The King is Dead

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King?

Last week, I discussed Bob Iger's ride off into the sunset and how aspects of his career are worth adopting industry-wide. This week, I want to focus on what Iger's retirement means for the industry in general. In a couple of words: Potential disaster. Rightly or wrongly, Iger has often been seen as the King of Hollywood. The Voice from on High who could speak to the overall mood of Hollywood regarding any particular issue. During my days in LA, it was a duel role held by both Iger and Peter Chernin, the former COO of the now-defunct 21st Century Fox. Now, the big question remains will anyone rise to the occasion? I think in the short term, the answer is no. First, I'll discuss why no one is stepping up and then what it means for the industry's future.

So why? Why has no one stepped up? Some would say fear which I don't buy. It primarily comes down to an inability to see the forests through the trees or, more specifically, they don't care that much. Most of those who have any influence in Hollywood make ungodly amounts of money, so losing one's job isn't exactly going to hurt the bank. And remember, I'm just talking about someone advocating for the industry and not someone shouting from the rooftops against the latest Twitter hashtag (more on that below.) Although after what happened to Jim G at Paramount, one could feel a little sympathy for those unwilling to stick their necks out against a prevailing trend in the industry. Arguably, most of today's big wigs came in when the industry was ripe for change, and change came (think Easy Rider and The Godfather.) But those who rang in that era of change handed the keys to those who either didn't want to let go of the wheel or to those who wanted to ride it out for a few years and then retire. Condition of the industry be damned, which brings me to my second point: what does the empty throne mean for the business as a whole?

What does this mean for the industry as a whole? Well, essentially, no one is driving the bus. With unprecedented changes happening in the last two years, no one is attempting to lead the industry into the future. Who is out advocating for a shift in the theatrical experience? Or better yet, what makes a movie? Who is trying to find the balance between streaming and theatrical while respecting talent? Who is talking about the radical possibility that the rising generation will not even go to the movies? For the most part, the answer to all the above questions is no one. And that is the shock of it all. There is a great opportunity right now for someone to step in and lead the charge. As Tim and I often say on the podcast, Hollywood is breaking, but opportunity comes with this breakage. As nature abhors a vacuum, now is the time for the next generation to rise, but who will that person be? There is an opportunity to take this industry into its next renaissance, but someone will need to step up because otherwise, the future is indeed pretty grim. 

A Hit of Common Sense

It may seem weird to some of you to suggest another Substack newsletter as a "Hit," especially given that this newsletter is supposed to focus on content and Hollywood. Still, this past week Bari Weiss' Substack, Common Sense, hit it out of the park with this piece. Most of you have probably already read it, considering it rocketed around Twitter within hours. Ms.Weiss' Substack has been tackling subjects that other news organizations either won't touch because of the fear of the Twitter Guillotine or an ideological bias. Either way, she's willing to have the conversations that really must be had if we are ever to restore a modicum of sanity and decency to our industry and the culture at large.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read the piece and subscribe to her Substack. Maybe, just maybe, more Bari Weiss' could bring forth a new generation of leaders to herald us into a new creative revolution.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, a first from Ralph Waldo Emmerson, a poet, and essayist from the mid-19th century. He could be more accurately described as a man of letters or, to use a standard business terminology these days, a generalist, a descriptor I'm sure he would despise:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us is small matter to what lies within us."

Indeed, in the battle of life, its ups and downs, it is what lies within that helps us weather the storm. That is needed to be a true leader for an industry desperate for change.

This Week on Hollywood Breaks

Tim and I will dive into more depth on this week's newsletter and discuss Bob Chapek's three pillars. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest episode.

See you next week!

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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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The Righteous Mutiny

The Righteous Mutiny

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is thus far enjoying the holiday season. For those of you in LA, I also hope you're enjoying the blessed two weeks of vacation that greets the end of your year. Hilariously enough, when I once interviewed for a job at CAA, they touted that as an extra benefit. Sure, I'd love to work for peanuts, have a certifiable a**hole as a boss, get objects thrown at me, and never sleep...all for the last two weeks of the year as a vacation. SIGN ME UP! I didn't get that job.

One of my favorite questions to ask my fellow assistants once we returned from winter break (that's what most of us called it) was what movies everyone saw. Now, keep in mind this was all, BC (Before Covid) or the "Before Times" or "That Time When People Actually Went to the Movies." Most of the responses would be a mix of the latest releases or some old-school fave that they watched after scarfing down a batch of grandma's cookies (peanut butter blossoms are my faves.) Well, this year, after scarfing down about a baker's dozen of said blossoms, with the kids nestled all snug in their beds, and my wife (she would kill me if I referred to her as "Ma") watching her fave show (Call The Midwife,) I decided to watch one of my faves, Crimson Tide. A Tony Scott classic (May He Rest In Peace.) It is a master class in spectacular acting (in this writer's humble opinion.) I imagine most of you know the story. It's ultimately old school Gene Hackman's Captain versus new upstart Denzel Washington's Lieutenant Commander. After a mutiny on board a nuclear submarine, Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman battle it out for control. 

The whole thing got me thinking about the future crisis of leadership heading our industry's way. The same ten or so people have more or less run all the legacy studios for the last twenty or so years. In Crimson Tide, it's pretty clear that Washington's character is meant to herald in a new post-Cold War era, whereas Hackman's character's time has passed as the world changes around him. We can see something similar happening in the industry right now, except where are all the Lt. Commander Hunters? And that is the freight train coming down the tracks. 

Many of you may say that the streamers are heralding a whole new era of leadership. However, one must ask where those streamers got most of the talent running their shops? And who trained most of those folks? Well, what about the assistants climbing up the ladder? As one of Richard Rushfield's anonymous contributors pointed out in his latest Ankler Exit Interview series, more and more production companies and studios are dumping assistants with the move to remote work. " And the fewer people who are excited about Hollywood that you have coming in, the worst things are going to be in five years. For that company and for the industry." EXACTLY.

