LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS

Friday, March 9, 2007

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 5

IT IS GOOD BUSINESS TO TURN A CRISIS INTO AN OPPORTUNITY

You can see how excited I get just remembering these two very inventive, very UNUSUAL productions.

But you see, Gelb might not have been able to convince his board to go with the irreverent changes and inventions, had they not all been aware of the ‘dire future for operaa’ consensus.

So I am going to end where I begun – with the question ‘how will the slump in the DVD market affect the culture in the US’ ?

People from Europe often blame the Americans for being ‘all about business.’

I do not agree. I have the greatest respect for ‘Yankee ingenuity.’

I also remember that this is the land of the Melting Pot. Where immigrants from many disparate countries keep coming in, and beginning to contribute to the mix.

I am calling upon anyone and everyone who is interested first, in maintaining a robust and divers mix of cultures. And Second, in maintaining a robust business building culture. Give us your innovative, creative ideas and suggestions.

How can we provide distribution to such foreign, excellent films as those of HONG SANG SOO? How can we suggest new business models to those interested in making culture, in general, and foreign movies in particular, as attractive and as popular as pop corn ? (Well, that IS a stretch. But as popular as whole wheat bread???)

TEAMING BUSINESS AND THE ARTIS/THE ARTIST

Business can learn from the arts – the examples are too numerous to mention. Whether you learn to develop new models for team work and for leadership, or you adopt new types of communication and even social ethics, to make your business and product attractive to your customers..

The arts can learn from business to ‘market’ themselves to wider audiences not by ‘dumbing down’ but by being inventive, as Mr. Gelb is demonstrating.

Above all , I would remind us all to heed Roosevelt’s famous saying:

We Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself.

When we are steeped in fear, creativity shrivels.

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All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott, Ph.D..

LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS

Thursday, March 8, 2007

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 4

FIRST HAND REPORTS

MAKING AN OLD ART FORM ATTRACIVE TO YOUNG AUDIENCES

I was personally in attendance both for the celebrated SEASON'S Opening, the Season Opera Madame Butterfly , directed by the film director, Anthony Minghella.

It was a feast for the eye, as well as for the ear.

It was a dance performance (with traditional Japanese dance elements, costumes and props).

It was a theatrical performance, with the singers giving time and attention to slight facial expression changes, slight movements of head and hand, to details of voice intonation in speech, as well as in the singing.

Paradoxically, the very strong use of Japanese elements – such as kabuki theatre movements and makeup, puppets, and traditional clothing - made this production much more modern and immediate. .

I also attended the performance of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute, directed by the talented theatre director Julie Taymor. Who is famous, of course, for her direction of The Lion King on Broadway.
How ‘popular’ can you get ?

I love her work, by the way, and for me, ‘popular art’ is NOT a derogatory term.

Moreover, using these elements from the popular forms is part of the ingenius as well as Genius Marketing Vision of Gelb – reaching out in different ways to the Young Audience, in order to cultivate and build the future audience for the Metropolitan Opera in New York in particular, but also for Opera in general.

In a thoughtful and inventive attempt to make the opera more accessible to people who are not used to this art form, the Magic Flute was sung in English.

And it was cut to a shorter 100 minute length, as a special draw for kids ranging from 8 to 18 (from what I observed during that matinee performance on a Saturday afternoon) – the audience of the future.

Remember, we are talking about the people of the sound byte. The people of the instant messenger and text messaging. The people of Short is sweet.

It was also a colorful, delightful fiesta - a public celebration of music, dance, sight, sound, and more.


There was true magic in Taymor’s weaving together of old and new elements: incredibly modern and symbolic use of revolving sets, and old style Dancing bears, flying birds, and even a giant serpent.
The clowns of the circus of yore met and waltzed with the abstract art of today. And in that dance, they came into diverse combinations. They harmonized with each other; they counter-pointed one another; they clashed.

Above all, the sum was greater than the parts.

