The Definition of Insanity
Most of you have probably heard this phrase about insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I often think of that phrase when I pick up the trades. Recently, Adam Grant, author and Professor of Organizational Psychology at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania posted this on his Instagram this week:
“One of our greatest mistakes is imposing on suffering on the next generation.
The fact that you endured unreasonable demands and unclear expectations doesn’t mean others should.
The responsibility of leaders is not to repeat the errors of the past. It’s to improve the future.”
Most of us who have come up in the industry can relate. When I first moved to LA, looking to start in the business, I had a year of working at an advertising agency under my belt. I thought getting a job would be easy. Every person I met said I needed an internship because that's how you started. That was the entry point. Didn't matter the level of experience outside of "the biz." No internship. No job. You couldn't leapfrog that role and begin as an assistant. No way. I got an internship with a producer for no money and waited tables on the side to pay my bills. There is no denying that I learned more and was more successful than I would have been had I not had that opportunity, but that doesn't mean it should have been the only way to enter.
I say all this because, as Grant notes, leaders need to improve on the past and look to the future. Look around Hollywood and tell me if you think anything like that is happening now. We've got a four-alarm fire going. With streaming proving not to be the savior many were hoping it would be and the second largest theater chain declaring bankruptcy, we've got significant problems, so a new leadership class is needed. While some have been shouting for joy at the prospect of "Gen X" finally wrestling the tiller from the Boomers, count me as skeptical. Yes, it's great that a new generation is rising to the top. The Boomers have held on too long, but has the new class been institutionalized to the point that they will be able to think differently? I'm not convinced. They'll have to break away from what they've learned rising through the ranks, if they want to leave the business better than they found it.
That is essentially Grant's point. His most recent book, Think Again, which is excellent, backs this up by suggesting it never hurts to take another look at something, especially if new facts come to light and new experiences inform your thinking. It's quite clear that things haven't necessarily been working by doing it how it has always been. Are there things that have been proven to work regardless of conditions? Of course. No one can deny that a great trailer can launch a campaign into the stratosphere nor that a robust theatrical campaign can launch a great movie. But sometimes, a mixture of those things is needed. Sometimes a movie isn't ready to be released...ever. And sometimes, companies need to think outside the box and reinvent the wheel. (Hey Comcast, there are some great theaters out in the Philly burbs that would be perfect for an experiment. I'm thinking of one in particular. Give me a call. I'd be happy to help!) Adam Grant often posts advice that seems like a no-brainer, but the fact that he needs to post it means it's not as conventional as one might think. Let's hope the new leadership in Hollywood wakes up to the new reality, junks past mistakes, and points to a new future.
Hollywood as High School - Part 342
Volume 1 of The Founder's Brew talked about how Hollywood functions more or less as high school. Well, you gotta love it when your theories are presented with cold hard evidence. Witness last weekend's premiere of Don't Worry, Darling Olivia Wilde's second go around as a director after Booksmart. The Hollywood Reporter has a hilarious rundown of all the hijinx that preceded the movie's release on September 23. It reads like a bad episode of 90210. One can only imagine Chris Pine sitting in the lunch room as Harry Styles and all his jock buddies walk by and dump their food on his head. And this is only the PREMIERE! I can only imagine what will happen at the junket! Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that forthcoming travesty.
I joke, but this whole incident shows that we're often not dealing with the most together of individuals when it comes to making entertainment and movies. As I mentioned last week, it is indeed a circus, and part of it is you deal with people who are ultimately trying to escape from something, or they're just not comfortable in their own skin. All of which can be quite the combination when thrown into the stress of late-night shoots, budget issues, and personal drama. Either way, for the sake of the crew, who I'm sure busted their ass, I hope the movie is judged on its merits and not on the hijinx of its talent.
Pages from the Commonplace Book
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a novelist and one of the most famous Soviet dissidents ever. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, mainly for his masterwork, The Gulag Archipelago, a devasting decades-long record of Soviet terror and oppression. It is quite an eye-opening read. This simple quote stuck out for me:
"A submissive sheep is a find for a wolf."
This quote also reminded me of the opening of American Sniper. We must stand fast, so we don't become the submissive sheep amongst the wolves surrounding us.
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