Thanks Ted. I share this with my team and ALL our project collaborators. It‘s THE list to base all other lists on. What I add as the base layer is to take care of body, mind and soul. Especially in these volatile times.
95. Read scripts. Even if you have the best coverage person on Earth, pick a few out of the pile and read them anyway. It will keep you current on what writers are thinking.
96. Write a script. Rewrite it. Send it off for coverage and proofing. Rewrite it again. You will never think of low balling a writer again.
97. Submit your script anonymously to other producers. Swallow 100 rejections--just to start. This is only a small taste of what writers go through. It will increase your empathy and motivate you to implement step 95 as part of your weekly process.
98. When hiring assistants/coverage readers for your company make sure they are not just thinking about what will make you a boatload of money. If you want art, instruct your readers to look for art.
99. Similar to non-GMO stickers on food, if you want humans to write the scripts you use, insist that any work using AI in any way be labeled as such before submission to your company. Blatantly lie that you can tell the difference in nuance, tone and quality.
100. Give comedy scripts a chance--especially, smart, clean ones. It is a dying art form. Help bring it back to life. The ghosts of everyone from Shakespeare to Neil Simon will thank you!
101. Think climate change first in every part of everything you produce. Use the revision sharing software that exists to replace Fed Ex-ing hard copies with changes. It's not easy, but find carbon offsets that are actually offsetting emissions. Ask yourself if what you are making is worth more than enough to humanity as a whole to compensate for the fact that is nearly impossible to actually have a carbon neutral project in the real world. You are in one of the historically least green, least willing to care about the planet professions on Earth: change starts with you!
102. Ted, I have spoken to the founders of the Hollywood Climate Summit and they have free passes for you, if you want them. The event is 6/21 - 6/24 in LA. It will be packed with zillions of young climate activists sharing the newest ideas for greening Hollywood, as well as numerous discussions on how to get stories that include positive climate solutions made and seen!
Your quote -- "What’s the price of not addressing it all though? Maybe not getting some of the stuff you could've done, done!" -- made me think of W.H. Auden's quote that I think about often:
“God may reduce you on Judgment Day to tears of shame, reciting by heart the poems you would have written, had your life been good.”
I have printed this out and am going to pin it to my wall and read daily. It's an excellent list. Thank you. I think the sh*t storm is already here, btw. It will just grow in yuckiness.
Oscar Wilde "I live in fear of not being misunderstood" if nobody walks out of your film or project that there is something wrong / Robert Wilson (theater director) "if you think you're going in the wrong direction, go there! if you think your going in the right direction, change directions!!" / "Invention is seeing the obvious that nobody else sees" - me / "You have to make a lot of mistakes before you make a good one" me too / "a good talker is a better listener" / Nikolas Kazantzakis in Zorba the Greek "what is life without a little bit of madness" / "better to ask for forgiveness than permission" anon / "if you have to ask, the answer is no?" anon / a few things that i live by - food for thought
The makings of an amazing manifesto. I love the altruism present in so many of these items. Definitely aligned with you here but it’s a good reminder that these need to be put into practice, not just framed and hung on a wall in one’s office.
Yes! It is always about action, taking action. It's hard: even when you try to engineer your life to walk the walk and to say what you both mean and do, there is so so so often a gulf between that thought and expression. It's hard not to beat one self up for not pushing on and all times. I try. And I fail. I try and I fail. It is the process.
I started painting words of hope on my #hopefence to help get me through the first year of the pandemic. I still add to it when I'm truly inspired by something hopeful...And this tremendous list of yours is gonna be showing up all over the fence this summer! Many thanks!
Okay I read it, but I am more interested in what films or filmmakers most influenced you and your career. I saw "Roger Corman" at the Cannes Film Festival Awards Ceremony, and I remembered how many great additions to this industry started with him and his productions. I also remembered when a documentary was made about his life in the industry, and he was asked what filmmakers he most respected and which influenced him the most. When he named the person who most influenced me, I was as shocked as the interviewer, but it told me who this man was, and I respected him even more.
In terms of influence, it probably has to be She's Gotta Have it, Stranger Than Paradise, and Blood Simple. Those three came out the year I moved to NYC. I wanted an American equivalent to the French New Wave and that burst is as close as I was going to get. Smithereens also carried me in to the city a wee bit prior. It gave me hope that something new and good was possible.
Thanks Ted. I share this with my team and ALL our project collaborators. It‘s THE list to base all other lists on. What I add as the base layer is to take care of body, mind and soul. Especially in these volatile times.
