“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
T. E. Lawrence
Last week, we talked about “dreaming until the end.” This topic has been with me throughout the whole week. Right now, I’m standing at Munich Airport, waiting for my flight to Los Angeles. There, I will spend a week with my mentors Peggy and Phil, who are helping to move my dream forward. By the way, Phil has believed in me since my very first film idea. “Norman is probably the biggest optimist I have ever met in my life.” These words from the mouth of an Oscar-winning Hollywood producer.
Phil had a dream years ago too. When our mutual mentor Bob Proctor asked him what he really wanted, Bob asked, “Phil, do you want an Oscar?” And Phil nodded. A few years later, this dream was completed. The Oscar now sits on Phil’s desk. And it’s not alone, as a Tony and an Emmy joined it as well. That’s why, in 2018, someone created a small statistic about Phil and his achievements.
Phil’s Oscar Stats:
Number of professional filmmakers worldwide in 2018: approx. 3,500,000
Number of feature films released in 2018: 12,198
Number of films that competed for Oscars in 2018: 341
Number of Oscars awarded annually: 24
A person is 3.83 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to win an Oscar. 🙂
The odds of winning an Oscar are about the same as the odds of finding a pearl in an oyster.
Since the awards began in 1930, a total of 3,072 Oscars have been awarded. Of these, only 26 people have also won an Emmy and a Tony. That’s less than 1 percent.
At the beginning of our collaboration, Phil told me something that I still keep in mind today. “Norman, until you believe in yourself, borrow my belief in you.” Bob borrowed his belief to Phil. And Phil borrowed his belief to me. Can you offer this gift to someone? Your belief in another person’s dream? Because sometimes, we believe in someone from the outside more than they believe in themselves on the inside. Lend this person your belief in them until they have the courage to believe in themselves.
I wish you an amazing week. And for me, it’s now: “Hollywood, here I come.”
Best regards, and hasta la vista, baby. I’ll be back.