So, what's the solution? Well, a Crimson Tide-style mutiny, of course. I'm not suggesting that someone burst into Tom Rothman's office and demand he resign, but there are ways to push back against the status quo and bring in a new era. In some ways, this is already happening. Movies have more or less lost their cultural relevance mainly because the heads of the studios don't know what anyone likes anymore, and the streamers are the cable channels of the 90s. Folks are fleeing the entertainment hubs of NYC and LA and bringing production to other cities, bringing new perspectives, but more needs to be done, and it starts with everyone at all levels. It means advocating your opinions for those just starting their careers, especially if you're part of the generation that isn't going to the movies, push to make your voices heard. For middle management, start looking for the new stories (outside of your immediate bubble), travel and meet folks outside of LA, and gain a new perspective. 

For the department heads, you all must realize that you're only renting those seats; you inevitability will be fired or laid off, you don't own the job, so use the time wisely while you've got it. Take some risks. Lord knows you're making enough money to roll the dice a bit. You've got some influence; use it while you've got a say and make changes to the biz. Be open to the younger voices in your department. Try new strategies. Your only goal should be to leave the business better than you found it. And for us consultants, it means pushing our clients to find new tactics, strategies and helping new voices get their stories. One of the most popular "Speciality Brews" we offer at Vision Craft Brew is the Tribal Change. It transitions production companies into the original content space, but we need to keep pushing more. It's only through a ground-up "mutiny" where change will occur. Let's get started.

Hit or Miss

As some of you may know, last week was the 20th anniversary of the release of the first of Peter Jackson's epic trilogy Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring. Not only did the films turn out to be visually striking, but they all ended up being massive hits, with the final installment, Return of the King, receiving a Best Picture Oscar. It was a crazy risk for all involved, including New Line Cinema, the studio that made the film. I was fortunate enough to be at New Line when Return won the Oscar and every employee at the time got a picture with the Oscar, which I still have. Unfortunately, the bravado that defined the early years of New Line and the LOTR years quickly disappeared as New Line tried to become a big studio versus focusing on the risk-taking that made them a success in the first place. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson has not recaptured that success in subsequent years. It's a shame he pulled so far from fantasy. There are still many great tales left to be told. Regardless, it was a success for all involved, and it may be one of the last timeless hits to come out of Hollywood for a long time if things remain the same.

Pages from the Commonplace Book 

My son and I recently began reading The Chronicles of Narnia together, which I've never read. They've been great thus far, and we just started on book 3, The Horse and His Boy. Below is a quote from the first novel, The Magician's Nephew, and given that we are approaching the end of yet another COVID year, I thought it best to end on a more optimistic note:

"When things go wrong, you'll find they usually go on getting worse for some time, but when things start going right, they often go right on getting better and better."

Despite the recent COVID surge and all the ups and downs in our industry, I believe we are on the "better and better" half of that quote. Happy New Year! See you all in 2022.

Hollywood Breaks

No Hollywood Breaks this week as Tim and I continue our "winter break." We'll return on Friday, January 7th.

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The Hero With One Face

Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for those who missed it.

The Hero with the One Face

When I arrived in Hollywood, my first gig was an internship with a producer on the Sony lot. She was great as far as first internships go. She supported my eagerness to pitch film ideas (even if she thought they were ridiculous), and she wanted me to learn as much as possible about "the business." She told me that I needed to read two books: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and Screenplay by Syd Field. According to her, these two books would be the guiding light as I launched my career in the film business. Being the eager beaver, I immediately went to Barnes and Noble (insert chuckle here as this was pre-Amazon), bought the books, and finished both within a month. In my head, I was well on my way to becoming the next Irving Thalberg. 

Both books are legendary in the business for those who don't know. Joseph Campbell's book was the basis for Star Wars, and pretty much every screenplay written follows the structure laid out in Syd Field's book, and herein lies the problem. We'll wrap up the four-part series on Innovation with a look at how the art of storytelling, particularly with content, needs a renaissance and a reinvention. 

 As I mentioned above, almost all screenplays follow Syd Field's structure: Three Acts with two plot points to spin off into the subsequent Acts (e.g., Plot 1 spins Act 1 into Act 2.) I don't want to bore you too much with the structure or Field's additional recommendations, but you get the gist. The biggest problem is that this has become the standard for nearly every screenplay, and when an executive reads the screenplay, he/she more than likely breaks it down using Syd Field's guidance. I say the time has come to junk that book and start fresh. Forget the three-act structure and begin writing stories as if they were a novel, with a beginning, a middle, and an end or don't. Yes, that's still technically three acts but remove the need to follow it religiously. The executives need to train themselves to look for unique structures and storylines that surprise audiences. Easier said than done, you say, but I say now is as good a time as any. Most people think the title of our podcast, Hollywood Breaks, merely means that everything is breaking in Hollywood, which isn't the whole story. It's also about breaking the norms and new talent breaking in because so much is changing, and that's where the real opportunity lies which brings me to Joseph's Campbell's book and the title of this piece: The Hero with the One Face.

In his book, Joseph Campbell meticulously lays out the case of the hero's journey and how it has applied to cultures across history. Indeed, it is a fascinating read, but today's heroes don't have a thousand faces. They, in fact, only have one usually covered in a mask. What needs to happen is broadening the reach for heroic stories. Break out of the bubble of LA and NY and look for stories outside that immediate sphere. There are rich and uplifting stories throughout the world waiting to be found. We have to start looking. Spiderman isn't going to save us forever (see below.) I started Vision Craft Brew just for this purpose. One of the positives that I believe will come out of the last no good horrible two years is breaking the nexus of entertainment in Hollywood and New York. It may take a couple of years, but it's already starting; look at Austin and Atlanta. Those cities are still just production hubs. We need to move executives and studios there as well. Once we break the stranglehold of those two cities, we will see newer, diverse, and exciting stories popping up. And perhaps, we will no longer need to pitch movies as mixes of previously made movies (Die Hard meets Home Alone, for example) and re-discover the storytelling tradition that has persisted over the last thousands of years.

Some of these changes are easier said than done, but I believe that breaking some of the business as usual of Hollywood will lead to better movies and better content. As newer voices enter the fray, the story process will need to evolve and the executives along with it. As with last week's piece on theaters, these are just a few ideas, but hopefully, they will begin to inspire a long-overdue conversation and revitalize an industry sorely in need of a kick in the ass.

