Things You Learn When You Have Friends Who Act

This acts as a follow-up to my blog about the 24-hour film challenge I participated in 1.5 years ago.

I've spent so much time doing my own creative projects online, but I had never really done anything collaborative, so I learned a lot of things really quickly in the span of a few months.

1. Your friend is at work while on set – Maybe you rarely get the chance to hang out with them because they are so busy, but they're in character and quite literally do not have the bandwidth to context switch. Do not distract them or try yapping.
2. If you get cut out of the final edit, do not be offended – The film must be good, so if a scene or take was objectively bad, it will not be included. I recognized this much at least when I knew I did poorly in an attempt to act – I was not mentally prepared for the character I was trying to be, it was way too spontaneous.
3. They will not be giving you any social media validation unless it fits the brand – this doesn't just go for actors, it also goes for musicians and anyone else with a curated public profile. Social media is such a finicky space that it wouldn't be good to contaminate the algorithm with undesired engagement or throw off any future fans.
4. Don't reveal too much to the other people who show up on set – I was the unqualified person there. I remember someone else showing up and briefly chatting with me. I didn't know them, and they were asking me about something that might have been about my friendship and why I was there or how I got involved, but I just figured I'd say the least I could because the vibes I picked up were a bit sus. Think "coworkers" – even if I was there for fun, I was not about to treat other people I hadn't been introduced to properly as a casual acquaintance or friend.

Entertainment sometimes blurs the line between "for fun" and "professional" quite a bit, given that a lot of indie projects are very amateur and quite literally borne out of the "for shits and giggles" energy. Despite that, for anyone who has friends or knows people in entertainment and wants to support or wants to "visit them at work", I think the above lessons I learned are worth digesting.