TOM HANKS ON WORK ETHIC
“I honestly didn’t think I had any options to do anything differently. I followed the natural progression of the river, and i just took me where it was going to take me. I wanted to learn the work ethic. And I learned it from the actors at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland. I saw how dedicated they were. I saw that it was a life for them. They were never quitters. They were never bitter. They never thought, ‘That bastard got that part.’ In the course of having beers or sitting around waiting for our entrances or just trying to do something on Monday, our one day off, I saw that this is a twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week, 365-day yearlong life.”
– Tom Hanks, excerpted from Rolling Stone, 40th Anniversary Issue, 11.15.07
We think that Mr. Hanks is merely taking about the spirit of dedication, because clearly, taking Monday off is not a seven-day-a-week, 364-day yearlong life. Nevertheless, we are looking for these kinds of dedicated filmmakers to be a part of the Alpha Company team. And except on distant location shoots, we like to have our weekends for the other side of things…
November 27, 2007 at 1:08 am
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy reading this refreshing school of thought. Things really do need to change in the business. Thanks for sticking your neck out.
April 18, 2008 at 12:17 am
Great comment from Tom Hanks. It speaks the kind of work we can do when we’re committed and inspired, to the point where it doesn’t feel like work.
And it’s nice to have the choice whether to work on the weekends or not!
-db