in
your life, even if you're notquite there yet? If you're
writing a book, do you haveauthor friends who are also
writing? Breaking into a newscene is about more than just
showing up. It's aboutunderstanding the dynamics, the
people, and finding your uniqueentry point. Remember, it's not
(11:50):
just about being there, it'sabout being strategic and
intentional. Now let's flashforward. We've moved to get
closer to this community welove, but how are we gonna get
in? We were gonna have to stakeout the joint, do more
reconnaissance, and that's morethan just observing. It's about
(12:11):
understanding and finding ourplace in this new world.
The Voice of God (12:15):
Section three, doing our recon .
Brian Behm (12:18):
Going back to sneakers. Our friends have
stolen what they were asked tosteal, but they get double
crossed and there's a murderand our hero gets kidnapped.
Bishop Robert Redford'scharacter wakes up in a car
truck , he can hear soundsoutside the vehicle he is stuck
in, and when they arrive at hisdestination, Bishop fading in
and outta consciousness,discovered that he's being
(12:40):
framed by the old friend. Heabandoned now the fall guy,
he's knocked out again anddumped on the street where he'd
been taken. Now the team has toplan the real heist or go to
prison for something theydidn't do. Whew . Okay, that's
a long-winded way of getting toone of my favorite scenes in
the movie. David Strahan, whoplays a blind hacker named
(13:02):
Whistler, asked Bishop aboutthe sounds he heard. I'll let
scene play out. He
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:07):
Threw me in a trunk, drove around in
circles. It could be a hundredmiles away. It could be next
door, it could be underground,it could be in a sky, rise ,
forget it.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:13):
Bish. What did it sound like?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:15):
What
Whistler - Sneakers (13:16):
The road when you were in the trunk,
what ? What did the road soundlike?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:21):
Oh , I don't highway a regular
highway.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:24):
Well, did you go over any speed bumps? No
gravel. Uh , how about abridge?
Martin Bishop - Sneake (13:32):
Bridge?
Yeah. Four bridges in the Bayarea.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:36):
Was the Golden Gate fogged in last
night?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:39):
Yes.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:40):
Did you hear a fog horn ?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:43):
No.
Scratch the golden gate thatleaves three.
Whistler - Sneakers (13:49):
What did it sound like? Did you go
through a tunnel in the middle?
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (13:52):
I'm not, no. Scratch the bay. Well
that leaves two San Mateo andDunbarton.
Whistler - Sneakers (14:02):
What did it sound like?
Martin Bishop - Sneaker (14:07):
Lower.
Lower . There was a recurringsound
Speaker 6 (14:22):
Like
Whistler - Sneakers (14:23):
Seams in the
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Concrete
Martin Bishop - Sneakers (14:34):
But further apart.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Yeah,
Brian Behm (14:45):
So they didn't know where to go and they navigated
back to where they needed to goby using the unique skills they
had available. Whistler saw theworld differently because he
was blind. That meant that heknew the sonic questions to ask
Bishop that could lead them inthe right direction. They knew
where he had left from, sothere were only a small number
(15:07):
of options to get them headeddown their path. For me, I'm a
researcher, call it my A DHDsuperpower, but I will rabbit
hole into something with thebest of anyone. I didn't know
how to break into the filmcommunity here, but I knew that
if I were gonna figure it out,I needed a map or a schematic.
