Item of Note.

My 6th producer credit just went up on IMDB.

With a little bit of luck, #7 just might shock the world.


Stay tuned....

Looking back ...

Trivia - the first snare drummer on the left, is me.

Entertainment Industry Networking - Theory 7

Once upon a time back in San Francisco, it dawned on me that the entertainment industry is a relationship-built business, and I was unfortunately hundreds of miles far from most of the action .... faaaaaaaaast forward ... I made the move to Los Angeles in 2004, aka ground zero of the industry.

When I arrived that October, I had no job, no LA clients, and a grand total of "one" entertainment industry contact, Evil Claudia, who was with US Weekly at the time. Frankly, it was exciting, and maybe even a little scary. I did have, however, a comprehensive entertainment industry business and marketing plan that I had worked on for over a year, and I immediately made networking one of the fundamental pillars of that plan.

As part of the plan, I do seven entertainment networking events a month. An event could be a movie screening, a lunch, a Bar seminar, a party, seeing a client's band perform in The Viper Room, whatever. Tonight, the event is a dinner meeting in Century City of the steering committee of SubScreen, the motion picture section of the LA Bar.

My goal at any networking event is to have a good time, learn as much as I can, and meet as many people as possible, with complete indifference for who they are or what they can do for my career. Yes, you read that correctly. Whether I meet Paris Hilton or the guy from Iowa who just got here to intern for free for Capitol Records, it doesn't matter to me in terms of the networking theory. Things change at lightspeed in LA, and you never know what any given person is going to be doing a year from now anyway.

The other fundamental pillar of the networking theory is to treat exactly everyone the same, whether they are the CEO of a major film studio or the musician handing out French Fries at Jack in the Box.
Truth be told, I plan to get to the top of this game --- but I didn't come here to kiss anyone's *ss to get there, and I certainly didn't come here to kick people down either. In sticking to this approach, the downside is that there will be certain people in the industry who are used to being patronized by others, and some of those people may not want to work with you. So what. On the other hand, it has also been my experience that this unified approach to networking often helps build trust and a solid working relationship faster, as people know that you are not there just to tell them what they want to hear.

As an entertainment lawyer, I frankly didn't have that great of an experience in San Francisco. I always felt like something was missing (which, in fact, was my entertainment law career, lol). As the story goes, I came to LA to play the game, so to speak, on a world class level and have fun in the process. Yes, I know lawyers don't often use the word "fun" when it comes to work, but so what -- I do. Since I got to LA, I really enjoy my work. Which IMO, is the whole point.

Not sure where this long, rambling note on a Thursday is going, lol ... but thanks for reading anyway.



Lee

http://www.drumlaw80.com

My Dog Buzz --

With Cecile, my French attorney pal ... Prague 1997.

Hyping. Over the last few weeks, I have quietly taken significant steps forward in my career. With each passing day, I am growing more and more convinced that I am about to hit the ball out of the park.

Politics 101

And the most amusing politician award goes to ... Washington DC city councilman Marion Barry, who held a hastily scheduled press conference at 11:00 p.m. last night to address allegations that he had improperly put his ex-girlfriend on the city payroll, only to have it interrupted by the appearance of a screaming ex-girlfriend.

Dark Woods ... gets some more press.

International Entertainment 101. I spent a great deal of time in law school trying to decide whether to pursue international or entertainment law. Somehow, I figured out how to do both. In the last few weeks, I've worked on agreements to license films from Japan, the distribution of a film in the Middle East, a theatrical release in Canada, the world premiere of an opera in England, and the production of a motion picture in Malaysia. A doo run run run, a doo run run.

The San Francisco Renegades have their annual LA tour this weekend. I'm excited to see everyone, since it will be the first time I've actually seen the corps since I taught them at the DCA Championships last September. I have a meeting on Saturday morning, and plan to meet the corps at the show later that day and hang out for the rest of the weekend. Let the chaos begin. :)

I watched most of the Michael Jackson memorial today. It was a very moving memorial service to a musical genius. Only time will tell as to what music from today that people will still listen to in 50 or 100 years, but I suspect his tunes will make the cut.

This note on fark.com about a new musical project made me laugh out loud --

United Airlines breaks musician's $3500 guitar, refuses to accept responsibility and fix it. Musician promises to write and produce three songs about his experience and make videos. Here is video #1.

Episode #6 -- I had lunch with Wolf today, and we selected August 8, 2009 for the next entertainment industry Dinner Club 7, with the cuisine this time being Japanese. Location tba (soon).