2012 – The year of ‘BRING IT!’

A few years back everyone was remarking what an awful year they had. From my memory it was 2008. I don’t think I met a single person that enjoyed ’08 and they were more than happy to bring in 2009.

People’s sentiments on 2011 were a little bit different. I’ve mostly heard people say that 2011 was a  pretty good year and they can’t wait to crank it up a notch in 2012. Maybe it has to do with who I’ve been hanging out with? Or our age?… Whatever the reason,  it appears there are a fair few people ready to ‘bring it’ in 2012.

I thought I’d put together a list of my own personal positive gems to start the year. I hope they inspire a few of you and please, feel free to share your own list by commenting on this post.

1. Be Savvy.

For some reason I haven’t finished a book in a few years. I have at least 30 books that I have read half of and lost interest in, leaving them to gather dust at various places around the house. Last night I finally finished a book, actually, let me re-phrase that – devoured a book. Dan Schawbel‘s Me 2.0 is a great read for anyone interested in Branding and Social Media. I loved it and for those of you scared of Facebook and Twitter, Dan makes social media palatable. Dan encourages his readers to lend ‘Me 2.0’ to friends but I can’t risk losing it. It’s definitely the kind of book you can refer back to; it’s literally overflowing with great websites and resources to make your online life more productive. So, I urge you to buy it, not borrow it from me! And I look forward to never having to show any of you (you know who you are) how to create a page or an event on Facebook ever again! 😉

2. Be Fearless.

If you’re itching  to go out on your own and take the plunge on that amazing idea of yours – do it! Having started my first business when I was 18, I sure learnt a lot on the job but now that I have changed paths and started afresh, I feel like I can do with all the help and support I can gather. I found this list that covers the books I have been told to read in the past and not so surprisingly, never got round to doing. I also wouldn’t mind adding two more that were suggested to me on Twitter just today – ‘Igniting your true purpose and passion’ By Michael Robert Fried and ‘Linchpin’ By Seth Godin.  I go by the motto ‘The bigger the risk the greater the reward’ and I’d like to thank ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’ By Susan Jeffers for reminding me that the only person in your way is you! I read that book many years ago and never forgot it’s message. No one is keeping a report card of your success or failure – just do it! I also recently discovered a great Web Series about Entrepeneur’s called ‘Trepping out’. If you’re more of a viewer then a reader, the trepping out webisodes are a great insight into the lives of people who took the plunge.

3. Be Inspired.

There are no excuses in life. I love being reminded  that anything is possible. It is ridiculously easy to be ready with a reason for your shortcomings. I found an amazing line in Barack Obama’s ‘Dreams from my father‘ years ago and at the time would regularly misquote it – so much so that now, I have well and truly butchered it. I have tried Googling and scanning the pages of the book to find the exact wording but I can’t. It basically went along the lines of – Don’t allow your reality to be shaped by how you believe others perceive you. This rung true for me because I was constantly looking at myself through the eyes of others, forever seeing all the reasons why it would be impossible for me to achieve my dreams. It’s very easy to believe that age, race, gender and upbringing can inhibit your success or at least throw some serious speed bumps on the road to fulfilment. We all have a story and have each been smacked in the face with hardship at some stage in our lives; check out these CEO’s who went from rags to riches. Believe and succeed. It is possible.

4. Be Patient.

Sometimes a new year is a time to heal. I don’t believe we have to put pressure on ourselves to start the year in a ‘hit the ground running’ style if it isn’t in our best interest. I began following The Daily Love when my grandfather died in 2009. I was searching for ‘something’, as most of us do when we lose a loved one. I relied on these quotes for a number of months and I still enjoy reading them on my Twitter timeline. Sometimes an Inspirational quote goes a long way. If you’re on Twitter follow them at @TheDailyLove or sign up to their emails at TheDailylove.com Another great source for healing for me was  ‘A New Earth‘ By Eckhart Tolle. I read half of this book during this tough period (there I go – only reading half a book again) and really savoured what was covered.  With every difficult moment in life I believe we must relish what we learn about ourselves. We will never stop learning and as we allow ourselves to heal, a Phoenix rises from the ashes, wiser and stronger.

I am really looking forward to what 2012 brings for all of you and I wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy year.

Remember to BRING IT!

Last years fireworks to get you revved up for this years!! Sydney can put on a show!

It’s not me, it’s you, you crazy, crazy person….

It’s Summer! Old friends return home, new friends are on the rise and romance! Well, what would Summer be without a fling?!

