If you have visited my profile, you have presumably noticed where I live. So I want to give you a very Swedish piece of advice.

Here in Sweden, we are sometimes reminded of Swedes who are popular in Hollywood. You may know about Greta Garbo, Alexander Skarsgård, Ingrid Bergman, Dolph Lundgren, and Alicia Vikander. Or heard about other Swedes in Hollywood. So, how do you become popular?

You may at first find it odd that we Swedes can be popular abroad. I have myself encountered the opinion "you Swedes are so honest that you are impolite". As a native Swede, I am not offended by such opinions, which tells something about the mentality in my country.

We have an expression which in English translation becomes "the law of Jante". It means that one should never assume that one is better than other persons. Don't pretend. Like many other Swedes, I am alarmed when somebody likes the rule "fake it until you make it".

Researchers have asked people in different countries about their willingness to trust strangers. My country is one of the few at the top of such comparisons.

Hollywood knows that in order to create good movies, you need teamwork. Good teamwork means that one must be able to trust individual members of the team. So, some employers appear to have noticed that we Swedes have a large tendency not to promise more than we can deliver.

So... do what you have promised to do.

Unselfishness will be good for your career

Yes, I encourage you to promise yourself to be a nice person and help others.

Far from all of your competitors realize that they should follow that rule. I have myself told some other members here, "I am willing to read your screenplay, but it may take a few days". Then they didn't send their screenplay because they were so used to people who don't do what they promise that they assumed that I was one more such person.

Do what you have promised to do, instead of using AI or other tools to pretend to be helpful. Trying to fool others is actually worse than not doing anything at all. When others stop communicating with you, you should realize that fooling others means that you are fooling yourself.

I have myself read two different AI-generated reviews of my most recent screenplay. Plus one AI-generated review of the logline. Appeared well written, but we humans are quickly learning to recognize how AI writes. So if you try to fool others, those you pretend to help will realize it. They will not like it, because it means that you do something else than you promised to do. So they can't trust you.

And do it as soon as possible. Don't be one of those who procrastinate. Those who ask for your help may be in a hurry, even if they don't say so. So it may be better for them if you say "next week", and then they ask somebody else, than if you say "tomorrow" and then procrastinate until next week.

Neither should you be lazy when you do what you promised to do. If you promise to write comments on a screenplay, it is of no good if you simply write "I (don't) like it." Your comments will only help the writer if your suggestions help to write a better version of that screenplay.

If people remind you that you have not yet delivered, that means that your help is of little value. Shame on you. Because if your help is of little value, you should learn to say no. Saying no is more helpful than false promises.

And when you help others, remember that the normal thing is that you receive something in return. On this website, few people are able to pay you, but doing you a favor is normal.

So do what you have promised to do. And expect others to treat you in a fair way.

It will help you to volunteer

Will that behavior really help you? If you help other filmmakers in an unselfish way, in all probability, some of them will later have money to spend on their next project and remember that your earlier help was very useful. Great for your career.

Volunteer when somebody asks to read their screenplay. Spend a few hours giving comments that help the screenwriter to revise. It will help you to improve your own screenwriting.

Volunteer when others ask for crew members for their no-budget film. You will learn a lot from seeing how filmmaking in practice works.

Volunteer when others ask for an actor for their no-budget film. It will make it easier for you to describe characters in your screenplay.

About my own experiences from volunteering. An NGO once needed a volunteer who was willing to attend a meeting with local politicians. Expecting nothing special, I volunteered. Afterwards, I had 5,000 dollars for documentary filmmaking.

Another of my experiences. The photo in my profile is of me receiving a prize for best directing. I noticed a few people filming. So I said, "Your camcorder is more expensive than mine". I was told that the person they were waiting for was delayed. I volunteered to do what ought to have been done by the missing person. A few years later, a surprise phone call. Then, a visit to Stockholm to receive that prize.

Yes, it makes me uncomfortable when people refuse to understand what is best for them to do. People who believe that selfishness and lies are best for their career. But such people only fool themselves. They fool themselves because others understand that they are hopeless to collaborate with. So those who are sitting on the money say no.

And before you start following my advice, please think about yourself. What are you good at doing? Respectively, what are you no good at? Help with what you can help with, but don't create problems by doing something that will not work. I gladly explain to people what it will cost them in time and money to film their script, but if somebody asks for help with music, I will explain that I am almost tone deaf.

But sometimes you should say no

But I don't say that you should always promise to help. Parasites exist. Those who refuse to give something in return. So before you promise to help, think carefully. If you feel that you have encountered a person who deserves no help, say no.

I sometimes say no. Instead, I may start a short and trivial discussion about what is best to do. There are people with such grandiose plans that there is good reason to tell them how problematic their visions are.

So if you ask me for comments on your screenplay, I may tell you that it would be better to write in such a way that production will cost less.

Even if you are honest when you promise to help, there is no guarantee that the other person is honest. I have sometimes made the deal, "I'll read your screenplay if you read mine." The willingness of the other screenwriter to do what they promised to do has differed from case to case.

At the same time, most people are relatively honest. So, try to help when it doesn't give you too many problems for yourself.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Got an idea for a post? Or have you collaborated with Stage 32 members to create a project? We'd love to hear about it. Email Ashley at blog@stage32.com and let's get your post published!

Please help support your fellow Stage 32ers by sharing this on social. Check out the social media buttons at the top to share on Instagram @stage32 , Twitter @stage32 , Facebook @stage32 , and LinkedIn @stage-32 .