What would YOU do if you ran a film studio?

A five point challenge for all FilmStack authors

please, just cut off some limbs!

I have been dreaming of different books I could help curate and edit by my favorite film writers on Substack.

You probably are not surprised, but I have a list (both topics and authors) for this. The basic idea is that I’d pick a topic I’d like to see explored, assign different fave writers different aspects of that topic to explore, collect them in a boldly designed and bound package (aka a book), and publish it directly ourselves.

Maybe we do this every six months. Each new edition has a different color so they look nice next to each other on the shelf. They are limited editions, perhaps hand numbered, growing in value for the collectors, and provided you are a “Founding Member Subscriber” to one of the authors you get a free copy sent directly to you mailbox to hold and cherish. What do you think? You in?

Today’s challenge is just a warm up exercise; I don’t expect it holds enough juice to reach actual bookhood, but maybe you’ll surprise me. And besides, I find it fun; perhaps you will too.

I’d like you to personally publish your answer this month, but the truth is that’s a false deadline. Publish your answer whenever you wish, and please paste the link to it in the comment section below so all of us can easily find it. I will do my best to share and forward your answers too.

Here goes…

I personally like the idea that we are taking over an existing studio, with some legacy businesses and a streaming arm. I know you’d do something different if we were a true start-up, but we can explore that later. For now, we’ve been given such a company.

Since all of this is a dream, you can decide what businesses they are in or not. Make some big choices, but you can only display five. That’s the limit. We are all bound by just five. And to play into my way of working and writing, once you begin writing, you can not take more than an hour. It’s a warm up before breakfast. Or is it lunch? Dinner?

Ready? Go!

Okay, okay. I’ll go first, but perhaps next time I just throw out the prompt and we all hand in the assignment the next day? FWIW it took me 45 minutes to write the 5 points below. I had to drink a bit of coffee along the way. Maybe a scotch would have been better, but the sun had yet to rise, so…

I should also point out that I did this exercise a couple of weeks ago, back before any of us heard of the leadership change at Amazon (or elsewhere).

I am putting my answer behind the paywall to limit “cheating” but if you post your answer in the comments or where I see it, I’ll gift you a paid one for a month. And of course if you are having financial hardship, just drop me a note and I will gift you a premium subscription anytime.

---

If you took over an existing (fictitious film company), what five things would you do to drive it to success?

Me (Ted):

1. Stand for something. None of the companies currently stand for anything. We’d say what we mean and mean what we say. We’d respect the process, the author, and the relationships. New Co would stand for boldly authored work that furthers our love and devotion for the cinematic experience.

After publishing this, I realized I had previously published some recommendations on a studio mission before. I share it now in case you want to explore:

FAIR. SAFE. INNOVATIVE. FUN. And a whole lot more!