If You Can’t Be Trusted With Little Things, No One Can Help You With Big Things.
Low-level grumpy work can be demoralizing, but there is a good reason to do it well anyway. If the people you work with don’t think you can handle coffee making, they probably won’t take responsibility for big projects.
This is a message from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Even if you’ve never heard of Kevin Feige, it’s hard not to notice his work on the world’s largest franchise . Before he headed Marvel, however, he was rejected five times from the University of Southern California film school before eventually enrolling. After that, he spent years low-level producing films such as Volcano and You’ve Got Mail before finally getting a hiatus as an associate producer on the X-Men.
Feige gave the aforementioned opening speech to USC where he explains how important this early work was. It was ugly to bring coffee or walk the dogs, but it proved he was up to the task. Of course, not every boss will appreciate your commitment to flawless TPS reports, but everyone notices when you do them poorly. Even if you feel that some work is inferior to you or not worth the effort, by doing your best, you will become the person other people want to work with.
Kevin Feige: UC Mary Pickford School of Motion Picture Arts Alumni Award | USC