Spidey's Hit and Miss

There is no denying it. Spiderman is a monstrous hit, and kudos to Sony, Marvel, and all those involved for giving a much-needed jolt to a beleaguered business. As Tom Rothman mentioned in his celebratory note to Sony staff: 

"In the face of obviously challenging circumstances, this victory is even more impressive and a great testament to the continued cultural impact that theatrical films deliver. Their power does, and will, endure.”

The obstacles were challenging, but I'm not entirely convinced that this proved that films are still a cultural impact. It does demonstrate that Spiderman still is but theatrical films? Not so much. Guillermo Del Toro's film Nightmare Alley tanked with a $2.8 million opening on a $60+milloin budget (yikes) and West Side Story continued its slide down the charts. This is where I think Spiderman is a miss for the business. Yes, people will still show up for Spiderman movies, but how can that alone sustain an entire industry? Spidey will run out of reinventions at a certain point, and then what? Oh, I know, recast him (or her) for the 30th time and cross your fingers—creativity at its finest. While I'm thrilled that people are talking about going to the movies again, we still must focus on the innovations and new inventions needed to sustain this business in the future. Don't let this success derail the changes that still need to occur.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, back to John Adams. He's just so damn good and still relevant. Below is a quote spoken in the closing argument of the trial of British soldiers charged in the Boston Massacre.

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Facts indeed are stubborn things, and we must remember that whatever our wishes or what the trades say, we cannot alter them. Adapt or Die - that must be the industry's model moving forward.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  

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Can Theaters Survive?

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 for those who missed it.

Part 3 - Can Theaters Survive?

The short answer to the above question is yes with a massive qualifying but. As discussed in Parts 1 and 2, innovation and invention are not necessarily the same. Over the years, our cultural betters have trained us to think that tinkering around the edges represented innovation. As we have seen, that is not necessarily the case, which brings us to this week's newsletter: Movie Theaters.

Before we get there, let me tell you a story. It was 2013, and Jim Gianopolos had just become sole chairman of Twentieth Century Fox (R.I.P) and decided to hold a town hall to kick off the Jim G era at Fox. To begin the presentation, Jim put up many newspaper headlines touting the end of the movie business. Ultimately, the headlines lined up with seismic events that one would expect: the dawn of television, the rise of VHS, and eventually Blu-ray. His point was that the end of the movie business has often been greatly exaggerated. It was a heartening presentation and made me feel as if the best years for the industry were ahead of us. Uh, well, we all know how that turned out.

I bring this up not to again be the classic pessimist but to counter the arguments one often hears these days that this is just a bump in the road, but this is not just about a crisis for the industry. It's also about what we, as a culture, decide what makes a movie a movie. Is Red Notice a hit movie even though it was a blip in the theaters? Does this mean if Lifetime starts a streaming service (I think it will be called Lifetime+, but this is just a hunch,) their movies are on par with, The Godfather? I've struggled with this question myself and have discussed those struggles on the podcast. What ultimately delineated movies like The Godfather from The Cheerleader Mom Murders 7 was the theatrical release, but that is slowly dying away unless we find a way to revitalize theaters or, better yet, innovate in a way that truly transforms the experience. 

Because I don't like being the guy who screams about a problem without offering solutions, here are three potential ideas that could help revitalize and reinvent the movie theater and prevent a slow and painful death:

1. End Us vs. Them - When that damaging survey about the theatrical experience came out, several folks in my Linkedin feed decried that this has always been the problem with exhibition. Too slow to make changes, etc. Since the dawn of time, the exhibitor vs. distributor battles have been an industry staple. Whether it was arguing over windows or the price of popcorn, it was always a matter of Us vs. Them. Well, that needs to end...NOW. Unless the distributors take a vested interest in the theatrical experience, the vaulted "studios" will just become cable production companies, throwing out content to the latest service and crossing their fingers. Movies will disappear, and "content" will just become something one flicks on after the kids are in bed and will be forgotten the next day. How can they do that? Well, that brings me to point two. 

2. Experimentation - The end of the Paramount Decree, which Tim and I have discussed ad nauseam on Hollywood Breaks, should have ushered in a revolution, but alas, it has not. The big companies, notably Disney and Comcast, need to start looking for smaller theaters to buy out and experiment with a completely new experience. Disney has done some of this with The El Capitan in Hollywood, but it needs to be broader. Both Comcast and Disney own amusement parks whose claim to fame is prioritizing the customer experience, which is precisely what the theaters need. Richard Rushfield had an eye-opening Ankler newsletter with pictures from theaters in the middle of the country falling apart. Would Disney or Comcast allow that to happen at their theme parks? Absolutely not and with good reason. Prioritize the customer experience which brings me to point 3.

3.  Throw the Boxes out with the Recycling - For too long now, theaters have been in huge box-like buildings that exhibitors had thrown up to stick a bunch of seats and big screens in and usually attached to malls. It was probably this way because it was the cheapest way to shove the most people into a building, but now, theaters are competing with everyone's coach, so the idea of going back to the theaters needs to entice audiences. I recently went to see Hamilton at the Academy of Music here in Philadelphia, a beautiful venue built in 1857 with superb craftsmanship. They wanted you to feel something when you walked in as if you were about to experience something extraordinary. Why can't that be brought back to the theater experience? Why does that have to be reserved just for our orchestras and symphonies? Bring back artistry not just to the movies themselves but also to the theaters. People have been home for nearly two years now. It'll take more than a Steven Speilberg musical to get them back (see below.)

These are just a few suggestions and I'm sure most of you have some thoughts, but the conversation needs to start now. The death of theaters will ultimately be the end of movies as we know it, and The Cheerleader Mom Murders 7 will be streaming its way to Oscar Glory!

