How to Make a Successful Pitch

In my years working in television I heard thousands of pitches, and as head of development for production companies I made a few, too. I'm often asked, "what are executives looking for when you pitch them? In my experience they are looking for two things: 1. They want to be thrilled 2. They want to believe you can do it. Let's talk about that in detail. 1. Film studio and network executives hear hundreds if not thousands of pitches a year. They hear them in their offices, of course, but also everywhere they go. I once got pitched by a caddy at the Bel Air golf course who was also a screenwriter. Most of the time, they say 'no.' But the reason they got in the business, the reason they have their current job, is because they want to be part of creating something wonderful. Nothing excites an executive more than a great story - something that they can be a part of and that might make their reputation. They want to be thrilled by a pitch -- but they rarely are. 2. However, even a great story is not enough. As I've written in previous posts, an idea is only as good as its execution. For example, it's one thing to go into a network and pitch the idea of starring Bill Cosby in a sitcom where he plays a doctor. It's a very different meeting if, like Carsey-Werner productions, you walk in with Bill Cosby himself. (see my earlier post, turn your idea into a property). Even with Bill Cosby, the two networks at the time with the biggest audience turned down the pitch for The Cosby Show, which made NBC, the network that said yes, the #1 network during the 1980s. That's why it's important to create a track record in the entertainment business before you pitch. Unless they feel comfortable with the second point, it doesn't matter how great your idea is. If you're already a producer or can show a video of your work, that will help prove it. If you haven't produced anything, try to partner with a production company that has produced shows. Pitching and picking shows remain an art, not a science. If it were a science, no show or movie would fail. However, If you keep these two points in mind -- 1. Thrill them; 2. Prove you can do it -- you'll have a much better chance.

Hunger Games: Catching Fire -- How to Make a Blockbuster

The second film in the Hunger Games series, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is likely to gross over $500 million worldwide by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. That's after a record pre-Thanksgiving opening day gross and a Thanksgiving Day record box office gross. It's likely that after just it's second weekend the film will be the fourth best-grossing film in the U.S. for 2013, and there's a good chance that by the end of the year the film will be the top grossing film of 2013. Remember this is only the second film of what will be four movies in the series. I hope whoever optioned the books for Lionsgate got a well deserved promotion. It's no wonder that the only growing section in most bookstores is teen fantasy adventure. It's not just the Hunger Games -- the Harry Potter and Twilight series also made billions of dollars for their movie studios and publishers. Some of these series, like the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series, have not been nearly as financially successful. The latest film in the series, "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" has grossed just under $200 million worldwide. We've now seen enough successes amongst these types of films to identify certain common principles of their creation. 1. Start with a popular book series: Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Hunger Games all sold tremendously well as books. The Potter books started the practice of having parties in bookstores the night before their release. The first two Potter films were not critical triumphs, but the series had so many built-in fans they were financial successes. 2. Cast good young actors as the leads, but not stars. Jennifer Lawrence got great critical acclaim for her role in the independent film "Winter's Bone," but she was not a star when cast as Caitness. Similarly, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson had some experience, but were just about complete unknowns when they got cast as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Let the audience create the stars. 3. Surround the young stars with the best possible adult actors: Catching Fire added Phillip Seymour Hoffman to a cast that already included Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, and a host of other fine character actors. The adult Potter cast was a who's who of great English actors. Don't cast stars who will draw the focus from the young leads, but rather will help make the world believable. 4. Don't try to recreate the book on the screen. Aim for the essence of the book and some key plot points, but recognize that movies are a different medium. The Hunger Games films did that successfully by compressing the action that took months into a few days. 5. Include a strong heroine. Of course, Caitness fills that bill, but so does Hermione in the Potter books and Bella in Twilight. Your target audience should be first -- the target audience for the books, and second, their parents. If you can capture both the fans of the books and their families, you have a blockbuster. 6 Don't be afraid of including adult themes. The Hunger Games, for all of its love triangles and plucky heroines, is actually the story of a political revolution against tyranny. The Potter books are about the importance of self sacrifice for the greater good. Those themes make the action more compelling and help the films appeal to adults. 7. Keep the stakes high; make the antagonists strong. President Snow appears invincible at the beginning of Hunger Games; Voldemort is the most powerful evil wizard in the world. There's no challenge if the bad guys are easy to overcome. Most important, if you are the author or filmmaker, you have to care about the characters and the story. The Hunger Games series started because Suzanne Collins had a story she wanted to tell. JK Rowling hoped her first Harry Potter book would find an audience; by her own admission she didn't expect it the franchise would grow to its current size. The story and the characters kept her writing every day while she was on the dole in Great Britain. The first step to success is a burning desire to tell your story, and to make it as compelling as possible.

Artists are Never Out of Work

It's not surprising that the Great Recession and slow economic growth have made Americans obsessed with job security. It seems that parents and college age students pay more attention to college majors and job placement rates than ever before. In response to this concern, colleges are creating more specific majors to meet the demand for job related skills. Yet people still struggle to get hired. When companies run into financial trouble, like the Tribune company did recently, they lay off or fire their workers. Sometimes they lay them off even if they're not in financial trouble. After all, if you can run a business more efficiently, you should. If that means restructuring to eliminate positions, that's what a business owner should do. That's capitalism. No jobs immune from economic problems. That is, except for artists. If you're a writer, filmmaker, musician, designer, painter, or poet, you're never out of work, as long as you keep creating. You may not always be paid, but you can always work on your art. What's more, you never know when your work will spark enough of an audience interest to support you. The stories of artists who jumped from poverty to affluence are legion -- JK Rowling was living on the dole in England while writing the first Harry Potter book; the Beatles barely got enough to eat during their gigs in Hamburg, and Robert Townsend financed his breakthrough film, "The Hollywood Shuffle," by signing up for dozens of credit cards. It's important to believe in yourself while you're finding your voice and creating your content. If you want to tell your stories, paint your pictures, or create any content at all, you have to be in for the long haul. History is full of big companies that went out of business when technology changed. We no longer have blacksmith shops, buggy whip companies, and pretty soon we may not have any printed newspapers. The skills you learn as an artist -- the ability to create and finish a project, analyze and improve it, and create products that move people -- are always in demand. What's more,great art lasts forever. We're still reading the Illiad, performing Shakespeare's plays, and enjoying Monet's paintings. What legacy do you want to leave? Artists are never out of work, as long as they keep working.