If you're a pirate
Pirate (15:27):
Pirate's life for me,
Brian Behm (15:29):
You need a treasure map and if you're a bank thief,
you might need the buildingplans . For me, I needed a
social map of the community. Inthe clip, Whistler had access
to noise generators andsequencers that let him find
the sonic signature of thebridge. Bishop had crossed the
tool that I had available wasTwitter or X . Still can't get
(15:50):
used to that. Side note, I dowanna admit that there's an
aspect to this next story thatinvolves something adjacent to
social engineering andinformation security. Social
engineering involvespsychologically manipulating
individuals into performingspecific actions or revealing
confidential information. Ineffective social engineering,
(16:10):
the target often doesn'trealize they've been
manipulated. Unlike astraightforward con, social
engineering is typically one ofthe first steps in a larger,
more complex scheme. It'sessentially about influencing
and tricking people into makingdecisions that might not
necessarily line with theirbest interests. It's important
to clarify that my use ofTwitter for networking within
(16:33):
the film community wasethically grounded. I wasn't
getting anyone to shareanything, I was just using the
information that was alreadypublicly available and then
carefully listening, I justwanted to connect and engage
with people in the industry andlearning about people ahead of
time allowed me to go in withas much knowledge as I could
gather. And for me, I knew thatit would be mutually
(16:54):
beneficial. I was a designer,it was sort of smart and sort
of funny, and I thought therewere things I could offer them
that would make their lifericher. They weren't getting
robbed, they were gettingbrined . I guess instead of
deception, they wereencountering genuine
engagement. Getting Bryantmeant forming a real connection
based on shared interests andpotential collaboration. It was
(17:18):
sort of like I was my ownoperator. Like Batman has
Alfred talking to his ear. Ihad myself telling me about the
upcoming mission specifics. Solet's break down what I had
available. Just like we wereplotting our heist, I knew who
the primary bloggers from,ain't It Cool , were usefully.
Their Twitter handles were thesame as what their Ain't a cool
(17:39):
writer name was and more thanone of them lived in Austin.
Felt like I didn't necessarilyhave the social standing to go
directly to these bloggers. Youknow, I didn't always have the
most self-confidence at thetime they were public figures.
Sure I could be friendly andsay hi to movie , but was there
an easier way? How could I earnthe trust of higher status
(18:02):
people? Well, for one, I couldget to know the people they
interact with, the proverbialsecurity guard at the bank or
the bank teller. The cool thingwas that Twitter did that you
could easily see who someonewas replying to and determine
whether that person was inAustin. And once you discovered
that if they followed eachother, you could start to piece
(18:23):
together the people that theywere interacting with. Work
your way backward, looking atthe Austin people they interact
with, and you could start topiece together a map of a good
chunk of the socialrelationships that revolved
around the Alamo in a cool andthe film community. So what's
our takeaway here? It's allabout the reconnaissance.
Understanding the landscapeyou're entering and the people
(18:45):
you're interacting with isn'tjust about observing, but truly
understanding and finding yourplace. Something you wanna keep
in mind is you're navigatingyour own scene. So once I had
that social map, there's a muchlower barrier to start
following someone on Twitterversus friending them on
something like Facebook.
Facebook was personal. Yougenerally needed a relationship
(19:07):
to connect with someone there.
Twitter was the wild west. As Istarted interacting when I was
at a movie, I could talk topeople afterward and say, oh
hey, by the way, I'm BeamCreative on Twitter. It would
gimme a slightly warmerconnection to build from,
particularly if we'd tradedmessages back and forth. Even
better, when you met someone inperson at a film event, it
(19:28):
would make it richer when you'dengaged later on on Twitter. It
wasn't an overnight tactic, butwe quickly became familiar with
the people we wanted to knowand started to build
acquaintanceships andfriendships. If you're paying
attention and reading betweenthe lines, you can glean a lot
about someone by how theyinteract online, and that's
beyond them sharing theiropinion on whatever movie
(19:50):
happened to come out that week.
