Introduce Yourself : Introducing my Fails! by Heather Grogan

I include these as one big fail because they happened in quick succession.

Worked for almost a year pre-producing & producing a friend’s film to his exact requirements…only to have him shelve it because he didn’t care about it getting seen. We’re still great friends, but I’ll never work with him again.

Was hired by a client to write, produce and direct her film, with my full crew included. A day before we wrapped, she stops production with no explanation. Tells me she’s not paying us, that she’s taking my script and our footage to another crew. It was ridiculous and humiliating but we knew our rights, and she didn’t, and that was very obvious when we brought her to court. We won.

Was hired as an artist to create a Dia De Los Muertos themed Halloween parade. Worked from Aug to Oct building approx 50 giant cardboard Sugar Skulls. Ran two classes showing kids how to paint them, and educating them on Mexican Culture. Then finished the painting solo from Oct 1st right up to the big day. He cancelled due to rain, then outright refused to pay me. and THEN he got a new car that I had to walk by everyday on my way home. Thankfully, again, the courts ensured I got my payment. And it was reported in the local paper that he had tried to dodge a bunch of other people too.

A local Government body hired me as Art Director for a different parade. Instead of letting me hire an assistant I had already worked with, they stuck me with a woman who refused to do any work…like literally nothing. I reported the problem to head office asking if I could hire my original choice. No response. After a month of her acting like I was the crazy one for even asking her to do the work she agreed to – the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. Our pay was split down the middle. She got over 5k for doing literally nothing….I can’t work with that group again because turns out they’re all besties.

And in the middle of that last event, my Mum died unexpectedly.

These experiences left me feeling pretty skeptical about life, work, and trust. Especially trust. I took what I learned from each of those professional experiences – such as where I’d gone wrong, how I can adapt to and predict certain situations etc. And it’s made me a more organised and thoughtful person in general. I’m not perfect, but I’m still trying. A few months after Mum passed I was shooting my own film, with my own cast and my own crew (Everyone was paid on time and in full) and it is now travelling round the global film festival circuit. I couldn’t be more grateful to the team for their efforts and to my Mum for all her loving support, which I can still feel today.

Bottom line: Feel it, deal with it, learn from it and keeping moving.