Kill Your Darlings: Indie and Hollywood Philosphy

"In writing, you have to kill all your darlings." - William Faulkner This quote from Faulkner refers to revising your writing to remove material you loved, if it makes the piece stronger. It's also the title of a recently released indie movie starring Daniel Radcliffe as the young Allen Ginsburg, the Beat poet who wrote “Howl” and other iconic works. The film is a portrait of the artist as a young man, based on the true story of Ginsburg’s formative years at Columbia University, where he first met Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. According to the script Ginsburg and the young beats came under the spell of the charismatic Lucien Carr, who encouraged them to create a New Vision. The movie features a lot of hanging out in New York jazz bars during World War II as they develop new forms of self-expression. It also depicts benzedrine and other drug use, and Allen Ginsburg explicity exploring his sexuality. There isn't much great poetry in the film; the film ends with Ginsburg starting to write poems in his personal style. Clearly, this film is not aiming at a mass audience, despite Radcliffe's star power. The cast is uniformly excellent, and includes a post-Dexter Michael C. Hall and the immensely talented Jennifer Jason Leigh as Ginsburg’s institutionalized mother. This makes the second film about Allen Ginsburg released in three years (“Howl” was the other) in a period where we’ve seen no films about George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. To be fair, we have seen two films about Lincoln – Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and of course, “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.” I’m surprised the film got made at all – it’s a downbeat story about a literary figure whose most famous poem, “Howl,” debuted over 50 years ago. On the other hand, the Beats appear to fascinate some filmmakers, despite their spotty box office record – the recent movie version of Kerouac’s “On the Road” lost money, as did the most recent film about William Burroughs that starred Johnny Depp. The fact that it got made says a lot about the type of projects that attract actors. Radcliffe said he was attracted by the high quality of the script. Remember that many actors see themselves as serious artists. Appearing in indie movies with meaty roles provides them opportunities to demonstrate their acting ability. These types of roles can also win Academy Awards that you can’t get for big budget sci-fi sequels. The fact that films like “Kill Your Darlings” continue to get made should provide inspiration to content creators everywhere. Don’t give up on your passion project. If your script gets into the right hands, you might capture a star. Just understand that you could be in this for the long haul. It can take years, sometimes. Finally, be ruthless when revising your work. Faulkner’s advice for writers keeps being repeated because it’s often true. It’s often the work that’s most precious to you that requires the most revising. Take it to heart.

Neil Simon's Mistake

If you enjoyed the plays or movies Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Sunshine Boys, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Biloxi Blues (among many others) you've enjoyed Neil Simon's work. He's one of the most successful and funniest modern writers. He's won several Tony and Emmy awards and was nominated for four Academy Awards, all while making millions of dollars from his writing. He became known early in his career for helping rewrite shows out of town before they premiered on Broadway. His play doctoring work was how he got the nickname of "Doc" Simon. I've been a fan of his work for many years, and had the good luck to work as an assistant on his play Actors and Actresses. As Neil Simon writes in his memoir, "Rewrites," his talent as a writer did not always translate into business. In 1965, after Barefoot in the Park and Odd Couple were big hits on Broadway, Paramount approached Simon's business manager to buy the company that held all the rights to those two plays. Paramount offered $125,000, which was a significant amount of money in those days. Simon had misgivings, but because his business manager told him it was a good deal, he ultimately decided to sell. That meant that Neil Simon, the creator and author of the play "The Odd Couple," received no money from the run of the TV series, or any ancillary revenue from DVDs and videocassettes. He receives no royalty money from stage productions of Barefoot in the Park, which is still performed all over the world. For a $125,000 fee, Simon literally gave up tens if not hundreds of millions in revenue. In his memoir Simon takes responsibility for this decision. He says, "No one forced me to make the deal. It was a judgment call, and I let the wrong person sway me in making that judgment." Of course, when he made this deal in the sixties, very few people realized the amount of money one could make from ancillary markets for content. However today we expect that the number of outlets for our content will continue to expand in ways we can't even predict now. Hence the phrase in many content contracts - "all rights in all media currently existing or that may exist, in perpetuity." Never sell all rights to your content to a third party. If your business manager tells you to sell all your rights, get a new business manager. If your content reaches a good sized audience, it may provide you with an income for many years (see my earlier post about Norman Greenbaum, who still lives off royalties from his one hit, 'Spirit in the Sky.'). Of course, like Norman Greenbaum, you should license your content to third parties for distribution and collect your fees and royalties; just don't sell all the rights. I've advised never to sign any contract without having it reviewed by a lawyer. Don't even bother having your lawyer review a contract asking you to give up all rights to your content in perpetuity. Just don't sign it. I should add that Neil Simon wrote a lot more hits, and made a great deal of money from them. Even with this success, it still bothered him that he no longer owned the rights to two of his greatest plays. Learn from Doc Simon's mistake. Own your content.

Happy Accidents

"There are no mistakes, only happy accidents," - Bob Ross When I worked at public television station WLIW, I watched Bob Ross paint every day at 2:00 PM. Every day Bob Ross started with a blank canvas, and a half hour later he created an inspiring landscape. His soothing voice combined with the sound of his brush scratching the canvas was like white noise shutting out the world. He had by far the most popular painting show on PBS; even people who didn't paint watched it. But as practiced as he was, Bob Ross was not perfect. When he did make a mistake, rather than try to cover it up, he incorporated it into his painting. He liked to say "there are no mistakes, only happy accidents." Artistic techniques -- whether it's practicing music, sketching a still life, or creating a believable acting moment -- are studied and practiced in order to enable artists to create freely and spontaneously. There are times when all artists struggle to create, and there are times when the ideas flow freely and the canvas fills up as if by magic. We never know when inspiration will strike, but we do know that we'll make the most of it if we have a solid technique and practice every day to give our inspiration the best chance to affect our work. Allow those happy accidents to happen when you're creating content. Have a vision, but don't be so rigid you ignore opportunities for inspiration. The scene where Cary Grant is chased by the crop dusting plane in "North by Northwest" was created when director Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Ernest Lehman were stuck for an idea. They considered several ideas for the scene, including a killer tornado (but how could they make the tornado appear on cue? Too bad they didn't see Sharknado). Finally, one of them said, "what about a crop dusting plane?" and suddenly they were developing the scene and writing notes madly. A happy accident of an idea became one of the most memorable scenes in the film. I bet you're wondering if Bob Ross' painting techniques worked for others. They absolutely did. Mario, one of our master control technicians at WLIW, also had watched Bob Ross' show for years and one day decide to try it. He would often show me slides of the magnificent landscapes he created using the Ross technique, without any formal art training. In your own work, follow Ross' advice. Don't make mistakes. Make happy accidents.

