Listen… Do You Hear That Screeching Sound Outside Your Window

Listen… Do you hear that screeching sound outside your window? Its not a car crash, its not your neighbor and its not an earthquake. Its the sound of this entire industry shifting like tectonic plates adjusting under the earth. The collective aching of thousands of executives and their employees trying to figure out what the hec is going on. No doubt, major changes are underway. On the distribution side, new players are stepping into the game offering their platforms for content delivery and searching for content. Apple, Youtube, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft…did I miss someone? I bet you can come up with a few others. Until a few months ago it was basically only the four majors and their derivative cable channels where a producer could go to sell his ideas. Now it seems as if everyone including corporate marketers directly are in the game. Then there are the super global players like Fremantle and Endemol who are also re-organizing, shifting people around and re-inventing their business. Depending on how you look at the world, things will either get more confusing or simpler as it all unfolds.

Business models and whole eco-systems that have kept everyones salaries, cash flow and profits manageable for decades are in an accelerated state of change. Not to mention that the present stalled economy is holding up spending by corporate marketers who sit on the side lines retooling their operations, pruning their staffs and waiting for a signal to go to market.

Meanwhile technology, the ever persistent hyper transformer of everything marches on with new things for us to contend with everyday right when we haven’t really had time to fully adapt to the effects of the last wave of technological change. What to do?

Here’s an idea.  Watch and listen to what the teenagers and twenty somethings are doing. They have never lived any other way without computers, smart phones or apps and they are fully networked all the time, everywhere they go. They are the ones who have a response for this and can move quickly to invent new ways of making money. Without the constraints and filter of decades of doing things a certain way they think different and they are doing it by starting completely new businesses that adapt to the world as it changes. However there is no substitution for the maturity and wisdom of a veteran producer working with a young team to make a huge difference in outcomes.

Creating powerful new content however is never simple.  Will the folks at Google, Youtube or any other computer company be able to hire executives with the experience to manage creative development, packaging and production of larger than ever volumes of programming on a regular basis? Possibly in time but few from the media business have ever made the jump to the computer business successfully or vis-versa. Independent producers are – independent – and by nature only work with people who’s creative instincts and business ethics they trust and respect. That takes years to develop either personally or by reputation. We will find out pretty quickly how well the new players are received into the content creation community. In future blogs I will also share my thoughts on other areas of the business like facilities, agents, freelancers and how they are being impacted and what they are doing about it.  Stay tuned.

Final Cut Pro X is the state of the art!

Forget about all the hoopla surrounding the launch of FCPX. The “pros” slammed it, press piled on and studios fully invested in the software were put on edge. Apple did a lousy job of introducing the new update for sure but it was not inconsistent with other tech launches like the iPhone, iPad or Facebook.  Leaders don’t do focus groups and ask the public what they want, they give them something original, useful and great. Initially many new technologies are rejected before anyone had actually sees them. Later they can’t buy them quick enough.

In the case of FCPX, Apple has made the right decision once again. The professional editors are clearly in the minority of people on the planet who can shoot and edit video. Millions of people now have access to high quality HD cameras and millions more can edit. Clearly there is a difference between the talent of a high school student making their first film and a Hollywood veteran story teller. The fact that they can use the same tools is irrelevant.

With the FCPX 10.0.1 update most of the complaints about professional access were wiped away. Media Stems Export provides flexible track management and removes the burden of track management, Rich XML Support allows for import and export of FCPX project and event information via a rich XML format enabling a wide range of third party workflows, including high end visual effects, color grading, and media assets management. You can create and edit projects and events on Xsan which is ideal for multi-user workflows. Broadcast delivery specs, camera importing from a wide range of cameras and other functions that are now in the hands of literally millions of users making this software the state-of- the-art.

The democratization of the tools of production raises the bar for everyone and that’s a very good thing.

FCPX Workshop

Last week I was invited to a training session for FXP X by Weynard Training. The new training modules and manual uses a sequence that Pullin Television produced for one of our shows. Here is a scene from the session.

There are now only three things that distinguish between a good production and great production. Story, story and story.

The sequence that appears in the FCPX Manual and tutorial.

Think different, think like Steve Jobs.

If you want to create something that breaks through the clutter, gets attention and has a long “shelf life,” avoid the urge to copy other peoples success. Sounds simple but most of what we see on television and in the media in general are imitations of the original and are just filling up space. These days there is a lot of space to fill so its understandable that the expedient solution is to just make a copy, or change a few ingredients and presto, an audience is found and cash flows.  A real producer by definition is someone who makes things happen out of nothing, creates intellectual property, stuff that didn’t previously exist. Its about thinking different than everyone else, looking at things from a fresh perspective and going where no one else is. One of the most original business leaders of all time is Steve Jobs. His principals apply to any business including the creation of media.

