Industry Spotlight: Actor, Writer, and Founder, Spark Alive

"Industry Spotlight" is our newsletter series where we interview professionals from across the entertainment industry about their current jobs and career trajectories. Our hope is that you will learn more about the positions you're already interested in, discover new roles you may not have considered, and utilize the wisdom of those who've paved the way before you to forge your own path for success. 

We sat down with Jack Salvatore, an actor and writer who recently authored the book Spark Alive: A Practical Guide to Going the Distance in Pursuit of Your Dreams. It's a book that speaks to this particular moment in the industry, when creatives are increasingly feeling like the successful career they've been building just isn't going as planned.

HOLLYWOOD RESUMES: Tell us about your entertainment background.
Jack Salvatore: I was a kid actor, starting at 5 years old, mostly comedy. I had a lot of success doing day player roles on sitcoms in the 90s and early 2000s, landed leads in a couple of unsold pilots. Two of my most memorable projects were Donnie Darko and the deadpan Mark del Figgalo on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. As an adult, I've worked in writers' rooms for Nickelodeon and Starz shows, and when rooms ended or writing ran dry, I transitioned to post production where I worked my way up from coordinator/PA to producer on shows for AMC, Marvel, Netflix, and more. My last formal job was a VFX coordinator for Poker Face season 2 on Peacock.
 
HR: How did you make the transition from actor to writer?
JS: I had to make a choice coming out of high school -- stay the course with entertainment or go a more practical route. I almost went into law or medicine, but decided to stick with writing when I got accepted into USC's screenwriting program.

HR: Tell us about Spark Alive. Who is the book for, and what can readers expect to learn?
JS: Spark Alive is a framework for how to shift your mentality when approaching anything hard that's worth doing -- the stuff that's tied to your reason for being -- as well as how to define what that is, specifically, for you. It's for creatives, entrepreneurs, anyone who's daring to put something new into the world. When you've hit that stamina wall, are running on fumes, have been rejected two thousand times, and are starting to hear that voice in the back of their head that says, "Maybe I wasn't meant to do this," Spark Alive is a guideline for how to ignore that, keep your head down, and sally forth. I can't guarantee success, but I can help provide the tools that will turn an obligation and mounting resentment of your craft into enjoyment. That, to me anyway, is the point -- and also the common factor I see in people who want to do this versus people who crack the code: are you enjoying what you do. I'm not promising to make you rich, but I'm promising to make you have more fun with whatever it is you're trying to do.

HR: What inspired you to write Spark Alive?
JS: Spark Alive started as a journaling project for myself because the longer I was in post production, the more I felt myself drifting from my ultimate goal of creating/directing/showrunning, despite my proximity to important people and networks. I had been churning through my whole career with this blind faith that my efforts would culminate in some recognition that would take me to the next level, but the more I tried, the more I was met with silence and opportunities that fell through for reasons beyond my control. I was in a negative headspace, my inner monologue was very defeatist, and I realized that I had a choice before me --give up and call it a good try, or knuckle down and push through what could be another 20 years of pain before I see any shred of proof that I've got viability as a creative. The mentality of it clicked for me, it's a head game...the key is to first accept that there is no guarantee that anything I'm doing will result in money, accolades, validation, etc. The sooner you create art for art's sake -- pulling from your soul, cutting to the quick, and making the stuff you want to see put out there, the better your odds become of making something worthy of recognition.

HR: Can you share a bit about your burnout experience? What led to it, and when did you realize that what you were dealing with was burnout?
JS: Haha, how much time do you have? I'll summarize. I've been trying to crack this game for 15 years now. I've worked in writers' rooms where I was lauded for my abilities but also told I needed to wait my turn, only to have those opportunities turn to ash in my hand with cancellation, changing tides, politics, etc. Despite that, I kept writing. Unpublished novels, more pilots and features than I can count, shorts, poetry...always trying to stay at the top of my ability and have something handy if and when the door opens and it's go time. I've watched so many people who've started after me rise above my rank before me, become showrunners, helm franchises, while I was still stuck in the world of post production getting lunches for people ten years younger than me making quadruple my salary and doing what they loved. I finally hit a wall when I landed my job for Poker Face and was sitting in VFX reviews with Rian Johnson (very lovely fella, no notes). It clicked for me that I'd hit the apex of my networking -- I was in the room with a living, breathing legend, and I felt further away from success than ever before. There was no room for me to pitch myself, no time, and there were so many people in line ahead of me to that ask that I felt small. My producer, who'd started our working relationship on the foundation of wanting what I want for myself long term, quickly became like most everyone else I'd worked for -- satisfied with me in the position I was in and in no way desirous of my moving onward. That sucked, and it made it really hard to step up to a new personal project because -- what was the point? I was screaming into a void. That was a pretty empty feeling, one I'd never encountered before. I felt like I'd wasted 10 years of my life and climbed to the top of a dead end, and that sucked hard.

