Seeing it through:
BEHIND THE CREATION OF “PASSION TO PROFESSION”
I could probably list 100 ideas for video projects, YouTube channels, photo books, podcasts, websites, and start-ups that I’ve started, but never completed. And of course, many were really really bad ideas.
Looking back in my notes, I see an idea for a soap commercial where, “A guy is washing the dog but his wife thinks he’s washing the dishes, and then the husband and dog end up talking sh*t about the wife..”?? I don’t get it.
If you ever hear about me trying to make that commercial, call my mother and tell her to check in.
As someone who operates best with structure and strict deadlines, personal projects often slip through the cracks and are left to rot in my Notes app. There’s a spark, an excitement with the vision, but then it fizzles until it’s forgotten. I would not let this pattern repeat with the recently released mini-documentary, “Passion to Profession.”
When I met muralist, Morgan Cook, I had just watched Netflix’s “Abstract: The Art of Design” documentary series. Each episode tells the tale of a contemporary artist in their respective field, from the quirky illustrator Christoph Niemann to legendary sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield. And as I heard more of Morgan’s story, I saw him fitting in this series so well. The conviction and humility he speaks with, the sheer talent, and the respect he has for his craft, make him a true professional.
Documentary filmmaking was never a creative pursuit I considered, but I was being sandwiched with inspiration from the Netflix series on one side, and Morgan’s story on the other. I felt compelled to make something of this. It felt like an opportunity I couldn’t miss, and an idea that could not slip through the cracks. Not this time.
So I did what I really like to do… winged it. Wung it? Figured it out along the way. And was fortunate to have some incredible creatives join in on this effort, Matthew Breiner and Ayden Marrullier.
As Morgan painted a “burner” live for us, he was describing the importance of improvisation in mural making. “Things never really go the way you plan,” he said. And that truly summarizes our collective experience making this mini-doc.
Job changes, people moving, periods of no work being done. With no deadline and the only accountability being your friend saying “Oh hey how’s that doc going? Did you finish it yet?”, there were certainly times where we all lacked motivation. I noticed the same pattern ensuing. That initial spark, the excitement, and then the project slowly dies off.
As cliche as it sounds, something switched when the new year began. The word of the year was “focus.” With only a rough skeleton in my Adobe Premiere Pro timeline, and no release date in mind, I promised myself this project would be complete in the first half of the year. The first deadline we set was April 1st, then May 1st, and finally June 1st.
Balancing work and our hectic schedules, Matt and I toiled through the editing process, as Ayden prepared to move away. After many late nights and hours spent scrubbing, cutting, and rendering, we had a rough cut complete by mid-April. And a final cut the night before the release. The perfectionist in me could whittle down the project until there’s nothing left, but done is better than perfect.
It feels pretty good to type up this reflection after the fact, knowing it’s out of our heads, off our hard drives, and out there in the world.
We hear a lot of stories of repeating failure ultimately leading to success. But how about those times you gave up halfway through? Or even those times you didn’t try at all because you were “too busy” or honestly too afraid to take the leap? Can you count it as a failure if you didn’t try?
I’m not sure how others would judge the release of this project. It could be viewed as a failure based on metrics like view count and revenue (which it generated none). But, to complete something, that’s a success. Seeing it through, that’s winning. And this one has let me put all of those other unrealized dreams behind me. At least for now.
Passion to Profession: The Story of Raleigh-Based Artist, Morgan Cook
