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February 13, 2005
The Fine Line
This month I reached a dream that was conceived 26 years ago. An animated video series to help kids deal with issues they face on a daily basis. The first three videos (“How To Do Homework Without Throwing Up”, “Bullies Are A Pain In The Brain” and “What On Earth Do You DO When Someone Dies?” ) are now available at www.TrevorRomain.com/shop
I am so thrilled and excited about the series, but there’s a fine line between sharing my success and appearing to blow one’s own trumpet. I thought long and hard about whether to announce that my series was for sale on my blog, because I am trying to keep this environment real, honest and down to earth. I finally decided to mention it after realizing that sharing is what blogging is all about.
I’ve shared the completion of this dream. Now I’d like to share the beginning…
Like most kids, I had big dreams. I wanted to play rugby for the Springboks. I wanted to be the fifth Beatle. I wanted to be a movie star. But most of all I wanted to write and illustrate children’s books and I wanted to make animated movies. These dreams became obsessions. They became distractions. They became my passion.
When I completed my military training twenty– six years ago I was ready to make my dreams come true, but I had no clue where to start. I stood at the open door leading to the rest of my life and I didn’t know where to go.
Luckily my father knew a man named Ivor Abelheim who had just started a new advertising agency. Ivor was a well renowned Creative Director and he agreed to let me interview with the agency only because he knew my dad.
I spent weeks making a small portfolio to showcase my creative ideas. (I never went to art school, so I had no clue what a portfolio was supposed to look like.) The portfolio looked good though and I was proud of it.
On the morning of the interview I woke up to find that my car had been broken into and that my portfolio had been stolen. (Along with Elton John’s Yellow Brick Road, the only eight-track cassette tape I had.)
I scrambled and spent the morning hastily re-creating my portfolio. I finished putting it together just before the interview. When I walked into Bridge Advertising Agency, the glue was still wet.
A harried Ivor Abelheim invited me into his office. He had that “I’m doing this for your father” look on his face.
“Tell me a little about yourself.” He said.
“Well, I think working for you will help me get the grounding and creative discipline I need to help me reach my dreams,” I said.
“Uh-huh,” he said, sighing. I can swear I saw him roll his eyes. “And what are those dreams?”
“I want to be an artist, a writer and I want to do an animated television series for kids.” I said.
“You and every one else,” he replied.
“I’m a little different,” I said, smiling.
“How so?”
“Most people give up on their dreams when things don’t go their way. I’m the opposite. For some reason I get energized and more determined to succeed when I face hurdles.”
“Mmmm,” he mumbled, tossing the pages of my portfolio onto the table.
“You are actually the worst applicant that has applied for this position. What were you thinking? I mean cutting things out of magazines and pasting them together. Kids do that kind of crap. What did you learn at art school?”
“Absolutely nothing,” I replied. “I wasn’t accepted at art school because they said I wasn’t talented enough.”
“Apparently,” he said.
“I had some pretty good work to show you.” I said. “And I know this is not an excuse but my portfolio got stolen today and I only had a few hours to try and reconstruct…”
“The dog ate your homework, huh?” he interrupted.
“I just need a chance.” I said. “I think I will learn a lot from you. I also do windows.”
He ignored my statement. “This is just thrown together,” he said pointing at my work. “I can’t believe it. You cut pictures out of magazines. You hand-lettered the headlines. Badly, I might add. Let me say that if I were you, I’d forget about ever being an art director. Honestly.”
“I don’t want to be an art director”, I said.
“Then why the hell are you here? He asked. “You’re wasting my damn time, Trevor. I’m bloody busy…”
“I want to be a copywriter,” I said. “I made up the headlines for those ads. I didn’t know of any other way of getting in to see you because you’re not looking for any writers.”
He looked at me, then paged through the papers again, shaking his head.
“You’ve got a damn nerve,” he said.
“Well, I guess if you’re walking on thin ice, you might as well dance,” I muttered.
“You make that one up too?” he asked, looking up.
“Yeah,” I shrugged.
“This is pathetic,” he said, tossing the pile of papers on the table. “There is no way I can offer you the position.”
"Hey, that’s okay,” I said. “At least I got to talk to you, Mr. Abelheim, “And I learned something important today.”
“What’s that?” he said.
“That creativity is subjective.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you hated these ads,” I said. “But someone loved them enough to break into my car and steal ‘em.”
“When will you be available?” he said, looking up.
“Available for what?” I said, confused.
“To start work as a copywriter. These are some of the best headlines I’ve seen in a while.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, shaking his hand a little too enthusiastically.
“No, thank you,” he said, standing up, “for restoring my faith in dreamers.”
And so my journey began…
I am so happy I have reached one of my dreams. My video series is the next step in another dream to change the world for children. Join me.
Posted by trevor at February 13, 2005 10:11 AM