Create Entertaining Stories

In the classic movie Sullivan's Travels, written and directed by Preston Sturges, Joel McCrea plays film director John L. Sullivan, who's made a good living directing light comedies, but now wants to direct a 'significant' picture, a movie called "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" (yes, the Coen brothers knew about Sullivan's Travels when they wrote a movie by the same name.). When Sullivan actually does live on the streets and is sentenced to a chain gang, he learns how much joy his comedies gave ordinary people, and he goes back to making them. People want to be entertained. That's why they spend hundreds of dollars on concert or sports tickets, and share internet videos about kittens. If you want to market your content to a group larger than your friends and family, you must make it entertaining. That doesn't necessarily mean funny. Your goal as a story teller is to involve your audience so they want to know what happens next, and are anxious to find out. The more your content can do that -- whether it's a viral video or a popular novel -- the more people will want to experience it. How do you make something entertaining? If there was a formula that worked every time, every piece of content ever created would be popular. That being said, there are some principals I've learned over the years that I try to apply to my work: -- A satisfying story is both surprising and inevitable. The audience must be unsure of the ending, but when they get there the ending should result from the characters' personalities and interaction. -- Tell a story about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances -- whether they're trying to save the earth or save their Average Joe Gym (yes, that's a Dodgeball Reference. Wonder if they'd still have Lance Armstrong in that movie today). By the way, "people" does not necessarily mean humans -- your characters can be hobbits or Norse gods. -- Dialogue should reveal character and advance the plot. Even the most brilliant verbal repartee from Noel Coward or Oscar Wilde or Judd Apatow does that. -- Any message must grow out of the situation and characters to be effective. Otherwise, write an op ed piece or an essay for the NY Times. Of course, even if you apply these rules and work hard to make your content as strong as possible, it still may not find an audience. Forgive yourself, and move on to the next project. My message: If you liked this post, make a comment. My poetry collection, Two Car Garage, is also available on amazon.com and bn.com.

Casablanca's Ending

"We'll always have Paris." "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she has to walk into mine." "Round up the usual suspects." "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." "Play it, Sam." -- Has there ever been a movie with as many iconic lines as Casablanca? By the way, no one in movie ever says, "Play it, again, Sam." Both Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa and Humphrey Bogart as Rick say to Dooley Wilson as Sam, "Play it" meaning their signature song, "As Time Goes By." According to several books about the movie and biographies of the stars, Bogart and Bergman played the movie without knowing how it was going to end. Would Ilsa go off with Rick, or with her husband, the noble resistance fighter Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid? One reason the audience was unsure, was that the actors were unsure. The writers were still working on the script during shooting, and wrote two different endings. Ingrid Bergman said she asked the director and writers who she would end up, and they said, "We don't know. Play it in between." Her uncertainty increased the audience's anxiety,and made this love triangle romantic and mysterious. Even though two endings were scripted, Director Michael Curtiz only shot one -- the famous ending we have today where Rick sends Ilsa off with Victor, and reminds her "We'll always have Paris... If that plane leaves and you're not on it you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life." It makes me wonder if Curtiz knew how he wanted the movie to end all along, but didn't tell Bergman to make sure she played it the way he wanted. You can do that when you're directing actors in a movie. You just need to capture the result you want once, and it lives forever. Casablanca won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and many film historians consider it one of the greatest movies ever made. How is that possible, with the amount of rewrites in production and uncertainty about the ending? Sometimes, creative chaos produces the best results. I don't mean total chaos -- after all, the movie did get shot even though the script was being rewritten. All that off screen creative uncertainty has a way of feeding the on screen energy. On the Casablanca set that uncertainty about the ending probably helped keep the performances fresh throughout. It helped that the ensemble cast was one of the deepest and finest assembled for a Warner Brothers, film. It was so good that Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet played only small (but crucial) parts. The reasons why one piece succeeds and another doesn't remain mysterious. If they weren't mysterious, then anyone could create a successful film, and no movie would ever fail. That's why it's important for content creators to keep going and finish their pieces despite the chaos. There will always be chaos. Don't let that stop you from making your content the best it can be.

"The Butler" outgrosses "Lone Ranger"

As of September 8, 2013, the Disney film "The Lone Ranger's" domestic box office gross stood at $88,806,000. That's a tremendous disappointment for a film that reportedly cost $250 million to make. As of Sept. 8, after only four weeks of release, "Lee Daniel's The Butler" grossed $91,901,000. The reviews and word of mouth on the movie have been so good that it's sure to increase its lead over The Lone Ranger, and many other summer box office failures. The budget for The Butler is estimated to be $30 million, making it tremendously profitable. What happened? The obvious answer is that audiences liked The Butler and didn't like The Lone Ranger. In my July post 'A $250 million Flop" I outlined some of the more obvious mistakes Disney and its creators made with the Lone Ranger. Lee Daniels, producer and director of The Butler, made right decisions, starting with casting Forrest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, who the audience loved and could play those parts believably. The Butler also opened up a world for audiences that most of us do not know -- behind the scenes of the White House. It constantly surprised us in a way that draws people into a story -- we thought we knew the history, but The Butler showed us a side we didn't know. The Lone Ranger had no surprises -- we may not have known the specific stunts going in, but we knew everything that was going to happen. The Butler's success also proves two other things: 1. $30 million dollar films can still make money, if they are well made and reach the right audience. 2. We'll soon see several movies dealing with African-American history -- the upcoming "!2 Years a Slave" is just one example. Does the success of The Butler and failure of The Lone Ranger mean studios will change the way they do business? I'm sorry to say no. It's true The Lone Ranger's budget would fund 8 movies like the Butler. But personal, quality films like the Butler bring their own challenges. You need to have a quality script. You need stars willing to work for less than they usually make because they believe in the project. It's not easy to make high-quality, intelligent, films that reach a wide audience. Finally, Studio executives don't get jobs because they make $30 million movies; they get jobs because they've supervised $100 and $200 million movies. If you greenlight a bunch of $30 million movies and they fail, not only did your films fail, you couldn't attract big budget elements. When The Lone Ranger fails, at least you've shown your ability to bring name talent to your studio. The business isn't set up to nurture inexpensive or even reasonably priced films. For content creators, the lesson of "Lee Daniels the Butler" is that there is a market for quality stories that inspire people. We never really know what stories will capture the audience's interest. Keep working to make your stories, films, poems, and web series the best you can, and let your audience find you.

