September 23rd, 2022

Hello, and welcome back to the regular edition of the?Dispatch.

A few years old, but this talk from MAD Symposium 6 is as powerful today as it was in 2018. In fact, I am prompted to post this after sharing a meal with Shaun Christie-David , founder of Plate it Forward , an organisation established with the purpose of "reinventing equal opportunity by providing food, education and employment where opportunity isn’t equal". I was telling him about being in the tent with close to five hundred people, all sitting in silence, as Arthur Karuletwa told his story, and the story of so many others, of surviving the Rwandan genocide of his people and murder of his family and subsequently being stripped of his identity. As an immigrant in America, Arthur has dedicated his life to preserving the identity of others, using coffee as a?source of healing and empowerment, points to what we eat and drink as a reflection of our identity and culture, and something we must understand to better act as agents of global development. Arthur is an extraordinary and inspiring individual. Follow and support him and his team's work if you can.

After last week's news from Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, we need to shine more spotlights on people creating change, real change, in the work they do.

There will be more of this in this feed moving forward.

On to this week's Dispatch.

What I've Been Reading

“Purpose is not usually the path to greater profits and better growth. That handy, na?ve, entirely specious narrative needs to end. The purpose of purpose is purpose. You deliver it because you believe in it. You deliver it even when it costs you something – everything, even your whole company.” Mark Ritson nails it again.

"How do we live with the weight of this history? How do we not fall prey to soul-destroying vengeance and resentment, yet never relent in our righteous demand for justice?" This is an extraordinary read from Stan Grant about things that we need to talk about.

“I hope that in the future, documentarians, and I include myself in this, will continue to resist the straitjacket of formulas and find ways to do interesting work. In other words, my concern for the future is freedom of expression. And the only way to push back on that is to be prepared to do it for less money.” Alex Gibney talks to Mia Galuppo and Katherine Kilkenny about rising costs, ethical lapses and the very soul of documentary making.

“There could be a time in our future where copyright law, technology, and ideas around intellectual property come together to make a healthy system. In the meantime, busy bee, protect your creations and creative spirit, own your work wherever possible, and understand that your art has a multitude of values in our world, some measurable, many not.” I have spent my career working with creative people - musicians, film and television producers, writers, chefs - and tried with various levels of success - to champion them, their creativity, and help them realise the value in their work. This message from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, alias of the U.K.-born, L.A.-based producer Orlando Higginbottom, is everything. It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in, or which side of the table you sit in, please read. Thanks for sharing?Billboard .

“For anyone who is still dismissing or ridiculing women’s sports, you are now an outlier. Great read from Nancy Armour on the rise and rise of women's sports.

What I've Been Listening To

Have just discovered My Other Podcast from Ernest Baker and the team at Front Office Sports , and this was a great episode to jump in on, looking at the business of fandom and pop culture with Funko 's Brian Mariotti . Now, just need to get the 30 Rock Pop!.

It’s never been easier for artists to release music and find an audience in any corner of the world. Likewise, it’s never been more difficult for artists to break through the noise. The Internet and streaming services have created a double-edged sword for rising artists. A great chat between Dan Runcie and Tatiana Cirisano about music's over-saturation problem.

Born Clifford Joseph Price, Goldie was brought up in care homes and with foster families in the west Midlands. After establishing himself as a graffiti artist, he began to make dance music and, with his 1995 debut album Timeless, was a pioneer of the drum’n’bass sounds, and one of the seminal figures in the modern club and electronic movement.

Another week, another appearance of Uncomfortable Conversations. In this week's episode, Josh Szeps debates Tyson Yunkaporta , the founder of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University and host of "The Other Others" podcast, about "the far right, the woke left, structural racism, acknowledgments-of-country, and conspiracy thinking in Aboriginal communities".

Great doubleheader edition of Strictly Business featuring interviews with Kareem Daniel , chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, and Jason Blum and Abhijay Prakash , the top brass at genre juggernaut Blumhouse. Two great conversations with Cynthia Littleton and Andrew Wallenstein about the future of the movie business.

On one hand, we have a booming Creator Economy, with an ever-expanding democratisation of tools for production to anyone with an idea. Yet on the other hand, we seem to have also found ourselves culturally stunted. What gives? This is a great conversation between Ben Dietz and Matt Klein about reboots and the long tail, and the state of the media and entertainment industrial complex.

That's it for another week.

As always, thanks for the support and welcome this week's new followers and subscribers.

Keep me posted on what you're reading, watching, and listening to, and enjoy your weekend wherever this dispatch finds you.

Ben