A Revolutionary Approach to the Art and Science of Moviemaking:
A Treatise on Fixing the Accidental Industry
By Jonathan D. Krane
A Creative Vision Publishing Textbook
Copyright 2006
All Rights Reserved
The Origin of This Book
On Christmas Day, 1980, I picked up a book my wife, Sally Kellerman, had given
me as a present—David O. Selznick’s Hollywood. I began by superficially
thumbing through the pages, reading sections out of order, and looking at the
pictures mainly out of curiosity because, before his death, Selznick had been
married to Jennifer Jones, who was a very close friend of ours; she and her
current husband, billionaire and art collector Norton Simon, had hosted our
wedding in their home six months earlier.
When I was a child, I never considered show business as a potential
career because I grew up in Hollywood, and I was very passionate about science,
mathematics, philosophy, and the humanities. However, as a child, I loved to
walk down to Hollywood Boulevard from my house in the Hollywood Hills to watch
a double feature—alone on both Saturday and Sunday. At the time I read the
Selznick biography, I was a Yale Law School educated attorney practicing at one
of the finest and most reputable law firms in Los Angeles. My four years as a
lawyer there were spent primarily in the areas of creating foreign tax shelters
for financing movies and real estate developments in the United States and
representing foreign and American film directors and actors.
One of my authentic, genetic, intellectual talents is creating
innovative systems out of seemingly ordinary and random facts, and during my
years as a practicing attorney and living with Sally, I created theories
explaining why the Motion Picture Industry was “accidental” and how it could be
turned into a rational, predictable Art and Science like all of the other
century-old, multibillion dollar manufacturing industries in the world. These
theories are all based on Five Fundamental Principles I identify as the
foundations for the movie industry. When I completed the incipient blueprint
for this New Art and Science of Producing and Distributing movies, I left the
practice of law and created a new type of motion picture company, based on
these five principles, which I intended to, and did, turn into a new kind of
independent studio. I created the company in the mid-1980s. Those Five
Fundamental Principles are:
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Production means accomplishing five chronological stages from finding the idea
to completing postproduction.
-
The independent film has a here-to-fore unarticulated definitive meaning and is
a dying art form that can be saved.
-
All power comes from three sources: Talent, Production, and Distribution.
-
The cash flow, cash-on-cash return, and net profits from a film are, in fact,
easily defined and rarely generated, making most films failures.
-
Mastering creative problem solving is different in this industry than others.
These principles, in this case, derive from the assembly line
paradigm where talent are the raw materials, the “Five Stages of Production”
comprise the manufacturing process, and the distribution to the box office,
video, DVD, and all the television markets worldwide are the equivalent to the
distribution of any product in any manufacturing business.
When I read, reread, and reread again the Selznick book in 1980, I
realized that the studios of the 1930s and 1940s, especially Selznick’s
independent studio created during that time, validated my theories, proved the
truth of the Five Fundamental Principles, and catalyzed my decision to resign
from the law firm for whom I had worked. I put my theories to the test by
immediately creating the profession of the “producer/talent manager,” one of my
first innovations.
The next thing I did was articulate the fourteen functions of this
new profession. Then I told my wife, “I’m quitting the law to create and run my
own movie studio.” Sally responded in her quick-witted way, chuckling and
asking, “You’re not just going to run a studio but own it too? And I suppose
you’ll do this in your spare time?” Then, using her very famous, mellifluous,
and quite profitable voice (Sally has been the most sought after voice-over
actress in the country for years according to the Wall Street Journal) she
added, “How? You’re just a civilian.” I responded, “I hate being a lawyer—you
know that. I also like this guy, Selznick, whose biography you gave me for some
reason. When he wanted something, he found an innovative way to get it, banged
his head against the wall until he succeeded, and used the same techniques
based on the same Fundamental Principles I’ve been identifying.” Sally knew I
pretty much achieved whatever I set out to achieve. After all, I had won her
hadn’t I; and she stopped teasing me. But she gave me the well-known parting
shot, ending our conversation, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Within six months, however, I did quit my day job as I had a new
one in hand—President and CEO of a new film company based on my ideas. Lucky
for me, my innate drive, vision, and talent for innovation allowed me to follow
my dream. In 2000 I was the honored recipient of the “Hollywood Visionary
Award,” which was awarded to me for my twenty years of innovations in the
industry.
