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The Actor - IPHONE USER ATTENDS T-MOBILE SIDEKICK LX LAUNCH PARTY…SHHH!

May 20, 2009

This past week T-Mobile celebrated the launch of its new Sidekick LX slide cell phone by throwing a pink carpet, celebrity-filled party at Paramount Studio.  The celebration offered endless entertainment and fabulous fun amongst a sea of musicians, actors, models, socialites, press, and eager partygoers.  In said sea was none other than…an iPhone user!  GASP!  Who was this iPhone user you ask?  ‘Twas I…shhh, and, don’t worry, I kept it well hidden for the evening….hehe.

T-Mobile promotes their current phone as the “new café gadget” that is “faster and more social than ever,” which seems perfectly matched for Hollywood.  Now, here would be the perfect place in my blog for me to enter my opinion or review of the phone, but truth be told, I know very little about it, and Sidekicks, in general.  That said, the phone looks cute, brought smiles to a lot of faces and is sure to be a gadget making appearances at many cafes around the world, as advertised.

These types of launches are popular events each year, and, I have to say, they did a wonderful job!  It was one of the most fun times I have had at a Hollywood event since moving to LA, and it consisted of a beautifully lit, spacious, laid back environment, with lots of free goodies, tasty treats, and divine drinks.  They had an outdoor stage set up for musical entertainment, with performances by Weezer, who also provided a unique cover performance of Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face,” as well as Warren G, and Blink-182’s first live appearance since the band got back together.  Each performance happened in between electrifying light shows timed to a wide array of music, spun by DJ AM and paired with Travis Barker on drums.

While mingling among the crowd, consisting of Amada Bynes, Anna Faris, Adrian Grenier, Kim Kardashian, Ashley Simpson, Pete Wentz, Kevin Spacey, Paris and Nikki Hilton, Pink, Kelly Osbourne,  Nikki Reed, Bonnie McKee, and the infamous Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, among many others, I got a chance to be my silly self and pose in a fun T-Mobile shot that advertises the new phone!  To top it off, all this took place on none other than Paramount’s New York Street, which you all know was the cherry on top for me!  I hadn’t been back there since the Project A.L.S. Benefit a couple years ago.

Needless to say, T-Mobile knows how to throw a party, and it was an enjoyable evening all around, which can hopefully be seen in the pictures below.  Bottom line, no matter what your phone of choice is, be it a Sidekick, iPhone, or one the many other handy phones on the market, anyone can partake in a little celebration and appreciate what those different from their own have to offer; that goes for phones, people, and life overall.

“Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.” – Scott Peck

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The Production Manager - TV without advertisers

May 20, 2009

Ok, so this is not strictly about what I do in TV but I saw this piece via my usual media news aggregation and thought it raised some pretty interesting questions.

In essence it’s an article about how people are no longer paying for television because they can get most of their favorite shows for free online. Now while this isn’t particularly new or newsworthy this article in particular struck me, not because the people interviewed in it didn’t want to pay for the television that they watch but because the people interviewed actually work in the media. This not only struck me as particularly short sighted but for the first time made me worry a little bit as someone who works in TV. If even people within our own industry aren’t willing to pay to watch television, what hope is there for its future?

Here in the US everyone and their mother are looking for ways to ensure content is still paid for on the net; the newspapers didn’t and are suffering dearly for it now. Some of the networks are being smart and putting episodes online complete with adverts, while Netflix has done some sweet deals with CBS and NBC to show prime time shows to their paying customers. Even hulu.com slips a bit of advertising in to their online content and why shouldn’t they?

The truth is, it costs money to make television and that money has to come from somewhere. Advertisers have a long and successful relationship with the television industry. Advertisers provide the money, broadcasters provide the audience for adverts alongside the programming. If you take advertisers out of the equation, who’s going to fund the program? Netflix is a great model for subscription based viewing but most people won’t want to pay for what used to be free. Under the current model of network television you can watch whatever shows you’d like and the only cost is minutes of your time to see an advertisement for a product you may or may not wish to buy.

Maybe if networks hadn’t sold as many adverts people wouldn’t be suffering from overexposure. Perhaps the US can take a leaf from the UKs book and limit commercial breaks to every 15 minutes for no more than 3 minutes. But that’s a digression.