I agree. Thanks for supplying the missing piece!
95. Read scripts. Even if you have the best coverage person on Earth, pick a few out of the pile and read them anyway. It will keep you current on what writers are thinking.
96. Write a script. Rewrite it. Send it off for coverage and proofing. Rewrite it again. You will never think of low balling a writer again.
97. Submit your script anonymously to other producers. Swallow 100 rejections--just to start. This is only a small taste of what writers go through. It will increase your empathy and motivate you to implement step 95 as part of your weekly process.
98. When hiring assistants/coverage readers for your company make sure they are not just thinking about what will make you a boatload of money. If you want art, instruct your readers to look for art.
99. Similar to non-GMO stickers on food, if you want humans to write the scripts you use, insist that any work using AI in any way be labeled as such before submission to your company. Blatantly lie that you can tell the difference in nuance, tone and quality.
100. Give comedy scripts a chance--especially, smart, clean ones. It is a dying art form. Help bring it back to life. The ghosts of everyone from Shakespeare to Neil Simon will thank you!
Forgot this:
101. Think climate change first in every part of everything you produce. Use the revision sharing software that exists to replace Fed Ex-ing hard copies with changes. It's not easy, but find carbon offsets that are actually offsetting emissions. Ask yourself if what you are making is worth more than enough to humanity as a whole to compensate for the fact that is nearly impossible to actually have a carbon neutral project in the real world. You are in one of the historically least green, least willing to care about the planet professions on Earth: change starts with you!
102. Ted, I have spoken to the founders of the Hollywood Climate Summit and they have free passes for you, if you want them. The event is 6/21 - 6/24 in LA. It will be packed with zillions of young climate activists sharing the newest ideas for greening Hollywood, as well as numerous discussions on how to get stories that include positive climate solutions made and seen!
This is the website: https://www.hollywoodclimatesummit.com/summit
If you want free tix for different events during the summit let me know. It is run by my daughter and her girlfriend!
Your quote -- "What’s the price of not addressing it all though? Maybe not getting some of the stuff you could've done, done!" -- made me think of W.H. Auden's quote that I think about often:
“God may reduce you on Judgment Day to tears of shame, reciting by heart the poems you would have written, had your life been good.”
I have printed this out and am going to pin it to my wall and read daily. It's an excellent list. Thank you. I think the sh*t storm is already here, btw. It will just grow in yuckiness.
Beautiful list
Oscar Wilde "I live in fear of not being misunderstood" if nobody walks out of your film or project that there is something wrong / Robert Wilson (theater director) "if you think you're going in the wrong direction, go there! if you think your going in the right direction, change directions!!" / "Invention is seeing the obvious that nobody else sees" - me / "You have to make a lot of mistakes before you make a good one" me too / "a good talker is a better listener" / Nikolas Kazantzakis in Zorba the Greek "what is life without a little bit of madness" / "better to ask for forgiveness than permission" anon / "if you have to ask, the answer is no?" anon / a few things that i live by - food for thought
Right on, Geo, right on.
My pleasure / you're on a roll / great list of things to pay attention too / don't stop now / keep updating it
The makings of an amazing manifesto. I love the altruism present in so many of these items. Definitely aligned with you here but it’s a good reminder that these need to be put into practice, not just framed and hung on a wall in one’s office.
Yes! It is always about action, taking action. It's hard: even when you try to engineer your life to walk the walk and to say what you both mean and do, there is so so so often a gulf between that thought and expression. It's hard not to beat one self up for not pushing on and all times. I try. And I fail. I try and I fail. It is the process.
I started painting words of hope on my #hopefence to help get me through the first year of the pandemic. I still add to it when I'm truly inspired by something hopeful...And this tremendous list of yours is gonna be showing up all over the fence this summer! Many thanks!
Okay I read it, but I am more interested in what films or filmmakers most influenced you and your career. I saw "Roger Corman" at the Cannes Film Festival Awards Ceremony, and I remembered how many great additions to this industry started with him and his productions. I also remembered when a documentary was made about his life in the industry, and he was asked what filmmakers he most respected and which influenced him the most. When he named the person who most influenced me, I was as shocked as the interviewer, but it told me who this man was, and I respected him even more.
In terms of influence, it probably has to be She's Gotta Have it, Stranger Than Paradise, and Blood Simple. Those three came out the year I moved to NYC. I wanted an American equivalent to the French New Wave and that burst is as close as I was going to get. Smithereens also carried me in to the city a wee bit prior. It gave me hope that something new and good was possible.