Amidst all the socializing, drinking, dancing and goodness knows what else (you kids these days…) it is important to remember that emotions can be a little heightened…To say the least.

We have all just survived Christmas with our families and are about to welcome a new year where we vow not to date another loser, befriend one more bunny boiler or max out our many credit cards. Expectations are high and for crying out loud we’ve had a pretty cold year and that Bikini body you were hoping to pull out at North Bondi didn’t quite happen.

You’re feeling the pressure to be super human and turn your whole life around after midnight NYE and that mixed in with the heat and alcohol can make people somewhat irrational and a tad bit sensitive.

What am I talking about? Here’s an example –

You walk into an NYE party and you bump into one of your oldest friends ‘Rob’. Rob introduces you to his new girlfriend and for some unknown reason, she is the ultimate ice queen. Instantly you have been frozen out – just like that. Was it something you said, or didn’t say? Did he tell her you guys had a drunken pash at Justin’s house a few years back? Or maybe he accidentally called her your name this morning in the car? Whatever it is don’t stress, it doesn’t matter, for this is the perfect moment to tell yourself. It’s not me, it’s you, you crazy, crazy person.

Don’t let someone else’s ‘issue’ ruin your night. Insecurity is like a virus. One person has it, then they pass it on by form of an inappropriate comment or rude behaviour and voilà you’re the host body, spending the night obsessing over why someone didn’t like you.

Insecurity is ugly and from time to time we fail to recognise it rearing its horrible head, making you obsess over the most pathetic snide comment or turning you into a jealous moron.

“I hate her!” um…why? What did she do? Was she rude to you? Did she tell you she hated your dress? What was it? “It’s just something about her”.

Now, let’s be honest girls. You’ve said those words when you’ve really wanted to say – Joseph said he had a crush on her before we met, or, she and Matty text each other too much or, she’s got a better body than me.

This is the exact moment you need to remind yourself that how you feel about this person, is purely about you, not them. They haven’t done anything to you, except for existing and the only way for you to get over your dislike for them, is to get over your dislike for yourself! That’s right! Give me a talk show and call me Dr Phil because the buck stops with you! When you feel this kind of behaviour bubbling to the surface it is your responsibility to remember you’re the problem – not them.

Women aren’t the only culprits in these situations. Men do it too. Let me introduce you to a little something called ego. Needing to be the King of the jungle tends to make men hate other men who are pretty much carbon copies of themselves. Of course men dislike men that they think are douchebags too but from my experiences, men generally are better at disguising it, choosing to use their dislike for someone as motivation to be better than them.

The need to feel valid and special makes us all feel and be stupid at times. No one is perfect. Sticks and stones can hurt and their marks can last for months, sometimes years, that’s why it’s important that you reign it in! If someone makes life difficult for you this Summer remember our little phrase – it’s not me, it’s you. If you start feeling like someone else is reminding you that you’re insecure about the size of your butt, your relationship with your partner or how successful you are? Well, they didn’t make you feel that way – you allowed yourself to. and frankly you are being the crazy, crazy person that’s ruining someone else’s night as well as your own.

Make a new years resolution to improve what you believe to be ‘missing from your life’, so you don’t spend next Summer comparing and feeling insecure, when you should be enjoying the Holidays.

Happy New Years friends and do make it a good one. Share the love and leave the craziness for the dancefloor!

‘Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent’ – Eleanor Roosevelt

When is being all for one and none for all a bad idea?

Apart from the answer to this post subject being an entirely obvious one, it appears that looking out for numero uno is increasingly  the way of the land.

We live in a fast paced, competitive world, where if you wait and ponder for too long, you risk being trampled by a pod of Hippos on a determined path to get ahead. People will tread on you; most playfully, some ferociously and all the while you’re expected to keep your values in tact.

Good guys don’t need to finish last and bad guys, well, their reputation proceeds them and eventually exterminates them.

Regardless of the world migrating online, hiding behind their laptops and mobile phones; core values still exist. Those that wish to communicate effectively within their community and industry cannot run the risk of severing themselves from mankind.

In 2011 I went on a mission to connect with genuine people. Integrity and kindness being the most important features I looked for in the people I met.

Good people aren’t hard to find if you make an effort to read those in front of you. I often feel like we see what we want to see and we fail to choose wisely in who we spend our time with.

“You are who you hang with”. Your closest friends will shape who you are, influence your beliefs and either lift you up or drag you down. Life is too short to be surrounded by what my father likes to call ‘dead weight’ – people that celebrate your losses and encourage you to seek out mediocrity over passion.

