I run events to support thousands of writers, screenwriters, filmmakers, and other creative professionals working here in Hollywood and worldwide. (You can learn more about my work at www.EntertainmentIndustryEvents.com.)
One topic I’ve had to address with some frequency, and in a variety of contexts, is how to deal with difficult people.
Year after year I run into folks who have had their careers seriously damaged and their projects stolen or completely destroyed by folks they had no idea how to control or should never have been working with in the first place.
The entertainment industry, from filmmaking and live entertainment to television, has more than its fair share of narcissistic, sociopathic, and deeply manipulative people. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, difficult people are drawn to interesting people and the promise of big money just like the rest of us. Second, folks actively writing, producing, or performing do more business deals in a year than many other folks do in a lifetime. Creating new content and trying to sell it requires creatives to meet new people all the time, and the more people you meet the more difficult people you will run into.
Bad apples in the entertainment industry . . .
● Make deals fall apart every time they are involved
● Refuse to make enforceable agreements
● Prevent others from working together successfully
● Make threats
● Keep secrets
● Make last-minute changes, deletions, or additions that sabotage project success
● Divert project attention to emotional management for themselves and their victims
● Routinely make something else their priority regardless of their promises to others
Difficult people generally fall into some clearly defined categories identified by their motivations and behaviors.
● Criminal
● Suicidal & Self-Destructive
● Dangerously Manipulative
● Actually Sadistic
● Truly Narcissistic
● Mentally Ill or Confused
● Simply Incompetent
If you are interested in learning how to recognize difficult people, and finding out how to handle them before, during, and after a project is underway, you may want to check out my video and notes on the topic. You can find them here: https://gumroad.com/l/onlineevent/wawr
Nancy Fulton is a writer/producer currently supporting 40,000+ entertainment industry professionals. You can find resources that cover everything from how to produce a movie, to how to write a business plan, and how to raise money from investors to how to get an agent, how to publish a book, and how to protect your work at www.EntertainmentIndustryEvents.com.
Have you encountered someone difficult to deal with that has impacted your entertainment career? Talk about it in our Facebook group.