HR: What made you decide that committing to a creative career was still worth it?
JS: After I hit that moment I described in the last question, I wondered what pain was worse -- the pain of hoping and trying without any reward, or the pain of giving in, surrendering hope and moving on to other facets of life. As much of a relief as it'd be to throw in the towel, I'm only 35. That leaves a lot of years ahead of me to resent art I didn't create -- and that sounded like hell. Like it or not, I'm wired to want this. I've got the personality in me that won't be satisfied until I either see some nugget of proof that I'm not delusional or die trying -- at which point I would be unbothered by it anyway. So...it's a familiar pain, but I believe in manifestation, law of attraction, and how important a positive mindset is...I've just never actively deployed the means to approach those philosophies. They say that trying the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is insanity -- and I realized I'd never tried something -- creating things without the hope that they'd be the lottery ticket to entertainment Valhalla. Everything I've done, I've done with the hope that it'll "get me there," and I think people can sniff that out a mile away. So I figured what's another 10 years of trying with a different attitude? Even if I fail magnificently, I won't be tortured by my pursuit and may actually learn to enjoy it.

HR: Tell us about the Spark Alive community. 
JS: We're a group of positive, encouraging, empathetic creators. We know it's hard, we know there are a million reasons out there to give up, but we refuse to give in. I've always found that if I'm feeling low, I wallow. However, if my friend is feeling low, even if I'm in a terrible mood, I will find the gear in me to tell them why they shouldn't give up. It's my goal to turn this into a creative incubator for newbies and veterans alike who want to encourage, inspire, set accountability deadlines to hit their goals and stay the course no matter what's out there telling you not to.

HR: You've been in the entertainment industry since childhood - what are some of the biggest ways you've seen the industry change over the years?
JS: Aside from the studio hubs and a few post production gigs, nothing is in LA anymore, for one -- everything is either shooting on the East Coast, Canada, or overseas. The era of the spec script is long dead, as is the proof of concept short. No one will pick up a project without data supporting its success -- be that in metrics online or an established IP that has seen undeniable popularity. Covid even made it so auditions are all digital now -- you don't have to be in LA to get into the rooms, you can live in Nowhere, Montana and they'll fly you where you need to go if you book the part. That said, as much as it feels scarce, there are also more hungry mouths looking for content and shifting power dynamics than ever before. I think it's a golden era, there's just a lot of noise because everyone and their grandma can make content now. I'm hopeful -- I think it's a good thing, and I'm a firm believer that talent and perseverance will always shine through, it just depends on how far down the timeline you're willing to walk it before giving up. AI is a whole other beast, but I remain steadfast in my belief that it's become increasingly easy for audiences to suss out when art has been made without a soul. It's merely a pattern predictor/regurgitator, and innovation will always reside with those who feel and think differently.

HR: What are some of the most satisfying projects you've worked on in your career? What did you enjoy about them?
JS: When I was a writers' PA, I'd spend my nights and weekends writing and shooting shorts with my friends. I loved that. It was pure flow state and collaboration, and I'm always trying to find my way back to that. Filming the reboot of Zoey 101, Zoey 102 for Paramount+, was also pretty cool. That job came up around another pivotal moment where I was wondering if I even wanted a career in entertainment or if it was just all I'd ever known and therefore my default desire. It wasn't until I was back on set that I realized it's the only place I really ever want to be. Not because of being high up on the call sheet, but because it's a choreographed chaos that I understand and respect so wholly. It's not just a place that's familiar to me, but a place I belong, and I'm so fortunate to have found something like that in my life.

HR: What are the most important skills creative professionals who are just starting their careers should develop?
JS: Hit your deadlines, don't be precious with your material (done > perfect), always arrive early, respect everyone until you're given a reason not to, never lose the optimism or drive of an amateur, and for the love of all that is holy operate in a vacuum as much as you can -- meaning, don't compare yourself, just keep your blinders on and do whatever is meaningful to you.

HR: What advice do you have for established creative professionals who are at a crossroads right now?
JS: If you've tried it, gotten where you want, and found that the peak of the mountain isn't what you thought it'd be, that makes sense. Everyone has to reset and start from zero at least once in their life and there's no shame in that -- don't do something you don't want to do because you think you've stacked up too much time to walk away. You're alive once, you should be joyful for the majority of it, and you owe it to yourself to find purpose in whatever it is you want to pursue. That said, ask yourself if what you're feeling is based on an inescapable facet of the industry or if it's just the environment (people, studio, politics, etc). There are more places than ever before looking for people like you to make things and put them on the map -- so maybe you're just not in the right arena. That might mean you need to switch to a slightly less glamorous situation, but it's better to work in a s****y office with people you love versus the top floor of a hi-rise with people you loathe and/or who aren't making you a better artist/person/etc.

HR: What's next for you?
JS: More writing (I had to buy 10 ISBNs to self publish, so might as well use 'em) and moving to Atlanta to be nearer to my friends with camera packages in a part of the world where you can make pilots and features for less than a car payment. It's a big, scary change, but I believe LA has this mythos about it that the more pain you endure and the more time you put in, the more you're entitled to success. That's just straight up incorrect, and as much as I want to cling to a way of being I've known, tides are shifting and this isn't the entertainment Mecca it once was. Also, my wife and I are combining our efforts to start a Youtube channel centered around us being millennial homeowners, entrepreneurs, parents, and problem solvers. I feel like what we're experiencing isn't unique to us, so it'd be cool to document what we're doing both as a way to force us to think more creatively in solving our problems, as well as a way to crystallize our family's journey as it unfolds. As much as I disliked the administrative side of post production, I like editing -- it's something I can find myself doing until 4am without realizing. 

Thanks, Jack! If you want to read the book, order it here, and check out @SalvsFam on YouTube for his new content!