Believe in the power of  community, respect those that operate within it and invest in your peers. Respect should be a given, regardless of  whether or not you share a friendship. Personalities may clash and it is imperative to recognise that although it would be great to connect with and have a mutual sense of comradery with everyone in your industry, not so surprisingly, that won’t always happen. A mutual respect of each others accomplishments and efforts however, is something we can all control.

In the long term, the goal isn’t to be liked by all, the goal is to find your crew and board that ship. Respect the journey and the people at all stages of it – those that are just recruting their crew, those that have boarded -well on their way and those that have arrived.

I’ve had a huge amount of people give up their time, invest their talent/money/energy into my projects. These people aren’t being generous just because they’re good people but because as individuals they’re passionate about creating. They’re also intelligent human beings in search of the perfect ‘community’. By seeking out those you respect and by working with them – you grow. By giving to those that need your help – you grow. By challenging yourself and believing in your future – you grow. All in all, none of the above can be achieved alone.

I understand that referring to the people you engage with as your ‘community’ sounds borderline ‘motivational speaker-esque’ but that’s what they are. They’re your people!

You have a small core group and then a larger circle of people that are linked to you and your team. For some, you will fall into the outer circle of people and for others you will fall into their core group. Either way you’re part of something bigger and you can choose to be a positive addition or not. However, being a positive addition is by far the most rewarding and contributes to the greater good of ‘all’.

‘One’ fits into ‘none’ a little too perfectly. It’s Christmas and if you have learnt anything from today  – giving is the greatest gift.

Why you can’t succeed as a creative without a team

All the things that will definitely not be in my Stocking.

Christmas already!

Christmas has arrived!  The happiest time of the year! The one day in which we all max out our credit cards, eat too much, nap after lunch and possibly for some of us, find a way to sit at the kiddy table in order to avoid most of the ‘grown ups’ in the family. Nothing wrong with that at all – kids are generally far more interesting than adults anyway. 🙂

For the last few days I have settled into the silly Season focusing my energy on getting through way too many of my mum’s Christmas Chocolate Rum Balls….Yep, wow, for a non-drinker those things are pretty potent, yet strangely satisfying….I think I may be beginning to understand why people drink….. Anyways, enough about Rum Balls! I have to STOP talking about them! I’ve almost become a Rum Ball pusher! Educating people on what they are, endorsing them and then promising most of Sydney that I would get a batch of my mum’s over to them after Christmas! They have seriously been the total focus of my last week! This post just may be a call for help and an intervention may need to happen come New Years Eve, if I’m still consuming 4 of these golf sized beauties a day! Addicted.

On a less crazy and more personal note, I just want to say thanks to those of you that have been part of my life this year. The support and the love mean so much and I particularly appreciate those of you that are always there to back me up. There’s nothing more refreshing in this world than being surrounded by people that are confident in who they are and talented at what they do, without any ego and competition. You all inspire me. I would have sent out cards but that wouldn’t be very me and I secretly don’t like cards very much (not a secret anymore) and in this day and age an email/text will do, yeh?

I will probably be tweeting away the things that get said on the drive up the Coast to Christmas Lunch, as well as what gems are said around the table. My family are notorious for great one liners and let’s face it – I am addicted to online media. When do I not have my Blackberry in my hand? …..Rum Balls and Blackberry’s…..This is definitely a call for help. ;p

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody! And please drive safely!

Whilst I’m here, what’s everyone up to for New Years????

Last year I stayed in and watched ‘The Truth about Cats and Dogs’ on TV and I have to say, it was one of my best NYE’s ever. Ha!

 

It’s the Final Countdown!!!!

There is nothing you can do in this world without the support of passionate people with genrosity to boot. I hope you will all agree with this statement! When i get all gushy like this, you can be sure I’m working on a project!

The last few days have been nothing short of CRAZY as I get organised for the Teaser shoot for – DEADHEART.

The first great thing that happened today, (Besides being greeted by my stellar work experience girl for the week – Millie!) was receiving a call from a very excited Make-Up Artist, offering her services for the shoot. She sounded as excited about the project as I hope the people that eventually view the Teaser will be and it reminded me that generous, positive people are a gift and by George I am a lucky girl on this shoot! You guys know who you are!

I felt like Alexis’ call brought a heap of positive energy and from that point on, the day was rolling along quite beautifully – it was hectic but we got a lot of the things on our to do list struck off (Thank goodness Millie started putting a list together for us, otherwise, who knows how disorganised this Sagiattarian over here may have been!).

