Three events taught me this week's lesson.
- My recent trip to L.A.
- My day in Toronto spent on the set of a new TV series we are shooting for the W network
- The annual SXSW conference
Well, to be exact, their intersect set did.
Let's look at the first two.
In L.A., I had 10 meetings over the 60 hours I was there. All were basically on the same subject--the digital future of Just For Laughs. Some meetings were mundane and unproductive; participants there out of obligation to our powerful agents or the opportunity to eke out a fast buck; a blind date gone bad. Others were stimulating and opened doors to the future; kindred spirits on the same page; love at first sight. The difference? The passion of the person/people on the other side of the table combined with their knowledge of our product.
In Toronto, I watched as an expert team put together by JFL's Evi Regev smoothly and efficiently delivered four different segments for an upcoming reality-based, hidden-camera game show...no easy task, particularly over a tight eight-hour time frame. Every member of said team was engaged and happy; excited about the unique and risky product and profound in their respective expertise in the TV trade.
The lesson? These days, there's nothing more important in business than the union of
Passion & Knowledge
The combination of care and understanding is key not just to making the sale, but to delivering the product on a regular and high-level basis.
Examples are many, but a real timely one given the mega-opening of The Hunger Games film this week is how director Gary Ross landed the director gig over heavy hitters like Sam Mendes and David Slade. I quote from a piece in Entertainment Weekly:
"When he first met with Lionsgate executives, he brought storyboards, character arcs, and a seven-minute film in which he interviewed his teenage twin son and daughter's friends about the effect of the book...
"'It was a watershed moment in the project,' says Lionsgate president of motion pictures Joe Drake, 'because it showed how well he understood the materiel and that we were going to be able to live up to the promises that we made to Suzanne (Collins, the author of the uber-popular young adult series)."
So where does the third "circle," SXSW, fit into all this? Well, we were having a debate at the office over how best to describe it; a la "It's a event about what?"
When it first started, SXSW was an indie music festival. Then it branched out into indie film, tech and comedy. So it's multi-faceted, but still, what's it all about?
The answer, my friends, is lurking a few lines above, bold and red.
Forget the facets. It's not about music, tech, film or comedy. It's not even about all of them rolled together. It's about Passion and Knowledge. SXSW is an annual reunion of people passionate about knowing. About knowing what's cool, what's next and especially what other people don't know.
While I'm not privy to the the organizers' behind-closed-door meetings of the past, I suspect this event grew by following its initial attendees' loves and interest bases rather than saying "Hey this is trendy and hot now!" or "If we added this, we could get more sponsors." That's why SXSW has become such a monster; it has grown organically by staying true to the passion of its core constituents...and the care and understanding of them.
There's no easy way to making a sale or making something work. You can see right through fake delight and zeal. Pretending you know about something you don't is a recipe not just for failure, but humiliation.
If it's worth anything to you, make sure you feel it and know it. And can convince others that you do.
If not, move on to something you can.