THE NEW HOLLYWOOD LEADER

HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION

I spent two weeks after Memorial Day on a personal retreat. I got out of town to slow down, relax, unplug and actually get some important work done that for some reason I wasn’t able to get done at home.

I was staying at a place with no internet and no cell phone. I was unplugged from the wireless world. I still had my iPhone (which I used for taking pictures and listening to music) and my laptop (which I used to write and think and brainstorm, but not check email, Huffington Post or Nikki Finke.)

And actually, it was great. I sat on a wicker chair outside my room many mornings, overlooking a beautiful mountain, listening to great music and writing.

AND HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED.

I got a lot of work and thinking done. Freed from the potential distractions of the world wide web I stayed focused.

When I reached a moment in my work where I was stuck or lost or tired or frustrated, I didn’t have email to distract me.

I was “forced” to stay with the process. Or to stare into space, take a walk, get some tea, close my eyes, go for a swim, or write something else.

And what happened was that usually, after a few minutes of thinking or staring at the screen, a new idea occurred and my fingers started typing again.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

What I realized/remembered was that sometimes in the creative process, a pause occurs when we reach a question.

And the productivity demon/gremlin in our mind might say “if you’re not typing you’re wasting time” but in reality, much of what we do as creators is think about stuff. But simply “thinking” seems like it almost has no end or meaning and looks a lot to our “self-critical mind” like wasting time.

BE THE DECIDER

What I noticed this trip was that what looks and feels like “thinking” is actually “deciding.” And before we can decide, we often need to deeply explore and extrapolate options.

What will happen if I decide to go this way? Lets think it through. What will happen if I really go that way instead? Lets think that through.

But in a world with more distractions it’s easier to fall into a trap/loop that works like this. . .

HOLLYWOOD: OFFICIALLY NOT DEAD

IT'S OFFICIAL

Hollywood, like the global economy is not dead.

Or as Mark Twain said "Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

WHAT AM I BASING THIS ON?

A few things actually: and they're subtle.

-The Actor's non-strike seems to be limping towards an "end."
-Hollywood Network, Studio and Agency layoffs and mergers seem to be limping towards an "end."
-TV Studios and Networks are going boldly forward in their business of selecting and selling new shows for the fall that they hope will create hits, advertisers and major franchises (if not reinvent comedy or drama and save the world from a 20 year curse of 24/7 Reality TV.)

THE LENO THING

One thing our industry does well is adjust to crisis quickly and adapt to new opportunities.

Take the Jay Leno 5 nights at 10:00 pm thing on NBC.  Lots of freak out and then, "OK whatever, how does the new reality effect me and my career?"

Again it's always, how do I respond? What projects, alliances or career moves make sense now?

CHESS ANYONE?

CREATIVE LEADERSHIP - WAR AND PEACE

Here's a video I recently posted about my work with creative leaders in the TV industry.

CHANGE SUCKS (IF YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT)

REMIX/REMAKE/REMODEL

Those of you who’ve been following my progress for the past few months may remember that I though I’d finished mixing my music CD in December. Very excited, I sent the tracks off to a friend who I hired to do the mastering.

GUESS WHAT?

I discovered that I really wasn’t finished. I didn’t like how they sounded when they came back.

And guess what else? It wasn’t his fault. It was mine.

I still had more work to do, but I didn’t know what.

AND BOY WAS I PISSED

THE TOP OF THE LADDER?

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

There's an amazing all encompassing high that occurs when we're working on a
show.

I think especially on that bizarre journey called production i.e. being on the set and shooting something, where we enter this altered state and it's all about getting the shot, making the day and wrapping early enough to get some sleep before the next crazy,
exciting, stressful, magical day.

It can happen in a great development job, editing job, writing job or the launch of a company or a network or whatever.

BUT THEN IT'S OVER AND WHAT NOW?

Looking for that next job? That next creative inspiration?

Even for those of us who've been on a roll. Had a hit, or more.

A success whether commercial or critical or just a good gig where we couldn't wait to be back to work the next day, tired as we were.

We in the entertainment industry are always wondering "What's
next?"

What's around the corner?

What's going to sell in the current market?

Have I made enough money to get out of the business?
Have I made enough money to get INTO the business?
Have I written a good enough project to sell?
Have I written a good enough project to direct it?
Have I made amassed enough power to make a project I really truly love?

WGA Strike: One Year Later

Just found this great summation and look back at the writer's strike from Cynthia Littleton at Variety.

I agree with what she says here.

Especially noting what she says at the end that after the strike the WGA and Studios said they'd continue a dialogue for the future, which will likely not occur until the next negotiations start for the 2011 contract.

WHAT IS YOUR BIG BOLD MOVE FOR 2009?

Since December turned into a quiet month for my coaching practice I decided that rather than stress out and rail against the injustices of the global economy I would instead finish a long-incomplete creative project.



Yes. I completed mixing a 10-song music CD project that I've been working on for the past 4 (or more) years. And it felt really good to finish it. 

Here are some things I learned in the process.



FOCUSING ON ONE THING REALLY HELPS



Because even though it sounds like "one thing" it's really a million little things: new ideas, new obstacles, new solutions, new frustrations: each that must be encountered and mastered. 

And it takes time, attention, energy, focus and desire to apply the necessary compression of attention, skills and persistence to complete something meaningful.



OBSTACLES AS INDICATOR



A teacher I heard once said, "obstacles appear in proportion to the importance of the project at hand."



In other words, if the project is really important to you, the obstacles will be huge. Thus, your interior challenges will rise accordingly as well. 

On my music project, I encountered, and survived, 2 hard drive crashes, numerous challenging software upgrades and incompatibilities, missing files, equipment failures and technical challenges etc.



AND THEN . . .

And then there are were the creative challenges and questions:

-Are my songs any good?
-What will people think?
-Is the bass too loud?
-Is this thing taking too long?
-Is this music style passé?
-Will anyone ever hear it?
-Have my lyrics been too revealing?
-Too chiche?
-Too obtuse?
-Am I using too much reverb?

2008 - The Year in Cultural Jargon

Here a funny article in the New York Times illustrating favorite 2008 jargon and slang. Much political verbiage.

Check it out here.

JASON ALEXANDER on SAG STRIKE AUTHORIZATION

Nikki Finke just posted this letter Jason Alexander about whether SAG should strike or not. 

great writing. great perspective. 

HERE 'TIS

WHO'S ON YOUR TRANSITION TEAM?

November 4th was the day of voting, counting and analyzing the data, but the change has been occurring gradually for years.  



Election day was a snapshot/freeze frame of a living breathing transformation in progress. 



Our world has been changing, our demographics have been changing, the economy has been changing and our careers and industries have been changing. 



And it's on certain days and at certain times that we stop and register a choice, count the votes, articulate what's changed.

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL SHIFTS



The political landscape has changed. The world's economic fortunes are shifting. 



One of the many things that I believe Barack Obama's leadership will bring to Washington and the world is a new understanding of the nature of teamwork and collaboration in getting things done and making changes in our world and projects.



-How will we help improve our global economy and our personal economy?



-How will we change our actions and attitudes towards global warming and our reliance on oil?



-How will we reinvent our careers and professional lives when the skills and jobs and money streams that once made us a good living are changing, shifting or outright disappearing?



THE BIG CHANGE



The big answer, and the big shift, is that we'll be challenged to do it collectively: in teams, in partnership and in collaboration.



We're being challenged to solve problems that we've never faced before which will require answers and approaches to problem solving that we've never used before.



But now, working together with other people, brainstorming solutions, listening and being inspired by other ways of looking at and approaching problems are likely to be the best and perhaps only way out.