by Juliemarie

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 11, 2009

Filmmakers do not rely on physical competitiveness to prove accomplishment, nor do they have the limitations of an aging body - and by aging we mean you are no longer even a contender in your sport, able to peak after 40. That age is reserved for the freakishly best, like Favre and Warner.

Filmmakers, the better ones, have more then one peak. Their career follows life....peaks and valleys. Because filmmakers are more inspired, then trained, each filmmaker's peak or peaks can and usually do come at different ages and stages in their life and career.

The determination of a peak or valley to one in an artistic industry can not be made or similarly compared to those that are in traditional careers and with traditional lives. For instance, a divorce to the average person of course could be the lowest of valleys but to a filmmaker, or to their career at least, divorce could be the catalyst for an Oscar winning film or screenplay. On the other hand, a life full of bliss, marriage, children, money and/or the decent stretch of career successes would be most peoples peak of peaks...to a filmmaker this could be less then inspiring and cause for creative block. It could also be cause for change in career direction....maybe the once gloomy dark comedy filmmaker now moves to the ever so popular Romantic Comedy genre inspired by this up-swing in their personal life and it catapults his/her career into his/her own professional peak to align with his/her personal peak.

Athletes of course have a talent most of us will never know, but even with that talent, training is essential to reach one's peak and the timing, or better said end, to an athlete's career is a little more predictable. The filmmakers' peaks are less predictable and do not directly correlate with their talent or age. So many factors will contribute to their peaks......public demand, production value and talent of others......in a nut shell, timing generally is important, but not as with athlete whose peak directly coincides with age and training. The filmmaker may make great films at 20 but better films at 40 and 60, think Eastwood; same for the director who may have started out actor, wonderful work young, better work older think Ron Howard. Youth works better for women to peak younger as looks still matter most, sad, true, but getting better thanks to the likes of 40 somethings, like Anniston, Berry and Pfeiffer, Ryan and Kidman and among writer/directors Nora Ephron...are the 50 and 60 plus-ers like Mirren, Streep, Hawn and Bates.

Sadly, the opposite can be true too...we will never know if young Heath Ledger had peaked or was just getting started. We know Elvis was best young even in those films he made, and so too was Elizabeth Taylor. As an athlete's career is over while anyone else would still call them young, therefore a filmmakers peaks and athletes can not be compared, attained or contrasted in any way.

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