The List...

O.K, so I was reading 'the trades' today...

('the trades' are various magazines that connect to show business and pop-culture that I read to help me stay 'with it' in more than simply intuitive ways...)

And happened upon the most recent copy of Esquire Magazine.  Yes, it was the lovely shot of Jessica Simpson that caught my eye.  I wanted to see the shots of her and read the kind of story Esq. was going to do.  I find her an interesting gal.  One I imagine my wife and I could be friends with...

I know.  Weird.

Anyway the article was cool, but what really got me thinking, and now blogging, was another piece in the same issue about '75 things every man must be able to do'.  I read it all the way through realizing full-well that there were a few things at work in me at the same time.  

On one level I was just interested but on a deeper level I was eager to see how I 'measured up'.  I wanted to see how many of the 75 I could check off my list.  Funny how boys (and I can't speak for girls 'cause I'm not one...) are always measuring (!) themselves against perception, against expectation and against each other.

I'll leave my 'results' to me and let you go read the article yourself if you're curious as to how you stack up but I wanted to add my own 'twist' to the idea.

So without further ado...

"16 THINGS EVERY PRODUCER OR PREACHER MUST BE ABLE TO DO"

1. You must have VISION.  That uncommon ability to see beyond the first layer of a passage of scripture to what might be.  You must be able to see the potential of a story from just a few simple pieces at first then expand out from there into the eventual small-universe that is 'making a movie'.

2. You must have PERSEVERANCE.  A producer is usually (after the writer) the first person on the show and almost always the last person on the show.  Long after everyone else has moved on to their next picture and their next and their next, the Producer is shepherding the thing through post, marketing, release and ancillaries.  You have to be built for the long-haul to truly 'produce' a picture.  A preacher must put up with years and years of study and accumulating life experience before he has something to say worth saying.  He must further put up with years and years of stupid people not listening to him, claiming to hate him or what he says, or with perpetually-needy people trying to kiss up to him for what he says and must remain humble before God and strong before people and content to be lonely.

3. You must be INSPIRED and INSPIRING.  Anyone can pull a 'to do' list from the Bible.  Anyone can connect said 'to do list' to any inane aspect of pop-culture by way of application.  But a real preacher must be inspired by the Holy Spirit to find the 'magic' in the text and to apply said 'magic' to his audience's lives in a prophetic manner.  Anybody can pick up a video camera and film their kids playing in the backyard.  That's not a movie.  A real producer must be inspired to devote ten years of his/her life to bringing a story to life for the screen and for an audience.  Real producers inspire others to pour their talents into helping make that happen. Real preachers inspire others to listen to the Holy Spirit for themselves.

4. You must be able to be CREATIVE.  Only the very good preachers can surprise even the most intelligent members of their audience.  Don't tell them what they're expecting to hear, blow their mind with something they've never thought of.  That's a real preacher.  Only real producers are creative--they know art, artists, creatives and creativity.  They recognize the genuine article when they see it.  I'm not saying that all producers are 'painters' or 'musicians' but they could sure talk to a painter about music and about how those two disciplines are going to make his movie 'pop off the screen'.

5. You must have BUSINESS SENSE.  Only real preachers understand the business of Church.  They know that if they preach well their Church will grow and they're not shy of what that means for their employees and their congregants and their community.  Only when you fully appreciate the ripple effect of what you do in that pulpit each Sunday can you begin to become a preacher worthy of it.  Real producers know that film is the most expensive type of expression. They know when to spend and when to scrimp; they understand the financial consequences of their decisions.  If you don't know the dollars you're not the producer.

6. You must have COMPASSION.  The best producers love their cast and crew and creative collaborators.  They love having lunch 'cause they love people.  In loving people they find the nexus of their calling.  We tell stories to people.  Same goes for preachers.  If they don't love people they have no business being on that platform.

7. You must be BRAVE.  Producer's have to fight.  So do preachers.  Fight for the truth, for what's right.  Fight timelines and budgets and distractions and the culture to find your way through to that deep place of transparency and truth where you're creating magical content for your audience.  'Fraidy-cat preachers (I was going to use another term but some old habits die hard...) stop telling the truth and start regurgitating other people's content.  Wussy producers back down from confrontation or cave to outside pressure.  