A show I made last year allowed some level of product placement in the show and it worked tremendously well. There were guideline such as no specific product endorsement by the host and any visual credit would need to be introduced organically into the show. In our case we used packaging and T-shirt wearing delivery people to advertise in exchange for products we couldn’t have afforded nor done the show without.

Another method being discussed are timely commercials that relate to the action in the show just prior to the commercial break and in other instances companies are contributing to keeping a show alive such as the recent deal between NBC and Subway for ‘Chuck’.

Whichever way you look at it, we’re not going to be getting television for free any more than movies will be made for the love of making movies. Whether we pay for it or the advertisers pay for it somebody needs to because without a source of income, there will be no money to make television with and a whole lot more of us will be out of a job.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/14/AR2009051404522.html?wprss=rss_technology

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/business/media/20adco.html?_r=1&ref=media

 

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The Storyboard Artist - HUSTLE TIME

May 19, 2009

The last few weeks have been spent finishing boards on the Adam Sandler film “GROWN UPS” (the 2nd A.D. Mark just called me as I was writing this blog) as well as trying to get some writing done. The original plan for me was to do maybe 2 weeks on the show, but my friend and the movie’s director, Dennis Dugan got me a lot more work than than.”DD” or “Doogie” as he is known by many, likes to have me to bounce his visual ideas off him, and he knows I can pull some good gags and concepts out. This film has not been as stunt heavy as “YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN”, but I’ve had CGI moths, prat-falls and a  comedic impaling to illustrate. Good stuff.I have one more scene to do, but we don’t know when it has to be done, so now is the time I look for more work, as the bills never stop coming. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my dream jobs on the “GREEN HORNET” or “GREEN LANTERN” films to follow this gig up, so I better start hustling now.In the mean time, I am doing some pro bono boards for another director friend, which is not something  I usually do at all, but he isn’t rich at all, and the project isn’t back yet financially. Plus, this director was great to work with on a low budget horror film a few years ago.Again, I WILL take money if you have it. I’d love a job, so I can by more Alan Hughes sketchbooks. If only, 

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The Standby Painter - The Sorry Syndrome

May 19, 2009

Yes, I did it again.  I’m posting this a day late, even though I wrote it last night.  You’ll see why if you read more.  And by the way, let me just say how sorry I am…
The Sorry Syndrome

 
One of my friends and I got to talking during a particularly …

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The Development Executive - If The World Was A Fempire

May 19, 2009

If you were wondering when I would write a blog that might piss a bunch of people off…wait no longer. For those of you who missed it, there was an article published in the New York Times Fashion and Style Section on March 20 (yes I realize this was a while ago) about the female Entourage-type group of writers self-nicknamed The Fempire. Its members are the insanely successful, insanely hip, and insanely hot foursome of Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, Liz Meriwether and Lorene Scafaria.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, these four distinguished ladies have taken Hollywood by storm the last few years having collectively (though separately) written the Academy Award winner “Juno,” “27 Dresses,” “What Happens in Vegas,” “The Wedding Date,” the Showtime Series “United States of Tara,” the upcoming “Jennifer’s Body” and one of my personal favorite comedies of last year, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”

And before you get all in a huff, this is not a hate piece about them at all. In fact, I have been a fan of Cody, Fox and Scafaria for a long time and Meriwhether who is the baby of the group, I’m sure will live up to their high standards. I loved the pilot she wrote titled “Sluts.” I would absolutely love to work with any of these writers and I think male, female, robot, whatever – these women are at the top of their game. I am in awe of their talent, their work ethic and their ability to stay friends in a business where friendships are qualified by how much you can do for each other. I wish I had real friends that were as supportive as these women are for each other. Well – I do – but they all live in New York and none of them are really in the film business. Oh well. 

And while their movies haven’t made the box office coinage that the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd movies have grossed, they have made a statement – women are no longer second to men in this industry. Which brings me to the point of this blog…If women are no longer second to men…perhaps they could stop complaining about how they are? 

The article points out that “among the screenwriters who are in steady demand for major projects, only about 20 are women.” But how many writers out there (other than actor/writers like Jonah Hill and Jason Segel) are really in steady demand? 50? 60? Twenty of them being female isn’t that bad of a ratio. Yes, most writers’ rooms on TV shows are filled with Harvard-educated men, but I think that says more about the division in this industry between Ivy League vs. Non-Ivy League, than it does about men vs. women. Does anyone think Tina Fey isn’t the funniest writer in the room?