Hits and Misses

I'm not going to pile on to all the post mortems that have been written about West Side Story, of which they are plenty. Yes, it is a bomb, and no, I don't think it will have legs like Greatest Showman for a multitude of reasons, but I do want to offer another reason why the movie didn't seem to connect, and it comes down to this: Disney/Fox just ran away from what the film is. It's a classic musical, with one of the most beautiful modern songs (Maria) written for Broadway. Yet, nowhere, and I mean nowhere, did you hear any of the music. Not in spots, barely in the trailers, and none of the promotional materials I've seen (and I even searched online.) Why? Well, you'll get a myriad of reasons like young people aren't going to see a musical, so make it more about Maria and Tony or the older people aren't going to the movies, blah, blah, which I think is just not the whole story. The show itself has some of the most kinetic songs in recent memory, and the spots had hardly any energy.

Granted, I don't have access to all the research that was more than likely telling Disney/Fox what was needed (but that's a whole other conversation.) Nor do I know the myriad of other complications they were dealing with, but it seems they were shooting themselves in the foot. The days of running away to what a movie is are gone. Embrace it and hope for the best. If it doesn't work, then onboard those lessons and move on, but that takes a willingness for risks which, as we know, is sadly lacking in Hollywood now. 

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, we'll shift gears slightly away from the Founders and turn to a political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous Frenchman known for the classic Democracy in America. 

"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness."

You ignore the past at your peril. Don't think everything you're trying now hasn't been tried before. Use the lessons of history to guide the innovations of the future. 

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Is Innovation the Answer?

Is "Innovation" the Answer?

Check out Part 1 here for those who missed it.

"We're Stuck." These are the first two words of an article I read this past week on the perils of recent, or the lack thereof, genuinely transformative innovations. The author of the piece, Professor Gladden Pappin (now THAT'S a name) of the University of Dallas, posits the theory that we have become so immersed in using the term "innovation" that it has become cheap and almost cliche. He uses the example of the iPhone. It was only new once, but Apple tells us that the next iPhone with the next cool widget is the ultimate innovation. And to shift gears to our innovators of the "content' space. Who here can argue that the Netflixes, the multiple "+'s" are innovations rather than just a modern-day version of the cable channels of the '80s and 90s? They've deduced us into believing that the use of the word itself conveys a newness that is worthy of our admiration. They convinced us that the adage "everything old is new" is a good thing.

So what does this mean for the future of the industry? It comes down to something Tim and I touched on during last week's Hollywood Breaks and Derek Thompson tackled in his fantastic article over at The Atlantic. We need to go back to inventing again and not just innovating. Take a look at this fascinating graph from Derek's article:

This graph showcases that most advances in science have only been incremental, and there have not been as many breakthroughs as before. The authors of the study that Mr.Thompson (no relation to my Hollywood Breaks co-host Tim) cites say that scientists only pursue work that will be popular among other scientists. What they call "the citation obsession." Thompson brilliantly states that "Hey, that chart looks like Hollywood." He writes: 

"Driven by popularity metrics, scientists, like movie studios, are becoming more likely to tinker in proven domains than to pursue risky original projects that might bloom into new franchises. It's not that writers, directors, scientists, and researchers can't physically come up with new ideas. But rather that something in the air—something in our institutions, or our culture—was constraining the growth new ideas. In science, as in cinema, incrementalism is edging out exploration.

That last sentence is the killer: Incrementalism is edging out exploration. In other words, our version of innovation is edging out the invention. If not cheapened by rampant consumerism and ignorance of what might have worked in the past, innovation can be a good thing—a genuine improvement versus only tinkering around the edges. However, invention is desperately needed in the industry now, and the current leadership's theory of innovation will not get us there. Hollywood is indeed breaking, but there is also an unbelievable opportunity for the next imaginative invention to truly transform the entertainment experience and how we creators tell stories. I'll tackle those subjects in Part 3 and Part 4 in the next couple of weeks. 

Hit or Misses

Full confession: I was not a fan of the first episode of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but my wife advocated giving it a chance, and kudos to her because it has become an incredibly entertaining show. I bring this up because Amazon has begun rolling out the promotional campaign for Season 4, and thus far, the campaign has been great. They started by releasing the first teaser focused on Maisel and then followed that up each subsequent day with another teaser focusing on another character. First off, hats off to PV for releasing content in a rapid-fire sequence. Secondly, the pieces allow scenes to play out and avoid the chopping cutting that has become so commonplace in trailers these days. Finally, each piece has what sounds like an original song that so perfectly speaks to each character. Check out the first one for yourself.

So kudos to the creative and strategy teams over at Amazon Prime Video for starting the campaign on such a high note. Let's see if they can keep it going to the release. Never an easy task.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, we return to the Revolutionary Era and the Adams Family, Abigail Adams. The year is 1779, and her son, John Quincy, has sailed across the Atlantic with his father, John, and younger brother, Charles, as her husband embarks on his mission to France. The following is taken from a letter she wrote to John Quincy in January of 1780:

"It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed...The Habits of a vigorous mind are formed in the contending with difficulties. All History will convince you of this, and that wisdom and penetration are fruits of experience, not the Lessons of retirement and leisure.

Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes the Heart, then those qualities which would otherways lay dormant, wake into life, and form the Character of the Hero and the Statesman.

We're not all gunning to be heroes and statesmen, but her words still hold true. It's only in the refinery life with all its trials and tribulations where our true mettle is forged, virtues and all. 

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Spinning Down the Drain

Part 1 - Spinning Down the Drain

"Movies are Back!"

"The movies are beginning their slow crawl back."

"If you have the budget to make 14 movies and you only have 11 great ones, let's just make 11."

I'm sure most of you have seen quotes like these over the last few months. My favorite is the last, courtesy of Scott Stuber, Head of Film at Netflix, following another common trope amongst the leadership of our content spaces that quality is the only problem that needs to be solved to return cinema to its glory days. In truth, I used to respect this point of view, especially in the earlier days of the pandemic. But now, I've realized that the "business" is entirely blinkered and blinded by, to be frank, stupidity. Stuber's beliefs have become commonplace around Hollywood. Movies that would have been considered bombs a mere 18 months ago, the press now hails as "hits" in the COVID era (see Dune and Ghostbusters) as if the need to make money has disappeared as much as the weekly habit of going to the movies.

