Frontline: News War

If you want to see a great piece on the demise of the news media check out Frontline: News War from PBS. It is long but well worth the watch.

You get a sense of the desperation of the mass news media and where the blogging, podcasting, and online TV world is headed.

artists vs. artisans

I am learning there is a big difference between artisans and artists. As a producer, most of what I do doesn’t involve artists. The people who work on productions with me are actually artisans – they are craftsmen. They have a craft that they execute with precision and skill.

My DPs light scenes not to be artistic – but to communicate the mood of the script. Writers hammer out dialogue that gets to the core of the characters. My wardrobe supervisor designs and picks clothes not to win a fashion award on the runway – but to illustrate the attitudes of the characters and time period. My editors cut the scenes so that the edits don’t draw attention to themselves.

In my opinion – the artist is more authoritarian – more original. They aren’t working toward a practical goal. They are in a sense trying to draw attention to themselves.

Craftsmen on the other hand are skilled at making something beyond themselves. They do very well with direction and guidance. They are in it for the common good of the project and their satisfaction is in playing a professional and talented role on the team.

The greatest producers in the world are the ones that can communicate and direct the best artisans and craftsmen to achieve a vision.

Great producers are craftsmen of craftsmen. Instead of painting with oils, playing the piano, or writing great stories – people (particularly artisans) are their medium of choice. And they are very good at it.

force vs. choice

There are many differences between new media and old media. But I think one of the biggest is force verses choice.

Old Media broadcasts out and forces content to the audience
New media gives the audience complete control of what, where, and when they want content.

Old media is event oriented.
New media is subscription oriented.

Old media is long and involved.
New media is shorter and more digestible.

Old media requires large budgets for production and distribution.
New media is inexpensive.

Old media is about control.
New media is about freedom.

Old media requires creators to have permission from distributors and studios.
New media requires no permission – only creativity.


I like old media. But I love new media. For creative professionals it is a dream come true. For businesses it is a way to market and communicate like never before. And for Hollywood it is a wake up call.

soak your mind

A quick note to media creators:

We as creative professionals need to be careful that we don’t begin to live in a tunnel. It is easy to consume all of our information and media through the current video, audio, and print channels.

But my caution is this – just because something is new doesn’t make it better. In fact, who is to say that old isn’t better?

The media we create will have a far richer and deeper impact if we saturate our minds offline as well. So be sure to pick up a good novel. Sit in on lecture series. Ask the homeless guy on your street about life for a change. Get on your belly and play with a one-year-old. Sit and listen to an old man tell long boring stories for hours on end. Listen to music that you hate.

If you do these things and things like them - your life will be richer – you will learn something new – and your media will end up different and more textured. So go soak your mind in something besides “media” for a while.

You will like the results – I promise.