the almighty...

It always comes down to casheesh...

No matter how good your working relationship with someone is, as soon as the money exchanged between you comes into question, it's going to switch from 'show-friends' to 'show-business' real quick.

This is tough for me.

For the most part, I have tended to enjoy the people I work with.  I've always tried to keep the working environments I have influence over as cordial and civilized as possible.  Lord knows, a Church Plant or a TV or film set are hectic enough places to begin with.  Add unnecessary acrimony or conflict into it and you're not having much fun at all.

Something that occurred to me last week was that many of the people I work with don't believe what I believe about life, God, and the universe and there's a good chance that--unlike me--they didn't grow up in Sunday School which means they never memorized the 'fruit of the Spirit' which means they don't consider 'self-control' to be a character trait that's expected in any mature person.

Intense, right?

So, I found that so freeing because--here I've been--going around getting hurt by all these people in my life who treat me unkindly or exhibit a lack of self-control in their interactions with me or who are totally self-oriented in their ethic and I'm thinking it ought to be another way.

Not for them.

See, they don't believe what I believe.  They don't live a life that's trying to be in-submission to an authority higher than their own.  And I'm not trying to say they are lousier people than I or that I've got some kind of 'leg up' on them, I'm just realizing that they march to the beat of a totally different drummer than I do and that--therefore--my expectation of their conduct is out of whack.

So...

I'm going to stop feeling hurt.  When they lash out at me I'm going to let it roll off.  I'm not going to lash back, but I'm also not going to go to extreme lengths to mollify them either.  Their reaction is their reaction.  I'm not going to judge it, I'm just going to dodge it.

Shoot somebody else friend--I'm done being your target...

I don't need to 'receive' their anger or their angst or their acrimony.  

I also don't need to expect them to behave in a way that I think is acceptable.

The net result of all this is relational distance.  I'm going to put more distance between myself and the people with whom I work and I'm going to adjust my expectations.  I'm going to lower them.  I'm going to relax with the 'friendliness' and try to treat business as business.

It'd be one thing if they and I shared an operating system but, seeing as we don't, I'm going to keep a safe distance 'cause--damn--I'm tired of taking pot shots.

This is real true also in Church Planting.  Everybody in your congregation wants to be your friend and thinks you're their friend and might treat you like a friend, until you have to speak something difficult into their life and/or call them to something like repentance.

Try your 'friendship' on for size then.

If you become friends with your congregation you'll probably lose your ability to pastor them.

If you become friends with your employees you'll probably lose your ability to demand performance of them.

I sense that some would say, "Yeah, well, they'll work harder for you and will enjoy the process more if they feel like you care..."

I'm not saying don't 'care'.  I'm not saying treat anyone with disrespect.  I'm not suggesting you treat anyone as disposable. 

I'm just saying, if you think you're friends, think again.

T

happiness is...

Listening to this right now.

Love it.

"Ta Daaah!"

Said the baby.

At four am.

That's right, every night the same.  THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.  Little footsteps. SCRITCH, SCRITCH, SCRATCH.  As something climbs into bed with us.

"Ta Daaah!" Said Zoe--our baby--arms raised to the darkened ceiling, as if to say--okay, the party can start, I'm heeeerrrreee!

Four am.

And we smiled at each other the wife and I.  Then I stroked Z's belly as Mommy got the bottle. Then Daddy shuffled off to the bottom bunk in the girls room so Z could sleep on my pillow next to Mommy.  Just like every night.

Lovely.

Seriously.

It's a beautiful thing the simple life.

And something that so many of us miss in our pursuit of pleasure and prosperity at any cost.  

I was listening to a friend online this past week and he reminded me of something Nik and I believe.  He said that many 'two-income' families are no better off--in terms of net-income after daycare, additional car, insurance, gas expenses, taxes etc.--than their single-income counterparts while the single-income families FAR outpace the doubles in terms of net-happiness.

Plus, we're not getting divorced.

Three couples we were friends with growing up are really struggling maritally right now.  I won't go into detail for their sake but suffice it to say Niki and I are deeply troubled and sad for them and spending much time in contemplation and prayer while feeling very thankful for the fact that we still feel 20 and 22 respectively.

I told her the other day that I like her much more today than when first we met.

She's my girl.

And what's really scary is that our life isn't an accident--it's a collection of experiences built one atop the other with the intention of becoming something good, and righteous and happy.

We make mistakes--many of them--surely.  But, at root, we've tried to live on-purpose and it seems--in light of our four AM happy wakeup--that we're doing alright.

No divorce pending here.

And I'm reminded, with that, to bring self-same intentionality to bear on my work.  'Cause your career (and working legacy) is a collection of experiences built one atop the other with the intention of becoming something good, and righteous and happiness-causing.

No?

T

Pizza and movie night...

So the problem with blogging on our pizza and movie night Friday's is that--seeing as we're only watching family films--for the next ten years, sometimes, the films are gonna' suck.

I mean, not all of them.  When we watch 'THE INCREDIBLES' or 'FINDING NEMO' or 'THE NEVER ENDING STORY' or 'THE GOONIES' it's gonna' be great but more often than not we're going to be subjected to films like the above.

Sigh...

I SO didn't like it.

I was ready to like it, sometimes Disney surprises with their live action kids fare, but not this time.

'BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA' was lousy.

My two boys tuned out about twenty minutes in.  The pace disappeared, the stakes were forced, the characters totally lacking in depth (I realize they were dogs, but dogs with CGI mouths spouting dialogue...) it was a mess.

My boys and I wrestled instead.

If you have girls, they might like it but not something I'd have your whole family watch.

Pizza was good though.

T

make that change...

Call me an 'artist'.

Sometimes you just gotta' treat your life--or your hair--like a canvas.

Sometimes you feel like a change is coming and you feel like that feeling needs to find expression in you personally.

So you cut your hair.

Or--if you're me--you shave it.

Let it be said that the wife doesn't love this hairstyle on me.  She's patient with me though.  She understands that sometimes I go a little crazy and that--when that happens--I tend to take radical steps.

Last time I looked like this was on the eve of directing my first feature-film.

Today, and for the past couple months, I feel like the re-shaved head is significant of a re-purposing of my life in terms of refining my focus so that it--perhaps--reverts back to a more split focus than has been my habit for the that past couple years.

To be specific.

It's my hope to start preaching (some) again.

I'm going to try and get a new site up to 'promote' (if you will) my 'services' (if you will) as a communicator from the stage.  I can do three things from the stage.  1) I can talk about making it in film and television and the specifics involved as a writer/producer/director and 2) I can talk about making it as a Church Planter--from concept through retirement and 3) I can preach.