Now to be fair, there are a few folks who are continually sounding the alarm. Richard Rushfield and Matt Belloni are just two examples of people shouting into the wind. The critical question is why. Why does the leadership class of Hollywood continually pretend to act as if their solutions are simple and ignore the calls to make substantive changes? I asked my boss this question when working in Australia, and his answer was quite simple. They have bills to pay, and nobody wants to take the risk of drastically changing what's worked in the past. I scoffed at that answer at the time but boy, has he been proven correct over the years. Yes, the executive jobs are comfortable and pay exceptionally well, but one must wonder why it pays so well if all they do is the same as the previous person. 

The bottom line is that working in the industry has become about survival. Surviving the subsequent merger and the next boss (especially if you want to be the boss someday.) It's become almost second nature to the point where they're willing to believe that simple solutions will solve the complex problems. Meanwhile, their audience has moved on and is making their own content. At the same time, executives troll the Marvel basement and look for the latest 80s hit, dying for a sequel and proclaiming it's all about making better movies and content. Oy.

Over the next few weeks, the Founder's Brew will attempt to tackle this problem. Next week, we'll look at how innovation isn't always the solution, and over the following weeks, I'll pitch some ideas on improving the theatrical experience and the story process. Of course, there's no guarantee that my ideas will work, but the important thing is the ideas themselves. I love the movie business and want to see it thrive again, but I refuse to buy into the spin that everything is getting better, and soon we'll be back to normal. The last pandemic started the movie industry; we need to ensure this one doesn't finish it off. 

Major Meta Miss

Check out this spot from Meta fka Facebook:

The ad I saw on TV was branded Meta, but the content is essentially the same. I'm sure there are those of you who look upon the meta-verse as the wave of the future, and I look upon it as the ultimate tool for the anti-social amongst us. I can almost see this ad being developed by people who live in LA and NEVER see their neighbors. This ad celebrates that these guys don't even know they live next door to one another yet love hanging out in this crazy fantasy universe. Hey, here's an idea. How about you get to know your neighbors. Maybe even, shocker, grab a beer. How often do we hear of the crisis of despair in the country, particularly among young people, and here comes META with the solution: Hide in your apartment, and instead of a controller in your hand, you put it on your face. GENIUS.  

Yes, I am Gen X-er who thinks this is unbelievably ridiculous and that Mark Zuckerberg is a scourge on humanity. I'm open to advances in human technology, but tell me how this advances society in the vein of the airplane or anesthesia for surgeries? I don't think it does. Unless Face-Meta figures that out quickly, this whole experiment will bring down the entire company. Not that I would complain.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week, we return to the Stoics and hear from Musonius Rufus The Unbreakable (Yeah, great name.)  

"As for me, I would choose being sick over living in luxury, for being sick only harms the body, whereas luxury destroys both the body and the soul, causing weakness and incapacity in the body, and lack of control and cowardice in the soul. What's more, luxury breeds injustice because it also breeds greediness."

Yes, this quote attacks going after money as the most important thing, but I think it's more profound. Pursuing money with such intensity also deprives one of the things in life that are genuinely rewarding. Think of a lottery winner and all the terrible stories one hears about them after holding up that obscenely large check. And it doesn't have to be just money; it could be anything that becomes such an obsession that you forget actually to live a good life which rarely includes a ton of money or the best title.

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The Power of Gratitude

Let me tell you a story about a study known in some circles as The Nun Study. The University of Kentucky conducted it to analyze the health habits of some seven hundred nuns from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, ranging in age from 75 to 107 (!!!), focusing on Alzheimer's disease. What made this study particularly interesting is that the researchers had access to their autobiographies written in their early twenties. Imagine reading something almost 50 years after you wrote it...in your twenties. I mean, yikes, at least from my perspective. 

I'm not going to go into the particular methods of the study. Still, they found that the earlier autobiographies expressed emotions like gratitude, hope, happiness, and love, the more likely it was that nuns would be alive some sixty years later. The correlation was so specific that researchers could predict with 85% accuracy which nuns would develop Alzheimer's. The difference between grateful and not so grateful was nearly six years. To quote Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: "Being grateful adds years to your life." There it is with hard data, and yet, I imagine many of you don't practice gratitude enough. 

I bring this up this week because Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and being grateful is primarily what this holiday is all about. Whether it's for your family or health or whatever happens to be on your mind this Thanksgiving, gratitude is what primarily brings us together in front of the mound of food, which will no doubt put in you a food coma. You're probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with working in a creative business? Well, honestly, everything. What drives so much angst and unhappiness in the industry is a lack of gratitude—Gratitude for what we have the privilege of doing every day. We get to bring stories to life and use our creative brains regularly. We get to constantly solve problems and innovate, something as any reader of this newsletter knows, I think we are currently lacking. This is not to say that there are not rough days and frustrating requests from filmmakers, clients, and bosses. But when you take the long view and think of some of the cool things you get to do and be a part of, the frustration begins to fade away. 

Gratitude can help you cope with stress, and it will dissipate other emotions like anger, jealously, and resentment, which are the drivers of so much of the dysfunction in today's industry. It can also provide you the opportunity to savor more positive experiences. But also, let's not forget, and perhaps, most notably: It enables you to live longer! I'll take that over any new age mud tasting shake they happen to be selling on Montana Avenue. So, as you enjoy your time with your family and friends this Thursday and prepare to return to work the following Monday, be filled with gratitude, and I can almost guarantee the gig will take on a whole new meaning. 

Hit or Misses

There will be no snarky Hits or Misses this week in the spirit of being grateful and not wanting to spoil anyone's holidays. But fear not, it shall return next week. 

Pages from the Commonplace Book

Since we've focused on the Revolutionary era in the last few newsletters, I thought I turn the page and shift to the Civil War era. Given that it's Thanksgiving week, I thought, what better time than to showcase Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation. Written in 1863 at the height of the Civil War, Lincoln's proclamation began a yearly tradition of presidential Thanksgiving proclamations and is considered the first of our modern-day Thanksgivings.

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

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Have We Lost the Art of Storytelleing?

Have We Lost the Art of Storytelling?