I have one full day left to have everything ready to go and when Thursday’s shoot is done, I can blow out a candle on a gluten free cupcake and celebrate being 1 year older and hopefully a little wiser. Yep, it won’t just be a full on day but it’s my Birthday too and I’m sure the combination of both will make for some seriously interesting emotions!

Just last week, it was exactly a year ago that I held a party at The Red Rattler and screened “Something Fishy” to friends, our generous crew, cast and donors. It felt like Christmas! Nothing is more satisfying than hearing a room of people laugh at the right points in your film and there’s also nothing more overwhelming than having that kind of support!

At the beginning of this year I was interviewed by Metroscreen as a follow-up about the completion of the film. In that interview they asked me what my goals for the future were and I replied that I just wanted to be able to pay my crew. I’m really looking forward to the day where I can provide all the people that have helped me, with a really well paid job! It’s still my only goal for the future as a filmmaker and I am hoping I’ll be able to do this for them sooner rather than later. Talented people deserve something amazing when they devote their time and genius to passion projects. No one will be forgotten kids – ever!

Since it’s also the Final Countdown to my Birthday, I figured I should thank those that have been supportive, caring, loving, understanding and above-all-else acepting of me, my hyper moods, my serious tangents and my dark and twisted ideas! 🙂 Arabella, Priscilla, Camilla, Lucilla, Katarina, Karima (Yes, I have noticed the pattern)Paradox, Kim, Mel A, Ben S, Alex B, Alex K, Colin E, PJ, Matt H, Massimo, Glen, Ben M, Kavi and Tash. Its been a big year and you guys have been on the other end of the phone, Skype, or by my side the whole way. You’re the most amazing group and thank you for allowing me to be part of your lives. xx Some of us have also worked together, so thankyou for the sweat as well as the heart. 🙂

This was a bit of a general post but I am pretty much Scrambled Eggs upstairs as I wrap up this process of pre-production! Looking forward to the other end of December 1st! 🙂

Work Experience with Kristy….

CLICK ON THE BOX TO SEE HOW MUCH FUN IT IS……

Lauren has been a star so far this week. Lets face it. When your Work Experience Mentor sleeps in and picks you up from the Train Station an hour late on your second day, you are bound to learn one constant of the Entertainment Industry – You will be forever waiting around. I am a kind of Mister Miyagi forever teaching the hard lessons in an effort to build a Karate Master! Okay, maybe not… but I have to say, my night owling is part of how I get work done so close to a shoot and getting up at a normal time is almost impossible. Sorry Lauren. I am officially a butthead.

Lauren is the first of two Work Experience girls I have with me over the next two weeks. Lauren is with me for three days of this week and Millie, five of next. Since I am in pre-production on the Deadheart Teaser http://www.facebook.com/Deadhearttv the girls will see a few behind the scenes bits and pieces as well as how much fun working from my Bedroom in my parents house is. There is no glam in filmmaking and no money, except there’s always enough to spend on a  ridiculous amount of coffees in a variety of Cafes in Surry Hills. (You need some sort of reward for all the rushing about!) I think Lauren now knows where to find the best Cafes in Sydney. One thing I have done right is Lunch!

I got insanely close to being able to make up for the morning’s mishap when I had a message on my voicemail from one of my Best Friends asking if I wanted to attend the X Factor Grand Final but unfortunately she couldn’t get a ticket for Lauren too, so we both bowed out and instead focused on getting back to all that we had to do!

We browsed boutiques for costumes, bought props at Reverse Garbage and talked about how boys truly are more dramatic than girls on the long trip back from the city to Hornsby during peak hour. I made Lauren pose under a variety of fluorescent lights in our second location for next weeks shoot and handed her the camera so that she may film herself in the nail salon whilst I had my nails painted for a job. Lauren had a crash course in music licencing today as well as casting and I learnt Lauren’s favourite colour is turquoise because it goes with absolutely everything. In that exact moment, I realised I hadn’t been selective enough in choosing my favourite colours. People generally think I overthink things but in this instance – obviously not.

We have a heap to get through tomorrow and some of it will probably be shared on this Blog, Facebook, Twitter – all the usual places. Poor Millie is going to have the busiest week of her life next week……Her personal animated gif may be less smiley than Lauren’s….We’ll see.

KB

Comedyyyyyyyy (music videos)

Heyyyyyyy! (Firstly, why do kids do this weird extra letters thing these days?)

I digress.