For those who believe we are running out of  “original” ideas , take a look at this article by Eric Jackson.  If the entire media industry ran like Apple, maybe things would be different.  It’s no secret that the technological changes that people like Steve Jobs gave us are turning the system perpetuated by the top-down, vertically organized media conglomerates up side down. It’s only a matter of time, short that it is, when the power to create, produce and distribute  all media will be dispersed into the hands of literally millions of creators.  Listen to Steve, he is right.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE:

The Top Ten Lessons Steve Jobs Can Teach Us – If We’ll Listen

By Eric Jackson – Forbes Contributor

1. The most enduring innovations marry art and science

2. To create the future, you can’t do it through focus groups

3. Never fear failure

4. You can’t connect the dots forward – only backward

5. Listen to that voice in the back of your head that tells you if you’re on the right track or not

6. Expect a lot from yourself and others

7. Don’t care about being right.  Care about succeeding

8. Find the most talented people to surround yourself with

9. Stay hungry, stay foolish

10. Anything is possible through hard work, determination, and a sense of vision

Freedom is not free

Freedom is not free.  Whether its the rebels against the dictators of the Middle East, the founders of America or the Independent Producers vs the media companies, struggle for independence is always hard fought. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the rules of media cross-ownership which allowed networks to own the programs they air. Before 1996 independent producers owned the shows they created and then licensed them to networks. The repeal of the these laws decimated the ranks of independent producers and in my opinion destroyed the creative essence of television and gave us the television we have today.  At the same time the marketer/ sponsors via their agencies began dealing directly with networks rather than producers removing a critical funding source for their shows.  The adoption of broadband video via the internet and directly to individual households changes everything once again.  This shift has been occurring for several years and will now accelerate so that producers will be able and asked to do more.  This time congress doesn’t have to pass any new laws, producers are free to go directly to the corporate marketers and offer to create, produce and distribute entertainment programming that they can deliver directly to individual consumers.  The return on investment marketers require is the same as what they demanded from networks.   Accumulated eye balls at a price they can justify. Now every view can be counted, the demographic, socio graphic, and psycho-graphics can be matched with any sponsors actual customers and they will insist on an accurately calculated ROI as the rule for doing business.  We are only at the beginning of this new world order for media.  Many independent producers are starting from scratch to re-organize and up-date their companies.  We need an ad sales department, a marketing/ PR department, a programming department etc and most importantly we need to create the language, the business models and a way for corporate marketers to do business with us.  Fortunately the metrics and the calculations are not difficult to understand.  Agencies, distributors/media companies would be wise to work with producers in an open, inclusive and transparent manner where revenue sharing is the norm.  The results of this transition will bring forth increased value for all parties and the greatest advance for independent producers ever. Finally we will be able to take control and own our creative work.  Any artist knows that to do great work you must put your heart and soul into every project. When you must give it up to others to profit from that work you are less inspired to do your best work.  Online distribution will create a far greater appetite for quality programming than even cable TV.  The audience is in complete control, schedules and day parts will be a thing of the past. The audience  will watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch and on whatever platform or device they happen to have within reach. Quality content will always rise to the top and be viewed in the greatest numbers.  True, creative producers / entrepreneurs will not be phased, they adapt and will thrive in the new business environment.

The best is yet to come.

Witness to the revolution.

Not too many times in history do we get to be part of a complete change in the way things are and witness a new world order unfold.  This is my second time. In the 1960′s I was a teenager, full of “piss and vinegar” and ready to rumble. In that revolution it was the first time that the generation coming up had the chance to question authority. Question the government. “Hell no we wont go!” ..to Vietnam. Question your parents, question everything. The revolution we are in this time is even more profound. This time we are seeing dictators deposed by people using social networking on their cell phones, major institutions falling and the entire financial / political system around the world being turned upside down. Its a bottom up world. Power to the people for real and “we are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!” ( Albert Finney in the movie Network) Which brings me to the point of this blog.

My view is from the inside of the media industry. It’s where I live. Its where the people I work with everyday hang out and its where I have spent the last 30 or more years. We are now in the midst of something truly historic, incredibly fascinating and filled with great stories that will be told for centuries. Its a great time to be alive and in this blog I just want to tell it the way I see it. I welcome those who disagree with me and want to challenge me. That’s why there is a comments section. It takes balls to speak out. I have balls. It takes integrity to tell the truth. I will always tell it like it is. If what I say pisses you off then first look inside yourself and see if what you are doing isn’t the source of your anger. Please, tell me when you disagree.  I know I  don’t have all the answers but I will not hesitate to call you out if you are not telling the truth. The world is changing now faster than we as humans have evolved our coping skills,  consequently we are being asked to change a lot of things we have taken for granted or positions we have stood firm on for most of our lives. It takes character. Many will go kicking and screaming, many will go right off the cliff hanging on to their pathetic old school notions of reality, many will not give up their hard line beliefs and remain frozen unable and unwilling to change. But change will come anyway. What is exciting is that we don’t need to legislate via a dysfunctional political system to level the playing field, we don’t need to go through the giant media company exclusively to do business and get our creative ideas and work distributed. Everything we want can be accomplished on our own terms working with partners who will inevitably be… large media companies. Our ideas, our creative output will be owned by us and we only answer to the audience/consumers. This blog is for those who are willing to embrace the change that is inevitable around us.  Join the conversation, come along for the ride of our lives. We can now truly take control of our world for the first time.

Stephen