A while back I mentioned how I was sort of fired/not re-hired to run the on-campus TV station. Another person wooed the new president with her ideas of new TV shows and contests yet lacked any knowledge on how to actually do that.
Well, I just found out that she was fired. Schadenfreude!
Remember almost a year ago when I got that job to run the school’s TV station? Well that ended. I got fired (sort of). By 30 people.
For a little recap, I got hired as the General Manager of the on-campus TV station. The station was a mess - no consistent schedule, terrible PSAs played between films, lots of equipment that wasn’t allowed to be touched, and no online presence.
So I made the schedule consistent, with movies playing on the quarter hour and getting varied play at different hours.
I made a deal with the Film School to play old student films in between movies.
After months I finally convinced the Director of Student Affairs to restart original programming, and started recording lecturers who came to campus.
Only 6,000 students get the channel while 40,000 attend the school, so online content was a must. I started a YouTube channel and Facebook group to get things going.
I even got funding for a second channel to play documentaries and anticipated student programming.
So when I had to reapply it didn’t really cross my mind that there would be an issue. A new President and cabinet had been elected, so I interviewed with the new Chief-of-Staff.
What she would later call a thorough interview lasted about five minutes and were questions from a form that had gems such as “what’s your weakest trait?” (Giving people more credit than they deserve)
In Student Government world, once you get forwarded by the executive branch (Chief-of-Staff), the Senate Internal Affairs (IA) committee interviews you and forwards you to Senate, where Senate votes and you’re given the job.
So I was kind of surprised when I didn’t get a call from Senate to setup the IA meeting. It wasn’t long before I found out I wasn’t forwarded and instead it went to someone who’d been vying for my job for a long time.
The worst part was I found out from an email from the chair of Internal Affairs asking me questions about the applicant. The applicant who wasn’t me.
To skip the boring bits, the IA chair started investigating, talking to people, and learned that the job was much more technical than the description described.
He said he supported me, but for some unknown reason they still forwarded her. End of story? Nope, just getting started (just to clarify, the point of IA is to filter out candidates so Senate doesn’t have to. Senate is kind of a rubber stamp).
He still supported me, so at the Senate meeting that week, where she was supposed to be forwarded as the candidate of choice from IA, which he runs, he would speak out against her and say she should not be forwarded (it’s been years since Senate has not forwarded a candidate).
When Senate got started, the newly elected President (whom I’ve never met) gave a speech basically saying things need to change, old people need to go, and Senate should approve whoever he wants. Yes, this kind of defeats the purpose of checks and balances, but we won’t go there.
He was riding on the back of Obama’s change craze, even though I had only been there a few months and, you know, done a lot of change. Oh, he also said they thoroughly interviewed me. Again, five minutes. I didn’t even finish my cappuccino.
The candidate was brought up and questioned. They asked what she would do with the station. Here’s where we differ - she told them what they wanted to hear while I told what was realistic.
She was going to have three shows a week, contests, advertisers - a real NBC. Good luck with that1.
They even had my adviser answer some questions. Sad to say, but he undersold what I did.
Even more sad was I wasn’t allowed to defend myself.
After about an hour of pro/con debate they went to a vote. Keeping with precedence (and not making a change), they forwarded her.
So I wasn’t fired, per-se. I just wasn’t rehired. By 30 people.
But as someone says, things work out. I have a new, better position now that would have required me to leave anyways. And could things really get worse than a room of people voting against you?
And for the record, I don’t hold this against Barack. Despite my grandparent’s wishes, I still like him.
Below are my notes from the one panel I attended at Full Frame - The State of the Doc. It’s a little more cheerful than Mark Gill’s outlook on independent cinema, though re-reading this now, some panelists seemed to be predicting what was going to happen.
It was moderated by Liz Ogilvie of Docurama Films. On the panel was Nancy Abraham (HBO Documentary), Christopher Black (Starz Entertainment), Greg Kendall (Balcony Releasing), David Laub (THINKFilm), Tom Quinn (Magnolia Pictures), Molly Thompson (A&E IndieFilms), and Thomas Zadra (Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment).
Q: How do you define success in broadcast TV?
HBO - Good ratings, reviews, press, buzz, recognition.
A&E - Docs are ratings challenged. We try to launch them theatrically to get the branding out there, make people aware of the film for television. Considered successful if financially we break even.
