It Stops at the Doorstep
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season, and you are all ready to attack 2022 with renewed optimism. I know I am.
Between my various family meals, present openings, and the odd cocktail here and there, I happened to catch a discussion on Linkedin about the controversial New Yorker article about Succession star Jeremy Strong and his work habits as a method actor. Aaron Sorkin and others felt the need to ride to Jeremy's rescue, which was a little much in my opinion but do read it for yourselves because all objections aside, it is a fascinating portrait. So what does this have to do with Linkedin? Jamie Hodari, CEO at Industrious, argues we need to leave the "method acting" at work and be careful not to bring it home. For those who don't know, method acting is a process by which an actor becomes their character both day and night. One of the most famous examples is Dustin Hoffman. During the shooting of Marathon Man, Hoffman stayed up for days at a time to reflect the sleep deprivation his character was experiencing. To which his much-experienced co-star, Laurence Olivier, thought Hoffman nuts and responded by telling his co-star, "It's called acting.." Hodari's point is that we need to shut off the work valve at some point before it starts to affect our personality and our health. Easier said than done, particularly in our line of work.
I started thinking about this post last week as the Bob Iger era officially comes to an end at the Walt Disney Company. Iger has had arguably one of the best careers in entertainment and goes out on top, which few often do. He deserves credit for realizing it was time for him to step down, although I hear he didn't step down as smoothly as it has been portrayed. Regardless, his success in the biz is unparalleled. However, there is something about Iger's success that I think should be adopted across the industry. In his biography, The Ride of Lifetime, Iger describes how the board put him through the paces during the transition from the Eisner era, and his frustration was growing. His stress level got so bad that he suffered some kind of attack while at a basketball game with his son, Max. At first, he thinks he is having a heart attack but finds out later it was an anxiety attack. At that moment, everything came into perspective for Iger. He writes:
"It was a big job and big title, but it wasn't my life. My life with Willow (his wife) and my boys, with my girls back in New York, with my parents and my sister and my friend. All of this strain was ultimately still about a job, and I vowed to myself to try to keep in perspective."
Iger realized that the job was just that; it did not define him. Uber-producer Marc Platt also held a similar belief. During an interview, a Variety reporter commented on all the family pictures behind his desk rather than the typical photos with celebrities. Platt replied back, "This is what I do, not who I am." Exactly. Even after he got the top job, Iger still wanted to maintain that it was just a job: "It had no bearing on who I was."
I often stress these lessons to the clients I work with, especially the creatives. You'll never understand your consumer unless you step out of the "work bubble," which is an acute problem in LA and NYC. You can't know and understand your audience unless you can relate to them somehow. You can't connect if all you're doing is being consumed by your job and its hassles and stresses. It would help if you learned to separate the two and embrace a curiosity about your audience. This applies equally to marketers as well.
"Most of the people in NY and LA live behind gates and work behind gates, whereas almost 90% of your audience does neither." Wise words from my former boss, Tomas Jegeus. As Iger rides off into the sunset, we should remember his business successes and the personal decisions he made, which led to that success.
A MAX Hit
Well, despite all the howls about the folly of Warner Bros. releasing all their theatrical films on HBO MAX, it seems to have goosed the HBO MAX numbers quite substantially, as seen by this report on Deadline. There were no doubt massive mistakes in the rollout, particularly with talent, but outgoing CEO Jason Kilar deserves at least some of the credit for the bold move, which saved HBO Max from all together disastrous launch. With the Discovery merger coming down the pike, David Zaslav now has more wiggle room with the next steps on HBOMax. The flexibility of releasing future films on HBO MAX day and date also is an advantage as the industry slowly moves towards recovery.
There are some obvious missing pieces. For instance, how much the movies actually made on HBO MAX. But that is a question for another day. For now, all the Street cares about is those subscriber numbers. All credit to Kilar and his team for preventing a disastrous streaming launch but yeah, still need to change that name.
Pages from the Commonplace Book
This week's quote isn't in my commonplace book but in honor of Betty White (RIP), I thought it rather apt. From an interview with Katie Couric:
"Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself keeps you feeling young."
Thank You, Rose Nyland, for your talent, making us laugh, and being the real deal.
This Week on Hollywood Breaks
Tim and I are back from our holiday break, rested and ready to play. This week, we chat about that little Superhero movie and what's the industry can potentially expect in 2022.
See you next week!
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