By Endurance We Conquer

Our dream is to make Chispa House a renowned home of creatives. I wrote a letter to them, myself and my son.

We lost a huge deal this week…

Afterward, I went on a run with my son. The run hurt and so did the lost deal, but I pushed hard on both for similar reasons. We are trying to build something, and it’s not just the founders anymore. Every day nearly thirty individuals wake up with a motivation to make Chispa House a renowned home of creatives.

That is equally badass and inspiring. Our employees range in age from 18 to 49 (you are all invited to Bryan’s 50th. It is going to be a banger), but creativity is not an age thing. It is a soul thing, and you can feel that when you hang with us.

We are half chip-on-the-shoulder and half spark-in-the-gut, and probably a bit naive as well. Maybe ‘usefully deluded’ is a better description. That’s how we shake off the losses and stay confident through it all. We have seen rejections in every form, but our response is always the same: follow up the next month.

We cannot stop reaching out because in thirty days we will be better than we are today, and that might just make the difference. You see we have already built our dream company in the future. And as long as we don’t stop we are guaranteed to get there. Everyone at the studio believes that.

It is an amazing feeling to dream alongside these people. But if I’m honest, it’s not enough. There are so many other creatives out in the world without a place to be goofy, write stories, and meet people that might change their life.

We want to give them that home

Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could help 100 people live out their creative dream? What about 1,000? We couldn’t do it today, but we are learning. We are growing.

And so far we are certain of a few things:

• Our focus is on humanity.
• Our skill is filmmaking.
• Our value is the relationships we’ve made around the world.
• Our secret weapon is Chispa.

“By endurance we conquer”*

That is a quote from my favorite book^ right now and a statement we relate to. Persistence and patience will lead us to the films we dream about. So we cannot quit, and we have to spread the message, especially to our kids.

That is why I have to keep running. My son is watching me.

– Andrew

^This quote is from the book Endurance. The story of Ernest Shackleton’s failed 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and the subsequent two-year journey across the ice for his crew of 27.

*I share an affection for this quote with Jess Roskelley, a professional climber, who alongside two of his teammates was lost to an avalanche on April 16, 2019. We never met him, but his legacy fills our studio with inspiration. His spark is a vibrant form of Chispa.

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