Final American Idol Judging Panel - You Make the Deals You Can Make

The rumors, stops and starts, and time it took to fill the judges' chairs for American Idol this summer are a clear sign of the show's problems. With its ratings plunging last season, and expected to fall further in 2014, top talents didn't want to be associated with the show. The show's new producers, stuck with high expectations, either couldn't or wouldn't take the chance of creating a panel entirely of successful former contestants. It's possible Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson didn't want to take time from their busy careers to sit in the judges' seat -- at least not for the amount of money Fox was willing to offer. Instead, with their backs to the wall (production starting this month)the producers first re-signed Keith Urban, whose nice guy persona will at least make contestants comfortable. With a year of experience and a different panel, perhaps this year he'll get a word in edgewise. Next they reportedly spent $17.5 million to re-sign Jennifer Lopez, a judge the previous regime had tossed over the side just a year ago. Lopez was probably happy to get the gig. Her music and acting career is stalling, and after her recent divorce she probably could use the money. After they lost record producer Dr. Luke over contract conflicts of interest, reports are they signed Harry Connick, Jr. to fill the third slot. Harry also has a nice guy persona like Keith Urban, so perhaps Jennifer Lopez will fill the Simon Cowell role of acerbic truth teller. Further rumors are that Randy Jackson will return as mentor. I think bringing Randy back in a different role is a great idea. For long-time fans, Randy provides continuity to the glory days of idol. In earlier blogs on this topic I said, and still believe, the problem with Idol wasn't the judges, but the contestants. America needs people they can care about. I just can't believe out of the thousands who audition every year they couldn't find more compelling contestants than the ones chosen for last season's show. Rather than spend $7.5 million on a single judge they would be better off spending $7.5 million on talent scouts and coordinators to make sure only the most interesting contestants and story lines get to the finals. I'm sure they could find a former contestant who's had some success to judge the show for just $10 million -- Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Fantasia, Ruben Stoddard, and maybe Jordin Sparks would consider it. What content creators can learn from this hoopla is: sometimes you have to make the deals you can make. The producers may have wanted to take the judging panel in a different direction (they certainly tried to sign other judges first. Their production deadline meant judges had to be signed by a certain time, and the longer it took, the less leverage they had to find the ideal judges. I'm sure that Harry Connick's price went up after Dr. Luke dropped out because he knew they needed him and were out of time. When you're creating a movie or a television show you can't always sign your ideal cast or afford your ideal production values. Successful producers and directors make it work anyway by focusing on the key points of the story they're trying to tell. It's possible that the current Idol judge panel will work, as long as the most important part of the show -- the contestants -- capture the viewers' imagination. When you're creating your content don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Make the deals you need to make things happen, and protect the core of the story to connect with your audience.

Digital Rights

When you upload a video to You Tube, do you own it? What about when you post it on Facebook or your own website? So many things get shared and linked to throughout all types of social media. Where do your rights to your content begin and end? In the U.S. they begin with the language of the copyright act. You can read the entire act if you have a lot of time on your hands, at www.copyright.gov. Once you have created your work in a fixed form -- whether it's on paper, audio tape, video tape, film, or digital file (or some other form of media) you own your content and it is protected by copyright. You may want to register your work with the U.S. copyright office or some other agency (the Writer's Guild registers scripts, for example) to get extra protection. But once you create a work, you own it. Of course we're speaking about original work. If you copy someone else's novel and put your name on it, that doesn't count as an original work. You can't copyright ideas, names, or domain names. If you're creating fan fiction based on characters created by someone else, it's much better if you get permission from the author before you try to sell it. Or try changing the characters' names and circumstances enough so you can call it an original work, and you might have written a smash best seller like 50 Shades of Grey. If you're creating digital content, it's important to read the website's service agreement before you post your clip. Make sure that you are not assigning your copyright by posting your clip; if you're not sure, don't post it. You can always ask a lawyer for information, or at the very least look for help from other content creators and users of the site. As I've said in other posts, don't ever sign a contract with anyone regarding your work, or hire an agent or manager, without having an entertainment lawyer review the agreement first. No one can steal your copyrighted work, but you can give it away if you're not paying attention to the fine print. Bruce Springsteen signed a contract in a parking lot at night without reading it that gave his manager control over his music. it cost him years and millions of dollars to get out of it after he became a star. Allowing people to share content doesn't necessarily mean you give up your rights to it. Make sure you know what rights you own and what rights you're assigning to each piece of content, so you retain control of your work.

Ulysses S. Grant on Directing Movies

I just finished "The Man Who Saved the Union" a biography of Ulysses S. Grant written by H.W. Brands. Grant was clerking in his father's leather goods store when the Civil War started, and rose from volunteer to Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army (the first man who held that rank since George Washington) and then President of the United States. His countrymen revered him throughout his later life, and built him a magnificent final resting place on Riverside Drive and 122nd Street in Manhattan. Grant's career has a lot to teach content creators, particularly film directors. As Orson Welles said, “A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.” Grant's success provides a model for those wanting to lead a creative army. In 1862, talking about how lead an army, Grant said, "The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on." Translate that to movie making -- know what the heart of your story is -- what is important and what can be cut if needed. Get to the heart of the story as soon as you can and attack it in the most compelling way possible. Make your point and move on to the next scene. Grant once told an aide who asked if Grant believed he'd made a correct decision that he wasn't sure, but "We must decide. If I am wrong, we shall soon find it out, and can do the other thing. But not to decide wastes both time and money, and may ruin everything.” That is very true for directors. Make a decision and follow it through. The next day, you can come back and change everything you did, but no one loses control of a set or a production faster than a director who's not sure. Grant is also famous for saying, "I will take no backward step." Once he started moving in a direction he kept moving toward his objective, even if he had to take a couple of detours to get there. That's the same for a creative career. Only the most determined achieve their goals. The road may not always go straight, but you'll get there if you keep your end in mind and trust your judgement.

Do You Need an Agent and a Manager?

If you're a successful movie actor, author, or any artist generating millions of dollars of income every year, chances are you employ both an agent and a manager, and in some cases more than one. If you're primarily a novelist,for example, you may have a literary agent, a Hollywood agent for film sales, and another agent to book speeches. If you're like many content creators uploading video to you tube and going to open mike poetry readings (that's what I do in my spare time) chances are you don't have an agent or manager. What does Tom Cruise know that you don't? For one thing he knows the difference between an agent and a manager. An agent's business is regulated by law, and strictly limited to getting work for their clients. In general, agents get the job and make the deal. Managers are generally not licensed by the state and therefore there can be a wide range of services that managers offer. A manager is career-oriented, responsible for shaping their client's career. They have a hand in everything from developing projects to the clothes clients wear at public appearances. If you are the CEO of your creative career, your manager is your COO or brand manager. An agent can't produce their client's movie, but a manager can. A manager can head their client's production company. All CEOs need people to help them realize their vision. Successful artists also need their team. Agents and managers can work with several clients That's because your manager and your agent only get a percentage of your earnings -- your agent will generally get 10% of your fee, and the manager 10 or 15% or more, depending on the services they offer. If you're making $1 million for your latest movie (actually, a poor salary if you're a star or a top screenwriter) your agent gets $100,000 and your manager gets $150,000 before you get a penny. Are your agent and manager worth it? If they helped get you that $1 million -- absolutely. 75% of something, especially a very lucrative something, is better than 100% of nothing. The right agent and/or manager can be a huge boost to your career, bringing your work to the attention of executives who have the resources to provide a worldwide platform and a high salary. But be careful, particularly if you're not yet a star and have been asked to sign a management contract. An unscrupulous manager is in a good position to rob you or destroy your career. That's why, before you sign any contract with an agent or manager, get it reviewed by a knowledgeable entertainment attorney. Pay them up front if you have to - although in Hollywood, some lawyers will also work for a percentage.