It'll be interesting to see what might happen in this next season.

I'll keep you posted in the hope that elements of my journey might be encouraging to yours.

('cause, who knows, some *things* in your life might need some trimming...)

I'll keep producing all the things I'm producing.

Just bald.

(and preaching about it)

T

conformity...

I feel like I've uploaded this picture picture.

I'm certain that I've blogged on this before.

I know that I need to hear this again...

If I'm not careful, I'll end up doing something just because it's what I do.

We're having a bit of a rough time as our kids age with managing the expectations of some of our neighbors, and casual acquaintances.  The root of it?  We homeschool our kids and I'm self-employed.

That means that by ten AM each day my kids are outside playing and I'm sitting with my wife having our second cup of coffee.  The rest of the neighborhood is empty, the parents off to work, the kids off to school.

And we're out there whooping it up.

It seems to me that, sometimes, we push back against people or systems or things that are different from us not because the different thing, person, or system is deficient in and of itself but because the difference between that thing and us illuminates something that's missing in us.

And, Lord knows, if there's a thing we don't like it's the dark parts being illuminated.

So you get this pressure to conform, to be just like everybody else.

'Cause there's comfort in numbers and misery loves company.

That's why our kids, who are being raised to learn to do what they love not what they must, are rubbing some of the folk around us the wrong way.  And my sweet wife is feeling a bit conflicted about it--'cause at heart she likes to be liked and likes to please those around her and is duty-oriented and responsible--so I had to remind her that the whole point of our life is to raise our kids to be the opposite of conformists.  

So we drank our coffee and I gave her a pep-talk and I thought about you.  Thought I'd remind you that you live one time and that that life is best spent in-love rather than on a treadmill.

I hope it's working out for you friend.

T

resisting change...

It occurred to me today how resistant we are to change.

I was at the supermarket, buying cheese, just cheese.  So that meant I was headed for the eight items or less line.

I checked the other lines, none of them seemed to be moving any faster, and you know you've got to check for that 'cause sometimes everyone heads for the eight items or less line leaving it slower than the others.

Anyway, I joined the eight items or less and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I kept looking over at the closest 'normal' line and it looked like it was moving faster.  The other people in line with me were also looking.  You could tell we were all thinking the same thing, " 'Gee, that other line is moving faster.  Maybe I should move.  But once I move it's sure to slow down..."

So we all stayed put.

And I realized I had to write about it.

'Cause that 'waiting in line thing' is true not just at the supermarket.

We're reluctant creatures we humans.  We don't want to risk, we don't want to change, we tend to pick the path of least resistance--even with something as innocuous as buying cheese.

How much more then will that same thing be true of our audiences at Church, on TV and at the Theater?

I think the point is this...

You get one or two chances to 'hook' someone.  They're going to check out what you do and in that first or second touch you're either going to gain a fan or not.  If you do gain that fan, you'll probably keep them forever.  If not, you'll probably never see them again.

We're a loyal bunch.

That's why you'll go see a movie with an actor you like in it because that actor is like your favorite cheese.  Or watch a new series from a Producer whose work you've like before.  You trust him/her and assume they're going to be in something you'll end up liking 'cause you've liked what they've done before.

Which is why, when an actor, or a preacher or a producer disappoints us we feel that disappointment deeply.

Which is also why you and I need to be very aware of the first and second impressions we make on people.  

Which is also why we need to keep doing good work, no matter how hard it gets.

Which is why we need to think very hard about cultivating our audience--staying with them--staying in relationship with them over the long term.

'Cause once you've got 'em, you've got 'em.  They'll probably stay in line with you, even if the other ones look like they're moving a bit faster.

T

the love...

I'm on-set this weekend, a huge screen backing me, wicked graphics filling it.  I turn around between takes.

"Yo, Lawrence!  Can you grab me Karl's SLR real quick?"

L-stat (Lawrence's nickname) brings the cam, I turn 'round, widen out, snap this.

Cool right?

Another reminder to keep your eyes open--you never the coolness that's all around you 'till you start looking.

On that...

I was made aware, again, this past weekend of the process involved in making it in this business (film and TV) or any entrepreneurial endeavor.  Here's what hit me.

You need to love EVERYTHING you do because it's only things that reek of love that will get noticed, and...

Most of the things you try to do won't work no matter how much you love them.

In order to truly LOVE something you must fully open yourself up to it, give yourself to it, making yourself vulnerable in the process.

Like a relationship.  You can't have love without risk.

So, if to make love you must be vulnerable and if most of the things you make--despite the love dripping from them which is the thing that gets you 'in' the door--will ultimately be rejected for no particular reason that means--if you're looking to live a life less-ordinary, a life that makes an impact--that you are setting yourself up for a life of pain.

How you like that?

Nice right?

But I just can't see a way around it.  

I was reminded of this commercial featuring the man MJ.

Failure.

It hit me that I need to remember to embrace failure.  We tend to avoid anything that's likely to fail but it seems to me--the longer I do this show-biz thing--that it's THROUGH the failures that the open doors come.

You keep at it, keep loving, keep giving, keep staying enthusiastic, keep getting hurt and keep getting back up and--slowly, slowly--things start happening.

Like today.

A call out of the blue looking to have me produce/direct a documentary on the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.  Looks like I'll be flying to Vancouver April 7th to meet with representatives of the Chinese government.  Looks like they'll pay for everything--I just have to pay for post. We're calling Networks as I write this.

Heavy right?  Yesterday I had no idea this was coming today.

But yesterday I was deciding to keep working the love, and today I'm keeping at it working on things that I LOVE that are likely to fail.

But not everything fails.

See?

T

this weekend...

The logo for the special I shot this weekend.  Courtesy of Creative Director Chris Jones and his team.

Real quick weekend. 

Flew out Saturday morning.  That was cool.  Flew on the new 777 and was really impressed.  I don't remember ever really being comfortable on a plane--except for the couple of times I've flown business class.  This beast was comfortable everywhere.  The bathrooms have faux mosaic floors and enough space to stand up straight and then some.  The overhead bins have more space than you'd ever use (try that on for size) and the ceilings, accented with violet decorative lighting and so high you feel the opposite of claustrophobic.  

Arrived in Vancouver to the first sunny day in almost two weeks.  Got to my hotel and went walking.  Stumbled across HMCS Regina (a really cool Canadian Navy Frigate) and sat staring at her for an hour or so.  Went to see 'Knowing'.

