THE GATES
ARE OPEN
The tools of creation come at a destructive time. We build as the foundation shifts, and the walls crack.
I've spent my life creating outside the system. It's a skill that might come in handy soon.
THE
RESET
For decades, Hollywood held the keys. The studios. The gatekeepers. The ones who decided whose stories were worth telling. We followed their rules and predicted our fortunes. I played that game — got the meetings, made the films, won the awards.
But when I saw the rules were rigged, and whom fortune favored, I chose a path around, not in. This taught me how to forage and survive outside the system and redefine the rules as needed. It took me from shooting the Nigerian military to jumping in front of moving trains for a shot, and I learned to turn fear into function.
Now the whole system is teetering from the weight of its indulgence. So many who were all in, now find themselves out. The demoralization, the anxiety, the sense that something fundamental has shifted — some of us can see the shadows streaking overhead.
AI has opened the gates, but to do what? Do we help them build the walls higher, juryrigging it until the call comes down to pull it? Or do we use these new tools to build for ourselves, a new foundation of stories, unlocked to all?
TWO PATHS FORWARD
LEARN. CREATE. SHARE.
HERE: RECON
On the ground assessment of what is, what was, and what's coming. It's where I share what I know and what I'm learning, and what I can teach. The only way to keep your bearings going forward is for some of us to go back, to find what was lost and preserve what's going to be needed for an uncertain journey.
- AI tools and techniques
- Observations on the shifting landscape
- Stories from the edge
THERE: THE TOOLS
TemperedWorks is where we prepare. Learn how to go local again, and support each other not the system. Build skills through obstacle learning to adapt to uncertainty and above all learn to tell YOUR story.
- Obstacle Learning method
- Local AI, not subscriptions
- Community and apprenticeship
RECENT WRITING
WITNESS
ME
ACT
The story is closer to the end than the beginning, but I still have my pages to write, some twists to turn and a lunging grasp at redemption. Who knows, maybe you can write the sequel.