What's this blog about? Didn't you read the title of this post? Well, this is the blog where I teach Hollywood, if it wants to show up for class, how to save itself. Right now, Hollywood (and really the entire traditional entertainment industry) is trapped in a death spiral. To fight the digital world of new media, Hollywood is casting it's net wider and wider, trying to appeal to the most people by being as safe, bland, unchallenging and as inoffensive as possible. This is the wrong way to go.
The right way is by telling good stories. The guys behind <em>BOARDWALK EMPIRE</em> and <em>BREAKING BAD</em> know this. (I'm not yelling, we're supposed to type titles in all caps in the Industry--don't ask me why.) So, why do so many shows and movies fail in the box office or succeed but still fail to be any good at all? Good question!
I don't know.
What I do know is that no one can blame you for making a TV show or movie that tells a story well--whether it makes money or not isn't your fault--unless it's a terrible story. And I see this happen all the time in movies and TV shows. Everyone wants to make a film or show that everyone wants to watch. Read this blog and it will teach you how to do it.
Or are you too scared?