Next day, up and out for breakfast by 6:45am local.  Sat by the sea for two hours, like an old man.  Studied, prepped my questions, hit the studio and shot for four hours.  The shoot went well.  Walked home (home?) walked back to the theater and saw 'Watchmen'.

Up at four AM today, in the air by 6:00am local.  Home by 2:30pm EST.

THRILLED to see my wife and kids.

Here's what hit me on the weekend...

1) The only thing people talk about on the street is relationships or work.  Seriously, listen in on them as you walk.  Relationships and their work.  Why do I mention this?  Because if you're a communicator you want to connect and to connect you have to know what your audience is thinking about.

Relationships and money.

That's what they're thinking about.  Just so you know.

2) Life is all about undulations.  You're up and you're down and you're up and you're down.  But if you look closely you'll see that--through the ups and downs--you've made some headway.  I left the studio Sunday feeling very nonchalant about what we'd just done.  No big deal.  Another day, another nationally televised one-hour special.

See it?

Since when did I get nonchalant about producing and hosting a one-hour special that will be televised in prime time across the entire country?

I would have KILLED for that opportunity when I was 24.

It really hit me that life--despite the fact that most days I still feel 22--is progressing.  I am--despite the ups and downs of my net worth--making headway and am further along today then when I started.

Another example.

I got an email on the weekend that's a significant step forward on 'DEATH'S DOOR' the dramatic TV series we've been developing that I mentioned here a couple months back. If you remember those posts (or check 'em out) I had pitched the series to a big local network and it didn't seem to go well.

I was feeling a little down.

Anyway, as of this weekend, we're signing a co-development deal with a production company in NYC.  Said prodco has a dramatic series currently airing on ABC.  They're in the real stream.  

So, how do I feel?

Nonchalant.

And why's that?

Well, for one I know that it 'aint NEVER over 'till it's over.  Once we finish episode 78 and get the first syndication strip contract signed and I cash my cheque and take my wife and friends out for dinner with it, THEN I'll take a deep breath and enjoy it.

That'll be ten years from today.

Until then, I'm just determined to get to work.

Thankful for every opportunity certainly, but very chilled out about it.

Tomorrow I'll hit you up about the necessity of loving every pitch while knowing that most of the things you love will die.

For now--it's red wine and my wife.

T

pizza and movie night...(kinda)

So what we really watched last night for 'Pizza and Movie Night' was (you guessed it) HSM3 and I'll be knackered if I do ANOTHER review on that one--no matter how much I cried first time I saw it...

This morning I flew to Vancouver.  Great flight on the new 777 beastie.  Huge, very comfortable plane.  Actually a good experience which has not been the 'norm' for me where Air Canada (cue evil emperor music from Star Wars...) is concerned.

I'm here to shoot a TV special tomorrow.  

Anyway, as I'm wont to do when I hit the ground in Vancouver I went to see a movie.

"KNOWING" starring Nicholas Cage.

I really don't want to spoil it for you so I won't really say anything particular about it except to say...

1) It does thrill.

2) It takes an interesting turn (genre-wise) about halfway through.

3) The set-pieces were spectacularly executed with a kind of grit and realism you usually don't see in this kind if big, genre-flick--really impressive.

What you'll see, if you see it, is that it flirts with some pretty iconic imagery near the end and the problem with iconic imagery is that it comes loaded.  Loaded with meaning.  Loaded with connotation. 

Loaded with possibility.

And the problem with possibility is that it's possible.  It's possible you'll do something great with it but it's also possible that you'll screw it up--cheese it up--go on the nose with it.

It's such a fine line.

And I find that's the case with storytelling from pulpit or screen or at work for the sake of building a vision.

Case in point...

Say you have a dream.  It's a real dream.  It's a good dream.  You want to inspire your staff with it.  You can't stand up in the boardroom and say, "I have a dream..."

Why?

Because the second you use those iconic words it conjures up images of the Lincoln memorial and MLK Jr. and thousands upon thousands of people responding to a speech delivered with passion, intensity and a weight of life-experience that's way above your pay-grade.

Which means your people--even if it's unconsciously--will tune you out.  They'll assume you're blowing smoke and will write you off.  You'll have lost your chance to move them for no other reason than you casually used an iconic phrase.

But say you're sitting with your sweetheart, by a river at sunset.  You take her hand and--without looking at her--say, "I have a dream..."  Real soft and gentle like.  She'll probably say, "A dream of what?" And you'll say, "A dream of playing with our babies in that water someday..."

You say that, you got her.

Same thing with movies, same thing with sermons.

You have to choose your imagery (whether spoken, or scripted or shown) very carefully.  If you hit it right you stand the chance of blowing your audience away and really making an impact on them.

Still not sure if 'KNOWING' hit it exactly right.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the film, it was totally worth the time and money but...

Gonna' have to sit on it a bit.

Check it out, maybe drop me a line, and lemme' know what you think.

T

the 14-year test...

It's amazing to me how similar the two parts of my professional life have been.

Making movies (or TV shows) and Planting Churches.

I spent a couple hours today talking about the Church Planting side.  My 'coffee date' (I had Perrier) is in-charge of Church Planting for a National Denomination.  He's been tasked with creating a Church Planting movement for his Denom.

He wanted to pick my brain.

It's like he's an executive at a Studio tasked with putting together a slate of pictures for the next six years.  Six pictures in six years.

Nearly impossible.

Even one movie every two years (and six to twelve per year for a full-fledged studio) is breakneck pace for your average filmmaker.  It's not uncommon for it to take two to five years to get a movie set up, then two years from the start of preproduction to release, then another seven years of working it through its likely earning cycle.

5+2+7=14

14 years.

It occurred to me after the meeting that I should blog this in case he sees it.

If it takes between 10-14 years to give life to a movie, is it wrong of us to think of planting a Church over a similar timeframe?

If you're a Church Planter or someone meeting with (or screening) Church Planters you should think on that number.  Are you (they) willing to commit 10-14 years of YOUR LIFE to bringing that Church to life?

How about your movie? 

Your business-idea?

Framed that way, any kind of entrepreneurial endeavor takes on some seriously added gravitas no?  Is the idea that's been keeping you up nights big enough to keep you getting up and out of bed every day for more than a decade?

Can your passion withstand the 14-year test?

You better be sure before you start 'cause that's probably what it's going to take.  

Lemme' tell you, I'm going to be holding my dreams up to that lens with exacting focus.

Given my age, I've got three cycles of 14 left before I'm too old to go at that kind of pace anymore.

Sobering AND encouraging 'cause if ever you were looking for a reason to START TODAY, well friend I do believe I done just went and gave it to you.

