14. Turn Your Dreams Into Reality with Jeff Madoff

Enoughness with Lisa Carmen Wang

What if someone told you there were no right or wrong answers, only right questions? We are often trying to chase the “right answer” without defining what the right answer is. Without setting that fundamental definition of success, we will continue chasing a vague idea that doesn’t look like much of anything. This is why we need to ask ourselves the right questions, the questions that ultimately lead us in the right directions. “What are you doing?” “Why do you want certain things?” These questions allow us to be introspective and the answers to these questions can change, allowing us to grow in different directions. Today’s guest, Jeff Madoff is founder and CEO of Madoff Productions. He is an American director, photographer, writer and professor living in New York City . His film and video work include commercials, web content, music videos and documentaries for various clients such as Ralph Lauren and Victoria’s Secret. Madoff teaches a course, Creative Careers: Making a Living with your Ideas, at Parsons The New School for Design. Jeff talks about the importance of knowing your goals, never doubting your ability, and always pushing back the fear of failure in order to continue forward toward your goals. Some Questions I Ask: What drew you to film in the first place? How do you feel about the progression of video today? (05:40) What are the dominant narratives you see right now and how is that shifting? (09:46) What sort of emotions were you feeling in terms of figuring out if you could do justice to the story of Lloyd Price? (23:26) What do you think drives you to keep creating? (26:51) During your artistic career, have you had moments where you’ve felt like you weren’t good enough or your work wasn’t good enough? (33:52) Do you think you are who you are because of your circumstances or in spite of your circumstances? (55:48) In This Episode, You Will Learn: How Jeff shows people how to make a living with their ideas (01:49) Steps Jeff took to create Madoff Productions (03:11) The idea of basic human expression and how it is shown through film (14:15) The creative side of longer form film (15:51) Passion versus making money in a film career and how the goals sometimes shift when having a family (45:21) “Creative Careers: Making a Living with Your Ideas,” Jeff’s book in the works and its goal (47:22) Plus much more... Links and Resources: Madoff Productions Follow Madoff Productions on Twitter Find Madoff Productions on Facebook Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis Ralph Lauren Victoria's Secret Follow Lisa on Twitter Follow Lisa on Instagram --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/enoughness-lisa-wang/support