The Story of Rodriguez - Why we create

The story of Mexican American folk singer Sixto Rodriguez should give hope to all of us. His story was told in the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," and also on '60 minutes' and various cable news outlets. In brief, Rodriguez released two folk albums in the early 70s, 'Cold Fact,' and 'Coming from Reality' on a small label owned by Buddah records. The albums didn't sell, the record company went out of business, and Rodriguez worked as a day laborer in Detroit to survive. Unbeknownst to him, both albums became wildly popular in South Africa. South Africans who grew up in the 70s and early 80s said that Rodriguez's albums were the soundtrack of their lives. His songs gave hope to those struggling against apartheid. Since Rodriguez didn't have the money or record company support to tour, rumors persisted in South Africa that Rodriguez committed suicide. This only increased his mythic status. Of course, Rodriguez wasn't dead, just poor. Finally, in the 90s, some South African fans tracked him down and he gave some concerts to screaming fans, before returning to his life as a day laborer in Detroit. A few years ago an unknown Swedish documentary filmmaker, Malik Bendjelloul, learned about the story and made a film called "Searching for Sugar Man." Benjelloul took four years to complete the film, because he had no funding and no distribution. Last year some producer friends submitted it to Sundance, which not only accepted the film but also opened the Festival with it in 2012. Rodriguez' story captivated the festival, and at the age of 70 he is finally a hot property in the US as well as South Africa -- touring, making and selling music. Malik Benjelloul is also finding it much easier to get his next job in film. If someone had written this story as fiction, I don't think anyone would have believed it. Yet it happened. This is why we need to keep creating our own content and send it into the world. Yes, the competition is fierce and the odds of earning a living at your art small. Like Rodriguez, you may never know what positive effect your work can have on other people. If you believe in what you're doing create it anyway. Maybe, just maybe, you will be recognized for it in your lifetime. It's a sure thing that if you don't create your content, you certainly won't be recognized. The poet W.S. Merwin summed it up beautifully in the last stanza of his poem "Berryman," which relates his meeting with the great poet John Berryman. In the poem Merwin asks Berryman if one can ever be sure that what you write is really good and Berryman answers, "you can't you can never be sure you die without knowing whether anything you wrote was any good if you have to be sure don't write."

Stan Lee: Top Ten All-Time Movie Box Office Star

According to the web site "The Numbers," movies in which Stan Lee have appeared have grossed 3.44 billion (with a 'b')dollars, averaging a gross box office revenue of $191,565,937 million. That puts Stan ahead of Daniel Radcliffe in total and average box office gross for his films, which are, of course, all the Marvel blockbusters. Of course, Stan is not a professional actor. He's the legendary former head of Marvel Comics and creator of such great Marvel characters as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Daredevil, and of course, the Avengers. Stan no longer heads Marvel, but to honor his contribution (and probably a contractual obligation) the producers cast Stan in cameo roles in all of the Marvel super hero blockbusters. You can see him as a librarian in the current reboot of Spider Man with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The Numbers' list is not adjusted for inflation. Still, Stan Lee's inclusion demonstrates the power of creating compelling content. Stan Lee created Spider Man in the early 1960s, over 50 years ago, yet Spider Man still makes hundreds of millions of dollars for Marvel and for Stan. But when Stan created Spider Man, he was just creating another character for a disposable pop culture magazine aimed at kids. How did he do it? He adhered to two main points: 1. No matter how fantastic the stories got Stan made sure the characters' reactions remained as real as possible. Yes they featured super powers, super villans, amazing inventions, and space travel. At the same time, Spider Man had real problems -- making a living, taking care of his elderly aunt, finding a girlfriend, etc. 2. Stan never patronized his audience. He was writing comic books for kids, but he led his team to make each story as rich as possible -- filled with character details, nuanced reactions, and believable situations. No matter what type of content we're working on or what audience we try to reach, we should apply the same two principles to our work.