BOOM!

T

oh yeah...

Yes, yes, y'all.  That's what happened right there.

Last night.

Oh the exhaling that's happening around here.  Whooosssaaahhh....

The thing is, you just want a chance to keep getting chances.  This one contract we were waiting on was to be the foundation of what--we hope--will be four or five more this year.

It's the old 'prime the pump' thing.

You need work to keep working.  It's easier to get a job when you have a job.  You can't create unless you're creating.

Whatever.  Pick your phrase.

The truth of it--it seems to me--is that you need to be doing what you hope to be doing.

(that's why we were so keenly anticipating last nights signage, it was the link we needed to get back to work for the next 18 months or so)

Meaning, if you want to be Pastor of your own Church you should probably plant a Church sooner rather than later.  I can't even begin to count the number of guys I've met in my career who've said to me, "Yeah man, I want to plant a Church...eventually."  

Eventually?

(the second you hear that 'e' word you know they're a poseur...)

There are some things in life that you just need to do.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of venturing off on my own at some point..."

"Yeah, we'll have kids, at some point..."

"Well, at some point I'm going to get down to writing that script..."

"I'll direct my movie, eventually..."

At some point?

How about today?  How 'bout you get started?  How 'bout you get busy livin'?  Yes (believe me) I understand that sometimes there are things (like contracts waiting to be signed) beyond your control that you need to wait on before really getting up and at 'em but may I remind you to be very careful with your waiting.  It seems to me it's a fine line between 'productive waiting' and procrastinating.

Hey, that rhymes.  Serves you right for blogging while listening to Funkmaster Flex.

D'you know what I'm saying?

Some say you should give yourself ten years of focused dream-pursuing and, after that decade, if things haven't begun opening up for you, you should adjust.

Thing is, with Church Planting, business building or movie making the focus and commitment needed almost necessitates a burning of your bridges.  It's almost a sure thing that after those ten years you'll be entirely ineligible for a high-paying job a RIM.

So...

1) Focus like a mofo.  Make that magic.  Pay that piper.  Leverage ALL your skills.  Make it happen like it matters.

2) Live cheap.  Don't buy fancy clothes or fancy foods.  Keep your luxuries in-check.  Let your furniture get old.  The more financially flexible you are the more likely it'll be that you can retain the freedom necessary to make the moves you must make to make it.  And if the ten years pass and you have to adjust, you'll have some savings to give yourself time to retrain--and take RIM by storm...

3) Be sure that the thing you must do is THE thing you must do.  You don't want to waste a life in the pursuit of a dream but you don't want to waste a dream just because life-happened.

You know?

You KNOW?

Hit it.

T

waiting...

That's how I feel today.

Staring off into the distance, waiting for my ship to come in.

I realize the shot's taken on queen street in Toronto and that they're waiting for the streetcar but cut me some slack here people.  I love how the distance is blown out (I pushed the exposure to get the effect I wanted), how they're staring into the light waiting for hope, warmth, transport.

Today we'll either get a 'yes' or a 'no' on a contract we've been working on securing since the spring of 2008.  At this point in the game, my wife and I are back at the edge of a cliff.  Yes, I know, I've been here before.  I'm a little baffled to find myself back here and I will confess to doing some introspection re: how much of this recurring theme is connected to me and my various character or work-ethic flaws and how much of it is, well for lack of a better term...

Kismet.

As I look back on the history of my family, we're prone to this kind of living.  On the edge type stuff.  Money is never plentiful but life is always full type living.  Trust as the bedrock type existence.

I don't feel tired.

Last time I was here (scroll back in the blog to fall leading into Christmas 2007) I most definitely was.  We were well past breaking point then.  Today, as I was buying groceries I caught myself wondering why I didn't feel as badly this time around.

I mean, the particularities of our situation are similar.  Money running out, pressure mounting, no 'actual' prospects in sight.

But here's the key difference.

Last year was year-two of my transition from 'full-time preacher sometime producer' to 'full-time producer sometime preacher'.  Last year was the apex of two years of suffering and working very hard to re-discover and re-define who I was professionally and personally.  Last year, true, we had no 'actual' prospects in sight but we didn't have any real 'potential' prospects brewing either.

This year is totally different.

As I speak (or write)...

-My first feature film is being watched by two major U.S distribution companies who are very close to picking us up.

-A co-development deal is supposedly passing 'legal' at a production company office in NYC before being sent my way so that we (myself, my business partner and said NYC-based prodco who have a major series currently airing on U.S Network television...) can start developing it together for pitching to U.S cable.

-A contract should have been signed last night (that we're awaiting news on today) that will lock 104 new bio-documentary episodes of a very exciting TV series we've developed that should start airing in prime time on Canadian network television this September.

-A spin-off talk-television series based on the above bio-doc series is already in the works.

-A new kids show pitch I wrote last week is in to a major kids broadcaster.

-A 'reality tv' series for 'dudes' will be in to a specialty cable network as soon as march break is over and the VP gets back.  His assistant already has it.

-A major U.S star and his mgmt are reading a script I co-wrote with a writer friend from Austin and the cable network said star has done much of his recent work with is reading it too.

-A re-write on a super-cool sci-fi thriller script I've developed with a writer out of L.A (that he subsequently wrote for us on assignment) should be crossing my desk any day after which it'll go out for graphic novel consideration and to my film reps in L.A to see about setting up.

-And I got an idea this week for a way to (I think) preach on a recurring basis, in my home town (starting out once a month) without planting a Church...

So you see...one year, similar circumstances and pressures, totally different realities.

This is a reminder to me, and to you, that life doesn't ever get easy.  

No matter where you're at or how far you've come or how far you have yet to go, life's never going to take the pressure off. My sense is that, even if the financial stresses weren't quite a bleak as they currently are, I'd feel just as stressed because the stakes were higher, or what I stood to lose that much greater.

I walked out of the grocery store thankful to be alive, thankful to be able to buy today's 'daily bread' and reminded of the fact that...

Without a vision, the people perish.

The difference between last year and this is that this year, I look into the distance and I can see the shape(s) of things to come hiding in the light.

T

feelin' the fear...

Tough moment today.

First my business partner calls me, then my wife.  Both of 'em worried 'cause I'm about to go in and interview a man who's considered one of Canada's most liberal theologians.  His book, pictured above, is a full-frontal assault on the faith my family (on both sides) has spent generations proclaiming.  In fact, in the course of the interview, he took a moment to rake the South American Evangelical revival over the coals blaming the Western 'literalist missionaries' for wreaking havoc there that will take centuries to undo.