Are there more male producers and writers than female? Yeah. But why does every woman in this industry have to point out that they are a “woman in a man’s job.” Don’t they know how insulting that is to women? You’re not doing a MAN’S job. You’re doing YOUR job which MEN also happen to do. As far as I can tell, the only MALE job out there is being a FATHER. Maybe if they stopped referring to producing, writing or directing as being a “male world,” it would increasingly stop seeming like one.

There are two companies in the last few months that were looking for a new executive. Want me to name names? Here you go…State Street Pictures and Underground Entertainment. And no matter how many qualified male candidates there might have been, they were set on hiring females. And this happens all the time for one reason or another. Companies say they want minorities only or females only or USC grads only. It’s their prerogative and while it sucks, I accept it. I just can’t stand when I hear that companies are only looking for women, and at the same time, I hear how women are treated unfairly. I’m officially calling bullshit. 

While I have not done the empirical research, it has been reported that there are now more women going to college than men. Far more women move to LA every year than men. And looking around, I think there are more female assistants in Hollywood than male, which would reason that there are probably more low level female executives than male – or at least a pretty even number. So why are there more higher-level male execs than women? It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Around the ages of 27-33, the prime age for promotion to that cushy VP job, most women start hearing that ol’ biological clock and they choose to get married and start a family instead of continuing to pursue their career. Is that fair? I don’t know — I don’t have ovaries. But I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be blamed for that. And I’m definitely sure the industry as a whole shouldn’t be blamed for it either. 

It’s pretty well known that there are some women in this industry who have chosen not to have children and have instead decided to make their companies or their movies their babies, which I completely respect. However, when a young, hot new female assistant starts at their company, instead of trying to take them under their wing, the female bosses usually try to devour them and spit them out. Men seem to like having protégées, while women seem to enjoy being the only Queen Bee in the hive. Perhaps if more women were like those that inhabit the Fempire, more of them would get ahead.  

I’ve worked for both men and women, and while the men I’ve worked for were constantly trying to prove they could do the job better and become more successful, the women were constantly trying to prove they could do their job better than men. Perhaps if women tried to drop that chip from their shoulder, they’d be able to get ahead without having to undermine every man with whom they work. I’m actually a feminist in that I want real equality. I want the best person for the job to be hired – and if that’s a woman – fantastic! I want women to make equal pay. I want men to be able to get a sick day every month because sometimes we feel bitchy too. I want men to get paternity leave just like women should get maternity leave. I want women to get hired and promoted because they deserve it – because they are smart and have a great personality - not because they wear short skirts and have great…assets. Because as sexist as women might find that, men trying to get hired for the same job - hate it even more. 

So let’s all (men and women) take a lesson from the Fempire. Do great work, be smart and savvy and unselfish, and let’s forget about the differences in our pants and get the job done!

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The Development Executive - If The World Was A Fempire

May 19, 2009

If you were wondering when I would write a blog that might piss a bunch of people off…wait no longer. For those of you who missed it, there was an article published in the New York Times Fashion and Style Section on March 20 (yes I realize this was a while ago) about the female Entourage-type group of writers self-nicknamed The Fempire. Its members are the insanely successful, insanely hip, and insanely hot foursome of Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, Liz Meriwether and Lorene Scafaria.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, these four distinguished ladies have taken Hollywood by storm the last few years having collectively (though separately) written the Academy Award winner “Juno,” “27 Dresses,” “What Happens in Vegas,” “The Wedding Date,” the Showtime Series “United States of Tara,” the upcoming “Jennifer’s Body” and one of my personal favorite comedies of last year, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”

And before you get all in a huff, this is not a hate piece about them at all. In fact, I have been a fan of Cody, Fox and Scafaria for a long time and Meriwhether who is the baby of the group, I’m sure will live up to their high standards. I loved the pilot she wrote titled “Sluts.” I would absolutely love to work with any of these writers and I think male, female, robot, whatever – these women are at the top of their game. I am in awe of their talent, their work ethic and their ability to stay friends in a business where friendships are qualified by how much you can do for each other. I wish I had real friends that were as supportive as these women are for each other. Well – I do – but they all live in New York and none of them are really in the film business. Oh well. 

