Never Forget Your First
- Ryan Butler
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
My first offical blog post. You never forget your first, blog post, love and ... — you never forget your first screw-up.
In this industry, your mistakes can be public, painful, and sometimes spectacularly flammable (more on that in a second). But if you handle them the right way, they become something better than embarrassing: they become useful.
The trick isn’t in pretending you won’t make mistakes. You will. The trick is in admitting it to yourself — and to others. Owning it. Understanding it. And promising yourself: It won’t happen again. At least not that one.
Never Forget that time a light exploded in my face...
My first indie film set. A bunch of students and hopefuls, brought on by our lecturer who landed a job on a pilot web series. We were green, hungry, and clueless — the perfect mix for learning.
The light in question, an 800w RedHead had a blown bulb. My lecturer/DP noticed, and I was sent in to change it. Thing is, the power wasn’t off. When I clipped the new bulb in, the light flared to life, immediately igniting the foam I was using to handle the bulb. In a blink, melted black foam was in the air — and in my mouth. Nothing says "film school education" quite like swallowing half a fire hazard.
Now, you could argue he should’ve switched the light off. Maybe he should have. But what I learned? It takes two seconds to check if the power’s off at the wall — and I don’t like the taste of flaming foam. Lesson learned.
Never Forget that time I gave airtime to the competition...
Fast forward a few years. I'm working in the newsroom at Channel 9. It's fast. High pressure. You move quick, and you trust the footage you’re given.
One night, I cut together a piece and included a shot of a rival network’s news van — logo clear as day, front and centre, sent out to hundreds of thousands of homes. Classy.
Next thing you know, the head of Nine News Australia is calling my boss. My boss, bless him, calls me — to "enthusiastically" pass that fury down the line. And fair enough.
What did I learn? Never assume a shot is safe. Always check. Take nothing for granted. And never let complacency be the reason you get chewed out from the top of the ladder.
Mistakes Don’t Stop — They Just Change
Here’s the thing — those early mistakes? They’re only the beginning.
As you grow in your career, you will make fewer mistakes, sure… but the ones that do slip through will happen in more refined, more critical spaces — because you’re now a more integral part of the production. The pressure is higher, the decisions matter more, and your voice carries further.
Even now, when I direct, reflection is a big part of my process. After every shoot, I go back and ask myself: What worked? What didn’t? I made a lot of decisions on set for my short film Bin Day with full confidence — only to realise in post that a few of them were just… wrong.
And I should’ve known better. I’d been editing for nearly ten years by that point, and I’ve developed this handy (and mostly reliable) ability to edit the film in my head while I’m directing on set. It’s a huge strength… until it isn’t.
“Can we cut to this shot?” I asked my editor during Bin Day.“What a great idea,” he said, “if that shot existed.”
Cue shock. Disbelief. And a healthy serving of self-loathing. Why the hell didn’t On-Set Ryan get that shot? Now Post-Production Ryan had to scramble to fix the gap.
And here’s the truth — not all mistakes are world ending, NOOOO!!!... mistakes. Sometimes they’re just moments of hindsight showing you what could’ve been. The key is being open enough to see them for what they are: chances to do better next time.
So yeah — never forget your first. But also, don’t forget your latest. Mistakes will follow you, evolve with you, and challenge you. What matters is how you carry them — not as baggage, but as blueprints for growth.
Because the truth is, if you’re not making any mistakes… you're probably not trying hard enough.
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