My grandfather (mother's father) was that missionary.  

Literally, three of the four main Argentine Evangelists working today (and for the past thirty years) Juan Carlos Ortiz, Luis Palao and Ed Silvoso were mentored by E. Howard Kerr, my beloved, brilliant, poetic, prophetic sage of a Grandfather.

It was so crazy, I almost coughed up a lung right there.

Didn't rake him over the coals though.  Didn't tell him about the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been changed--radically--by the teaching of those three, teaching they learned at the feet of my grandpa.

Back to the start of the interview.

I almost freaked out.  I had been reading Tom's book and the weight of it, the oppressive power of it--he's a strong mind to be sure--was really weighing on me.  Add to that the strong insecurity that's been going on in my life this week career-wise (we're waiting on a signed contract that will secure the next year and half of our life and are right up against the end of our reserve income...once again) and I told Niki that I felt like this moment was either the beginning of a whole new thing for me or the end.

I know it sounds melodramatic but it was serious moment.

Anyway, I went in, did the interview (25 minutes that felt like 6 which is the surest gauge there is that your interview is rockin'...) and he didn't eat me alive.  He wasn't so brilliant that I had nothing to say.  I was able to keep pace, able to ask questions to take it where I'd hoped to go, able to get him to open up, able to make him laugh and pause and hesitate.  

It was good.

I was relieved.

Goes to show you that, even when you're quite terrified of a thing, if you can find a way to man up and see it through, more often than not you'll find yourself doing a good thing, surviving and making something of your life and work.

Scary though in the process.

It'll be very interesting to see what kind of reaction the special gets when we air it Easter Sunday.

T

finding the central truth of it all...

True story.

We lost Jesus this Christmas.

Well, not "Jesus" Jesus, but 'Baby Jesus' from our Nativity scene.  This happens all the time in our house.  We have four small kids (all of 'em under nine) and our two year old is a menace. She--like Stich from Disney's "Lilo and Stich"--destroys everything she touches.  Seriously, I have to search for the TV remote every single night.

It's crazy like that.

(just found Him today--a little moldy--but still Jesus...)

So, I wasn't really surprised when Niki reported to me that Baby Jesus had gone awol.  It was right in the middle of the Christmas season and so we lived out the rest of the holiday with an empty manger.

Like the rest of society.

All these people rushing around with empty mangers in their heart.

Lest you think I'm getting religious on you...

Imagine Jesus as the central truth of the story you're looking to render for the screen.  Imagine he's the theme--the crux (sorry) of it all.  Imagine your story without that central truth.  Would you still have a story?

What if Harry and Sally just fell in love at first sight?  What if there were no Dinosaurs at Jurrassic Park?  What if the Godfather decided he needed to repent and go straight?  What if E.T had come to stay?

Every story has a central truth to it without which you have no story worth telling.

I'm preparing to interview Tom Harpur, author of 'The Pagan Christ' tomorrow.  I've been reading his book and the thesis of it is that Jesus Christ as we Christians have come to know Him is not a historical person, God-Incarnate, but rather a synthesis of ancient pagan 'Christos' myths.

Needless to say it's been tiresome reading.

I'm going to ask him why he still calls himself a Christian if he's divorced himself from an actual Christ.

Me personally, I figure if it's just a myth I'm wasting my time.

Same thing with your stories.  If there's no deep truth to it you might just be assembling a bunch of pretty pictures with no meaning.

Seems to me, the whole point of storytelling is to take your audience away.  Seems to me the whole goal of it is soul-transport.

And to take people away--to lift them up--you have to believe something and believe it strong.

No room for the nebulous for we dream-weavers.

Tension, yes.  Uncertain hope by times, sure.  Insecurity, yup.  But a total lack of a story foundation?  No theme?  No truth?  No drive?  No stakes?  Nothing to gain, nothing to lose?

No Jesus?

That would be one sucky Christmas.  

That would be 'Max Payne'.

And that would be some sucky preaching.  A Church we tried on for size for nearly a year didn't mention our lost baby Jesus once.  

Is your story sucking?  Is the vision you're casting for your workplace vacuous?

Is your truth getting moldy?

Don't let it happen.

Go find that baby.

T

Pizza and movie night...

"Space Jam" starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes was our film last night.

Again, and as is usually the case, this is a film we've seen before.  You'll hear them tell you that when kids find something they like they tend to keep coming back to it again and again.  It's especially true of my kids and their movies.

My son calls this movie 'a classic...'  He was genuinely thrilled to bring it home.  

The story is simple.  The Looney Tunes are to be kidnapped by aliens and enslaved at an extra-terrestrial theme park (maybe it's not so simple...) and somehow Michael Jordan gets embroiled in it.  The evil aliens decide to challenge the Looney Tunes to a 'game' to see whether they're to be enslaved or not and they decide on basketball.  The evil aliens steal the 'skills' of a set of NBA stars and the Tunes get trained by MJ.

The rest unfolds pretty much as you'd expect.

The thrill of it is in seeing your beloved Looney Tunes in a story world that's very different from where we see them on Saturday mornings.

Two things strike me about it.

The CG stands up these years later and my kids--including my two year old--stay hooked to it all the way through.

If you or your kids love basketball you'll love this film.  If you're not a huge sports family your kids will still love this film if for no other reason than they get to spend a couple hours with Bugs and Co.

T

you're just like me...

First, I gotta' say, I'm shooting EVERYTHING long lens on my next film.

Secondly, I gotta' say...

You.  Are just.  Like me.

Here's why.

I said to Niki last week, "You know the liquor store looks no less busy than it did at the height of the boom.  The only thing I'm doing is buying cheaper wine."  

"Baron Philippe De Rothschild" to be precise.

That's the wine you're looking at up there, shot just now, on a sunny early March day in my backyard.

It's good wine.  Simple, not fussy, and $19.95 for 1.5L.

Now, look at it this way.  When was the last time you bought a sub-$10 bottle of wine?  If you're me, the answer is 'never'.  I assume $9 wine is gonna' suck.  But, since things have turned a little more stressed financially--for me and perhaps for many of you as our economy convulses some-I've had no problem paying the equivalent of $9.975/750ml.

It's good wine.

And what is it--exactly--that we want from wine?

We want to sip it as we sit with someone we love.  Then we want it to make our legs warm and our heads/hearts light(er).  Then we want it to make the someone we love take their clothes off.

[hopefully your kids aren't reading this... :) ]

Am I right or am I right?

So two points from this post.