Magnolia - Bad Box Office for docs in 2007. Magnolia had three high profile releases - Crazy Love, My Kid Could Paint That, and In the Shadow of the Moon. Other outlets have proved successful. Cocaine Cowboy is one of the top selling films on X-Box. The new strategy is to marry content with distribution.
Starz - Starz makes docs for their film library. Create events to help branding. Lots of press is low cost.
Balcony - King Corn’s (doc about the farming industry) filmmakers sold the DVD through their site for $29.95 (cheaper now) and had community screenings for $300 and did very well. People want to see films with their community, not at a theater (I think this was meant more towards small towns). There’s a separate group of people that buy online than in the store.
Red Envelope - Their software can determine how many people want to watch since the films are on Netflix and determine the price. Since Red Envelope was formed, they have 125 titles. 40%-50% are docs.
Q: Do you think audiences are consuming films differently?
Balcony - Some like films in the theater, on TV, the web, community screenings. You get more coverage in the NY Times when you open on Wednesday.
A&E - If a film doesn’t get enough Box Office the theater can kick it out.
Magnolia - The state of specialized films is depressing. We’re all generally screwed. The theatrical experience is unmatched. To survive, we need to learn how to do it differently.
Red Envelope - In four months, Helvetica was seen 120,000 times. Half were streaming through Netflix.com.
Starz - Primary goal of documentaries is to pay off credit card debt and fund the next film. Theatrical release is an unhealthy obsession.
Balcony - Many films shouldn’t be in theaters. It’s a waste of everyone’s time. Not being in theaters feels like a failure, but that might be the right thing to do. Filmmakers always want it, that’s why they made the film.
Q: What do you see changing in the future?
A&E - Social networking growing. Bring people that have a common interest in films together (Facebook).
Magnolia - Theatrical experience is broken. We put a lot of Jesus Camp clips on YouTube, but that backfired, because then people didn’t need to see the movie.
Balcony - Make theatrical an event. One night only. You can make more money in one night than a week. We need to convert the theatrical system.
Audience Questions
Q - How can you get a deal in pre-production?
A - Generally depends on the subject, filmmaker, and if there’s that money shot (Antarctica for March of the Penguins). Typically docs are bought after they’re done.
Q - Thoughts on aesthetic quality. Concerned about viewing docs on iPod?
A - The ability iPods provide to watch during commute are great. One panelist saw 8 people watching content in the subway. Certain forms are better for iPod, while some are better on the big screen. More choices bring a larger audience, which is the end goal.
If a film works on a 3″ screen, you know it will work anywhere.
Q - Biggest mistake films make?
A - (Sort of a round robin of replies):
Q - Thoughts on short docs outside festivals.
A - Other options include iTunes, attachment to Op-Eds on NY Times site. Many documentarians with similar subjects/themes can ban together and offer one package with a bunch of shorts, perhaps on DVD.
Moment of Zen
With graduation looming closer and more people asking me what I want to do, I need to come up with a more concrete answer. Director or produce? Fiction or documentary?
With the way the summer’s been going, I’m leaning towards producing. As for fiction and documentary, I feel a certain loyalty towards fiction. It was the classics, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Pulp Fiction, that got me into filmmaking, not Bowling for Columbine or Super Size Me.
I thought what better way to figure out what I want to make than to analyze what I watch. So I turned to my DVR, to see what programs I enjoy so much I can’t stand to miss an episode.
I went through my series recording list and wrote down all 42 shows. I put them in a Google Spreadsheet, along with their genre and subject matter, trying to keep the categories to as few as possible.
First, genre. Here’s a pie chart that gives a general idea of the types of shows I watch.
A lot of these could basically be grouped into two broader categories: fiction and non-fiction (documentary). Here it is:
This blew me away. I knew I liked reality shows, but to see it so visually really put a lot of doubts to rest.
As for subject matter, this wasn’t as mind blowing nor as important. I feel like subjects could change project to project.
But just to see out of curiosity, here’s the chart:
About half the shows I watch have to do with photography and modeling, design, or science. Not much of a surprise with the photography or design.
In the end, this little exploration into the box below my TV has helped me focus what I want to do, and therefore make concrete goals.
I want to executive produce a docu-reality series.
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