I flinched even the first time I heard the phrase “TV executives have no imagination.”
Now I’ll tell you what’s up.
I’ve heard variations over and over and it’s nonsense. Here are some people that have “no imagination…”
- Studio heads
- TV Producers
- Casting Agents
- Teachers
- Networks
- Marketing clients
- Bookers
- Publishers
The logic of this phrase stems from the fact that we can’t present partial work to a gatekeeper and get a pat on the back, or an accomplished mission ribbon, or sell the completed work. Since we can’t show them a quarter of a pizza and ask them to bet on the rest of the pizza, they must have no imagination.
They’re imagining your failure.
These people are insanely creative and insanely imaginative. Even if they weren’t there isn’t such a thing as a person with no imagination.
What they are imagining is the millions of decisions that are left. Chances are, those decisions will be bad decisions. 99.99% of stuff sucks. The whole point of entertainment is to entertain. Even after all the decisions are made and the product is out there, will it work? Will it entertain? Probably not.
When we ask someone to back us based on partial work, we’re basically saying, “Hey! Bet on this race horse. It’s brown. Look at this leg muscle. It has a cool name.”
ME ME ME
People tell me to book a comedian. They say, “this lady right here is funny. You gotta book her.” Well great, but I want her to directly send me a video of exactly the act she wants to do. Here are a few of the unknowns that I immediately imagine sight-unseen based on a recommendation.
- does she want to do my show?
- does she know what the show is?
- does she care about doing a good job?
- is she consistent?
- is her material in line with our show?
- what’s her presence like on stage?
- how does an audience respond?
- has she done enough shows to have a decent vid?
- is she actually funny?
The questions go on and on. As a gatekeeper, my responsibility is to my audience and the other people I book. I’m risking that when I bet on an act.
Not all questions are answered when I get a good video, but it’s my way of helping me manage risk a little bit and make better bets.
Grant these people respect for their imaginations
Appreciating the imaginations of everyone we collaborate / communicate with can help us understand that we don’t know what they think and can give us more patience and more fortitude in bridging the gap.