Studio Executive DeVon Franklin and the Ability to Read a Room
My friend DeVon Franklin is the Vice President for Production over at Columbia Pictures here in Hollywood. A year or so ago, I had the opportunity to interview him onstage at a media conference here in Los Angeles. In fact, if you haven’t read his book “Produced by Faith” then I highly recommend it. During our session at the conference, I asked him what was the single most important skill it takes to reach the top in this industry. His answer? Read the full article »
Where Did You Find Your Last Great Idea?
There’s something about the shower that makes ideas explode in my head. Once that water hits my face, for whatever reason, the ideas start popping. Driving is similar, as well as sitting in church, on a plane, or in a waiting room. Whenever I can’t move, my brain kicks in. Why does it matter? It matters because knowing where your ideas happen is the key to making them happen more often. How about you? When do your best ideas happen? Listening to Read the full article »
What I Love and Hate About Financial Donors
Kathleen and I were teaching recently at a media conference in Madrid, Spain. During the trip we visited the legendary Prado Museum in downtown Madrid. Walking through the galleries we stumbled upon a remarkable painting from 1640 called “The Crucified Christ with a Donor,” by Francisco de Zurbarán. It was such a glaring and humorous example of how financial donors have been so great and also so terrible for artistic, nonprofit, and humanitarian work over the centuries.
While some donors simply want to help make Read the full article »
What I Learned About Productivity From Moving from New York to Los Angeles
I’m writing this after an exhausting day packing a rental van for moving. Our daughter and son-in-law Kelsey and Chris have been living in New York City for the last 5 years performing regularly in musical theater. A few months ago they came back to LA for television’s “pilot season” and so many opportunities happened, they decided that it might be better to be based in Los Angeles and commute to New York for various projects. So Kathleen and I flew up last week to Read the full article »
It’s Up to You!
I’m not being trite or condescending here, but the truth is, most of the time, people give me a million reasons why they’re not successful, and in most cases, it has nothing to do with them. “My boss won’t listen,” or “The economy tanked,” or “People don’t understand me,” or “Everyone steals my ideas,” or a million other excuses. And that’s exactly what they are – Read the full article »
Creative Alert: Obsessively Detailed People Will Kill You
“Anal Retentive” – bear with me here, and just check the dictionary or Wikipedia. It’s a person who’s attention to detail becomes obsessive. Trust me, you’ll encounter these people sooner or later in your work. It’s the person who is a slave to policy. He’d rather the organization fail, than actually bend the rules. I’ve met hundreds of them, and they’re the people who speak up after you’ve produced a successful project to “remind” you that Read the full article »
EPISODE 58 IS YOUR MESSAGE CUSTOMIZED FOR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES?
Download episode 58 Is Your Message Customized for International Audiences? (13MB)
What Phil learned from publishing “Jolt!” in China and how that experience can help you understand the importance of being culturally sensitive with your message.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Media People: Stop Using “Compilation” Reels to Showcase Your Work
OK – producers, directors, editors, camera people, and everyone else in the film, TV, or media business. Stop producing demo reels of compiled shots of your work edited to a hip, cool song. I’m not impressed, and here’s why: Read the full article »