Back in 1981, the company I cofounded was called Blake Edwards
Entertainment (“BEE”)—named after my partner in this venture who is the famous,
prolific, and highly intelligent film writer and director, Blake Edwards, and
whom I had known socially for two years. Edwards wanted freedom and
independence from the studio system after his thirty years of chafing at its
bits. I had many discussions with him about my ideas that included various ways
I could provide him with all the freedom he yearned for by becoming his
producer/manager under the mantle of BEE. Six months from when I read
Selznick’s book, Blake agreed to cofound BEE with me, to write and direct his
films through this company, and to have me run it as president and as the
executive producer of his films while managing his long-term career. I also
managed the career of his wife, Julie Andrews.
Our quick agreement and subsequent creation of BEE derived from the
fact that the movie business had interfered with his creativity for thirty
years because it was the only century-old, multibillion dollar unregulated
industry in the world that lacked definition. As a result, it was “accidental”
because it had no articulated, published, or even agreed-upon processes,
activities, forces, powers, job functions, rites of passage, or even any
definitions of commonly used words. I call this aspect of the Accidental
Industry “Darwinian” because it mimics the jungle dynamics of Darwin’s
Fundamental Principle known as “The Survival of the Fittest” with the
definition of “fittest” being “those who let the ends justify the means by
using whatever lies, betrayal, and other malicious techniques that ultimately
lead to their downfall—not before wreaking havoc on others.” The other aspect
of the Accidental Industry is its “Kafkaesque” nature with its
unpredictability, irrationality, and terrifying endless distortions and
dangers.
Nevertheless, I followed my original business plan, and in 1987 I
took my own company, MCEG, its management clients of about 100 and its film
production division and distribution company—and used an IPO to turn it into a
publicly held, independent studio where all three Sources of Power were again
under one roof. After the mega-agents broke apart the 1930s and 1940s studios
and after Lew Wasserman put all Three Sources of Power back together in the
1950s—by using an agency to buy a studio that was broken apart by the justice
department for being too powerful—I was able to accomplish the same thing using
a talent management company, which is perfectly legal and efficacious.
The clients the company managed and performed producer/manager
services for included: Isabel Adjani, Kirstie Alley, Julie Andrews, Drew
Barrymore, Kim Basinger, Jason Bateman, Sandra Bernhard, Pierce Brosnan, Julie
Brown, Kate Capshaw, Nick Cassavetes, Bud Cort, Ellen Degeneres, Vincent
D’Onofrio, Blake Edwards, Jeff Fahey, Teri Garr, Keith Gordon, Harry Hamlin,
Mariska Hargitay, Mariel Hemingway, Marilu Henner, C. Thomas Howell, Neal
Isreal, Victoria Jackson, Carol Kane, Lainie Kazan, Sally Kellerman, Randal
Klesier, Joey Lawrence, Dwight Little, Howie Mandel, Luis Mandoki, Peter
Masterson, Andrew McCarthy, Peter Medak, Helen Mirren, Julianne Philips, Nic
Roeg, Theresa Russell, Pauly Shore, Steve Summers, Cynthia Sykes, Lili Taylor,
John Travolta, Sela Ward, James Wilder, Robyn Wright, and Billy Zane, among
others.
After four years of working about 18–20 hours a day performing all
of my job functions, I realized I had achieved the goal I set for myself on
that Christmas Day in 1980. I now owned and ran an independent, 1940s style
studio founded on the Fundamental Principles and their derivatives that
comprised the New Art and Science of the Motion Picture Industry, and it
worked. But the frustration that the corporate finance division in New York
caused, combined with my sense of fulfillment from the other activities I
performed, became the catalyst for me to reorganize my priorities and resign
from MCEG. My new plan was that I would be the producer/manager of a handful of
clients, and I would produce both studio and independent films. MCEG had grown
from 35 employees in 1987 to 500 in 1989, and I wanted to have no more than
four or five employees. I occasionally regret resigning because shortly
thereafter, the company went into Chapter 11, and I knew I could have saved it
because of the millions and millions it was going to be able to make from Look
Who’s Talking—which would have allowed MCEG to stay alive. In any event, my
successes after MCEG were even greater than during my tenure there. I produced
several blockbusters, and the few clients I had rose to great stardom.
