Yesterday I told you about the whole waiting to be invited thing.

The one that told me Sundance was only for directors. Only for people with films. Only for people who got invited.

I believed that for years.

And then one day I just... snapped out of it. I said, you know what? Forget it. I'm going anyway.

I found some money. I even got a whole group of friends together. We were all going to go to Sundance. It was going to be a moment.

Everyone flaked.

And I mean everyone.

Money, excuses, "I'm going to wait until I have a film there," you name it, I heard it. They were going to wait for the invitation. They were going to wait until they had a reason.

And here's the thing that frustrates me to my core: the reason gatekeepers have so much power in this industry is because secretly, we allow them to. We buy into the rules. We enforce them on ourselves. We create permission structures that were never real to begin with.

Who decided you had to have a film in the festival to show up? Who decided you needed an official invite to walk into a room?

Nobody. We did.

I went anyway. By myself. And I'm going to tell you what happened, because it changed the entire trajectory of my career.

Watch the full story here: https://youtu.be/BGtHRmwKaOQ

Rooting for you!

Nicki Micheaux

P.S. Ready to stop waiting for permission and start showing up strategically? My free webinar breaks down exactly how to navigate the industry on your own terms. Save your seat here.

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