Salespeople use a lot of thesame tactics when they have a
sales call. They'll putinformation about the meeting
into a database so that thenext time they meet that
person, they can ask aboutsomeone's kids or if they
brought up their love golf, howtheir golf game's been, makes
people feel seen, wow, I shouldbuy from this person because
they're really paying attentionto me. I was doing the same
(20:12):
thing, but with social media,if you're a designer trying to
get a job at a studio going inthrough the front door, it's
not the best option. You'regonna be competing with 8,000
other people when a job postinggets listed. But a significant
number of jobs don't even everget listed. If you participate
in user groups in yourcommunity like A IGA or
(20:34):
Independently organized Meetup,you might run into someone who
knows someone who works at theagency you wanna work at. You
might be able to meet thatperson they know and if you
befriend them, you might be theone they call on to help with
some project. That guy who'sthe creative director at the
agency, he's gonna be hard tomeet, but the junior designer,
they're gonna be flattered ifyou start asking them design
(20:55):
questions and being interestedin their story, it's gonna be
your way in the door. Summarizeall of this. It's key to
understand the social landscapearound you. It's not just about
having the right tools likeTwitter in my case, but also
about using them strategicallyto build relationships and make
meaningful connections. So nowthat we're in the door of the
bank or film scene and havemade our connections, we need
(21:19):
to strategize about theapproach and execute our plan
after the break. Let's uncoverhow to make the most of our
groundwork
Fifties Announcer (21:31):
In today's hustle and bustle. You don't
necessarily know who to trust.
Can you even trust anyone?
Well, at no system, you cantrust us for high quality
apparel that will speak to yourinner anarcho capitalist . We
have the things that you neverknew you needed at prices that
are still on the right side ofhyperinflation. We can't
promise you that you'll be ascool as little Johnny down the
(21:52):
street, which you'll definitelybe cooler than you were before.
You had no system apparel,whether it's our bad asses of
thought and action collectionwhere punk meets Austrian
economics or our fun andamusing death metal logos.
They've got things that willtake you a wardrobe and make it
at least 12.5% cooler. Actualstatistics are not available.
(22:13):
You're just going to have totrust the disembodied voice.
You know, your propagandizedmind likes to trust anonymous
authority voices coming out ofthe, either I'm not even alive
and I trust the voice. Ofcourse the voice is me, but who
am I really? This year, I'mparticularly fond of the Too
long didn't read Death Metallogo, t-shirt and the you know
(22:33):
more than you think you do,glitch shirt. We've also still
got the classic, not greater orless than design . Visit noy
nos.com to see the collection,see beneath the surface and get
your new clothing from yourfriendly no system.
Fifties Announcer Humming (22:56):
Ooh , ooh ,
Fifties Announcer (22:59):
There is no system. Join the Snark
Rebellion and pick up your newclothing today. No system.
Brian Behm (23:08):
So we've started to do our reconnaissance and we
know who the people are aroundus. Now we need to get into the
building, like we mentioned,can't walk in the front door,
right? Well, not without somekind of disguise anyways,
mission Impossible. Moviesaren't technically heist
movies, but there's a heist inthe movie Ghost Protocol that I
(23:29):
love. Even Hunt and Simon Pegscharacter use a projection
screen to navigate a Russianhallway without being seen. It
tracks the eyes of the gardenas he moves, it animates the
projection on the screen. So itseems like his perspective is
the same. We need to figure outhow to use the tools and
special skills that we have.
Those skills are gonna be ourteam. A heist isn't just about
(23:52):
watching and waiting, it'sabout action and making
careful, but bold moves insneakers when they're stealing
back the box. There's bothmotion sensors and heat sensors
in the room where it's beingkept. The team ends up having
to hack the thermostat to raisethe room to body temperature,
and our thief very carefullymoves at a speed that won't
(24:13):
trigger the sensor. For us.
Volunteering our skills andoffering a helping hand is like
finding the secret passage intothe vault. It's about showing
up, not just online, but in theflesh. And when you do, you
bring your unique skills like akey card to those previously
locked doors. A friend justyesterday was having issues
(24:35):
with the color of her video onInstagram. That's something
that I've run into and I hadsome semblance of an answer, so
I passed it on. It generallyjust doesn't do any good to
keep knowledge to yourself. Oneof the reasons our parents have
pushed college has been becausethe diploma became a security
key card into the door of anorganization. You'd unlock a
(24:58):
better life. Yeah, you'd alsolearn and become more
well-rounded, but it's thediploma if you're self
motivated and learning.