The adults as well as the children of all ages in the audience were focused and entranced during this almost 2-hour long carnival. The fact that they rarely moved around, and kept consistently silent, told me that they were all mesmerized.
You know how rambunctious kids can be - even in the most arresting movie.

But not during this Magic Flute. It was true magic, for us all.

I can easily see this production affecting young people of all social strata and backgrounds, due to the use of non-verbal , universal, archetypal symbols.

HERE IS A PERSONAL WISH: Mr. Gelb, extend the reach of this opera, in its magic production, to the diverse audience of kids and teens of all races, ethnicities and colors throughout the five boroughs.

How: by inviting the kids, or making tickets accessible financially and literally to kids, in all the five boroghs whose parents cannot pay for the tickets.

If you have your own wishlist here, let me know, OK?

After all, magic is in the air, isn't it ?


All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.

LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 3

IN BUSINES AS IN CULTURE, IT PAYS TO BE CREATIVE

EXAMPLES

Take a look at Netflicks And take a look at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Both have been following business solutions that are completely ‘counter-intuitive’, which is another term for non-linear in our highly linear- thinking western world.

NETFLICKS

The success of Netflicks, based largely on its early and consistent avoidance of the old model of ‘a store selling product,’ is illuminated when you read Beessman’s detailed discussion of how many difficulties attended the retail selling of DVDs, and of the wholesale marketing of DVDs through the large retailers.

Instead, examine the tactics Netflicks has chosen, again and again, and you discover a creative, inventive mind at work. Continuously creating alliances and partnership with Netflicks' customers (wish list), with its vendors, and with other businesses (ICF), that are involved in providing the ‘arts/films/DVDs’ to a greater and growing client base.

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

The Metropolitan Opera is an even more interesting example.

More interesting not because I love Opera, which I do.

But because The Metropolitan Opera has long operated as a stodgy, linear enterprise.

<>And because EVERYONE has been forecasting the Death of Opera as a viable, self sustaining

enterprise or art form
(that is, popular and salable to the masses).

The Death of Opera seemed imminent - At least as far as selling Opera to the larger public was

concerned.

THE GENERAL MANAGER AS AN ARTIST

Enters a new General Manager, Peter Gelb , with a broad view of the whole array of arts.

And he begins to create a cross-pollination between the High Art of opera, and other, more ‘popular’ (that is, ‘lowly’) arts.

He chose to bring movie makers to direct the operas; to bring simulcasts of the opera to radio and video.

And then experimented in SIMULTANEOUSLY staging/distributing the MOVIE VERSION of the operas playing at the MET to selected movie theatres throughout the US and throughout the world.

Let me tell you, the first season is not over yet, yet the results are overwhelmingly successful.

WIN/WIN for EVERYONE

The interesting fact I heard on the news is that not one, but two things occurred.

First, the broadcast of Opera in movie form supported a larger than usual ticket sales volume for each of the Operas produced and playing at the Met.

In addition, a second, unexpected bonus:

In cities where the movie version of an opera playing at the MET has been shown, ticket sales To the Local Oprea Houses have risen !

Which means that yoking the Celestial Opera Form and the Earthly movie form is a successful undertaking for everyone concerned.

My favorite Win/Win formula.

What does it tell you all ?


All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.

LESSONS 4 CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS? Part 2

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part 2

CREATING AN OPPORTUNITY OUT OF A CRISIS

To play on a famous Chinese term, which connotes both ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ – what will enable a business to turn a crisis into an opportunity ?

A little bit later, I will point to two current examples that show to what extent a successful business is built first and foremost when the driving force is Creative Thinking, or Creative Problem Solving.

For now, take a look.

The buzz words, INNOVATION, INVENTIVENESS, and their terrible step sibling, Thinking Out of the Box, do have a valid point.

