Surviving in Los Angeles by Mark Edward Lewis

Things L.A. Natives Know that Transplants Don’t

November 8th, 2009

At some point in the city of Los Angeles, during the month of April, a lot of people get soaked. Usually the transplants to the city. The Natives know better. We know something that Transplants don’t. We know that there is always another rain in April. So we carry that umbrella around for an extra month. You won’t see us wet, because we’ve lived here long enough to know that it’s coming. It always surprises everyone else. “I’ve never seen rain in April here!” “It never rains this late in the year!” Sure it does. Every year. And, every year, it surprises everyone who moved here from New York, Chicago or Walla Walla.

This blog is a brief listing of things that you Transplants may not know that we Natives know about our city of Angels, the people that live in it, the weather, the film business, and the spirit of the great “valley of the smokes.”

1. There is always one more rain in April.

2. Orange County is the hub of the true California Blonde.

3. There’s free beach parking opposite LAX.

4. Don’t get in a doorway during an earthquake, lie down next to your couch.

5. Malibu homes slide into the sea in February and Topanga Canyon/La Canada burns in September…every year.

6. If the wind is from the East, it will be Santa Ana conditions. If the wind is from the North it will be cold. If the wind is from the South there will be a storm within 24-36 hours. If the wind is from the west it will feel like Los Angeles should.

7. L.A. has the highest per capita population of gorgeous Transplant women, complaining about how they can’t find good single men. It’s the only place in the world where you can have a room filled with striking 35 year old women, all single, never married, and talking about this problem. It’s not that they can’t find good single men. They’re everywhere. No, gorgeous Transplants don’t realize that they’re turning down the advances of the good guys in the hope that a bigger and richer producer will discover them and date them. I know. Ouch. But tell me it isn’t so!

8. You can get into Disneyland from Disneyland Hotel and take the monorail.

9. As the sole passenger in your car, you can use the diamond lane for onramps to the freeways when the traffic light is off. Don’t use them if the light is on…even if it’s steady green!

10. Most of the smog in L.A. is natural. The Indians declared this land “the Valley of the Smokes” long before there was any significant population here.

11. On the whole, first generation Mexicans (whether legal or not) are family oriented, trustworthy people. In many cases, second generation Mexicans are the opposite.

12. People who tell you how wonderful their credits are, how many high-level people they know, and much money they have, on the whole, have none of the above.

13. More often than not, when a man who drives a Gallardo, has a house in the Pacific Palisades, wears a Versace suit and flashes a piano key smile is compared with the homeless person at Hollywood and Vine, the homeless person will have a net worth in excess of $500,000 greater than the Hollywood slime ball.

14. Hollywood networking doesn’t really happen at Hollywood mixers. Hollywood networking happens on the golf course.

15. You can always tell the real homeless beggars from the fake ones. Look at their shoes.

16. A limousine gets you into clubs, studios, estates and in trouble. But depending on your driving habits and car choice, it’s nearly cheaper to get rid of your car and use a limousine to go where you need to…especially if you factor in your hourly rate and traffic.

17. It is perfectly legal to carry a gun in plain view with loaded magazines on your person as long as there are no bullets in the gun.

18. You don’t need a post office box or even a physical address to have mail delivered to you. You can have it sent “General Delivery” to your local post office under your name. There, they will keep it secure and safe for 30 days until you request it with your ID. Sometimes, this is the safest way to have secure mail delivered (like film prints or otherwise) when you are out of town or your office is closed.

19. The best place to “pick up” the most beautiful L.A. women is not at the local club scene. It’s at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

20. The iPhone is the most wonderful phone on the planet…and attached to the worst cell phone carrier in the world. “More Bars In More Places” or MBIMP (pronounced Mah-Bimp) is the common introduction to the regular redailed number from a dropped AT&T call.

Do put your Native secrets in the comments section below.

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IMDB for the Independent Movie Dream Believer

November 8th, 2009

So, you’re an independent filmmaker. You’ve got dreams. You’ve got game. You’ve got talent. You’ve also got some great scripts that you’ve turned into shorts or webisodes or features. You’re trying to parlay your credit-card-bill-hiked success into getting an agent, a paying directing gig, or even to just have better credits.

Sure, you can put whatever you want on your resume, but no one really looks at resumes any more. If you submit for a directing job, what do most executive producers and investors look at? IMDB.com. It has become the most ridiculous de-facto standard for “correct” information on the film industry working population. Even more than your verifiable movie credits, if they’re not on IMDB, they don’t exist, and if your list of credits on your page is small, no one will want you.

It’s the same kind of phenomenon that has brainwashed society regarding Wikipedia.com. It’s the simplest and most exhaustive resource of user-proclaimed-accurate encyclopedic information on the planet. Is it, in fact, accurate? Who knows! There’s no one there to police it! Moreover, if someone pipes up and mentions that something may be inaccurate, it’s ten times harder to get that inaccurate information removed than to add inaccurate information. Such is the identical case with IMDB.com.