Anyways, I'm a dropout. I'vegot an associate of arts and
broadcasting and several yearsof college and all of those
were spread out across multipledegrees because I had
undiagnosed A DHD. And now thatI look back on those years, a
(25:22):
lot of things make a lot moresense. As important as a
diploma could be. The networkof people that you went through
school with is potentially,actually not even potentially.
It is more valuable aftercollege. Everyone goes off in a
different direction and leaveswarm connections in many new
(25:44):
areas. Having relocated beforeI completed my degree, I didn't
have that. Have you heard thatcliche? It's all about who you
know. It's generalization, butthe reality is that it's all
about who you loosely know. Theacquaintances end up being more
beneficial. A 2022 HarvardBusiness Review article
(26:06):
investigated whether strongconnections, your family, your
close friends or weakconnections were more helpful
in transitioning to a new job.
It's not the art scene we'retrying to break into, but it is
a useful analogy. Theirdiscovery. Testing the
hypothesis of a 1973 paper onthe strength of weak ties used
(26:27):
LinkedIn connections on who youmay know to study, whether the
earlier papers hypothesis couldbe confirmed. It turns out that
it could. Here's MarkGranovetter, the author of the
original study, talking abouthis discoveries. A lot
Mark Granovetter (26:41):
Of times when people would tell me that they
found their job through someonethey knew, I would say to them,
oh, so you found the jobthrough a friend and over and
over again, people wouldcorrect me and say, no, no, no,
not a friend, just anacquaintance. Just an
acquaintance. When you hangaround with your best friends,
they tend to know each otherand you form a clique with
them. Uh , and their bestfriends are kind of the same as
(27:03):
your best friends. So if youwant new information, if you
want to be clued in on thelatest styles or trends or
information , uh, then youought to go to your weak talks
. Your seventh and eighth bestfriends, they're in different
circles from your circle andthey connect you to the , to
those other circles in a , in asense, they are your windows on
the world.
Brian Behm (27:22):
My social networking map ended up being
more valuable because a lot ofthe people that I was meeting
were still acquaintances. Theybecame one of the tools I could
leverage with the other toolsor members of the heist team.
One of those loose connectionswas my friend Emily Hagens.
Here's Harry Knowles.
Introducing Emily at South bySouthwest in 2011.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
Oh man, this is Stan p . About a decade ago I
got an email from Peter Jackson, uh, say that he had gotten a
letter from a mother in Austin, uh, named Megan Hagens, who
said that she had this littledaughter that , uh, wanted to
be a filmmaker and Peter said,Hey, look , uh, she's in your
(28:07):
town , why don't you, you know,help her out. I hardly did
anything, but the great thingthat's happened was over the
past 10 years has been myprivilege to get to know and
watch Emily Hagens sort oflearn as a filmmaker . More
than that, though, the thingthat has been really
extraordinary about living inAustin for the past decade, the
(28:29):
the Hagens era , um, is doesthat , is that we, we've gotten
to see an entire community sortof , uh, gather around , uh,
the vision of Emily Hagens andtry to help her in the best
ways to achieve harder andharder visions that she has
(28:51):
that she's wanting to get uponto the screen.
Brian Behm (28:54):
At the time I mostly knew of her. There's a
documentary called Zombie Girlabout her making a feature link
zombie film at age 13. When Imet her, she was still in high
school and working on her thirdfeature. Yet that feeling that
you're feeling about being onaccomplished, that is
definitely the same feelingthat I had. A friend
(29:15):
freelancing for me at the timewas working as a producer on
this newest film, my Sucky TeenRomance. It was at the height
of the Twilight Craze and thefilm is about vampires hiding
out at a sci-fi convention. Imean, we're better to be out in
the open as a vampire becauseit was a vampire film. They ran
into the issue of needing tofigure out how to remove
reflections from a mirror. Theyalso didn't have anyone who
(29:38):
could do the work because myfriend Paul, the producer, was
working with me. He knew that Imight be able to solve their
problem and what started as ahandful of shots ended up
ballooning into dozensthroughout the production.