If you want to discover viable, successful strategies to overcoming great business obstacles, you cannot think in a simple, linear fashion. (BTW, check ‘linear thinking’ and ‘non-linear thinking’ by Googling it online. You will be enlightened…)

One of the great things that I have learned over the years - by absorbing various forms of Far Eastern thought, philosophy, arts, and religion - was to value the ‘non-linear’ approach as an important tool for the business leader’s tool kit.

Sometimes, you have to see the value of inverting the linear into the non-linear perspective: Small is Beautiful. Less is More.. Fast is Slow, Slow is Fast.

THE NON-LINEAR APPROACH

In fact, one of my clients aced his second GMAT – after getting a very low score on the first round – by repeating my slogan at the beginning of each 2-minute segment allotted to answering a single question:

‘Go Slow, you Get there Faster.’

In ALL the past trial tests, and in the actual first GMAT round, he was constantly short of time, and his score was low.

At the end of this second GMAT go- round, he raised his score by a hugely substantial number of points. But in addition, as he screamed at me jubilantly over the phone, he also had an unexpected bonus: more than ample time to complete his replies .

“ I raised the score to XYZ” he yelled , laughing and crying; “And you are not going to believe this: I had time left over in each question, at least 20, sometimes 30 seconds. I had time to review, to regroup. Unbelievable.”

In the first GMAT round, no Business School would look at his application.

After the second GMAT round, he had his pick of Business Schools.

And he chose The London School of Economics.

Who ever said that non-linear solutions do not bring good business results ?

It becomes especially handy when the odds seem very unfavorable to ‘our side.’
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Want to hear how some current organizations are implementing non-linera solutions to turn

<>a crisis into an opprotunity ?

Come back for the next segment.

Have a glorious day !

All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.


LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Monday, March 5, 2007

THE FATE OF ‘OBSCURE DVDs’ – LESSONS for CULTURE + BUSINESS SUCCESS ?

Part !

Introduction

I set out to write a short blog, and ended with a longer one.

I therefore decided to post it in five separate segments.

To make it easier on you to read and - hopefully - savor it.

Dr. Dinnah

The New York Times, Arts and Leisure Section, Sunday March 4, 2007. Two disparate items caught my eye, and mind, and heart.

On page 4, in FILM, A.O. Scott informed us that a new DVD will appear of the 2004 “WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN”. The Korean director of that film, HONG SANG SOO, we are told, “belongs to a fast-growing category of international filmmakers, masters at the height of their powers, who remain almost entirely unknown in the United States.”

THE DOWNTURN IN DVD BUSINESS

On page 14, Bryan Reesman places a Title or Heading that does not do justice to his detailed, and thought provoking discussion of the DVD business difficulties: “For Obscure DVDs, A Precarious Future.’

He enumerates the various forms in which the DVD business has been stymied and economically hammered.

He also reminds us that in the beginning, DVDs provided renewed life to old artsy movies, and to various forms of films that do not fall into the ‘mainstream.’

He raises the business question:

who will be able to supply interested buyers with movies, old or new, that belong to those very special or specific ‘niches’ (‘obscure’ is his term ) ?

He also raises a larger question: What will happen to American Culture, already largely homogenized, when the small companies that have given DVD form to the quirky movies can no longer do so ? How will it be possible to interrupt the flattening influence of the major studios and large retail stores ?

FOREIGN MOVIES ARE MY HOBBY

Disclosure:

I LOVE foreign movies, and have a special soft spot for Korean, Chinese, and Japanese movies.

I am also very interested in the dialogue between movies and culture.AND between movies and business.

WHAT’S THE KEY TO A BUSINESS’S SUCCESS?

There is however a central question that keeps coming up for me.

I am a Business Development and Executive Coach because I am always studying the answer to the questions: what makes a business succeed ?

In the discussion of ‘Obscure DVDs’, there seemed to be only one business option or outcome: down down down we go.

Yet my experience leads me to observe the elements relating to a second, sister question:: ‘What will enable a business to succeed in a given situation, when others do not ?’

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All Rights Reserved C 2007 Dinnah G. Pladott , Ph. D.

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