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When Rupert Murdoch Tells You Where The Money Is, Believe Him
Rupert Murdoch doesn’t do things unless he thinks they’re the best way to make as much money as possible. When you take together the two big pieces of Murdoch news this week, ask yourself this: in light of that $80 billion offer he made last month to buy Time Warner, what does it say that Fox has decided to unify its studio and television groups – y’know, the people that produce the content and the operation that broadcasts the content – into one group?
The Solution Is Very Different Than You Think It Is
I’d like to introduce you to someone sees things differently than you and I do.
Question: how do you make a relatively comfortable, if long and boring train ride better? Rory Sutherland’s solution? “What you should in fact do is employ all of the world’s top male and female supermodels, pay them to walk the length of the train, handing out free Chateau Petrus for the entire duration of the journey. Now, you’ll still have about three billion pounds left in [your budget], and people will ask for the trains to be slowed down.”
Fame Redefined…Or Just Relocated
In any world, the only relevant content is that which emotionally connects. In a wired world, the only thing that’s changed is that great stories that emotionally resonate can now reach a much broader audience than ever before.
It’s simple: be unique. Be compelling. Tell great stories. The opportunities are now bigger than ever, and the barriers to entry are smaller than ever.
Reading: It’s Now An Interactive Activity!
We live in a world of media convergence, where all forms of content are becoming one. Now, while you’re busy consuming content, your content is busy consuming you.
What happens when your e-reader can read you? Aside from the obvious privacy issues, you start learning. A lot. This passage says it all: “The longer a mystery novel is, the more likely readers are to jump to the end to see who done it. People are more likely to finish biographies than business titles, but a chapter of a yoga book is all they need. They speed through romances faster than religious titles, and erotica fastest of all.”
Why On Earth Would The New York Times Think Katie Couric Has Left Television?
The New York Times is under the strange impression that, to paraphrase its own headline, Katie Couric has moved from television to the Internet. Why on Earth would they think that?
Kevin Spacey has already figured this one out, and you wouldn’t expect The Gray Lady to confuse distribution with product. While they’re at it, the NYT has also conflated TV and television.
James Franco Knows What’s Missing From Your Talent Agreements
When you give your audience a look behind the curtain – something that (1) gives them content they can’t get anywhere else, but also (2) makes them feel like they have access to a part of your private existence – you can provoke a powerful emotional reaction. Because, at some level, every public figure interacts with their audience, most celebrities understand this. What’s behind your curtain?
The Most Compelling Thing I've Read This Year
I want to share something incredibly powerful that I read six months ago and re-read every month or so. Most of the post is about the cognitive biases that evolution programmed into the human brain over 400,000 years and how they influence decision-making. (In plain English, most of the post is about how Slim Shady uses motivations that have been baked into his audience members’ brains to cause them to react emotionally to his cause, and by extension, how you can do likewise.) The ultimate payoff, however, is in the author’s words about creativity.
YouTube: It's The New Schwab's Pharmacy!
Once upon a time, getting discovered required being in the right place at the right time. You wandered into Schwab’s, the Brown Derby, or some other old Hollywood landmark completely unaware, and the next thing you knew – BAM! – you were on your way to stardom. Today, the process is a little – okay, a lot – different.
Kevin Spacey Sees The Future Quite Clearly
In addition to being a remarkably compelling performer, Kevin Spacey is right on target with regard to media convergence, to the idea that audiovisual media (film, television, etc.), audio only media (radio, music, etc.), and print media are all becoming one. When he asks, “Is 13 hours watched as one cinematic whole really any different from a film?” you already know the answer.
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