'cause I've done a lot ofthings in my career. I picked
up a lot of random skills and Iwas able to use them on the
film for a whole myriad ofother things. My favorite piece
(30:00):
that I worked on on that filmwas a set of postcard sized
bubblegum trading cards. Thosecards, God, they're one of my
favorite silly projects. One ofmy calling cards, no pun
intended, is that , uh, I lovedoing the extravagant thing. It
can sometimes take somethingthat's just work and make it
into art. In anime animatorscall these moments Kuga , where
(30:26):
they bring all of their energyto a specific shot. You know,
most anime is shot on twos orshot on threes, and that means
that it's, it's shot at either12 frames per second or eight
frames per second. Japaneseanimation as a style is
designed to be cheap to make inthese moments of kuga , they in
a lot of cases, will end upgoing in and hand animating
(30:49):
every frame, and so you go fromeight frames per second to all
of a sudden these beautifulcouple of seconds that are like
24 frames per second, theybring all of their energy to a
specific shot instead of justanimating the mouth that's
moving. Maybe they carefullyhand animate a perfect
explosion or the way a muscleripples in an arm. It's the
(31:09):
type of thing that can shine alight on the thing that you're
spotlighting even brighter. Iwas asked to do visual effects
work, and I did, but the cardswere the unexpected gift where
I was also able to help themarketing and surprise and
delight the filmmakers and thepeople that we got to give them
to. The most effective thingyou can do is to find the
moment where you can go aboveand beyond for someone. Keep
(31:33):
your eyes open to places andsituations where you might be
able to help. I should alsomention that design helped the
film get finished. I submittedmy poster to a contest that a
plugin manufacturer called RedGiant was having to get set
dressing for a film they wereshooting. A lot of film people
aren't designers, and myposters stood out about the
(31:54):
other things that had beensubmitted that drew their
curiosity and they eventuallyended up gifting us software
that we were able to use to payother VFX artists to finish the
picture. I talked earlier abouthow my social media
reconnaissance was aboutknowing that I could make their
lives better. This is the exactkind of thing that I was
talking about. I saw that therewere needs the team had and
(32:16):
'cause I had built arelationship, I was able to
step in when that situationhappened. When you put yourself
into the same situations, youcan be there to help solve
someone else's problem. Sidenote, the bright side to doing
silly and extravagant things, Igot to give Guillermo del Toro
a pack of the trading cardssouth by Southwest that year.
(32:37):
More importantly, the aftermathof my Psych Teen Romance is
that it led to pretty mucheverything else that's happened
for me in Austin since then.
Not too long after the film, Igot asked to do VFX work for a
short film with a director whowas friends with Emily. He'd
seen my work and he wasimpressed that director and his
writing partner were friendswith the people at Rooster
(32:58):
Teeth . They're the peoplebehind the Halo based Machinima
series, red Versus Blue. Thoseloose connections led to a
referral to help them with VFXand the referral got me in the
door, but it was a bit ofunintentional deception that
got me the job. One of theother bits of recon I did when
I first moved to Austin was tovolunteer for South by
(33:21):
Southwest. I spent every summerfor 15 through 35 attending or
working for a music festivalcalled Cornerstone. We talked
about that festival in one ofour first episodes, and it's
worth going back and listening.
I helped run their mediacoverage and as I was getting
settled in Austin, I leveragedthose skills to start
(33:41):
volunteering with theproduction team at South By the
biggest perk of volunteering isthat you get a badge to the
festival. I was pretty brokeand still am so honestly it's
good deal. It was a couplethousand bucks whiling away my
volunteer hours in the editsuite. I asked if I could make
some graphics for what we weredoing. Again, I'm not getting
(34:01):
paid, so the supervisor said,sure, sounds great. When I made
a new motion design reel, Iused those graphics I'd done
for South by and when theRooster Teeth people found it,
they were super excited thatthey had found a title designer
who had quote , done workunquote for South By . They
thought the work wasparticularly prestigious when
it was really just me beingallowed to make cool things. We
(34:24):
never know what thing is gonnalead to the next thing. If we
go into a situation and try tobe helpful and bring our best,
generally, that pays off downthe line, and even if it
doesn't, you can feel good thatyou're able to help in a
situation and solve a problem.