How I Became a Writer - and how you can, too

I received the hard copy of my latest book today. It's called The Year of the Blue Snow: the 1964 Phillies. The book looked great and made me think about the number of published books that include my work. I contributed a biography of the great Cookie Rojas to the Phillies book, which was compiled by the Society for American Baseball Research and contains biographies of everyone who played for the star-crossed 1964 Phillies. That makes the eighth book for SABR I've written for; my articles have appeared in other team books, in Stars of the Deadball Era, and a compilation called The Perfect Game. My poetry has appeared in three published books -- there's my collection, Two Car Garage, and two anthologies, Poetry to Feed the Spirit and Love and Other Passions. I've also written feature articles for magazines, sports coverage for local papers, and a host of commercial writing, op eds, and of course, this blog. Considering that I spent most of my career working as a director, producer, and Head of Programming, I think it's a good publication record. I have at least three more books in the pipeline. How did I do it? I just started writing. I didn't start with grandiose plans about creating the Great American Novel. I didn't take a class, I didn't pitch a network, I just started writing about subjects that I loved. I'm a long-time SABR member and love researching baseball history so I wrote biographies. One day I wrote an essay in the form of a poem and I've been writing poetry ever since. I've found that the more I write, the better my writing gets. I look for feedback from other writers so I can learn from them. I learned that great writers write every day and reserve regular time to write so I try to do that too. Simply by doing these things, my work has appeared in almost a dozen books. So how can you become a writer? Start writing. It's that simple. And that hard. Remember, it's important to promote your work, too. You can buy my poetry collection, Two Car Garage,on amazon.com, bn.com, chbmedia.com, and just about any other web site that sells books.

A $250 million flop -- Lessons from 'The Lone Ranger'

The all-important July 4th Box Office weekend ended with a disaster for Disney. The studio spent $250 million producing 'The Lone Ranger,' which received mostly bad reviews, and what's worse, grossed only $48.9 million at the Box Office over the five day weekend. Universal, on the other hand, spent $76 million to make 'Despicable Me 2,' which took in over $142 million. These figures are U.S. and Canada Box Office only, but when you include international markets, the difference between the two films' performance only gets bigger. Disney reportedly spent over $250 million last year to make "John Carter," which only earned $30.2 million on its opening weekend, so I guess you could say the performance of their blockbusters is improving. Even with the money Hollywood routinely spends, when a $250 million film loses $200 million, people notice. No studio, producer, or director sets out to make an unpopular film. Certainly Disney had high hopes for Lone Ranger. The producer and Director, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, were behind the hugely successful 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies. Those films, and the Lone Ranger, starred Johnny Depp. The Lone Ranger has been a popular hero in the U.S. for years. Disney must have thought they'd have a hit with the film -- otherwise why spend that much money? Once again, a Hollywood studio has proved the truth of William Goldman's first rule of Hollywood -- "Nobody Knows Anything." In retrospect, we can see that the Lone Ranger had some problems in its conception that should have alerted studio executives they had problems to overcome. 1. Focus -- The movie is supposed to be the Lone Ranger's story, but the star (Johnny Depp) was playing Tonto -- and in bizarre white makeup with a dead bird on his head. While it's true that in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Depp's Character, Jack Sparrow, wasn't the romantic lead (those chores were handled by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley), Jack Sparrrow was still the main character, and the audience liked him. It's very difficult to make The Lone Ranger work when your star is playing the sidekick. 2. Strength of underlying material -- The last time those characters had a hit show was 1957 on television. There has never been a Lone Ranger movie that made a lot of money. That's in contrast to Zorro, another masked hero of the west, whose movies have always made money. This should have led the director and writers to work very hard to define the characters and their behavior. Instead it appeared that they spent most of their time trying to work out the big stunt set pieces. 3.At the end of the day, Despicable Me 2 performed better because the audience preferred to spend two hours with the characters in that film instead of with the Lone Ranger and Tonto. No amount of stunts, high concept stories, or hype can make up for a lack of character development. It's difficult to make hit movies -- if it was easy there would be a lot more of them and actors and directors wouldn't be paid millions of dollars per film. That's one lesson from the Lone Ranger. The other lesson can be applied to every piece of content -- make your characters and story unique and compelling. If you do, you can hold an audience sitting around a campfire. If you don't, $250 million of special effects won't be enough.

5 Tips for Starting a Creative Career

Last week I met a young man who just got his degree in English and Film from a Florida college and wanted a career as a writer, ideally writing for film and television. A friend of mine asked me to give him some advice, which I wanted to share with all of my readers. The five tips I gave him are useful for anyone starting a creative career at any age. 1. Keep creating -- if you want to be a screenwriter, write treatments and screenplays on spec. Agents, producers, and media companies will need to see proof you can write before they hire you as a writer. You don't have to limit yourself to visual media -- if you get novels, short stories, poems, or even news articles published they will give you credibility. Along the way you may write some things that aren't worth sending to anyone. Don't despair -- that's all part of the process. 2. Find a creative community -- You need other people to look at your work and make constructive suggestions. People to bounce ideas off, and people who think your ideas are cool and want to work with you. While you can look for those people in any town, if movies or TV are your goal, you should probably move to Los Angeles. That's where the creative decisions are made. You'll also find other young people like yourself, all trying to break into the industry. Some of them will make it before you and they may take you along. 3. Make great content -- Quality matters. When a media executive sits down to go through the scripts and submissions they received, they know they're going to read a lot of junk. They're hoping to be thrilled. Write the script that thrills them. 4. Find your unique voice -- Keep pushing yourself to get better with every script and story you create. You don't want to write like everyone else. You want film producers and executives to say "we want the best in the business for this. Get me (insert your name here). 5. Pay your dues and persist -- You will probably face a lot of rejection. Producers will turn your work down, agents won't talk to you. There will be many days when you'll want to quit and get a 'real' job. Don't quit. If you're meant to be in the business, your work will improve with constant practice. You'll make friends in the business who can hire you or collaborate with you. You'll start to get known. Then, when an opportunity presents itself, you'll be ready and perhaps you will be the next big thing. And if not, at least you're in show business, baby. Hurrah for all those young people heading to Hollywood!

Books still matter - why you should publish

A few months ago CHB Media published my first poetry collection, Two Car Garage. The books received some good reviews on Amazon.com and I'm getting excellent response in poetry readings. I'm very proud of it. Of course, writing the book was a labor of love. It's a great feeling to hear from someone that your words have moved them. I've also learned something from this experience that's worth sharing with all my readers: Having a book published gives you credibility. I set that sentence apart because I want you to remember it. I may tell people I'm a poet, but having a book published proves it. Even when I'm talking to people about content creation in general, or discussing program distribution, the fact that I've authored a book on any subject impresses people. Having a book published should impress people. It's proof that you can sustain your creativity and finish a project. It's proof that someone else (the publisher), likes your work enough to put their own money behind printing it. In my case, it demonstrates an artistic side that people who knew me only as a media executive might not otherwise see. What I'm saying about books, of course, also is true for short films, websites, digital projects, CDs, etc. If you want proof of your creativity, make something. Thanks to the digital world, it's never been easier to get your book in print, or your film distributed. Print on Demand services abound through the major players like amazoncom and bn.com, but also through a host of other websites and local publishing companies. My publisher is CHB Media, but there are many others. If you want a career creating content, show people what you can do. As always I welcome your comments and questions. You can order a copy of Two Car Garage at http://www.amazon.com/Two-Car-Garage-Peter-Gordon/dp/0988631512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369873560&sr=8-1&keywords=two+car+garage. It's also available at bn.com, chbmediaonline.com, and just about any other website that sells books. Amazon has a kindle version.