What makes the scenario of IMDB intolerable, however, is that, unlike the encyclopedic replacement of a world’s consciousness, IMDB determines the life and career of thousands of people directly. If the website had some kind of oversight regarding the information it puts on its site, then perhaps it might earn it’s faux legitimacy. But, in all their wisdom, and in order to prevent “misinformation from being made rampant across the site,” IMDB staff chose to limit the input of new “illegitimate” projects, otherwise known as independent productions, instead of policing the information it has on its servers. The obvious problem being that filmmakers find themselves possessing completed projects that IMDB will not post at all.

Case in point: one of my friends had a wonderful action short film that had its own website where DVDs, shirts, and merchandizing could be purchased, but because it had not been placed on any festival’s homepage and because it had no distribution, IMDB repeatedly refused to list it. Was this a legitimate film? Of course. But IMDB policy denies legitimate films and rewards potential misinformation.

So, what are we independent filmmakers supposed to do? There are two ways of getting legitimacy for the IMDB screeners: distribution; film festival screening. There’s nearly no chance that a no budget, no-star film can receive a distribution deal out of the gate. With film festivals repeatedly rejecting good films because they were unknown to the benefactor-behind-the-scenes studio, how does an upstart filmmaker get his movie seen at a festival and subsequently legitimized by an IMDB page?

The good news is that I’ve found a couple of ways.

First, you can easily get your short or feature mass produced, pay to have a UPC code made for the DVD, t-shirt, or other merchandize, and then either set up a website were visitors can purchase said items that has no hint of connection to the movie site, or get Amazon.com to sell said items. IMDB will almost certainly list the title in that case.

However, I’ve found a much easier win-win-win solution: Withoutabox.com. What is WAB.com? It’s a web service that allows filmmakers to input the information, credits, format, press kits, production photos and more into the WAB database. Once input, the filmmaker can easily search the WAB exhaustive listing of worldwide festivals. Once a desirable festival is found, the filmmaker digitally submits all aspects of the film (sometimes including the film screener itself) and then pays for the festival’s submission fee. It is possible for a filmmaker to make an entire submission without having to mail anything. Genius. Especially for filmmakers who want to submit a film to many festivals at once.

What does this have to do with IMDB listings? Well, it just so happens that Withoutabox.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMDB.com. AND Withoutabox.com even has a search criteria for festivals that are “partners” with IMDB such that if you successfully submit a film to those festivals, IMDB will AUTOMATICALLY give you a title page! That’s right! The festival doesn’t even have to accept your film to screen it. Merely a correct submission based on the festival’s guideless will grant you the coveted IMDB title page for your film.

Moreover, if you use Withoutabox.com to submit your page (and festival submissions) you can submit trailers, outtakes, EPK and even the entire film in streaming media formats, and IMDB will happily attach them to your title page for all IMDB visitors to view. This is great news.

At long last, the independent filmmaker can have their credits properly displayed on their all-important IMDB page without having to deal with IMDB red-tape. Moreover, it simplifies the process of festival submission…which the independent filmmaker needs anyway. Win-win-win!

Now, am I getting paid for this announcement by IMDB or Withoutabox? Yes. The discovery of this little gem-of-a-process has led to several projects being posted on my page that had no chance of being there. I’d consider that payment.

Try it. See if it works for you. Now, I will say that withoutabox.com is one of the most complicated and difficult websites to navigate, but once you spend a little time navigating, it becomes understandable. So, for all those filmmakers who can be defined as Independent Movie Dream Believers, IMDB now happily supports and can even forward that dream.

If you have other ways of getting your films on IMDB.com, put them in the comments at the end of this blog.

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The L.A. Rulebook: Hollywood Speak Defined

August 6th, 2009

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m that rareity that was born and raised in the greater Los Angeles area. Yes, I was too stupid to leave. Whenever I find someone like myself it’s like long lost siblings uniting for a moment. Most of the folks that work here in Hollywood, however, came here on a wing and a prayer and are now working as a waiter or funding X-men 8. They bring with them all of the cultural distinctions which very quickly get squashed by the steamroller that is the so-called land-of-fruits-and-nuts culture. Some call it flaky. Some call it crazy. Some call it sinful. I call it foreign. That’s right, foreign. For those of us who were born and raised here, the whole flaky culture thing doesn’t resonate as “true” Angelino. No, it’s an import. I’m not sure how it was developed, but those of us who are natives have a whole different mindset around integrity and “being your word.” So, we can spot Hollywood Speak a mile away and over the course of our lives, we’ve developed the ever-coveted secret rulebook about what it all means. If you don’t know the code, then you’re likely to excited about something for no reason or feel depressed about something else when it’s all going your way.

I’ve enclosed a brief dictionary of Hollywood Speak phrases and words and contrasted them with LA Native speakers’ definitions. My caveat, of course, is that this is hugely sweeping and generalized, and not every non-native is flaky and shallow. But it’s good to know the buzzwords just in case…because even natives can fall prey to the Hollywood Speak trap.

