J.J. Abrams made a name for himself in television, but he's become been one of the biggest film directors in Hollywood thanks to giant movies like Mission: Impossible III and the Star Trek reboot. Recently he sat down with BAFTA Guru to talk about his career, what his father told him before going to college, and his advice for aspiring filmmakers. Click through to check it out.

Thanks to FilmmakerIQ for the link:

I think the advice from his Dad is really helpful for all filmmakers, even for those who are not the lead creatives in a project. It's hard to make movies if you don't know what you want to say. While sites like ours can help you fill in the gaps, learning what drives you emotionally and what you're passionate about is something that can't be taught. As he goes on to say:

Your voice is as important as anyone else's. You may not always be right -- you shouldn't be cocky about it...I felt like I needed to learn that the ideas that I had were as good as anyone else's ideas.

I don't believe this is an anti-collaborative mindset, simply that if you have a strong instinct about something, there is a good chance an audience will feel the same way. This is another one of those skills that can't really be taught -- you have to know how to trust yourself and filter out the good ideas from the bad.

His thoughts on the democratization of filmmaking are really what this whole site is about. The tools are now there to go make your film. But it's not going to appear out of thin air, and talking about it won't accomplish anything. You just have to go out and do it.

Link: BAFTA Guru -- YouTube

[via FilmmakerIQ]