The Quest for Original Content

Something puzzling is happening in Hollywood: executives seem to think that only a few people with a big track record can produce good content, and this pushes the pay-off of established producers and creators through the roof.

I would think that for those insane sums you could try out a whole flock of new talent and discover a new voice that will produce and create what comes after the long-running superhero streak begins to fade - which will happen, because nothing stays on forever.

Where does original content come from? Usually it comes from a single person. It is born out of a single mind and has gone through the shaping force of a strong personality. Creativity is the force that appears at the intersection of intellect, experience, and personality. None of those three moments can ever be separated from the other.

Which is why you cannot farm and harvest talent, only discover them after they have shaped themselves and erupted as a force of nature.

New things start with new faces. They don't have to be young, as you need life experience to truly create something new. But they have to be highly individualistic forces of nature, disconnected from any business that can easily assume a collectivist nature and smother new ideas.

Fresh voices, like fresh wind, always comes from outside.

So i'm astonished why there is so much money spent on established people, when you could simply go outside the established networks, and find people who develop new directions of storytelling, and new themes. Of course, in order to recognize great, new talent, you have to be a great talent and a daring and unadjusted, highly individualistic force of nature yourself. And this could be where the crux of the matter lies.

Background reading: fact article at bloomberg about record pay-outs to high profile producers and content creators: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-04/netflix-is-forcing-hollywood-into-a-talent-war