And while their movies haven’t made the box office coinage that the Apatow/Rogen/Rudd movies have grossed, they have made a statement – women are no longer second to men in this industry. Which brings me to the point of this blog…If women are no longer second to men…perhaps they could stop complaining about how they are? 

The article points out that “among the screenwriters who are in steady demand for major projects, only about 20 are women.” But how many writers out there (other than actor/writers like Jonah Hill and Jason Segel) are really in steady demand? 50? 60? Twenty of them being female isn’t that bad of a ratio. Yes, most writers’ rooms on TV shows are filled with Harvard-educated men, but I think that says more about the division in this industry between Ivy League vs. Non-Ivy League, than it does about men vs. women. Does anyone think Tina Fey isn’t the funniest writer in the room?

Are there more male producers and writers than female? Yeah. But why does every woman in this industry have to point out that they are a “woman in a man’s job.” Don’t they know how insulting that is to women? You’re not doing a MAN’S job. You’re doing YOUR job which MEN also happen to do. As far as I can tell, the only MALE job out there is being a FATHER. Maybe if they stopped referring to producing, writing or directing as being a “male world,” it would increasingly stop seeming like one.

There are two companies in the last few months that were looking for a new executive. Want me to name names? Here you go…State Street Pictures and Underground Entertainment. And no matter how many qualified male candidates there might have been, they were set on hiring females. And this happens all the time for one reason or another. Companies say they want minorities only or females only or USC grads only. It’s their prerogative and while it sucks, I accept it. I just can’t stand when I hear that companies are only looking for women, and at the same time, I hear how women are treated unfairly. I’m officially calling bullshit. 

While I have not done the empirical research, it has been reported that there are now more women going to college than men. Far more women move to LA every year than men. And looking around, I think there are more female assistants in Hollywood than male, which would reason that there are probably more low level female executives than male – or at least a pretty even number. So why are there more higher-level male execs than women? It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Around the ages of 27-33, the prime age for promotion to that cushy VP job, most women start hearing that ol’ biological clock and they choose to get married and start a family instead of continuing to pursue their career. Is that fair? I don’t know — I don’t have ovaries. But I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be blamed for that. And I’m definitely sure the industry as a whole shouldn’t be blamed for it either. 

It’s pretty well known that there are some women in this industry who have chosen not to have children and have instead decided to make their companies or their movies their babies, which I completely respect. However, when a young, hot new female assistant starts at their company, instead of trying to take them under their wing, the female bosses usually try to devour them and spit them out. Men seem to like having protégées, while women seem to enjoy being the only Queen Bee in the hive. Perhaps if more women were like those that inhabit the Fempire, more of them would get ahead.  

I’ve worked for both men and women, and while the men I’ve worked for were constantly trying to prove they could do the job better and become more successful, the women were constantly trying to prove they could do their job better than men. Perhaps if women tried to drop that chip from their shoulder, they’d be able to get ahead without having to undermine every man with whom they work. I’m actually a feminist in that I want real equality. I want the best person for the job to be hired – and if that’s a woman – fantastic! I want women to make equal pay. I want men to be able to get a sick day every month because sometimes we feel bitchy too. I want men to get paternity leave just like women should get maternity leave. I want women to get hired and promoted because they deserve it – because they are smart and have a great personality - not because they wear short skirts and have great…assets. Because as sexist as women might find that, men trying to get hired for the same job - hate it even more. 

So let’s all (men and women) take a lesson from the Fempire. Do great work, be smart and savvy and unselfish, and let’s forget about the differences in our pants and get the job done!

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The Actor - LIFE AND LESSONS AFTER “POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE”

May 13, 2009

As I began writing this blog, I realized it was 8 years ago today May 13th that I graduated with my BFA in Acting degree!  I cannot believe it has been that long already.  Although it seems like yesterday, and I feel as though I haven’t aged at all, I have, in fact, changed and experienced quite a lot, good and bad, since.  In essence, I have continued to learn valuable lessons even after my schooling days.

