glitterfish.com

I can’t tell you where this came from, but I assure you it is real.

Dear [redacted],

I know that at this point in your search for an assistant you might have encountered prospects that are more experienced and perhaps even more qualified then myself. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to share with you what sets me apart from them, something that in retrospect I may have failed to do at our last meeting. In response to your looking for someone who’s job it was to make your life easier, I would like to offer an addendum. I would also dedicate myself to helping you do your job better. I am ready and eager to commit myself fully to helping you make the most of your career and your art. I see this opportunity to be your assistant as more than a job, I see it as an apprenticeship to a professionally successful artist, and I can assure you with utmost confidence, that you have not met with anyone who will work harder for you then I will. These words might of course ring hollow in your ears seeing as how that last statement has become something of a cliché, nevertheless it is as true a thing as I am capable of communicating to you through this barrier of professional anonymity. Also I would like to touch upon one of my more unique skills in order to better represent what it is I can offer you. As you might recall I have developed quite the working relationship with the company I interned for last summer (references I urge you to call), most notably because of my ability to quickly master new tasks through observation. You who are no doubt a practical man might find the concept of paying for a dog masseuse for your two aging dogs laughable, however should you commission these services just once from a professional and I were in a position to observe it, I could acquire this new skill in order to provide it for your animals in the future, and perhaps make their trips up and down the stairs a bit less painful. A little strange? Yes. But I feel myself forced to make an impression after the “cold read” that was our first meeting. If though, you are simply looking for a run of the mill assistant to handle odd jobs and office work I doubt I am your man. If however you are looking for one whose skills are a bit more expansive I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

[redacted]

In college I took a class on Steven Soderbergh. If you’ve never watched a director’s entire filmography I highly recommend it. Steven Soderbergh is a good one because he wrote a book, gives a lot of interviews, and likes to do DVD commentaries on his movies.

One of Soderbergh’s favorite things to talk about is the creative process:

A lot of people who write about art don’t understand the importance of failure, the importance of process. Woody Allen can’t leap from Annie Hall to Manhattan. He has to make Interiors in between to get to Manhattan. You’ve got to let him do that.

Check out this Believer Magazine interview.