Should Fox fix American Idol?

Just a couple of weeks after my previous post on American Idol's problems I am gratified to see Fox agrees with some of my suggestions on how to fix the program. Rumors are flying that none four judges or the executive producer will be back next year. Randy Jackson, the only judge left from the first season, has already left -- he announced he will concentrate on his music company and "other opportunities." Ratings for the final last Thursday hit an all time low for the final,down 34% from last year. The show did win the night, despite coming in second for the half our of a new episode of The Big Bang Theory. During my network career, I've been in a lot of meetings where we discussed what to do with hit shows that dropped in the ratings. American Idol is down tremendously in the ratings, but it's still winning it's night and is one of the top rated shows in broadcast. I'm not surprised that Fox is trying something radical to save the show. But should they? Yes, they should. You can call this Peter's Programming Rule #1 -- don't drop a show from your schedule unless you're sure you'll replace it with a higher rated show. It's not likely Fox can find a show that will do better than Idol. They have to save it. The first decision they have to make is whether they think the right changes to judges and formats will improve ratings, or if they have to cut costs (get cheaper judges) and do their best to hold on to the current audience. Kevin Reilly, the head of Fox Entertainment, made some comments that shows he's thinking along the right lines: everything's on the table, and the focus of next season needs to be on the contestants. Fox has learned that paying big name judges $18 million per year for a part-time job -- what they reportedly pay Mariah Carey, doesn't result in higher ratings. I stand by my earlier suggestions. I think the show's moment has passed, but there's enough life to justify an announced "Last Season." Make the judges all former American Idol contestants, and bring back everyone who was ever a judge or a popular contestant for some role during the year -- I'm talking about you Justin, Clay Aiken, and bikini girl. Maybe pit some of the old favorites who didn't win and don't have recording contracts against some new talent. If this works, and the ratings increase, Fox can always say that audience demand requires another season anyway. Think about how you would bring the audience back to American Idol. Can you use any of those techniques in the shows, videos, and stories you create?

Do I need an Agent ?

In the traditional media world, the answer is yes. An agent can open doors that you can't open yourself. Tom Cruise has one. So does Harrison Ford, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison. Stephen King has one. Almost all successful authors have literary agents, and speakers have booking agents. If you have success as a novelist, playwright, actor, director, and even producer or on-air talent, and deal regularly with big media companies, you should have an agent. Licensed agents recognized by major media companies bring you credibility that you can't get any other way. Agents know things -- they know which director needs to work, and which publishers are looking to get into the teen paranormal business, for example. It's a fact that most media companies won't look at material that's not represented, whether by an agent or a production company. If you're not represented and they do decide to review your idea, the company will make you sign a release that prevents you from suing them if they create a show with a similar idea. Agents are important. But agents don't get you work. They get you meetings and the opportunity to sell yourself. Then after you get the job, they make the deal for you. For this service, agents generally get a 10% commission on your earnings. An agent that works hard for you -- sets up lots of meetings, negotiates deals, gets you auditions -- is absolutely worth the money. But what about when you're starting out? Do you need an agent then? Even when you're starting out an agent can help you. But you might have trouble finding one. Because agents are paid on commission they want to make sure their clients can get work before they add a client to their roster. Therefore, the best way to get an agent is to show them your talent. If you're an author, send them your book. If you're an actor, get them to see you in something. Show them a video of your speaking. Put your work on youtube and send them a link. One way or another, get known -- at least a little bit. This will not be easy. It's likely your work will be rejected a lot at the start. But if you don't want to be rejected every day, pick another line of work. As I wrote in an earlier post, even if you have a best seller or a hit film, not everyone will like it. One important point -- do not pay an agent to make appointments for you. If anyone asks you for money before they send you to a meeting, walk away and find another agent. As always, before you sign any contract with anyone -- producer, agent, media company, etc, -- get that contract reviewed by a lawyer that represents your interests. I'll be writing in future posts with more details about how to get agents and the difference between an agent an a manager.

American Idol Judge Changes?

Last week the American Idol live results show finished second in the ratings to reruns of the Big Bang Theory. This week reports swirled around the internet that show producers considered replacing Mariah Carey in the middle of the season with Jennifer Lopez. Is American Idol getting that desperate? And what does this mean for next year? Finally, what can we as content creators learn from this? The answer to the first question is "Yes." They are getting desperate, but you can't blame them. Ratings are down significantly from last year (although the show usually wins its time slot) despite spending $18 million on Mariah Carey along with more millions on Nicky Minaj, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson. The show that used to bring in torrents of money for Fox may only be bringing in a trickle. They've tweaked show formats, brought in big stars and still viewership is down. The producers may have forgotten the most important factor in American Idol's previous success -- it's about the contestants, not the judges. Paying Mariah Carey $18 million got the show some off season press, but not a ratings boost. That's because the audience doesn't tune in to see the judges, they tune in because they care about the contestants. We don't remember a lot about what Simon, Paula, and Randy said about the contestants, but we do remember rooting for Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, and even Katherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks. The judges' most important job is to pick a final group that viewers can care about and makes compelling television. That's where this year's group of judges (with help from the producers)failed. They were so worried about repeating past mistakes that they didn't focus on the best candidates for the present. If the present low ratings continue, we may be looking at the last year of American Idol. If I was running Fox, I wouldn't cancel the show. I think the best way to salvage the ratings next year is to announce that next year is the last year of American Idol -- that will bring to auditions everyone in the U.S. who thought about auditioning but didn't. The contestant pool (and potential star power) will be deep. I'd also use guest judges every show -- bring back Simon and Paula, of course, but also Ellen, Karla, Steven and J Lo. Let's see William Hung and Sanjiya again. Fans will tune in to see their old favorites, and may stay tuned to watch this year's group. Content Creators can learn two lessons from this: First, stay true to your vision. American Idol started as a show that gave chances to unknown talent, aided by colorful, but not particularly famous, judges. When they tried to make the judges the stars, the show failed. When creating content, have a clear vision and stick with it. The second lesson is that sometimes a show, or a tv series, or a book series, runs its course. People move on to other entertainment. American Idol is in its twelfth season. It's possible that no matter what the producers did, the audience would have melted away. That's why you should be true to your vision. Your show, or your movie, or your book, may fail. Odds are, even if you have some initial success, you show will go off the air eventually. You may as well realize your vision for it to the best of your ability.

