I get the nagging feeling I need to make art, but I feel trapped by being in PE.
Ignore title, slightly more senior. I get the nagging feeling I’m not going to be happy unless I make art, but I also feel afraid to walk away from the money because of a taste for being able to not think about purchases as well as proclivity for nice clothes, apartment, travel, etc.
I’d love to be part of making a game or a TV show - something that when you’re done, you realize how good of art that was and it was an N of 1 thing - but I feel trapped because I don’t have any connection to any of the creative world.
I’m just asking to see if anyone else has had this feeling. I don’t know what the path forward is. I don’t know how I’d even invest in movies or TV, and I have no games investing experience. Maybe consulting in LA for media and entertainment, but I doubt that would scratch the itch. Maybe being a game lead, but that’s tough from the money standpoint.
The trade off is I’m at a good UMM and I have as good of a shot as any at succeeding. It’s a crap shoot but I’m starting on the same footing as anyone rolling the dice on partner track.
Does anyone have any thoughts?
Is this a passion or a career path you want to pursue? If its the latter, up to you to evaluate if you can swing both. If the former, whole different conversation, that's taking on a looooot of risk and you need to have the honest conversation with yourself if that's something you want to take on.
It's hard to tell and that's the trouble. It's one of those "never meet your heroes" things, but in this case, maybe if you look under the hood of the industry, you'll be disgusted by what you find.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. Appreciate it.
No worries. I went through a similar process a bit earlier in my career, I totally understand the itch. My dream really was a passion so I didn't feel the need to pursue it right away and have refocused on it in the last probably half year or so. The danger is life overwhelms and the passions get shelved unless you manage well.
To your point on meeting your heroes, even if it doesn't pan out, my view is at least you won't look back with regret that you didn't shoot your shot.
I totally understand the desire to work in the arts/produce meaningful work. When I got my MBA I decided I'd have to check out the movie industry track, and decided it wasn't worth it for me from a career perspective. I wouldn't be doing anything really on the creative side, it would just be normal finance/management roles but that happen to be in the entertainment world. No one wants an MBA producing a movie or TV show. My aunt told me a similar story when she graduated from law school, she worked in entertainment law but quickly realized it's just normal contract law but your clients are famous actors, it's not as glamorous as it sounds.
But I highly recommend you have some sort of creative outlet as a hobby, it's extremely rewarding. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes on the subject.
amazing KV quote - thanks for sharing
Big Kendall Roy vibes
I'm in a similar boat but as a musician - have you thought of:
- Doing an MBA to try that path out in a risk free environment (besides the cost)?
- How do you know you're good at producing gaming / TV / films - have you produced in the past?
- Have you done amateur stuff on the side as a hobby or anything resembling that at any point? Would you be able to do this now...
- Why not research the specific roles that may scratch the itch - figure out what the reality looks like through reaching out to people online. Then, you'll have a better idea of (a) whether the reality is actually as compelling and (b) how to get there with their advice
- Can you move to a media, consumer or entertainment fund? (even earlier stage)
I wrote a book primarily while working fulltime for a portco. See The Pitchbook: A Banking Analyst's Tale of Markets, Millions, and Mayhem So, it's definitely possible to do both art and finance. It took me several years, and I didn't get to put in as much time marketing as I would like but still happy with the outcome and the process.
Isaiah_53_5 💎🙌💎🙌💎 You do art on the side right? I remember seeing some of your stuff on here.
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