I was reading this past weekend (shocking, I know), and I stumbled upon a passage that I had to go back and re-read. In this particular passage, the author said the following (and I'm going to quote in full:)

"One of my teachers talked about how television and Hollywood replaced the storytellers. No longer do we sit by the glow and warmth of the home hearth, listening to our storytellers. Nowadays, we sit, staring at the cold glow of the television. The more I thought about this, the more I'm convinced that this is true. Where are our storytellers?"

The author references earlier in the article the importance of storytelling to the Native American cultures and how stories are passed from generation to generation. However, the broader question still holds: Where are our storytellers?

I'm not advocating for everyone to gather in the town square and light their TVs on fire, but I am advocating for a bit of balance between the two. We have to ask ourselves: Are we too reliant on the digital image over the spoken/written word? What will this do to our future generations of storytellers? Think of all the magnificent stories that arose from ages that didn't have hand-held phones or TV sets the size of an entire wall. Abraham Lincoln was a phenomenal storyteller, and it was crucial to his appeal to the electorate.

I think this challenge is playing out with the constant complaint of audiences: Hollywood isn't creating anything new anymore, and instead, it's merely recycling what has come before. Wrapped in the safe cocoon of "previously published IP," our creative class pushes out a known story to almost guarantee a money maker. But are they really to blame? Aren't we the ones running out to see the latest Disney remake or Marvel Superhero slugfest? If Hollywood honestly responds to the cash flow, maybe the lack of creative storytelling may be our fault. 

We need to find a balance. Otherwise, we could be looking at a creative desert of lackluster stories based on rehashed franchises from the 90s. Let's try unplugging once in a while. Pick up a book or listen to a story from a generation gone before. Read some classic tales to our kids. Bring up new storytellers who have heard and listened to rich tales that excited the imagination. Maybe then we can answer the author's question: Where are all the storytellers?

This Week: A Continuous Hit

Now, I could easily go off on Disney and their lackluster streaming numbers. Still, I think I covered that extensively in our last episode of Hollywood Breaks, so I will focus on something else entirely: The Great British Baking Show.  Now in its 9th season, TGBBS continues to inspire joy to all who watch it. It's not a particularly inventive concept (a baking competition), nor are they breaking the mold with their baking recipes or foods. So what gives?

As a thought experiment, I tried to pin what makes this show a hit after nine seasons, and I've settled on two theories:

1. The contestants genuinely like each other. This continues to defy my innate understanding of competition, but there is something about baking in that tent that makes the contestants become true friends and want to help one another. It strips away the human instinct to compete and whittle it down to the studs. These contestants genuinely see one another as fellow companions on an oddball 21st-century adventure, and we, as viewers, root for the camaraderie. If one of them switched the sugar for salt, viewers would scream for that contestant's head. It often defies the reality show genre but in an entirely good way. If only putting up baking tents everywhere could solve the worlds' ills.  

2. The second reason is more personal, but I wouldn't be surprised if it applies to more than me. Recently, my wife and 5-yr old daughter have taken to watching episodes together. Besides making my heart melt, seeing the two on the couch together showcases the show's ability to transcend generations. A task that few pieces of content can achieve these days. How many grandmas are sitting down with the grandkids to check out the latest "What if?" on Disney+? I'd wager next to none.

For these two reasons alone, The Great British Baking Show is The Founder's Brew's first Continous Hit. May the tent live long and prosper.

Pages from the Commonplace Book

I'm continuing on a similar theme from last week’s quote from General Greene about the meaning of success, which most strive to achieve. This week's quote comes from one of my heroes, George Washington. A huge fan (as most of the Founders) of Joseph Addison's play, Cato, he writes to Josiah Quincy in March of 1776, shortly after the British have fled Boston pulling a line from the play:

"To obtain the applause of deserving men is a heartfelt satisfaction; to merit them is my highest wish." 

"Applause" these days is easily attained, primarily via social media, but most of the time, those receiving it know if they deserve it, and they often don't. Earning the accolades, not through some false keyboard activism or cheap personal shots, but by putting forth the effort with honesty and integrity, that's how one achieves and deserves true success.

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Ignorance is not bliss.

First off, welcome to all my new subscribers! I'm so glad you all are enjoying this as much as I am. Please feel free to shoot me a note if there is a particular topic you'd like me to discuss. 

Ignorance is not Bliss

One of the main reasons I started Vision Craft Brew, aside from the joy of being my own boss for the first time, was to help other people. I often find myself drawn to helping others succeed, and to be honest, cutting trailers wasn't exactly scratching that itch. So when I moved to Philadelphia, I decided I needed to figure out a way to combine my love of "the biz" and still help others succeed. Thus, Vision Craft Brew was born. Granted, there was another stop before VCB, but that will be the subject of another newsletter.

I bring this up to reference one of our more popular strategies at VCB, the Career Advancement. Now, this isn't just another piece of paper that tells you how to get your elevator speech down to under a minute. This strategy is built around the saying that "Knowledge is Power." I've been a part of many meetings during my studio days where the talent seldom fully understood the marketing strategy the studio was implementing for their particular project. Often, it was because they wanted to be adversarial, but most times, they didn't understand what was happening behind the scenes. This is why I created the Career Advancement strategy. To help illuminate what's happening behind the scenes and position the studio/talent relationship as more of a partnership than me vs. you relationship. My clients quickly realize that they become better partners and creators through a better understanding of the ins and outs of strategy, the role of tracking, and the studio marketing process. 

Of course, this doesn't just apply to the entertainment space. Admitting what you don't know and being open to learning is a genuine key to success. Walking into a meeting thinking you know everything means you will accomplish nothing. As organizational psychologist Adam Grant notes in his latest book, Think Again, "If we're certain that we know something, we have no reason to look for gaps and flaws in our knowledge - let alone fill or correct them." He includes this sentence under a section entitled: "Stranded at the Summit of Mount Stupid." In other words, looking for the gaps in your knowledge and potential flaws in your reasoning will ensure your ascendancy to Mount Success. Leave Mount Stupid to the ignoramus. But, should you find yourself preparing to climb Mount Stupid, be sure to contact the outfitters at Vision Craft Brew. We'll turn that around right quick.