The Best Advice You'll Ever Get About a Creative Career

The advice is from Max Gordon, the legendary founder and owner of the Village Vanguard nightclub in New York City. Gordon launched the Vanguard in 1935 in a former speakeasy on Bleeker Street. At first he booked poetry readings and folk music, but in 1957 he changed the format to jazz and comedy. Almost all of the jazz greats appeared at the Vanguard, which also recorded their performances for their own record label. The advice from Max Gordon is from a conversation between Max and Jeff Levenson, who is now the head of the jazz label Half Note records, but in the early 1980s wrote for Downbeat, the leading jazz magazine of the time. Here's the story from Levenson: "I was the East Coast Editor for Downbeat, and I went to interview Max Gordon. I start asking him, how did he know when he began the club in 1936 that he was going to change the course of popular culture? That he was going to redefine how we view jazz and folk singing and even comedy? Did he know how visionary he was? I'm gushing; I'm a kid in front of the great Max Gordon. And he was just so beautiful to me. He had a cigar, and he was listening to me, just going on and on. And then he said, 'Look. Just shut up, OK? I want to tell you how it works. This is it: I got up, and I went to work. And I walked down my steps, and I put on my show, and I counted my money, and I closed my door, and I went home. And then the next day, I did the same thing. I walked down the steps, I counted my money, and I went home. I went to work. I went home. I went to work. If you do that long enough, then, if you're lucky enough, some kid comes up to you and asks you what your great vision is about life and how you changed the course of popular culture. But in fact, I was just doing what I felt like doing.'" Take it from Max: Do your work every day. Keep at it, and maybe someday they will be interviewing you about your vision.

When the Book Lives up to its hype

You may remember that a few months ago I wrote about Chad Harbach and his novel, "The Art of Fielding." Harbach worked on the novel for at several years while he was editing the literary magazine N + 1. Harbach wrote and re-wrote the novel until he made the story so compelling that an agent signed him and they sold the rights for $665,000. HBO bought the film rights and plans to make the story an HBO film. I loved the book -- I think it's smart and funny with believable,compelling characters. Harbach, who went to Harvard, also has a great insight into life at an elite college - not to mention a love for baseball. I'm happy to report that at this point everyone in my family has also read and loved it. It's a rare and wonderful thing when a book lives up to its hype, and if you're looking for a good novel with baseball as a key element as baseball season starts, please pick up "The Art of Fielding." There's a great deal all content creators can learn from this book. 1. Keep working and keep improving -- would you work on a piece of material for ten years if you knew you'd make a million dollars when you were done? What if you didn't know for sure? Harbach had a story he wanted to tell and he kept working until it was as good as he could make it. We should make sure all our content is as good as possible. 2. Once it's ready, market your material. Find the people who can help you. That means get an agent, pitch it to a network, rent a theater -- do what you need to do to get noticed. If you have to you can try to self-publish or put a video on Youtube. Get the word out. The audience isn't going to come to your home to read your book, you have to make it available for them. Finally, while you're creating your masterpiece, learn about the business. Harbach knew a lot about the publishing business because he was a magazine editor and made a lot of friends in the business. If you're working on a novel now, take some time to learn which agents and/or publishers might have interest in it. If you have a program idea, don't just figure out which networks would like out, find out who at those networks you should contact. There are plenty of ways to do this and I'll be writing about them in the next few posts. As an author myself, I also want to remind my readers that my book of poetry, "Two Car Garage," is now available on amazon.com, bn.com, on kindle, and directly from the publisher at chbmediaonline.com

Fixing NBC

My first television job was at NBC when it was the number one broadcast network. Thursday was "must-See TV" starting with the Cosby Show and included iconic shows like Seinfeld, ER, Cheers, and Family Ties. That's why, despite NBC's recent struggles it was still a shock to learn that NBC finished fifth in the Feb. 2013 sweeps behind CBS, ABC, FOX, and Univision, the Spanish-language network. It was a shock despite the fact I've blogged about both Univision and Telemundo's rise in the ratings, and my particular fondness for Sabado Gigante, the best variety show on television. How is it possible that NBC could fall so far, especially after a fall season that showed promising ratings increases? The short answer is: people don't want to watch their shows. Two shows performed well last fall: Sunday night football, thanks to the nation's sports fans, and The Voice. Those two series performed so well they masked the weakness of the rest of the schedule, proving once again that television remains a hit-driven business. In February, after the football season and without The Voice, and with a stumbling Today show and Tonight Show (rumors are Jay Leno will leave soon) NBC had difficulty promoting their programs. They just couldn't find an audience. It's possible to fix NBC. Americans still watch a lot of television. The NBC company, as opposed to the NBC broadcast network, has an excellent record of developing scripted programs for networks like USA and SYFY. Here's my four point plan to find the shows to get NBC back on top. 1. Look for what's not on TV. Don't imitate your competition. Find shows about things that aren't on the other broadcast networks. 2. Tap the producers providing hit shows for your cable networks and let them create shows they'd like to watch. 3. Aim for an older demographic -- the country is getting older, yet the tyranny of the 18-49 demographic sweet spot for advertisers keep a growing number of networks chasing a shrinking age group. Older viewers still make appointments to watch television. Find the next "Golden Girls" or "Hot in Cleveland." 4. Have patience. Stick with quality shows until they find an audience. Seinfeld got mediocre ratings at first, and then became an iconic show. Of course, as with all great content, it's not just the ideas, it's the execution of the ideas that brings ultimate success. The most important thing is to keep trying. The Entertainment Business is cyclical; this year's star can easily become next year's has-been. If NBC can execute the plan well, I believe the network can get back to number one.

Searching for Sugar Man and Universal Themes

I wrote about the story of Rodriguez and Searching for Sugar Man last October It's an amazing underdog story. First time film maker Malik Bendjelloul learned about Rodriguez's story and decided to make a documentary even though he never had directed a film before. If this true story was a fiction film, you would say it never could have happened. To recap -- Folk singer Rodriguez recorded two albums in the early 1970s in Detroit. They didn't sell well in the US, and he made his living as a day laborer. Somehow, the albums made it to South Africa, where they connected with the anti-government protest movements. Roridguez's songs became the soundtrack of the South African anti-apartheid movement. He sold thousands of albums, although he didn't know that until fans from South Africa tracked him down. It's an incredible story and it really happened. Any major film company could have produced a documentary about this or bought Rodriguez's story to make a movie -- only they didn't. It took Bendjelloul, a man who was so passionate about the story that he decided to become a documentarian and spend his life savings in order to bring this story to world. His faith and hard work, and that of Rodriguez, was validated by the Academy with the Oscar for best documentary. Their success shows once again the power of story and importance of universal themes. Who among us doesn't think they deserve more appreciation for their work? Don't we all secretly believe that if the world knew about us we would be famous? Bendjelloul recognized the power of Rodriguez's story, and its universal appeal made the film popular and carried the day with the Academy. A great story, even if told badly, will affect more people than a bad story told well. In your work, look for the great stories. Pick ones with Universal themes that people can relate to. Who knows, someday you, too, may have as much impact as Rodriguez, and perhaps even win an Academy Award.