8. You must have CONFIDENCE.  Different from bravery this.  In fact, I should have put this first.  You must know that you're right, that you've 'heard' right, that your 'take' is the correct one.  If you aren't totally sure you're going to be in trouble.  Once you're sure then you have to have the bravery to act on it, but we've already addressed that now haven't we?

9. You must be able to be HUMBLE.  This is always thorny 'cause the first two types of people you think of when you say 'humble' aren't typically preachers or film producers.  My sense of it is that many preachers are misunderstood.  Because they have to be confident and brave many people think of them as proud or arrogant.  I think what people miss is that to truly preach  the preacher must come 'naked' before God to have the Holy Spirit breathe life into the pages of a text through the preacher's imagination, intellect, training and communication ability.  Any real sermon is born of God in the broken heart of a servant/preacher who's half-terrified God's going to kill him as he writes.  You'll know this kind of preacher because they're typically very alive in the pulpit then quiet or reserved out of it.  Arrogant producers don't seem to work too well with other people and this whole business is about working with other people so chances are the 'big shots' you think are arrogant as hell probably aren't as bad as you think, or at least they didn't used to be.

10. You must have VULNERABILITY.  This is one of the most important in my view.  Coming up with something from your heart then putting it out there for people to react to is the stock in trade for preachers and producers.  Most of the time you get rejection by way of thanks. Only those who do this for a living truly understand how hard it is to keep doing this again and again without getting bitter.  Most of them don't talk about it too much which is why most people see them as aloof and arrogant.  Probably they're just gathering themselves to get ready to put something out there for you to stomp on all over again.

11. You must be able to be HONEST.  The truth hurts.  So if your preacher isn't hurting you with what he says, then telling you the story of Jesus to comfort, encourage and inspire you, he probably isn't really preaching to you.  As a producer one of the things you always have to do is keep telling people 'it's not good enough' until it is.  It's very hard to do that 'cause people hate being told what they've done isn't good enough and they typically lash out at you and you're so tired of it that your tendency is to accept something less than 'right'.  You have to be honest about it.

12. You must have SHOWMANSHIP.  "Honesty and showmanship?  What's this guy talking about?"  Exactly that.  'Honest showmanship'.  Church is 'entertainment'. (Oh boy...I could take some heat on that) People come to Church for many of the same reasons they go to the movies. To escape. To be inspired. To forget. To remember. To learn. To explore.  To see.  To be encouraged.  Moviemaking, from the first pitch meeting to the last table read is a show.  Setting the stage for a sermon done right is a show.  You have to know how to show people a good time.  It's just part of the gig.

13. You must have EGO.  You've got to believe (preacher or producer) that what you have to say matters.  If you don't, why bother?

14. You must be able to summon a WORK ETHIC.  The hard truth (from my limited experience) is that many preacher are lazy.  They enjoy getting paid to think and write and have coffee with people.  Great preachers work like dogs to pull glory from the stone.  They bend their entire will and week to creating (under God) a 45 minute journey that's worth the trip.  If your preacher's not blowing you away week after week he's probably shoplifting the pootie.  I've never met a real producer who doesn't work like a maniac.  The industry is set up to not allow you access until you learn this lesson.

15. You must have TALENT.  Doesn't matter how hard you work, at a certain point you've got to have that 'je ne sais quois', that little bit of fairy dust that makes your work stand out.  You can't make yourself any more talented than you are so don't sweat it.  Just figure out what your particular area of 'talentedness' is and focus on it.

16. You must have ACCESS.  You're not a preacher 'till someone gives you a stage.  You're not a producer 'till you've produced something that someone paid you money to distribute to an audience.  You can't wait for someone to hand you a stage or a slot at a cineplex.  You have to figure out the things you must do to get yourself access and, until you get it, you must work on points 1-15 so that when you do, you're ready to do work worthy of your title.

T