Some Stuffs I'd Like To Tell Some People I Know
Dear media folk,
Stop trying to create things that you think others might like, and start doing the stuff that you like.
I mean, sure, I get it. Movies and TV are money businesses, and you want to get as many people as possible to watch your crap. But, here's the thing: if you try to ape someone else's taste and you fail (and people in the entertainment business fail plenty, and often), you end up with a mediocre mess. Do something you really, actually love, and you'll always have that, no matter how many others end up loving it, too. And chances are, some people will love it. Because audiences realize when someone put a lot of heart into something. I'm assuming that most of you went into the business because you want to tell good stories. Tell those stories.
I mean, I'm no-one to talk, I'm horrible at getting my favorite ideas off the ground. But all the best entertainment - be it "The Wire", "The Sopranos", or "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", "Dr Horrible", "Game Of Thrones", "South Park", "The Venture Brothers", "Community", Peter Jackson's early movies, or the six billion other great things that exist out there - are personal visions by people who really, truly love what they are doing.
Sure, sometimes success can be calculated (see: "Transformers", "Glee"). But that doesn't always work (see: "Hulk", "Fast Forward"). And seriously, all that "No, or 67 year old viewers won't get this", and "We should do something that appeals to both the 18-24 AND the 50+ demographic" is going nowhere, I feel.
Everyone seems so tired and timid. Be original. Be daring. Perhaps you will end up with an "Arrested Development", and nobody will want to see it. But even then, you will end up with an "Arrested Development".
Says the person who's never finished any of her novels. ^^* Yeah, I know. But I had to say it.
Stop trying to create things that you think others might like, and start doing the stuff that you like.
I mean, sure, I get it. Movies and TV are money businesses, and you want to get as many people as possible to watch your crap. But, here's the thing: if you try to ape someone else's taste and you fail (and people in the entertainment business fail plenty, and often), you end up with a mediocre mess. Do something you really, actually love, and you'll always have that, no matter how many others end up loving it, too. And chances are, some people will love it. Because audiences realize when someone put a lot of heart into something. I'm assuming that most of you went into the business because you want to tell good stories. Tell those stories.
I mean, I'm no-one to talk, I'm horrible at getting my favorite ideas off the ground. But all the best entertainment - be it "The Wire", "The Sopranos", or "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", "Dr Horrible", "Game Of Thrones", "South Park", "The Venture Brothers", "Community", Peter Jackson's early movies, or the six billion other great things that exist out there - are personal visions by people who really, truly love what they are doing.
Sure, sometimes success can be calculated (see: "Transformers", "Glee"). But that doesn't always work (see: "Hulk", "Fast Forward"). And seriously, all that "No, or 67 year old viewers won't get this", and "We should do something that appeals to both the 18-24 AND the 50+ demographic" is going nowhere, I feel.
Everyone seems so tired and timid. Be original. Be daring. Perhaps you will end up with an "Arrested Development", and nobody will want to see it. But even then, you will end up with an "Arrested Development".
Says the person who's never finished any of her novels. ^^* Yeah, I know. But I had to say it.