How to get an Agent

If you want to sell your content or program idea to a traditional media outlet -- television network, movie studio. record company, etc. -- it helps to have an agent. Agents, especially those associated with large agencies like CAA, IMG, or William Morris Endeavor, among others, have access that ordinary people lack. They can help target your content to the right buyer, and get it in the hands of a decision maker. If your content is represented by the right agent media companies will review it. They may pass -- they pass on a lot of good material -- but at least they'll look at it. The best way to get an agent is to get an audience. In his book, "On Writing," Stephen King says he didn't have an agent until his third book, although he also says he didn't make as much as he could have from his first three books. Still, I'm sure that when he went looking for an agent he had his pick of the best. Your first book may not be as successful as "Carrie," or your first movie as successful as "Blair Witch Project," but you should try to expose it to as many people as possible. Agents, like everyone in show business, need to make money. If you can help them make money they will fight to represent you. But what if you haven't written a best seller or a blockbuster film? You can still get an agent, but it will require research. You need to research which agents are looking for someone with your talents. Once you find them, you need to call yourself and your work to their attention. You can do that through letters, e-mails, invitations to your performances, samples of your work, etc. It will be a long, slow process, but if you persist and you have the qualities the agent is seeking, you will find one. While you're looking for an agent, remember to keep creating content.

American Idol Producers take my advice

I was pleased to see the American Idol producers take the advice in my last post and keep Randy Jackson as a judge. He's a link to the glory days of Idol, when it was the most popular show on television and watching it was a national duty. That will keep us long-time fans of Idol happy while the new fans tune in to see Nicky Minaj, Keith Urban, and Mariah Carey. I hope the new judges help Randy raise his game; he seemed a little tired by the end of last season. These new judges help American Idol appeal to a broader demographic, and bring some contemporary artists to the picture. However, new judges do not always result in new ratings -- the X Factor ratings are down year over year, even with the addition of Britney Spears. In their zeal to join the celebrity judge "arms race," I hope the producers haven't lost sight of who the real stars of the show are -- the contestants. After all, the show is called "American Idol," not "America's best talent Judges." More time for the judges means less time for the contestants. If I was producing the show I'd spend most of my time figuring out how to make America empathize with and root for my contestants. The most important task the judges have every season is picking the contestants that will make the most compelling personalities. The judges and producers need to remember they're casting a television show, not necessarily picking the best singers. When we create our own content, it's easy to lose sight of the central spine of our work. Especially in longer works things come up, other pressures come to bear, and we make adjustments. It's only when we step back to review the final piece that we realize we went totally off the rails, and need to fix the problem in revision. The American Idol shows are live; there's no chance to go back and fix them. In order for the show to succeed, the producers need a strong focus on the show's stars - the contestants. For your content to succeed, you need to keep the same strong focus on the key aspects of your piece.

Idol Rumors

The X Factor added Demi Lovato and Britney Spears as judges this fall, to ratchet up audience enthusiasm and increase ratings. The producers also want their star power to fight NBC's hit show, The Voice. Meanwhile, as of this writing Mariah Carey remains the only judge signed for American Idol in the spring. Rumors are flying that Randy Jackson, the only remaining judge from the original group, will be forced into a mentor role so Idol to sign big name judges to compete in the musical competition show arms race. Why did X Factor sign Britney Spears and Demi Lovato? The answer is not because they wanted pop stars who could truly judge whether or not the acts will become stars. The answer is demographics. If you were a young Britney Spears fan in the late 1990s or early 2000s you are now probably in your mid-twenties, an audience demographic networks crave. Fox is hoping that the kids who loved Britney will watch X factor. If they do, Simon Cowell will reach the 20 million audience goal he set for himself last year. American Idol aims at a slightly older crowd, so they're hoping Mariah Carey's fans in the early 90s will watch her on Fox. There are rumors Idol's producers are negotiating with Enrique Iglesias and a male country star to round out the demographics for the audience. I think it will be a mistake if Idol hires stars without regard for how they will interact with each other, the contestants, and the audience. I hope they're testing the potential judges in front of a camera before signing them. After all, Randy and Simon were unknown to the American audience when Idol started. Paula Abdul was the biggest star, and she hadn't had a hit in years. Let me give Idol creator Simon Fuller, and all of my readers, some advice. Television makes its own stars. I recommend he sign someone like former Idol contestant Adam Lambert (another rumor) who can identify with the contestants. Adam will bring his outrageous personality to judging like he did to his performances. Of course you have to keep Mariah Carey in her $18 million part time job at this point. But let the audience discover that they like the other judges after watching them. That will result in higher ratings. I would keep Randy. We've grown used to him in our living rooms -- there's a comfort factor to television that drives repeat viewing. Two new judges -- whoever they are -- will be enough for us. People love to discover new talent. Remember, television makes its own stars.