Now, think about your ownunique set of skills. How can
(34:46):
you strategically use them tonavigate your professional
landscape? Remember the mostunconventional methods, those
are often the ones that couldbe the key to your success.
Section
The Voice of God (34:58):
Four, happy endings.
Brian Behm (35:02):
It wouldn't be a heist movie if they didn't
somehow get away with it at theend. Seeing the 2000 person
premiere of my SCU Teen Romanceat a grand and historic theater
called The Paramount here inAustin was the happy ending I'd
gotten into the scene and thatscene led to a lot of other
opportunities that film. Myfirst IMDB credit only came
(35:23):
after I was in my thirties. Ibeat myself up a lot for the
fact that I didn't achievenearly enough in my twenties. I
don't know if that's truethough. All the skill sets that
got put into play when we wereon the heist, they were things
that I picked up earlier on.
When I got my A DHD diagnosisat 42, I went through a similar
(35:43):
depressive moment, mourningwhat I could have accomplished.
My wife to her credit, told meto shut the hell up. Do you
know how much you accomplishedwithout knowing, and she did
have a point. I also had tothank the A DHD for the fact
that all the rabbit trails thatsent me down gave me the tool
chest I needed to pull off theheist. Once we moved here, we
(36:07):
are constantly moldingourselves into the next version
of who will become and on along enough timeline, a little
inflection from picking up anew skill can send us on an
entirely new adventure. Butwhat about the gatekeeping? Was
that the McGuffin of ouradventure the entire time? To
an extent, I'm not saying thatthere aren't gatekeepers out
(36:31):
there guarding domains out ofmisguided good intentions or
fear. The outsider, you can'thelp but look on something like
X or really Twitter before itbecame X and see that there's
gatekeepers out in the world.
But gatekeeping isn't always anexternal obstacle. Our brains
gatekeeper every day. It'sinternal. It's the mechanism to
(36:54):
cope with the overwhelmingflood of life stimuli. Take a
look at my A DHD experiencewhen it's acting up. I can't
filter. My struggle with A DHDis the internal gatekeeping.
It's like my brain isconstantly filtering a deluge
of stimuli. Sometimes it missesthe mark. This internal
(37:15):
struggle is pretty much amirror of the external
gatekeeping we often encounterin our creative journeys. I
take in every sound, every site, and fricking A , it's
overwhelming. Misophonia tooplays its part. Some sounds
that are innocuous to most candrive me to distraction. It's
(37:38):
not irritation or annoyance,but my brain's uncontrollable
response. My struggle with ADHD exemplifies internal
gatekeeping. You know, there'ssome fascinating science that's
been developing recently calledthe second law of
Photodynamics. Second law ofthermodynamics says that energy
can only become more chaoticentropy or stay the same
(38:02):
picture, ice becoming water andthen water becoming steam. The
least chaotic is ice, but as ittransforms, the molecules get
more and more disconnected. Butthe second law of info dynamics
in simple terms is the inverseof that. It suggests that
information systems become moreefficient over time. They shed
(38:25):
what's unnecessary. It's kindof like our creative process
where we constantly refine ourskills and focus and we become
more adept at overcomingobstacles. We can picture our
brains or our scenes whenthey're properly filtering to
get the central bit ofinformation that needs to be
focused on. Melvin vsan saw theevidence for intentional
(38:47):
mutation in his second law invirus DNA, but then he could
see the same patterns expandingever larger into the universe
as a whole. It was like to him,the universe was intentionally
making zip files of itselfhumorously. This also made him
say that he can't disprove theidea that we're living in a
simulation, whether we'reliving in the matrix or not,
(39:10):
like the way information systemstreamlined peak efficiency. We
as creatives also undergo aprocess of honing our skills,
shedding unnecessary doubts anddistractions to reach our full
potential. The first time youdo something, it feels rough,
right? My first podcast and my10th podcast are different
(39:31):
experiences. I'm more efficientat going through the process
