In the Catholic faith, pride is counted amongst their deadliest sins. I was born Catholic; went to Catholic school; and spent lots of my life with my most definitely Catholic family – there was no way I was coming out of all that without that notion being ingrained in me.

Yes, there is a difference between arrogance and confidence, but the line appears thin to people like me.

As a result, it’s a line I often don’t risk crossing. I’ve been reconsidering that inclination.

Right now, I’m hard at work producing a show for the upcoming YOMYOMF Network. It goes without saying that there’s a lot of labor involved and having a crew beside you definitely helps all aspects of the creative process.

Collaborators can hone in on the nitty-gritty of things while you can keep your eye on the big picture. They can keep you grounded. And they can grant you the most important perspective of all: the one that’s not your own.

The catch with me is that right now, I’m a little short on people like that. Okay – I’m a little short of people, period.

So generally speaking, I have to start from scratch in assembling my group of ragtag confederates. And that’s when we dovetail back into the topic tackled before the cut.

Filmmakers are a dime a dozen. You’ll find them anywhere and everywhere, all trying to sell you on their vision. Why? Because, really, as I said – they can’t do it alone.

Most times, the people that decide to help them out are friends or folks that have been in the trenches of moviemaking with them before. Since these people have known the filmmaker in some past capacity already, they’ve got a good bearing on the kind of person they are.

That’s important because they could be selling snake oils.

These filmmakers might not be good on their word in one way or another. They could be talking the talk but absolutely crippled when it comes time for the walking. You need some degree of certainty and security that your hard work won’t be for naught.

Enter me. I’m confident in my skills and loyal to the end. But no one can know that just by looking at me. No one can know that about anyone just by looking at them.

Despite all that, I still need to approach people and persuade them to help me out, in this specific case for this YOMYOMF show. Presuming the people I ask are unfamiliar with me, what other cards do I have?

Well, there is one: the pedigree of the Offenders I work with. In my own most humble opinion, that’s a pretty good card. Mention that and that stands a pretty good chance of piquing interest.

Unfortunately, I have to be extremely neurotic and even the thought of mentioning that to people as a means of persuading them makes my stomach turn and bubble.

Am I being cocky announcing this fact to them? Am I whoring out the people I know without deliberately asking them? Are those things reprehensible in actuality or is it just the way I’m looking at it?

Though this is one specific instance, this is an issue I’d been contemplating for a while. Thankfully, I had a recent discussions with some Offenders where they dropped their two cents into my mental tip jar.

“Do what you have to do.”

The advice was succinct, an obvious fact, yet it was still a simple truth I had failed to grasp. Opportunity is opportunity. And sometimes you need to be unabashed in helping it along. Again, it was all about having the balls to move forward.

It didn’t hurt that they seemed to be okay with the name-dropping. That’s a pretty good perspective to have – the one I lack.