A Hit and a Miss

I have to confess I'm rarely surprised by anything I watch anymore. Most of the shows I watch because they're pure comfort food. Others because it's almost become a habit at this point. Thus, I was languishing in a cycle of show boredom until I caught Midnight Mass. What a revelation. For those of you who don't know, Midnight Mass is the latest show from Netflix's horror maestro, Mike Flanagan. Granted, I went into the show thinking it would be another typical horror series where every move is predictable, and every character is a cliche. Whoa, was I wrong (that thud you heard was my wife falling over because I admitted IN WRITING I was wrong..SHHH, tell no one.) Just when you think it's going to zig, it zags, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was respectful to faith and believers while also exposing the downsides of both. The acting is spectacular, especially from QB 7 Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford for those who are not FNL initiates), and Hamish Linklater, who plays Father Paul. Now, I know this show has lingered in Netflix's Top Ten, but their metrics for success are all over the place, so it may not be a typical hit. It is, however, a very original show and will keep you thinking for days after you finish it. Not to mention it makes a near Scorcese-esque use of Neil Diamond's hit, Holly Holy, not something you typically see in horror. All this makes it a hit in my mind. Kudos to everyone involved. You did your craft proud.

And now for the Miss. Eternals at $71 million is a definitive miss. Now, you will see mostly everyone say, particularly in the trade press, that is an excellent COVID result, but I'm not buying what they are selling. I'm not even going to wager a guess on the budget and P&A. I imagine the studio was hoping for 85+ if not more. The biggest reason this is a concern for the Marvel folk is that the bloom may be coming off the rose. The reviews were terrible (an anemic 47% on rotten tomatoes/80% audience score, which isn't great) and a CinemaScore of B, a death knell for a strong run. As Matt Belloni has pointed out in his newsletter, What I'm Hearing, one stinker out of 20-plus movies is not a panic-inducing incident. Still, it should warn Marvel/Disney that the audience may be tired of the "world is in peril until superheroes show up" storyline. Perhaps, they should read Vol.3 of the Founder's Brew? 

Pages from the Commonplace Book

As some of you may have figured out, I'm a huge history buff, particularly when it comes to Revolutionary history. My son just had his birthday party at the Museum of the American Revolution (His idea, I swear, he's just a chip off the ol'block, as they say.) Let's stick with the Revolutionary period but move on to another source. This week, it's Major General Nathanael Greene in writing to the Marquis De Lafayette:

"I have only one word of advice to give to you that is not let the love of fame get the better of your prudence and plunge you into a misfortune in too eager a pursuit after glory."

Some pieces of advice are just timeless. If the Major General were alive today, I imagine his email would say something like, "Hey MDL: Don't climb up Mount Stupid just because you want to be Insta-famous and be glorified on Twitter. You should reach out to Keith Rauch at Vision Craft Brew and he'll get you on the right path."

Huzzah, Major Greene, Huzzah!

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Know Thy Audience

Know Thy Audience

Let's do a thought experiment. As we're coming up the holidays, I'm going to focus on Christmas shopping. Yes, yes, we all, in our unique way, hate the idea. Some of us get our shopping done by Thanksgiving (yes, this is my wife), and then there are those of us who like to wait until the last minute (yours truly). Regardless of when you shop, you always go into the process thinking about the person for whom you are buying. What might they like? Is this something they need? It would defy rational thought to approach gift buying without asking these questions. Yet, it is pretty standard for people in content production to ignore or not even give a second thought to their audience.

Every conversation I have with my clients usually starts with this exchange:

Client: "I want to make this story. It's been a passion project of mine since I was a kid going to the theater every Saturday."

Me: "Sounds great. Love your passion. Who's the audience?"

Client: "Uh.....and then some fumbling answer about "four-quadrant."

This is a fairly regular occurrence with my clients, and it startles me how little they think of the audience they want to entertain. I was thinking about this even more after watching Dune. It's an entertaining film, no doubt, but I have to wonder if Denis Villeneuve thought at any point about his audience or did he say, 'I want to make DUNE.' There is no question that passion is needed to get a project completed. Still, if the audience never comes into the equation, if it's just about seeing it on the big screen, then when it's time to sell your product to an audience, you're already behind the eight ball. Now, I'm not going to say marketing always does right by the audience. As I discussed on last week's Hollywood Breaks, Warners missed a broader audience opportunity by just going for the authentic sci-fi audience. Given the numbers this past weekend, that's who they got. Some of my smaller brand clients almost always start asking about their audience, and they've typically done some deep research as well. I think it's time for content makers to do the same. There is no doubt that we should still focus on the story we want to tell, but the audience needs to be a part of the conversation much earlier in the process. In every step of the creative process, the target audience should be in the back of your mind. 

I close out this section of the newsletter with a long quote from Matt Labash's Slack Tide Newsletter (which is excellent, by the way). Matt was describing how many of the folks he had done profiles on have passed these last few years and one, in particular, was a true citizen of New Orleans. He loved everything about the city and felt that love in his bones. In describing that love, Matt references a quote from Tuba Phil Frazier, the anchor of the Rebirth Brass Band, on whom Matt was doing a profile. After Katrina had gutted the city that the Rebirth was synonymous with, Tuba Phil said: “Other shit goes on…….But when you come to our show, man, you forget about your problems, the mortgage, the insurance, the housing…….You might go home to half a house, but you sleep better that night. That's what I hope our music does to people. That's our obligation. The bad and the good stand side by side. I have tragedy. But I'm a stronger person. I can take it. Keep on goin'. Try to make it better. When I play in New Orleans, I play like this is the last time I'm ever going to play again. What if the city really is sunk? I play like the hell with it. I play like I might never come back to this again. I play like it's my last year of livin'. That's how I play."

That's true dedication to your audience. Not just to entertain but to transport them away from the crazy of the outside world. That's the obligation, and we, as content creators, need to remember that as we embark on our storytelling adventures. 