and I have a better idea ofwhat I can cut out. That
adapting over time is ourgrowing and refining and
becoming more efficient. Idon't know if this ties into
the law, but have you heard thesaying about how you do what
the people around you do? JimRohn says you're the average of
(39:55):
the five people you spend themost time with. The heist of
breaking into the Austin filmscene was an intentional
discussion, was an intentionaldecision to be around people
who were making and not justconsuming film. I put myself in
the stream of that culture andfound myself adapting and
becoming more like the people Iwas around. Hopefully, some of
(40:19):
those people became more likeme, and as we build those
relationships, suddenly thegatekeepers stop paying as much
attention because suddenlyyou're not seen as an invading
virus to be filtered out. Youknow , thinking about all of
this, while I've been writingthe script, I , I realized that
(40:40):
every challenge, every instanceof gatekeeping, both internal
and external, was a chance togrow. Your journey's gonna be
unique, but every small stepcontributes to the larger
story. You have to embrace thechallenges as opportunities to
evolve. We can adopt the ElonMusk approach, metaphorically
(41:01):
speaking, and face ourgatekeepers and tell them where
to go. Bob, Bob, are you here ?
Just make sure you run yourrace. Focus on your story and
let the small personalvictories cascade into more
significant triumphs. Remember,the micro, the micro often
leads to the macro in the end.
(41:24):
It's about the art ofnavigating through around, and
sometimes even with thegatekeepers, both real and
imagined. But before we wrapup, let's translate the
insights into action. I wannachallenge you to apply the
strategies in your own artisticjourney. It's time for you to
plan your heist, and time foryou to navigate through your
(41:46):
own gatekeepers.
The Voice of God (41:49):
The call to action, the gatekeeper
challenge design your personalheist mission
Brian Behm (41:54):
This week. Your mission should you choose to
accept it, is the gatekeeperchallenge. I want you to
identify a scene or a communitythat you want to be a part of,
pinpoint the key individuals inthat scene. Then think about
one action you can take tostart building a connection
with that community. I'm notsaying it has to be complex. It
(42:16):
could be as simple as startinga conversation on social media,
attending a virtual event, orsharing your work in a forum
related to that scene. I wantyou to step outta your comfort
zone and make a move towardsyour goal. Email me at
nosis@nosisknows.com or tag meat Nosis knows on Instagram
with your action and progress.
(42:37):
Let's break down the gatestogether. Next episode. We're
gonna dig deeper into politics,but hang tight. It's more about
figuring out how to navigatewhen the politics don't
necessarily line up with thepeople you're spending your
time with. We'll be exploringthe tricky dance between our
art and our personal beliefs.
It's like trying to paint amasterpiece while walking a
(42:59):
tightrope. It's thrilling, butit's definitely challenging.
I've got some stories for you,like that time, my blue hair
made waves in the mostconservative spaces and the
post-election atmosphere atRooster Teeth . Trust me, it's
been a wild ride. But here'sthe real kicker. We're not just
sharing woes. We're talkingsolutions, talking strategies
(43:24):
and how to keep your artisticfire lit and burning. No matter
if someone's trying to pourwater on it. At the end of the
day, it's not about fittinginto a box, it's about breaking
out of it, creating somethinguniquely yours. Although,
ironically, as a designer, Italk a lot about how I need a
box to be able to design. Inworst thing in the world is
(43:46):
when somebody tells me that Ican do whatever I want. So I'm
always gonna be a set ofwalking contradictions, but go
with it. It it makes sensehere. I hope you'll check it
out. Also, please share theseepisodes with your friends. If
you've gotten something usefulout of it, share it so that we
can grow our little snarkrebellion. You can find me on
all of the social mediaplatforms at NosysKnows and the
(44:09):
shop store at nosysknows .com .
Above everything else though,always remember that there
The Voice of God (44:16):
Is no system.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.