I spent a good number of years trying to find a mentor, or a hero to emulate. I never really found one, although a few people came close.

In my personal experience it was my peers, not my "heroes" that made me a better, artist, producer and collaborator, and it was alongside these peers that I developed a career and a creative philosophy.

This is because your peers are the people you grow WITH. Your peers are the people who are going to push and pull against your preconceived notions, introduce challenges and offer insight -- it's a two-way relationship and it is not static.

This week I produced Claire Sieber's first film that she wrote and directed. When we met, we were at Juilliard to exclusively train as actors, and yet here were are a number of years later doing far more than that.

It's not only fulfilling, but it's exciting to see your peers develop -- perhaps in part because it's proof that you've done the same. And because it is representative of the surprising possibility of a creative life -- one in whihc you cannot always figure out which doors will open or who will be on the other side.