The Surprise #1 Rated Network

The last week of August is traditionally a slow time for broadcast viewers. The week of August 27, 2012 to September 2, 2012 was no exception. There were news events: The Republican Convention and Hurricane Isaac. But there were almost no new programs on broadcast networks. So which network delivered the most viewers from the highly coveted Adults 18-49 and 18-34? The answer: Univision. That's right, the Spanish-language network was #1 and it wasn't even close in those categories. Univision delivered 17% more audience than its nearest rival, ABC. It's ironic that while the Republican Party scheduled speeches from several Hispanic politicians in an attempt to woo the Latino vote, they might have been better off buying ads during Univision's most popular telenovelas: Por Ella Soy Eva (For Her I'm Eva) and Amor Bravo (Fierce Love). This won't last, of course. Football starts this week, and the fall television season soon after that. But, as I've said in other posts, this is a revolutionary development in American broadcast. A niche channel with a large, dedicated audience, like Univision, can outdraw the general entertainment channels. What's true for Spanish-language television may also be true for your niche content. Does this mean we should all learn Spanish and make telenovelas? No, although it never hurts to learn a second language. If we all made telenovelas the competition would drive the price down. However, it does demonstrate that popular success can come from unexpected areas. Aiming your content at a dedicated niche audience may lead to more popular success in the long run than trying to create content that's all things to all people. There are many different routes to become #1. Find the one that works best for you.

No More Jersey Shore

The announcement that this was "Jersey shore's" last year on the air was greeted with glee in some quarters. My rabbi, for example, gave the news a big thumbs up. The antics of America's favorite group of guidos and guidettes have been evidence exhibit number one that the coarsening of American life has gone as far as it can go. MTV's decision to cancel the show is seen as proof that America has come to its senses. Both observations are obviously wrong. If the history of television has taught us anything, it's that networks and producers are always pushing the envelope in every conceivable direction to increase ratings. Some time soon, a show will air that will make "Jersey Shore" look like "Leave it to Beaver." We have not seen the last of the cast either -- I'm sure MTV has spinoffs planned with every single cast member. Snooki, the Situation, and J-Wow will be with us as long as networks believe people will watch their shows. MTV executives confirmed my suspicion that budget was one of the factors behind their decision when they specifically said budget was not a factor in their decision. Understand that budget is always a factor for media companies -- that's why they keep airing reality shows, because they are generally less expensive than scripted shows, and the ratings are comparable. But a hit reality show like Jersey Shore is an exception. The cast made money similar to actors in scripted shows. With the show in its sixth season the production company almost certainly got a big bump. So MTV execs were faced with a familiar situation: The show cost a lot of money, but its ratings were declining. Should they continue for another year or two, or cut their losses and use the news that this is the last season to maximize the ratings for the season? Clearly, they decided to cut their losses. The statement that MTV just felt that it was time for the network to move on is self serving and I don't agree. No network drops a hit show unless they think the show is no longer profitable. It's a problem we should all have -- if you're a program producer you hope you have a hit show. If you can sustain the show for six years like Jersey Shore you should be happy. If you want to sustain it for longer, do your best to keep the costs under control and do everything you can to make each season seem fresh. Eventually, no matter how hard you try, your show will be cancelled. That's why I said almost from the beginning of this blog, make sure you're working on several projects at the same time. Once you've had a hit show, you'll find most media companies very eager to hear your next idea.