1) It's the simple things in life that fulfill.  Wine makes light the heart of man.  God made it that way.  Jesus himself was known to pour it on even after the party had gotten a little out of hand. If you don't agree, you've never been to a Jewish wedding lemme' tell you.  Remember to enjoy those lighter, happier, simpler, friendlier moments especially when you're stressed.  If you can do it with friends, even better.

2) The day after I said to Nik what I said re: my wine purchasing habits I heard a report on the news that said that beer and wine purchases are up in the recession and that that's a pattern from previous recessions.  They went on to say that people don't stop buying wine.  They keep buying--and typically buy a bit more--but they migrate to cheaper brands.

Just like me and you.

And that blew my mind 'cause it reminded me that we need to trust our instincts.

Too often as preachers/storytellers/business leaders/parents/lovers we second guess our instincts.  We feel like 'this' is the right thing to do and the right way to do it but we get insecure.  We wonder if our tastes are truly universal.  We wonder if what we're worried about others are worried about.  We stop ourselves from speaking up 'cause we're afraid of being ostracized.  

When all the while everyone around you is doing the same thing as you.

So, write that story, preach that sermon, take your company in that direction, raise those kids, seduce that wife.

You know in your heart what's right.

Trust yourself.

And do it.

T

ps: stay tuned for my 'pizza and movie night' post coming tomorrow morning...

boardrooms...

As we speak my immediate future--and that of my wife and four babies--is being decided in a room very much like the one pictured above.  In fact the similarities are eerie.  

This is one of the difficult things with working to be in the motion-picture arts while maintaining some sense of autonomy or creative freedom.  No matter how 'independent' you think you are, you're always going to have some kind of boardroom looming over you.

Of course, if you work on the 'inside' you lose your independence but because you're part of the 'family'--regardless of how dysfunctional--your future tends to be closely tied to the future of the firm.  This, of course, is why many large corporations are less effective or productive than they might otherwise be because the people on the inside have to focus on staying 'in favor' and in the 'good books' of those who sit around the aforementioned tables.

So instead of just focusing on doing their job well they have to focus (as well) on staying tuned into and in harmony with the various 'family dynamics' that are realities at their particular corporation.

So I, as and indie-producer, have much of what my life and work looks like governed by the decisions at said table and the same is true of those who are less independent, or more 'owned'.

The upside for me?  A little more autonomy and a bit more of a ruthless ethic when it comes to whether or not I get to keep working.  So long as I 'perform' and 'deliver' I should be able to stay in the good graces of the corporations with which I have a working relationship.  It really comes down (75% or so) to my performance.  The downside?  Well, since I'm not 'family' I will not be treated as such which means that there's a chance for me to be dealt with a little callously or unfairly.  That's the price of independence.

The upside for them?  They have a team of many to work with and many times the resources of your typical indie producer.  Vast resources that can turn their ideas into reality MUCH quicker than would happen if you were working outside the system.  The downside?  Well, they have more committees and focus groups and working lunches than you can imagine.  They spend a lot of time talking with their team, building consensus, leveraging interests and making sure their neck isn't stuck out too far.  It's just a different kind of game.

Seems to me that it's not so much which way is 'better'--though if 'output' is your measurement those working within the system are much more successful than those working without--but rather which way most closely suits the way you are wired and want to work.  Some people work better in a corporate structure and some work better alone.

The thing is, the resources and leverage of the corporation will always, at some point, be needed by the independent and the ingenuity and quick turnaround time and focused work ethic of the independent will often been needed by the corporation.

Which leads to days like today where an independent sits on pins and needles while, at the corporation, a meeting takes place around a table.

It's a crazy, crazy world.

T

new life...

A flower from last year, still hanging on in my backyard.

Teaching me a lesson.

Even when things look dead, there's still beauty to be found if you focus in close enough.  Also, the light is what makes the difference.  I'm reminded to watch for the light--a city on a hill which cannot be hidden--in the midst of my life 'cause it will bring life to the dark places.

Even though sometimes things die, spring always follows winter and new life rises up anew. No matter how bleak things look for you or for me as we pursue the things we feel called to, we do well to remember spring.  Anticipate that new life, look for it, make plans on it.  It'll be here before you know it and there's no point getting caught unawares.

You have to take time in your day to just sit and watch your kids play and--if you're a preacher or a storyteller, make sure you have a notepad nearby so you can jot down the ideas that will start coming.  If you're a filmmaker, have your camera nearby so that when you notice the light getting nice you can start shooting.

Remember with your characters to write that life, death, new life arc into their troubles, trials, tribulations, victories and joys.

Remember with your sermons to preach the full scope of the Gospel message.  Too often we gloss over the darkness, de-emphasize struggle or pain, or the costs of sin and evil when the great beauty of that greatest of stories is the glory that is to be found through struggle.  The point must always be made that through death came life.

The challenge for us, as pilgrims and storytellers is to hang on--like my flower--and wait for the light, wait for the warmth, wait for the sun...

For spring to come.

T

A little politics...

This is an open letter to my MP, Mike Wallace of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.  

Dear Mr. Wallace,

I hope this note finds you well.  Thank you for the good work you're doing on our behalf.

I'm writing today to express my strong opposition to our tax dollars being used to bail out General Motors or any other automaker that's not cutting it in today's economy.

I don't know if you heard the reports on the news yesterday estimating the total hourly value of a GM worker's wage package--including benefits--at $78 per hour.

Seventy.  Eight.  Dollars.  Per.  Hour.

That's $162,240 to bolt rivets onto pieces of sheet metal.

I cannot emphasize how absurd that number is.

The auto industry and it's workers seem to have sadly fallen into a culture of entitlement and are living as if we're still in the post war boom years.  Even at $58 per hour I would oppose our tax dollars being used to bail the auto sector out.

For too long the auto companies have been making products no-one wants.  Any kind of government incentive to keep those companies going is a waste of our tax dollars.

I understand that some would state how vital the auto sector is to our economy but I would remind them that the sector has failed.  Regardless of how important it used to be, it is clearly no longer viable and has been on a downward spiral for at least 15 years.  Propping up a non-viable sector is hiding our head in the sand, throwing good money after bad, and refusing to acknowledge the patently clear; it's time for a new industry (or industries) to rise up and form the backbone of our economy.

We need to invest our tax dollars in developing new technologies and industries to see ourselves, our children and their children into the future.  Continuing to prop up a dinosaur of an industry that pays its workers ABSURD wages for the kind of work they do is mismanagement of the public trust and funds of the grossest kind.

