We’re possibly getting back to doing shoulder-to-shoulder live shows. I mean, responsible producers are getting back to it. Some people never stopped.
People talking about “returning to normal” always made me feel creepy MAGA vibes. I don’t want anything to return to normal. I don’t want anything to return to anything. We’ve come thru a year and we’ve learned a lot and grown a lot as a civilization. We made and released a vaccine in less than a year! We changed so much stuff about the world! Here’s some stuff that I hope happens coming up for entertainment…
- Online entertainment gets better. We’ve had a chance for online entertainment to grow at warp speed since the lockdown. I think online video platforms will have more ways to interact, I think online entertainment will tap into other styles of content (like Clubhouse).
2. Hybrid gets better. Most stage shows will develop a streaming option. Streaming will be a different experience, but still valid for so many remote people.
3. Showbiz companies will get more efficient. It’s gonna be forced on us to find how to use remote workers, streamline casting, automate more, and find alternatives to old processes.
4. Being “the best” will be different. As the world gets more accessible and “content” becomes less valuable, audiences will know their options better than ever before. The best entertainment anyone can find will not necessarily be the best for everyone, or even the best for any of their friends. We’ll be able to find what works for us as individuals and we’ll feel like we deserve it. This will not eliminate group activities, but will make the group activities more about the group and less about the activity.
5. Customization will be crazy. We’ll start looking for customization, interaction, personalization, and malleability in everything. Someone’s going to be willing to provide it and we’re gonna know that we can look for it.
6. Audiences will have a toughness. It won’t necessarily be the case that audiences will be more difficult, but they know more now. They know what they can survive, and what they want better than before. They also know their own resiliency and this might lead to a confidence to not follow old patterns.
7. Everyone will be more prepared. Audiences and creators will be prepared for more pandemic type stuff. We’ll be watching out and figuring out how to enjoy precious moments, but looking around the corner.
8. Generous creators will thrive. People are being called out for who they are. We as a society are no longer trusting that someone in the spotlight is necessarily spotless. Generous creators who are sensitive to others and want to improve the world will be seen for their hearts. It will be obvious and they will be rewarded with the chance to give more.
9. Everyone will be used. There will be many people uplifting marginalized groups. We will spread privilege out and encourage all members of the world to participate and joyfully share what they have. Entertainment will finally get the guts to lead the way in more racial and other diversity — first as a consumer response, then as a social response, and finally a default economic response. We can all make more progress when everyone’s a part of it. Because of this, we’ll hear new voices and our entertainment will become more human and honest.