Why I Wrote This Book
In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates explains his definition of
“Love,” which he believed is found in everyone. The force compels human beings
to share with others the truth, beauty, and enlightenment they find. This is
experienced by all of us today and is, in fact, the fundamental dynamic that
drives the Motion Picture Industry. We call it “word-of-mouth,” and it is
highly responsible for a film’s performance both before and after the opening
weekend. We make movies that we believe audiences will emotionally connect
with, thus satisfying the primal needs of the triumph of the human spirit.
Before the opening weekend, this is called the “want-to-see,” which is
generated by the marketing campaign: advertising, teasers, trailers, television
spots, and everything else that is used to create a word of mouth and the
desire to see the film.
I have always had this need to share the beauty I have seen, the
truth I have learned, and the enlightenment I have experienced with anyone who
is interested. That is why I have taught this New Art and Science for almost
twenty years. After about fifteen years of working in the numerous areas of the
movie industry and sharing my knowledge and insight, I realized that to replace
a century-old Accidental Industry with a rational, detailed, articulated art
and science, I had to present the entire New Art and Science as a whole in this
book.
Like all unregulated societies, the Accidental Industry long ago
created artificial barriers to entry, employing systems that stop most aspiring
members from entering, and worse, which make such systems seem inscrutable and
mysterious. Millions of talented people have been stopped or stopped themselves
from using their talents because of this “pulling up the ladder” mentality.
Creating these barriers has not only prevented millions from finding happiness
through expression of their talents, but has also hurt the industry in several
ways. It has left to chance the finding of potentially great people for all
jobs in the industry. This book breaks through all of these artificial barriers
and attempts to find new Talent by providing systematic, detailed methods to
successfully enter the business.
The Accidental Industry cannot and will not change by itself. Even
this treatise will not be enough. Industry leaders must agree with, or at least
engage in discourse on the content herein and use the content to self-regulate
the industry by ensuring that their subordinates use it. Without this
self-regulation, the industry will continue to run by accident and not by
design, and as major changes become necessary due to technological advances,
things will only get worse until they get so bad in certain areas that the
First Amendment will become jeopardized and the United States Congress will
step in to fix it as they recently did regarding the marketing of films. The
impact of these congressionally implemented changes has become censorship of
content because “R” rated movies are almost impossible to publicize
sufficiently to create the adequate “want-to-see” attitude, which in turn makes
them commercially successful. Films are now edited so that they will be rated
PG-13, and studios have changed their plans by decreasing the number of “R”
rated films they make. The leaders of the industry cannot let this happen again
and must operate the industry according to the industry’s own, acceptable
regulations, not the Darwinian and Kafkaesque principles being used now that
will ultimately lead to the industry’s downfall.
Even if this “trickle-down” effect of the implementation of the
Fundamental Principles and their derivatives takes longer than expected, the
book is intended to at least begin good faith, uninhibited discussions on the
matters presented. If only a few concerned insiders and others who read this
book begin such discussions, the Accidental Industry will ultimately be forced
to change through a “trickle-up” effect. This is revolution rather than
evolution, and both will probably happen given how many professionals in good
faith are fed up with the industry in its current state.
Because everyone is impacted by movies in ways varying from mild to
extreme, all audiences, especially those who are not members of the Motion
Picture Industry, must be educated about everything that goes into making
films; this must be done so that people will understand how and why movies
“changed their life,” “disgusted them,” and “made them angry.” Movies are
already, in many ways, propaganda. At the very least, they reflect the values
and opinions of those who produce them.