As a self-employed entrepreneur, when tough times come, no-one is lining up to bail me out. Routinely over the past ten years my wife (and four kids) and I have had to do without, cutting costs, reducing expenses, and living a very lean existence in order to continue building our life. The thought of my tax dollars, earned with such difficulty, going to support some auto worker who thinks he/she is entitled to a $162,240 a year job for playing with nuts and bolts is infuriating beyond belief.

It's time for GM and the other auto companies to wake up.

1) Supply has outpaced demand.  No-one needs a new car every two years.  The auto companies must stop using planned obsolescence as part of their product development strategy and start making 'green' cars that last a lifetime.

2) Oil is non-sustainable long-term so we--as a so-called "progressive nation"--must move now to begin adjusting by investing in public transit and in our cities, stopping suburban sprawl, and focusing on local initiatives from farming, to resource development, to healthcare etc.  The auto companies should be making fewer cars, bottom line.  Our public funds need to go everywhere BUT to the auto sector.

3) The old-timer 'union model' is an obsolete approach from two generations past.  Government needs to stand up to the unions and call their bluff.  I cannot express how angry I am at the prospect of our tax dollars being held hostage by a bunch of throwback bullies.

I believe that in unprecedented hardship lurks hope as yet unseen.  I believe that our country can survive this season and emerge stronger.  I believe in ingenuity and hard work.  I reject in the strongest terms giving handouts to people working for an industry that's become fat, lazy, non-productive, non-environmentally aware and possessed of an attitude of entitlement.

No-one should be entitled to $162,240 a year.

And we tax paying Canadians certainly don't deserve to be footing that bill.

I sincerely hope you take this very seriously and bring  this to the attention of the powers that be in Ottawa, urging them to do what's right, and visionary, and responsible despite the short-term stress and difficulty that may ensue.  Now is not the time for looking back to the way things were.

Now is the time for looking, and moving towards, the future with hope, passion and courage.

Sincerely,

Todd Andrew Cantelon

Just finished...

So, for the last part of the day they moved us into the 'big room'.  If you have kids, you'll have seen the Veggie Tales Movie called "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything".  Well that film was mixed in this same exact room.

The reason it's called 'big' is because it has the 'big' projector (a Christie) and big--THX certified--sound.  You experience the film as it will sound in a proper movie theater.

Pretty cool experience.

And my little film still feels like it's going to do what we'd hoped.

We hope.

T

And...

They just brought me some berries.

Pretty nice of them.  They asked me if I wanted something to drink and they came back with water, ice, and berries.

As I've said before, there are some moments--very few and far between--that are nice moments. A very once in a while experience that feels 'Hollywood'.

Today is one of those.

I'm in a suit, eating berries, watching my movie get tweaked.

In an hour or so I'll post again to show you the 'big' room where we'll do the actual real-time layback with a proper projector, screen, and THX-certified sound.

My reminder to myself (and perchance to you...) is to be oh so deeply thankful for those small moments of mercy.

T

In process...

That's the projector.  The 'crappy one'.  We're in the 'low rent' theater today.  Notice the baffling on the ceiling?
The patch bay in-studio.  This is nothing compared to the one on the other side of the wall where the 'brains' for the whole system live.  These are just so we can hear what's going on to make sure it's matching properly.

The mixing station.  Where audio and picture meet.

The back of the room has these panels to diffuse and re-direct the sound.  

And the full-view.  I sit at the second desk, the op at the front.  That's the first bit of reel two running up there.

Movie-making, in the process...

T

behind the scenes...

So, first-off, oh man but did we ever tie one on for my birthday.

Love my friends.  Love my wife.

Secondly, seems like my sense of impending 'Our World's in trouble and I've got to do something about it...' is being shared by one of my bosom-friends.

That sense of urgency--the drive to put the truth and some positivity and some hope back into the World--will drive what I do today.

And here's what I'm doing.

Going downtown to re-stripe the 5.1 audio to the continuous reel master of my first feature-film.  I'll take some shots of the five-hour process and upload 'em here for you later tonight.

The reason we're doing this (essentially getting the final audio laid back over the final picture) is that our domestic (and international) distribution deal on THE STORM is just about done. We have to send a final screener off to get the deal locked.

Fun stuff.

A lesson to me in this is that of perseverance.  We shot the film Feb/Mar 2006 finished it March 2007 it's now two years later and we're just now locking distribution.  I'm sure there's many a person out there who was involved with the picture that thinks it died the death of most small indie-films.  Truth is, we've been quietly, simply, and slowly (because we don't have the funds to do it fast...) working and working and working towards getting the film to an audience.  We're almost there.

The day the deal gets signed and the day the thing finally releases is going to be a great one for me--and for those who worked with us on it.  The new wrinkle is that one of the distributors is seriously thinking about going limited theatrical with it.

We never expected that, but it'd be awesome if it ended up going that way.  As usual, still no guarantees but things are looking hopeful.

So, if you've been at it a long time, keep at it and keep believing.

The light of day will be seen friend.

T

35 and counting...

So, I turn 35 today.

Pretty interesting stuff.

I thought I'd take a minute to try and write down some of the things I've done in the past 35 years. Obviously I'll miss a bunch of things and the things I'll recall will probably be self-serving to some degree.  I'm really doing this for me but I'm also mindful of the fact that a big point of this blog is to--hopefully--inspire some self-reflection on your part.

I try to evaluate and re-evaluate my life a couple times a day, never mind once every 35 years.

So here goes, stream of consciousness-like...

Born, March 7th, 1974.  Sudbury, Ontario Canada.

1-6 in Newmarket, Ontario Canada.  I remember the backyard--a farmer's field--and endless exploration.  I remember school and my Dad driving me there on his motorcycle and feeling like the coolest kid in the World.  I remember our next door neighbors the Stahli's.  I remember lego in the basement with my brother on weekends and flinstones on TV during lunch.  I remember Monday Night Football with my Dad.  I remember the hard wood pews at my Dad's Church and listening to him preach and thinking he was cool.

7-14 in Jerusalem, Israel.  I remember a new school a new language and new friends.  I remember fitting in within three months.  I remember walking to school down little alleyway-like streets and picking pomegranates off roadside trees on the way home.  I remember school choir and singing for heads of state one 'Yom Ha'Shoah'.  I remember school trips and swimming in the ocean and the Jordan river and the Sea of Galilee.  I remember my teachers and my schools.  I remember many adventures with my brother and Ariel and Richard.  I remember doing sound and seeing my Dad 'transfigured' and realizing in that moment what I needed to do with my life.  I remember seeing 'The Goonies' for the first time and realizing that, in addition to preaching, I needed to make movies.  I remember topless babes on European beaches.  I remember snorkeling in Eilat and flying to South Africa and being so sad that I had to leave Israel to go back to Canada.