Since graduation I have become an aunt; lived in what has become my beloved New York City; worked at Atlantic Records; experienced, first hand, the horrors of September 11th and how New Yorkers truly united as one to help after the fact; stood center stage on Broadway; walked down the middle of the street in Times Square with snow up to my knees after a blizzard; met and worked with Julia Roberts; moved across the country; gotten a CA license plate, something I always wanted growing up; had my identity impersonated on-line; guest starred on several TV shows; been at a party with Prince; gotten to play my cousin Zita Johann and recreate her famous scenes opposite Boris Karloff from “The Mummy;” been turned into a comic book character for “Scary Monsters Magazine;” spoken about acting to an auditorium filled with middle school students, which was a true joy; sat on a jury for a week long trial; attended red carpet events; received touching fan letters and am still amazed anyone is a “fan;” started my own card line; traveled to Prince Edward Island with friends, gained a love for sushi; appeared on my teenage favorite soap opera “Y&R;” felt an earthquake; and, among many others, was given the opportunity to document my journey as an actor here with FIB.

They always say that “time flies when you’re having fun” and seems to speed up as you get older, to which I can attest.  Sometimes it seems that every time I turn around another year has flown by, and, as in today’s case, the next thing I know, 8 years have passed since I walked across the Taylor Theatre stage at UNCG and was handed my diploma, with my amazing and supportive family sitting in the audience rooting me on, something they continue to do today.

In that moment, I had no real idea what the future held.  In fact, I had planned to move to LA upon graduation from college.  But instead I detoured to NYC after getting a call from a friend with whom I had taken acting classes at HB Studio in New York, back when I was still in high school.  She was looking for a roommate, so off I went, and I am so happy that I did.  Honestly, I sometimes wish I had stayed in the Big Apple a little longer, but they also say “things happen for a reason.”  I was, at that time, eager to move, and had I stayed I might never have experienced some of the above.  Quite possibly, I may never have teamed up with FIB, and, therefore, this very blog may never have been written.

As some of you may know, LA and the industry have lost a bit of its luster for me since my arrival 5 years ago.  I will be the first to admit that I may not fully appreciate all that this city has to offer, and it is a well-known fact that I prefer NYC over LA.  That said, I was amongst the bright lights on Sunset Blvd. last night, just before midnight.  As I drove down the then fairly quiet main part of the strip, I passed the Best Western Hotel, with beautiful Bougainvillea in fabulous fuchsia covering the front of it, right near the House of Blues.  I was flooded with the emotions and memories of arriving at that very hotel, from college in Greensboro, NC, 8 years ago to work on a KRYStAL and Backstreet Boys music video shoot, filled with pure wonder.

I remember how exciting LA was for me then and how, when I arrived at LAX and walked out into the warm night air, surrounded by tall, sleek, palm trees, it was a truly magical place for me.  Although I was to be in LA for only a couple days, I could not wait to be actually living here after graduation.  Needless to say, as I passed the hotel last night, on what was just another day, so to speak, I realized just how different and rather mellow my experience and feelings are about LA and the same location today.

Suddenly, it hit me, and, in that moment, I decided to instantly soak up what was surrounding me.  Once again, I noticed the unique Sunset Strip sparkle and the many famous landmarks it houses.  Landmarks I often passed without really recognizing because I live here.  I was quickly struck by just how lucky I am to live where I live, in the middle of a place so many only see on TV or in the movies, and it reminded me that LA is a place so many dream of one day simply visiting, let alone living.

This mini “ah ha” moment, as Oprah calls them, happened during what is a big year for me.  I will soon be entering a new decade of my life; something that has contributed to my reflection, and even projection of what I want and where I want, or hope, to be in the future.  Consequently, I am, once again, sitting here on May 13th with no real certainty of what the future holds.

Now, while part of that thought is rather scary for me, especially looking at my life outside of acting and seeing myself in a place so different from what I once thought, part is also very exciting and what life’s adventure is all about.  Ultimately, even after graduation you never really stop learning or experiencing new things.  No matter where you find yourself, there will always be life and lessons after “Pomp and Circumstance.”

“All of life is a journey which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.” - Unknown free invisible hit counter

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The Production Manager - What’s wrong with Television

May 13, 2009

I used to love my job. I loved the buzz, the excitement, the collaboration. I didn’t mind the long hours, being away from home, the tension and the sometime unbearable pressure because I enjoyed being part of something that contributed positively to the world. True, I worked in documentary back then but it didn’t change when I moved into entertainment because we were producing a great product, always either something I was proud of or enjoyed making and occasionally I’d be lucky enough to get both.