I LOVE Comedy. That’s no surprise to those of you that know me well. I love laughter, I celebrate the wit behind good humour and if you’ve seen my own work, I love to dip my toes into the darker side of Comedy.

Because of this love and need for laughter in my life, I’m going to start posting up Comedy vids I adore/enjoy/appreciate each week, along with my usual ra ra rant blogs 🙂

My first post is about the very talented @maxdionne (yes, I now refer to people via their twitter handle only. If you’re not careful I will start hashtagging in texts and emails). I came across Max in a ‘Back of the Class’ comedy music vid and immediately started following their sketch group.

My all time favourite clip of BOTC is “Hollywood A-S-S-T”. If you live in LA, or know the entertainment Industry well, you will absolutely love this extremely smart clip. The lyrics are thoroughly impressive!

Here it is – Hollywood A-S-S-T

Max’s latest clip he doesn’t feature in but these super cute kids do!

Gettin’ Sugar High (Halloween Rap)

To round out this post, it is only fitting for me to introduce you to one of my Best Friends and all round talented woman @priscillabonnet

Priscilla wrote, produced and starred in her first comedy music vid “Fully Famous – D.U.I” at the end of last year. The clip is super slick and very funny starring Priscilla, Krew Boylan and Dave Eastgate.

I am a big fan of comedy music vids, especially having grown up singing and dancing at the good ol’ Johnny Young Talent School and I love the genius that goes into these videos.

If you have any funny music videos to share with me, please post them up in the comments section! Or find my facebook page facebook.com/kristybestonline and post them up there!

Find @maxdionne and @priscillabonnet on twitter and if you like their stuff, let them know!

KB

I’m going to Las Vegas!

I’m not actually, I’m just quoting an episode of ‘So you think you can Dance – US’ that I saw about a year ago. I was watching it with my Dad and we watched all these fabulous Dancers burst through double doors into a foyer, waving a slip around in the air, going absolutely bonkers with excitement, screaming ‘I’m going to Las Vegas’. I turned to my Dad and said – “Why don’t we do that here? Why aren’t we allowed to shamelessly celebrate our achievements?”. Dad agreed with me and felt that we should be able to, especially in the Arts, when we are consistently fighting the odds!

This concept came up again recently when I was filling in for a friend at a Dance School in Hornsby. I wanted to see whether or not the young dancers in my class had the ability to embrace their talent, or would prefer to take the back seat in order not to ruffle any feathers or be seen as arrogant. Nobody likes a big talker, smooth walker or a poppy on the rise right? I came up with my own, I have to admit – ‘strange’ test. I put some music on and I asked everyone to dance around as if they were at a party. A class of about 20 talented teens immediately became the most uncoordinated  individuals I have ever seen. An unco dance jig ensued where people just bounced around kicking one foot out after another – and no, I’m not talking about shuffling. This was like watching the Irish in a Balmain pub on St Patrick’s Day. I let the kids know (after I did my best impersonation which instigated a great deal of laughter) and I asked them this –  ‘Do you think that professional swimmers go to the Beach and pretend to drown to fit in with everyone else? Why then as dancers, is it important to hide what you do best?’

I got where it was coming from. I spent a lot of my teen years fearing the same schoolyard criticism, or rather avoiding hearing more of the awful stuff all the girls would say under their breath as they passed me in the hallway. Being a teenager can suck but I feel like this is the age habits begin in terms of your confidence surrounding your creativity. Pursuing a career in the Arts can be called ‘unrealistic’ and you risk growing into an adult that can’t answer the typical question of “What do you do?” without  apologizing for what it is that you actually love!

We all want to be liked but at what cost? I wish when I was a teen, someone told me to be who you are and not hide away out of fear of unwanted attention.

It took me way too long to finally realize this and now, I want to encourage everyone I know that is passionate about the Arts to embrace it! Embrace failing, succeeding, creating, learning, growing, getting frustrated…..Don’t allow yourself to be mediocre to make everyday life easier. Expect the criticism and sometimes the lack of support from people you expected it from most and when it happens, push harder. Tell everyone about your small wins and scream louder about the big ones! Celebrate!

Next time your friend shares a win with you – celebrate it. Make it okay for them to maybe jump up and down and ‘go to Las Vegas’. High fives are underrated and I’m all for bringing back the Lleyton Hewitt “C’monnnnnnnn!!”.

If you’ve had a small or a big win lately and you’re brave enough to share it – do it here on the Blog! Or go crazy and status it on Facebook! I think it’s time to make it okay to go to Las Vegas and allow The Arts as a Community to garner the focus and positive attention it deserves!

KB