Meditations on the Mediaverse.
Why would writers want to kill this man? There was recent article in The New York Times about using data “to solve the equation of the hit film script.” While I’m in favor of any great idea that might improve the quality of a screenplay – or movies as a whole – I am conflicted about what this means for the future of Hollywood… and humankind. Stats might reflect what formulas will work, but they have NOTHING to do with creativity, [...]
A snapshot of where Hollywood Drive & Talk often has its genesis. Sometimes it starts as just a word or a kernel of an idea that I think might be a fun or interesting topic to cover. Other times, the ideas spill forth as seeds for future episodes. In any case, this brainstorming session filled quite a few Post-its. Watch ContentEngine.tv for the completed episodes when they are released. Until then, I hope they are eagerly anticipated. In any case, you’ve [...]
A good preamble to reading this post is to watch my Hollywood Drive & Talk on “Show Me The Love,” as this post expands upon the concept I introduce there. So what is SHOW ME THE LOVE? It’s a new currency to quantify the human, energetic and spiritual compensation that reflects meaning and value in our lives. We are entering an era where money is no longer the only thing of import. In fact, financial incentive has drained out of most endeavors. The familiar [...]
Recently you’ve raised a number of important questions related to How Representation Will Evolve. Allow me to respond. As Content Creators, all of your traditional media efforts can and should continue. What I advocate is supplemental to doing everything you might be doing to “get an agent or manager” and to find a producer or financier for your projects. In the interim, we’ve entered an age of the Mediaverse™ in which Content Creators need to think of themselves as brands (even successful, “established” Content [...]
1) It’s good to be humble. Rich Ross, the short-lived and now departing Walt Disney Chairman, was rumored to have a “touch of arrogance” and a flippancy about the ease of running a studio. Arrogance is a tough proposition when you’re great at your job, which he clearly was at Disney Channel, but when you’re in a new gig outside your area of expertise and facing a learning curve as steep as the climb at K2, a little humble pie can help [...]
What is it about deadlines that gets the job done? To understand why they can are so motivating, I took a peek at the etymology of the word, “deadline.” Etymology, by the way, in narrative terms, is the “origin story” of words and their changing (or evolving) meaning through time. For example, “the whole nine yards” has nothing to do with football. Its derivation is thought to come from WWII, wherein gunners would “give ‘em the full nine yards” by [...]
“Read Between The Lines” Hollywood has a vernacular all its own and it’s best to learn the lingo so that you can become an eloquent practitioner. It’s what identifies you as a native to the other members of our tribe, as someone who’s in the know. Among the Town’s most popular pieces of parlance is “I don’t disagree.” But is it an affirmation worth a damn or is it just another equivocation on the road to development hell? Rather than [...]
Appreciation. We all want it. We all need it. Feels nice to get it. It’s an acknowledgement of what we do and who we are. When we don’t feel appreciated, it can sap our motivation, our ability to perform, to do our best, to serve others. The paradox of appreciation is that in order to get it, you have to give it. If you want to feel more appreciated by others — your spouse, your clients, your kids, your colleagues, [...]
It’s the thought that counts. Isn’t that what they say? I wholeheartedly agree. And I tend to think the thought counting also saves a whole lot of trees. I like to carry with me an attitude of gratitude for all the wonderful things in my life. Often, when my heart is bursting with appreciation, I feel like penning thank you notes to everyone whom I credit with contributing to my blissful state of mind: my wife, my clients, an agent [...]
Not long ago, whenever my son would hear me draw my breath in quickly or make a sound approximating alarm, he’d look at me with the insouciant curiosity of a three year-old and ask, “What’s the panic?” Precisely, my son. What IS the panic? Can anyone tell me? Are movies dead? Have people stopped consuming entertainment? Has media gone down the tubes? Is this the death knell of our business? As my boy is ever quick to remind me, “Dad, [...]
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than it is to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt. This quote was inscribed on a plaque on a wall of my father’s office and now it’s inscribed in me. At the start of a new year it’s customary to take stock [...]
I slip my five year-old daughter a piece of chocolate and tell her, “Don’t tell Mom I gave this to you – it’s our secret.” She nods enthusiastically as the chocolate melts on her tongue. When my wife enters the room, my daughter––in an attempt to hold up her end of the bargain––announces, “I just ate a secret!” * * [...]
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