Hits and Misses

This week's hit is one I see coming down the road. Andrew Rosen, who writes a very informative newsletter, Parqor, did a deep dive into the forthcoming Avengers dining experience on the Disney cruise line. It's an adventure that involves all of your favorite Avengers, but this is where it gets good:

To bring this action-packed spectacle to life, we have specially designed the restaurant with immersive cinematic technology, including hundreds of screens and special effects embedded throughout. Filming with the actors has already wrapped and we are now working on the post-production editing and effects. (Here’s another secret for you: Because most of the battle takes place on the upper decks of the ship, we are actually re-creating it in photo-realistic CGI while the real Disney Wish is still under construction).

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. This is precisely what entertainment needs to do to start pulling audiences back in who got used to sitting at home rather than going out. This will be a massive hit with families and customers of all ages. Disney and the other studios need to be doing much more of this. What are they doing with theaters to bring audiences back? It can't just be the product anymore. Disney - you're on the right track. Now, buy a theater, and apply this innovation to that tired old experience. If you can make a cruise line dinner an adventure, you certainly can change the theater status quo. 

Pages from the Commonplace Book

This week's quote comes to us from the oft-overlooked Founding Father and subject of fabulous HBO mini-series and an even better book by David McCullough: John Adams. Over to you, Mr. Adams:

"We can't guarantee success [in this war], but we can do something better. We can deserve it."

This great quote from Adams in a letter to his equally formidable and fabulous wife, Abigail, and quoting from the play Cato by Joseph Addison (very popular with the Founding generation) highlights what I was discussing. Granted, he was discussing success during a fraught time in American history, and I'm just talking about content, but the message is the same. Success doesn't just come to you. It won't necessarily come to you because you have the right star or the correct IP. Adams believed we deserved success because the cause was righteous. We, as content makers, deserve success if we are accurate to the story we are trying to tell; we're kind to all those working hard to get our project out into the world, and we don't ignore our audience. 

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Has Disney Lost its Magic

Full disclosure: I was a total Disney nerd when I was a kid, and I loved going to Disney World. I collected character figurines (which I hope to pass on to my children) and even took a tour at Disney World, where I got a peek behind the curtain, although I'm sworn to secrecy. Just kidding, or maybe not. 

I say all this because I don't want any of you to think I'm writing this to beat up on Disney. They have been firing on all cylinders these last 18 months, so they are a ripe target. I'm writing this because I want to see Disney return to the glory that so captivated me as a kid and which, quite honestly, I fear they are losing. 

What started all of this? Well, full blame goes to my son, who is seven years old (almost eight, as he would almost certainly tell you.) He came home last week with the "I am Walt Disney" book from the school library. For those of you who don't know the, I AM books, written by Brad Meltzer, are an excellent introduction for kids to ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. My son and I settled down to read the book. As we read along, I began to realize what a pioneer Walt Disney was, particularly in the field of animation.

From Steamboat Willy to Snow White, Disney turned animation into a proper art form. I didn't even know that he was a founding member of Cal Arts whose alumni include Sofia Coppola, Don Cheadle, and Tim Burton. The guy was a true visionary. 

I happened to read the book the same night that an Eternals ad happened to run, and I realized at that moment that maybe just maybe the innovative spirit that drove Walt's early years has been swallowed up by corporate largess and stagnant thinking. Granted, I have not even seen the Eternals, but something about it felt all too familiar as if I knew the story already without buying a ticket. Now, I have heard fantastic things about Luka, so maybe this rant is born out of my adult cynicism more than anything else. Still, I can't shake this nagging feeling that innovation and originality may be a part of Disney's past rather than its future. A PIXAR movie every two years that does feel innovative and original may help stem the tide, but I think more is needed. I'd love to see the same boldness and creativity that drives James Cameron to become the heart and soul of Disney. Why not use the Imagineering team to come up with more stories? That division seems to burst with creativity. I'll take that over the remakes of animated classics, movies based on Disney World rides, and ANOTHER Marvel movie where the world is in peril, yet again. As if anyone wants to see a film about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, although I'd probably see it if Tim Burton is directing it. 

Again, I say all this not necessarily to pick on Disney, but I think they represent a significant problem with entertainment today. There is no drive to chase stories that feel magical and captive the imagination. It's all about built-in audiences and pre-existing IP, blah, blah. I want to walk into a theater and feel like my 10-year-old self after a spin on the Haunted Mansion; cynicism be damned. I believe Disney can do that, but only if the spirit of Walt can walk those halls again. 

Hits and Misses

This week, you get a hit and a miss all in one film, and that film is DUNE. The long-awaited Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi flick has finally arrived at the theaters and, of course, on HBO-MAX. So why both a hit and a miss? Well, it's decidedly a hit based on some of the reactions on social media this past weekend, and I did check it out on HBO-Max. It is an impressive piece of filmmaking, and the story captures the viewers' attention. Still, it's a miss because, despite the global numbers, which haven't been half bad, a $41 million domestic opening is damn near a disaster, especially with the upcoming week two drop-off that we've seen from other HBO MAX releases the last few months. Let's also not forget to mention the $165 million production budget (minus P&A, of course, which probably pushes it well over two.) So, it seems they got some of the excellent word of mouth that films thrive on these days, but that didn't necessarily translate into box office numbers. That said, they have now greenlit a sequel which makes this more hit than miss (or they need a franchise in the production pipeline.) Hello DUNE HBO-Max Spin-off. See above.

Pages from the Commonplace Book 

This week's quote comes from the original "slash," multi-hyphenate, and supposed namesake of that DiCaprio guy: Leonardo DaVinci. Leo, take it away:

"He who has access to the fountain does not go to the water jar."

I think there are several ways to look at this quote. One interpretation goes as follows and ties in nicely to what I wrote above: why go to the jar where the water is sitting for who knows how long when you can go right to a fresh source. Now, I'm interpreting this as a fountain in Leo's day where one could drink versus today where no one would be caught dead drinking from a fountain. 

Disney: Go back to the fresh fountain and junk the jar. Bring back the magic.

This week on Hollywood Breaks:

We're tackling that Derek Thompson tweet, and if you don't know what I'm talking about well, you should listen.

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