 But lately I’ve started to become disillusioned with working in television and with the television that we’re making.

Maybe it’s because I started out in the UK where the emphasis is on educating and entertaining audiences, where subject matters are handled with sensitivity rather than exploitation. A show like The Hills in the UK is pure fiction and called Hollyoaks where it’s relegated to the hangover TV slot rather than used as a marketing tool to sell music and an aspirational lifestyle to impressionable teenagers and young people.

Nowadays in this country networks seem reluctant to take any kind of risk and commission interesting shows. They commission series that will further cement the brand identity of the channel or that allow for multi platform cross promotion and text generated revenue. Thank goodness for subscription based channels like HBO and Showtime that due to their nature are able to entertain and engage the audiences brains so they are not watching a show passively but actually learn from what they are watching.

I read recently in the New York Times that MTV is looking to commission positive social programming, and while that’s a step in the right direction the likelihood is that it won’t lead to a better quality of television. No doubt it will be handled in the same way as all their other shows, with manipulative storytelling devices, close ups of people acting totally natural, with the emphasis on acting and some sort of pseudo ethical resolution. I know that’s high on the priority list for our show.

There seems to be something really big missing from US television and that’s a heart. People speculate whether the television on the internet will be the death of television. I can only hope that having a bigger choice of programming will lead networks to realize that instead of narrowing the field of programming to regurgitated shows with minutely varying topics (sound familiar Bravo, VH1, MTV?) they can broaden out to commission challenging one off documentaries, unique and gritty series made by non seasoned (read: cynical) production people that will give people a dose of real reality without all the glitz, glam and hair pulling.

If not television has a real serious danger of disappearing up its own bleached anus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/business/media/19mtv.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=MTV&st=cse

 

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The Standby Painter - The Carnival Eternal

May 13, 2009

So sorry folks!  I missed my Monday deadline due to a night shoot followed immediately by a root canal followed immediately by twelve hours of long-overdue sleep.  But finally, here’s what I wrote and didn’t get around to uploading until today, Wednesday.

It’s close to midnight on a Sunday inside the …

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The Hollywood Career Coach - HOLLYWOOD: OFFICIALLY NOT DEAD

May 12, 2009

IT’S OFFICIAL

Hollywood, like the global economy is not dead.

Or as Mark Twain said “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

WHAT AM I BASING THIS ON?

A few things actually: and they’re subtle.

-The Actor’s non-strike seems to be limping towards an “end.”
-Hollywood Network, Studio and Agency layoffs and mergers seem to be limping towards an “end.”
-TV Studios and Networks are going boldly forward in their business of selecting and selling new shows for the fall that they hope will create hits, advertisers and major franchises (if not reinvent comedy or drama and save the world from a 20 year curse of 24/7 Reality TV.)

THE LENO THING

One thing our industry does well is adjust to crisis quickly and adapt to new opportunities.

Take the Jay Leno 5 nights at 10:00 pm thing on NBC.  Lots of freak out and then, “OK whatever, how does the new reality effect me and my career?”

Again it’s always, how do I respond? What projects, alliances or career moves make sense now?

CHESS ANYONE?

It’s like a chess game. I can survey the board, have a strategy, try to figure out what move my state ranked 7-year old opponent will make next, and then make my move.

Then my niece makes her move, and I once again must survey the new reality. Readjust my strategy. Figure out if she’s thinking out loud, deliberately setting a trap for me, or just being a 7-year old. (A state ranked chess-playing 7 year old, that is.)

THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE

On one hand: there have probably never been so many unemployed people in the entertainment business. This is probably a function of how much the industry has grown in recent years as it is about layoffs. It’s also about how the corporate ownership of media companies has changed the landscape of the entertainment business.

Not that it’s necessarily bad, but that it’s different and as always companies and the industry will expand and contract. So maybe we’re in a contraction phase now. Maybe ABC is being well served by being owned by Disney: At least they’re both entertainment companies.

I’ve read rumors about NBC being sold by GE and bought by Warner Brothers. All I know is what I read online, and have no sense of whether this will happen, or even if there’s any truth to the rumor, but on the surface, far from the loop of any of the corporate boardrooms, it makes intuitive sense to me that a major entertainment company be owned by a corporate entertainment company.

