Adventures #50: What just happened
Why the next hot job is a new flavour of Producer; finding the right fit with your audience; and Nike goes open-source
Deep into Winter, any little comfort will do.
Roast chicken. Thick wool socks (thanks Mum!). Cult classics.
This weekend’s watchlist was stacked with the likes of The Untouchables; Heat; and Fight Club.
The connection between these sleeper hits? A chap by the name of Art Linson.
Art is a movie producer. And like a lot of producers, he ends up getting his hands into all kinds of stuff: from raising money and securing talent; to troubleshooting development issues and taming Alec Baldwin’s ego.
A few months before moving to NYC, I did a course in film production (just in case I ran into Alec in the West Village). Midway through, I discovered A Pound of Flesh - the first of two books Art Linson wrote about his Hollywood experiences.
The second set of Art’s acerbic observations was What Just Happened?. These tales of projects stalling, spluttering, and sometimes succeeding soon became a movie of its own, complete with an all-star cast. Onscreen the title’s question mark was absent, as was Alec Baldwin as a prima donna movie star (Bruce Willis played him instead).
But beyond the irresistible inside scoops and tinseltown drama, at their core Art’s books are really explorations of the blur that is producing creative projects.
The producer looks at what just happened. They ask what just happened?
And they aim to see what’s about to happen.
So… what’s about to happen?
Flavours
A few things have changed since Art’s heyday.
First, many of the gatekeepers he had to duel with are getting side-stepped or even eroded away. 2021 may be the year of the great dispersion. And despite the headwind of a headliners’ market, when it comes to developing and launching a project there are myriad options available beyond the big-name studio, VC, or record label.
Second, there are now many more flavours of producer, each possessing a particular stack of skills.
And there are far more projects that can be produced - across all kinds of industries and mediums, and all with opportunities, paths, and pitfalls to navigate.
In sum, the producer matters now more than ever.
In Residence
In light of all this, we’re going to see the emergence of a few fresh flavours of producer. They’ll be hard to pin down, tough to pigeonhole, and hugely valuable.
One way to think about this is through the concept of residency.
You’re probably familiar with an Artist-in-residence. There’s also the Entrepreneur-in-residence, and the Educator-in-residence.
What about the Producer-in-residence?
They’re networked; strategic; able to make ideas happen. They help their partners create, navigate, finesse, and grow.
Some of these Producers will feel more like a coach; some will be curators; and others will have the vibe of a seasoned business development exec. They’ll be equally adept at reflecting ideas as beaming them out; at mixing mediums as they are monitoring the money.
The Producer-in-residence looks at what just happened: last week, last month, last year (the last four years). They look at what’s about to happen: in decades, months, days… hours.
Right now our past, present, and future can all feel like a blur. It’s probably going to be that way for a while. To find the way forward, a lot of us will benefit from having a Producer-in-residence.
Maybe you’re searching for one. You could already have them in your midst but not know it yet. Or perhaps the Producer-in-residence is your own next starring role.
Speaking of blurs, as the US moves from 45 to 46, Adventures… moves from 49 to 50.
I started writing this monthly bit in June 2015 (for the mathematicians, yes I did miss a few months early on).
The first edition I sent was, frankly, embarrassing. So were most of the following ten. And a few others since.
But even Art Linson had a few misses.
Besides, whether or not there’s a hit... just gotta keep on producing.
Thanks for reading, and as always I’d love to hear what’s got your attention right now. Just hit reply.
PS. Adventures… was only born because my wife Jacinta was the Producer-in-residence who pushed me to go and do it. As Adventures… starts its next chapter, so do we. In line with this month’s theme of (re)producing and what just happened… here’s what’s about to happen.
A new citizen of the world. Due date: August 4th 2021.
01: Career Fuel
How to find Portfolio / Audience Fit: a step-by-step guide to aligning your project portfolio and audiences
The gap between reputation and personal brand: My pal Cedric writes some great stuff on career moats and decision making. Here’s his latest
The reductive seduction of other peoples’ problems: Why people are drawn to social entrepreneurship missions elsewhere when there are plenty of things to look at closer to home…
How I do Morning Pages: A few people have been asking about this recently. Here’s how I’ve developed a daily practice of writing
Podcast
It’s been a big one on the ‘Under the Current’ podcast this month:
Zoe Scaman is one of the leading voices in the new creator economy (and former head of strategy for Ridley Scott, no less). She goes deep on the anger of others, dealing with self-doubt, and building brands
Andrew Hutton gets into reimagining the way companies are founded, and how our identities shift when we tag ourselves with that ‘f’ word
Georgina Wilson Powell talks about being lost after failure, building ethical media businesses, and life as a female founder in 2021
Rob Fitzpatrick digs into books as product design, reframing marketing, and business partner marriages
New episodes are published each week. And I’m getting close to securing a couple of personal heroes to appear…
02: Learning <> Doing
Nike & Virgil Abloh - Public Domain: This got the attention of the marketing and brand world as a way to showcase a new collaboration, but for me, it’s a big step towards open-sourcing assets as a learning tool. If you’re over 35 the website will make your eyes hurt, so here’s the background
The Science Museum - never seen before: Each time you refresh the page you’ll see an object from the museum’s collection with zero views, making you the very first person to see it
Opportunity for Adventure: using this (and other archives like it) as a jump-off for games and classes around science, storytelling, improv, and more
Unai VR: I’ve always been lukewarm on VR stuff. Something about this feels more interesting, streamlined, and human
How to run a workshop on Zoom: This bit I wrote last year is now number 1 on Google for ‘Zoom workshops’. Fancy.
03: Entrepreneurial Endeavours
8 themes for the near future of tech: Adobe/Behance honcho Scott Belsky always brings it. As you may expect, themes 2, 3, and 4 are where I’m placing my (digital) chips.
Lessons from selling a media company: Well, this one sure gave me PTSD from Summer 2012.
Small Before Big: If you’re building any kind of company (especially early on), it’s worth checking out this piece by Jordan Husney
Opportunity for Adventure: more open dialogue about being small, and the decision making around crossing the chasm to going big.
From last time…
Last month’s theme was New Wine, Old Oak: a couple of this month’s bits also touch on this. Rob Fitzpatrick’s podcast episode gets into how his book sales have ticked over remarkably well, and a clear theme through all his projects has contributed to his success. The same goes for many people discovering The Artist’s Way 25 years on
One piece of feedback: “great… but maybe a little too long”. I agree. This edition has slimmed down accordingly, and next month I’ll be sharing a central resource holding all the links and other bits from every edition, past and future
04: Jukebox
Front: Ted Gioia’s Top 100 albums of 2020. Until last week I’d never heard of Ted Gioia. Turns out he’s one of the world’s foremost music critics. Oops. Thanks to Conor for this one.
Middle: Kruder & Dorfmeister Sessions. This mix album pretty much created a genre. Usually, mid 90s vintage of this ilk would be filed at the back, but this month we’re going way back in time…
Back: … over a century, in fact. Here’s an audio mix for every year of recorded sound, 1859 to the present
05: Footnotes
Other things I’ve been up to this month:
Developing new online learning programs with a couple of wonderful companies, and creating a bit of school curriculum too
Working on a big update of Fondo - your career GPS. My co-founder Jeffrey has been weaving his magic once again: look out for badges, braintrusts, and a whole new gamified experience coming very soon…
Burning through season three of ‘Gomorrah’.
Coming to terms with impending fatherhood. I can’t even keep the kitchen clean as it is. Time for some mise-en-place