5 Things All Creatives Can Learn from J. Cole’s “Applying Pressure: The Off-Season Documentary”​

I failed to land a $200k video project.

They loved what I had put together in my 20 page treatment for one of the largest shoe brands in the US, but the winning treatment was a bit more on brand. As a director focused on branded content and docs for athletic brands, it was a tough pill to swallow. But anyone in this industry knows it’s normal.

In a world where these opportunities don’t come along that often, I was second place. For some reason, the Nelly lyric comes to mind, “Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers.”

Thats cuts deep Nelly, real deep.

It hurt bad for a few days, like a jammed finger during middle school gym class. But you know what, its exactly what I needed to happen at this point in my career. Not saying my idea wasn’t awesome, I think for the long run, I’d rather take the L right now.

Shortly after, director Scott Lazer drops “J. Cole — Applying Pressure: The Off-Season Documentary “ Damn. It hit me harder than a basketball hit my index finger. Timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Lazer once again teams up with Cole to drop a documentary leading up to the release of his upcoming album and drops 5 lessons that every creative needs to stop what they are doing and listen up.

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