14-21 in Mississauga, Ontario Canada.  I remember high school.  I remember loving football and drama and english and girls.  I remember the surprise I felt at starting to become 'popular'.  I remember my 'first love'.  I remember failing my driver's license then finally getting it.  I remember hanging with Jer and Ty and Craig and Marty and Pete and Cole and Jess and Steve and Sam and Kev and Stanley.  I remember my English teacher changing my life.  I remember singing in Choir and acting on stage.  I remember getting my first motorcycle and Pioneer Camp.  I remember starting to preach and starting to do TV.  I remember noticing that people responded to me.  I remember life guarding for hours upon hours upon hours.  I remember dinner around the harvest table that now sits in my house.  I remember our first pool and feeling like my family had finally crawled up out of missionary poverty.  I remember my grandpa dying. I remember starting to do what I do today and being scared shitless and doing it anyway.  I remember heartbreak and then--wonder of wonders--meeting a girl who redefined what 'first love' meant.  

22-34 in Hamilton, Burlington, Vancouver, Burlington, Ontario Canada.  I remember getting married.  I remember Gord and Michelle.  I remember our first youth Church succeeding then another then our planting our first Church.  I'll never forget how hard it was to get that thing off the ground.  I remember my first TV series getting canceled.  I remember deciding to do my own.  I remember that first show and feeling like a million bucks.  I remember pitching to CTV and Global and CH and getting 'no' and 'no' and 'no' from everybody.  I remember CTV stealing my concept and the bitterness at seeing them do my idea better than I ever could 'cause they had more money than money.  I remember near bankruptcy and collection agencies calling 18 times a day.  I remember my wife and I hanging on by the skin of our teeth.  I remember renting our first house so we wouldn't lose it and finding out we were unexpectedly pregnant the day my second TV series died it's last death.  I remember moving into my Grandmother's cottage and feeling like a failure.  I remember almost getting a job stocking shelves and a call out of the blue that saved our bacon.  I remember BC for six months and living in Mom and Dad's condo while Dad slowly descended into the deepest depression of his life.  I remember Hugo.  I remember Aaron and Katie and becoming fast friends.  I remember Whistler in summer and Granville Island and hours of staring at boats.  I remember Taber and heartbreak and feeling like I had nothing to say.  I remember our house given back to us like a miracle and taking my wife home and seeing her so, so happy and I remember her giving birth to my firstborn son.  I remember this guy named Tore calling and asking to go out for lunch.  I remember Freedomize and Gord leaving and everybody thinking I was going to fail and I remember terror and stress as I tried not to.  I remember the Sunday when we first passed 200 in attendance and the year we topped $300,000 in revenue and realizing that we were going to be okay.  I remember getting bored.  I remember God telling me I could leave and I remember that last Sunday with almost 400 there and an ovation after my last sermon and how great it felt to quit on top.  I remember our script getting financed and leaving my job to start another.  I remember directing my first feature film and nearly dying.  I remember running out of money three months in and living for two years with almost no income.  I remember the day I transferred the last $150 from our bank account so we could buy groceries and I remember a couple days later the call coming from my business partner that told us we were going to be alright.  I remember a very busy 2008.

I remember the moment I first laid eyes on Chris and Cate and Sam and Jen and Tam and Derek.  I remember Steve and his advice.  I remember Doug and Sandy and realizing I had a 'mentor' in addition to my Dad.

I remember preaching to 12,000 and to 12.  

I remember drumming for my brother.

I remember moments of glory and shame.

I remember the births of my babies.

I remember the twinkle in my wife's eye.

I remember, that this story is not about me.

It's about He, and thee.

That's why I do what I do.

"Happy Birthday to you."

T

Variety says...

That's what you read in every 'serious' production company's waiting room.

"Variety".

It's the Wall Street Journal of the entertainment industry.

If you're not in our industry you'd never read it.  It's kind of obtuse, doesn't have many pictures and is highly specialized.

It also costs $12 to buy and a subscription is something like $260/year.

"Dang, I'm certainly NOT reading that."

Okay, but it's got stuff in it that will help illuminate the trends that are shaping our industry and, like it or not, our industry shapes pop culture in a way that's almost singular.  Also, because our industry is so highly-charged, the things happening in it can give you some clues as to the larger movements that are going on in pop-culture at large and those movements are sure to be influencing you and what you do as well.

So, I thought I might start filling you in on the things I'm noticing as I read it.  Should be a weekly post.

From this week...

-American Idol's ratings are down.  Last year they averaged 28-30 million.  This year--so far--they're averaging 24-26 million.  Seems to me that this is related to their attempts to mix things up.  It's coming across as more complicated than anything.  The lesson for us?  Be VERY careful before changing something just 'cause you think change is needed AND be very careful of adjusting your vision and ideas to try and suit or match what you think the market demands.

-Online advertising is way down.  Our industry was thinking that web advertising would be the new 'holy grail' of keeping the studios in business.  It's just not panning out that way.  For the small folk like us it's still viable but if you're looking to make HUGE amounts online it's just not happening.  The lesson for us?  This economic slowdown affects companies and they have less to spend on advertising so as content providers we have to continue to make compelling art and make sure we know our audience.  Targeted seems to be more and more the case these days.

-Blue Ray is NOT blowing up.  Families are waiting to buy DVD's 'cause they're expecting to upgrade at some point to Blue Ray so that means DVD's aren't selling and Blue Ray's not selling.  The lesson to us?  Sometimes 'good enough' is 'good enough'.  Think very carefully before building planned obsolescence into your product or service.  At some point your audience is going to be tapped out.  This whole "I'm waiting on Blue Ray" thing is certainly true in my family.

-Every the biggest companies there are (NewsCorpt, GE, Disney) are really suffering right now. 

-Movie attendance and TV viewership are up.  This is typical for a recession.  Entertainment is typically recession-proof.  Problem is, the multi-nationals who own the studios are taking the profits from the studios and sending them to their other more troubled divisions leaving the studios struggling even though they're succeeding.  If you have a business (or a Church) be careful about robbing peter to pay paul 'cause eventually it'll bite you.

-International distribution is more and more important and this means high-concept, male-driven, action-oriented films are more and more in demand.  This is why you're seeing what you're seeing at the multi-plex.  The lesson for us?  Broad, universal appeal is what works best, no matter what business you're in.

That's what I got this week.

Hopefully that's useful for you as you continue working to build your life.

Peace,

T