Business Success Requires more MFAs

That's not a typo. I believe a great way for all businesses, not just so-called creative ones -- to insure your business success is to hire more MFA's -- that's Master of Fine Arts. Why? Because MFAs can bring creativity to businesses of all sizes. The iphone, ipod, and mac computer were successful because of their tech -- and because of their design. Steve Jobs was a technical innovator, but one thing that set him apart from the other tech computer giants was his emphasis on design and the user experience. Where is this being taught in America today? In our design departments, art departments, theater and film departments. If businesses are looking for creative products that will capture their consumers, recruit MFAs. Master of Fine Arts programs don't just teach creativity -- they teach discipline. MFA students work long hours in pursuit of perfection, constantly testing and improving their designs and their content. Focus on their projects can be translated by businesses into focus on their company's most important project. MFAs must collaborate with other artists to realize their vision. You can't receive an MFA in film directing unless you've successfully created a film requiring you to collaborate with designers, technicians, writers and actors to realize your vision. Anyone who can do that can collaborate with his or her fellow workers in the next cubicle. For many years, top financial firms have hired newly minted MBAs (Master of Business Administration) and groomed them for the top spots in their companies. All those MBA's didn't prevent the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 -- in fact the policies pushed by the MBAs at the top of our investment banks and mortgage companies caused the crash and the Great Recession. What good were those degrees, if they couldn't see where the economy was headed? When the economy and the stock market were roaring, the MBAs made a great deal of money. When it foundered, they didn't know how to right the ship. Americans' ability to create and innovate is our advantage in the world economy. Tasks that we never thought would be outsourced, like legal and medical advice, are now being sent to the cheapest bidders. But you can't outsource creative individuals. Creativity requires collaboration, which requires a critical mass of creative people at your company. Every year, Universities graduate thousands of MFAs. Hire them, business leaders! Go to Art Schools to recruit them. There's a treasure trove of creative and innovative ideas at your fingertips if you want it. Hire some MFAs.

The Americans, or Keep Your Audience in Mind

Last week I watched the great new FX show The Americans, starring Keri Russell. The show takes place during the 1980s, and is about two Russian sleeper agents in the Washington DC area who outwardly live as a normal American family with two kids. In fact, they spend most of their time in the first episode kidnapping defectors, beating people up, and avoiding the FBI. It's a basic cable series, so the sex and violence is greater than you'd find on broadcast, but not close to what you see on pay cable. The show received a lot of publicity, and achieved very respectable premiere ratings. Keri Russell is clearing trying to separate herself from her wholesome reputation. I almost didn't make it through the first episode because I had trouble understanding the story of the first two scenes. The producers used the technique of dropping us into the middle of the story without explaining who is doing what and why. The exposition comes in the middle of the episode rather than the beginning. That combined with the fact that the first two scenes took place in dark places where it was difficult to see what was happening even if you knew what was going on. Television shows are created in edit rooms. The room is kept dark to make it easier to see what's on screen, and the sound systems are state of the art. That's important, because the producers want to create the best quality work. However, they should not lose sight of the fact that most people are watching the show in their living rooms, with the lights on and inferior sound systems. Viewers can also be distracted by phone calls, internet searching, and of course, other members of their family. I wonder how they would have cut the show together had they edited it in a living room, as opposed to an edit room. I'm sure they would have made the show easier to follow. When you're creating your content, keep the audience in mind. How are they going to see your show, watch your movie, or read your book? After all, we're creating our content to reach the audience. Let's make it as easy as possible for them.

American Idol Wins Night with Lowest Debut Ratings

American Idol has become completely predictable. We know in the first shows we're going to see some inspirational stories, some good singing, some horrible singing, along with screaming, cursing, and disappointment from the many contestants. I know fans of the show who won't watch the auditions anymore because they know what's going to happen. As a result, the show's debut last week won its night with the lowest debut ratings in its history. What can we learn from that? Predictability in popular art can be good for your audience. For example, successful detective series like Robert Parker's Spenser series and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels feature lead and supporting characters the readers come to know and love. The authors keep the books interesting by varying the mysteries their characters solve and the characters they meet each book. Similarly, a good reality show like American Idol benefits from the predictability of its formula, as long as it can vary it enough each season with compelling competitors. The only question about the shows was how the new judges would work out. If you've seen the shows or read the coverage you know that Nicky Minaj became the star of the panel - dominating the dialogue with the characters, initiating catty fights with Mariah Carey, and dressing to impress or shock the audience. However, if people are tuning in just to see conflict between the judges, American Idol is on its way out. It's the contestants who need to be the stars -- something that the producers appeared to have lost sight of in the last couple of years. People don't turn into football games to hear Phil Simms or Howie Long, or any of the other analysts. Yes, their analysis helps the viewer enjoy the games, but the players and the teams are the attraction. If the show producers really are relying on their judges for compelling storylines, this could well be the last season of American Idol. If you're creating a series of books, television shows, or movies, make sure you create a basic formula that allows for variations on the theme. And remember, it's the characters we care about, and keep them compelling. Also remember my first poetry book, "Two Car Garage" is now available at amazon.com and bn.com

How Poetry Can Help You

Four years ago I started to write an essay about taking my son to college. I tried several approaches, but I was blocked. After a couple of weeks I sat down to write the essay again and a poem appeared on the page. I've been writing poetry ever since. Some of my poems have been published by websites and magazines. This week my first book, Two Car Garage, is being published by CHB Media, a Florida publishing company. The book is now available on both Amazon.com and bn.com for only $9.99. What I learned writing the poems that went into the book can help you create whatever form of content you want to create. The three most important lessions were: 1. Practice -- I was proud of my first poem, but the poems I'm writing now after four years of practice are much better. Whatever you want to do -- paint portraits, write movies, create television shows, etc. -- you will improve if you practice. If you do nothing else, keep working on your craft. 2. Get support -- I did some research and learned that a lot of writers joined writers groups to get creative support and honest critiques of their work. It didn't take a lot of internet searching to find several writers groups in my home town. Find the people in your home town that are doing what you want to do. The support is priceless. 3. Learn from the best. I also read poetry -- both the classics and the best work that's being done today. I attended poetry readings by professional poets. I went to poetry and writing workshops to learn how to improve. I may not have been able to meet Robert Frost and ask him how to write a poem, but I can buy his complete poems and learn from them. So if you want to write novels, read great novels. If you want to direct films, watch and analyze the work of the great directors. If you want to paint pictures, make sure you see the work of the great masters in person. I started from writing my first poem to my first book in a little over three years. You may take less time to realize your dream, or you may take more time. The only sure thing is that, if you don't try, you're guaranteed not to suceed.