This book is intended to explain all aspects of production, marketing, and
distribution, including who makes what decisions based on what criteria. The
book’s explanations have never been more important because the recent changes
in the industry worldwide have made the impact of U.S. films on worldwide
audiences much greater than ever before. Furthermore, for one hundred years
there have been several secret decision-making processes that have been kept
from most industry members other than key leaders. All of this information is
intended to help all parties keep their emotional experiences as has to do with
movie-making in perspective. All such secrets are finally disclosed, analyzed,
and explained in this book, and judged as right, and in what degree, or not
right in terms of:
-
Their contribution to the achievement of the Ultimate Goals of the Industry
-
Their nature as true derivatives of the Fundamental Principles
-
What changes, if any, are necessary to make them the most efficient and
effective parts of the New Art and Science
Another compelling reason why I wrote this book is that about 80%
to 90% of college and even high school students want to be in show business
during their young lives. This book aims to teach them, as early as possible,
what every job and career entails, so that their decision to move to Hollywood
and enter the industry is as informed as possible. Further, this book provides
specific, step-by-step processes to increase the likelihood of success for
those who do decide to enter the industry.
I also wrote this book to try to stem the long-term acceptable use
of lying as a tool in the Accidental Industry. When faced with difficult
questions or even easy ones outside their areas of expertise, many
professionals purposely give wrong answers and advice out of ignorance,
expedience, ego gratification, fear of failing, and/or being discovered as a
self-labeling fraud. This tool has been satirized in books like Hello, He Lied,
and excoriated in serious articles in magazines and newspapers such as the Los
Angeles Times’ January 2002 front-page exposé of the rampant use of
lying in the Motion Picture Industry.
Because for the past century the movie industry’s Darwinian and
Kafkaesque aspects have been magnets for people who seek fame and fortune
rather than gratification and fulfillment and who unfortunately have had the
ability to exploit and manipulate the vulnerability of others—specifically
Talent, their motivations and capabilities have been tolerated and even
rewarded. Unfortunately, they perpetuate all of the negative aspects of the
industry. I know that this book will never be used by those people. Thus, I
wrote it in part to demonstrate this problem and explain what the right motivations
are and why they are right.
Cognitive Psychology, the concepts of “flow” and the
self-expression of one’s individuality are at the forefront of finally defining
human happiness and the avenues that can achieve it. This means that
individuals will express the best of their talents for their intrinsic value
rather than for third-party validation—a validation with no staying power and
that ultimately pushes one down the spiral to a psychological black hole. The
right motivations will motivate others to seek out the information and
knowledge to determine what jobs are right for them, and use them correctly,
thus creating the trickle-up effect of this New Art and Science.
The wrong motivations are those motivations that concern only the
results, not the process. This means winning, or at the very least, beating the
other guy, rooting for others’ failures, deriving pleasure from outside
validation, fame, fortune, and celebrity. These motivations permit and even
glorify using every negative method possible to achieve these results including
manipulation of others’ vulnerability.
Not ironically, most “stars” do not enter movie making with these negative
goals. In fact, the better the actor, director, writer, producer, studio head,
etc., the less he desires celebrity and fame, is motivated by money, or wishes
others ill. It has been my experience that great actors love acting for its own
sake and usually have loved it since childhood. They find it intrinsically
valuable with all the joy such passionate self-expression brings. It is my hope
that this book will help guide these people along their path.
This book also proposes solutions to the controversies rampant in
the industry today, which deplete its resources without resolution due to a
lack of rules and functions. These controversies are, indeed, part of the
decades of the accidental nature of the industry. For instance runaway
production, the DVD/video-on-demand wars, the producer credit controversy, the
“creative accounting” controversy, the self-labeling controversy, the inchoate
differences between a manager and an agent, the “baggage-manager” controversy,
the incorrectly perceived necessity that the average production budget plus
prints and advertising (P&A) budget must average over $100 million, the
exploitation of vulnerable aspiring Talent and barriers to entry, among others,
will all be solved by using the Fundamental Principles and all their
derivatives.
Obviously, every derivative rule, law, principle, function, and
activity of each of the Five Fundamental Principles has its own specific
results which, together, comprise the essential reasons why I wrote this book.