PROGRAMMING

At least their business interests are in sync with each other and available for possible synergy and at least they understand the personalities and creative process involved.
“30 Rock” makes amusing reference to this with Alec Baldwin’s “Jack Donaghy” character’s title being “President of TV and Microwave Programming.”

BUT I DIGRESS

People are out of work.

-The film box office is still strong, the TV production cycle is adjusting and ever hopeful of creating hits even if/when/finally
adjusting/decreasing budgets, rates, etc.

-The internet is still a delivery system in search of a business model.

-”Jobs” as we knew them are as they said “Nice work if you can get it.”

We’ve always been in an industry where we were often “just happy to be working” and would often put up with conditions and behaviors that would not be tolerated in other professions or industries.

WELCOME TO FREELANCE

In a way we’re all now living in a world of freelancers, entrepreneurs and wheeler-dealers, instead of just in an industry bubble of same.

So, to the rest of the world: “Welcome to Hollywood.”

Welcome to the fears and joys and uncertainties of making it up every day. Of waking up, reading the trades and figuring out which of your projects you’ll pitch to the lunch meeting you set up 3 weeks ago.

Of having a job today, but knowing it could either last another 2 years or be over when you get back from lunch.

GOT WORK?

And at the same time our survival and success will be predicated on our ability to get past our fears and outmoded assumptions and beliefs of how business works, or worked, and how we work together.
What I’m talking about is stretching ourselves even further in reaching out to other people and seeing where the alliance and synergy may be.

Maybe it’s finding a job. Maybe it’s starting a project. Maybe it’s bartering services for services and learning how to create an innovate “win-win.”

GOT SYNERGY?

Maybe it’s collaborating with someone you once viewed as a competitor.
Maybe it’s dropping your pride as a freelancer and deciding to go in-house.
Maybe it’s dropping your fear as a staff employee and going entrepreneurial.
Personally, I’m probably considering all these new perspectives myself in my professional ventures and conversations.

It’s exciting and scary and exhilarating and sometimes just plain weird. But being willing to step into new stuff has been bringing great rewards both financial and personal.

WALKING MY TALK

So in that spirit I’ve decided to embark on a new strategy myself.

For years I’ve resisted doing group coaching groups but now, at this
time in the world, in Hollywood, and in my career coach journey, it feels like a win-win for me to start something new.

So read below for what’s new starting in June.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HOLLYWOOD JOB HUNT, NETWORKING AND SUPPORT GROUP

This will be a small group (15 max) of experienced Hollywood professionals who are in some form of career transition. Maybe you’re in a job that’s ending. Maybe you’ve been laid off. Maybe you’ve always been freelance but are considering other options.

There’s a power and synergy in group meetings and support. I’ll be there as a facilitator and coach to make sure everyone gets the best out of the interactions and to design the meeting and keep it moving.

You’ll get a chance to get group support in your next career move, hear
about new opportunities, meet other Hollywood professionals, and
actually feel better about your career direction and your life.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

This is not a group for people new to the industry, first time screenwriters or film-makers or fresh off the bus “Welcome to Hollywood” folks. (I may do something for you guys next, however.)

But this group is for people who’ve been in the business a while, know
the industry landscape, have some IMDB credits, know some people and
need to network, brainstorm and swap leads in a high level room to facilitate
their next career move.

INTERVIEW REQUIRED

Entry to this group will be by telephone interview only.

WHAT YOU’LL GET

Structure, Support, Contacts,
Accountability, Information, Ideas, Leads.
Your first meeting will be complimentary to get an experience of how it works and will help you on your career path.

Online social networking community for between session support, info sharing and industry connection.

-Two 3-hour facilitated meetings per month.
-Includes exclusive wiki/online community for participants/community only.

Starting Mid-June:

Send email for more information and to receive pre-interview questionnaire.
__________
SCHMOOZE:

Please join me at my  schmooze/hang/networking event. It’s my way of connecting my clients, friends and other interested professionals working in the creative industries, and to meet up and chill out after a long week.

DATE/TIME - Monday May 18th - 7:00 - 9:00 pm.

LOCATION: The Literati Café in Brentwood.
12081 Wilshire Blvd (At Bundy) Parking available in the back. (310.231.7484)

Directions/Map here:
(http://www.literaticafe.com/directions.php)

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