Patience

More than anything else, I value patience. This industry can be brutal sometimes with schedules, long days, and overwhelming working conditions. Because of these obstacles, people can get frustrated and snappy on set. I believe that, in these moments, it is incredibly valuable and effective to be patient with your peers. Explain things effectively and properly, ask nicely, and communicate meaningfully. I promise, if done with patience, the rest of your crew will respect and appreciate you. We are all learning at different paces, and it is important to enable people’s growth, not to discourage it.

Passion

Among that, I value someone’s passion. Passion takes many forms; one can be passionate about their craft. I for one love learning about new lighting tools and technology, and because of my interest in technical things, I have taken great joy in learning about everything the set lighting world encapsulates. One can also be passionate about the project, for maybe they resonate with the themes or connect deeply with one of the characters. Maybe one is just passionate about making a decent living and providing for themselves and their loved ones. In any case, show me that you have a passion because it radiates throughout the whole set.

Kindness

What are we without each other in this industry? Hundreds of people all collaborating to tell one story; one that hopefully even just one person can attach to and pull something meaningful out of it. If we aren’t kind to each other than we lose that hope, because at that point we don’t want to come to work and instead, we resent it. We lose that drive and that desire to say something great because one person is an asshole and makes us want to stay home. Kindness alone can completely change how effective a person is on set. If we are all kind to each other, then we can all tell a meaningful story together.