(H for Hollywood definition, N for Native definition)

  • Thanks for Coming By:
    • (H) “That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings, because someday you might be a big producer, and I might need work from you. As soon as you leave, this script/headshot/whatever is going in the trash.”
    • (N) “That was a great beer and great conversation. Oh, yeah, and I look forward to seeing you again. Maybe, if you work in Hollywood like me, we’ll work on the same show!”
  • I’ve Been Busy:
    • (H) “A lot of other things have a LOT more importance than you. I just happened to look at my ‘not important’ to do list and saw that I owed you a call, but I’m not moving anything forward. If I were really interested, you couldn’t get rid of me.”
    • (N) “I’m really sorry that I haven’t been in touch.” If dating, refer to (H) definition.
  • Flake:
    • (H) What everyone else is, and I’m not, since everyone else is incompetent.
    • (N) all definitions to be avoided:
      • Something that makes a bad cereal
      • Something that Head & Shoulders should cure
      • Someone that you can count on to never do what they say
  • I Liked It:
    • (H) “…but not enough to do anything about it. If I liked it enough to do something about it, I would have set up another meeting with my boss.”
    • (N) “…let’s read/see/hear it again!”
  • Let’s Do Lunch:
    • (H) “I don’t have time to talk with you, because you’re a pee-on. This way, you’ll have to get through my brick wall assistant to talk to me again.”
    • (N) “I know a great place on Wilshire and Robertson. Wednesday?”
  • I Totally Forgot:
    • (H) “…how bad I feel when I don’t return calls from people I don’t care about. I’m dissolving some of my guilt by letting you know that I’m busy.” (refer to “I’m too busy” above)
    • (N) “Indeed, I was too busy and didn’t remember. Let’s reschedule.”
  • Sorry I’m Late:
    • (H) “I’m trying to show you that I’m too important for you. In fact, I need to leave early to go somewhere important. It’s a good thing I can use traffic as an excuse.”
    • (N) “Yes, something was more important that showing up on time (or planning), but I’m happy to stay later to make sure that we get our business done.”
  • I’ll Call You:
    • (H) “If you’re silly enough to believe me on this one, then you really should stay a waiter.”
    • (N) “I’ll need your number, though.” When dating, refer to (H) definition.
  • Do You Have a Card?
    • (H) “I need to get out of this situation, and I don’t want to be rude and say that you’re boring me. Hopefully you’ll get the hint that I’m done with this conversation.”
    • (N) “I’m interested in what your business is about, because I think it can help me.”
  • That’s Okay, Don’t Worry About It (and you made a mistake):
    • (H) “…because I’m never going to hire someone like you again. I’m already looking in my Rolodex for a replacement.” This would only happen if you didn’t “clean up the mess” you may have made.
    • (N) “It’s no big deal. I’ve got plenty of space in my life to clean up the mess you made. It doesn’t rank against you in my book. I’ve done it too.”
  • I Understand… (when you’ve done something wrong):
    • (H) “…that you’re unprofessional enough to not do what you said you would do. Even though I never do, that doesn’t mean that I can’t rake you over the coals - behind your back - and be sweet to you in person. It’s more fun to keep you in the dark about what I’m really thinking than to actually tell you.”
    • (N) “I’ve done it (or not done it) too. I’ve got forgiveness for you. Just don’t do it again.”
  • I’ll Give it a Read/Look…
    • (H) “…When Hell freezes over…or when I’m not busy…which isn’t going to happen either. If I were really interested, I’d have scheduled a meeting.”
    • (N) “I’ll read the first 10 pages. Maybe the last page. If I like it I might read the rest. If I like that, I’ll call. I’ll probably read it within 3 weeks.”
  • If You’ll Have Dinner With Me, I’ll…
    • (H) “…try not to be too obvious about the fact that we’re just here so that I can get down your pants. Yes, I’m promising you an [important job here], but I’d only give it to someone with a brain. If you had a brain, you wouldn’t be here. Good for me.”
    • (N) Natives have better ways of picking up on hot women/men than the old standby Hollywood Lines. Why? Because we’ve grown up around the most beautiful people in the world. When we want to move forward, we tend to say so.
  • Dude:
    • (H) It’s unlikely that a Hollywood Speaker would use this in speech other than what they may have seen on television/movies. Thus, it usually has little meaning.
    • (N) Too many meanings to count. In fact, the word “Dude” can have the meaning of every exclammatory word in the English language. Try saying “Dude” in place of “hey,” “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?,”Awsome!,” Great Job,” Oh My God!,” “That’s incredible!,” “That’s disgusting!,” and every other kind of exclammation. Insure that you’re saying the word with the same emphasis and inflection as the original word or phrase it is replacing. The word, “Dude,” is the only part of the LA Native speak that requires the listener to hear the tone of the speaker to understand it. Conversely, regardless of what the Hollywood Speaker is saying linguistically, the only properties that should be regarded as indicative of meaning are the inflection, body language and other non-verbals.

Hopefully, this fun dive into Hollywood Speak hasn’t ruffled your feathers too much. It is, of course, somewhat tongue in cheek. Next time you start hearing these statements, do a double take and try applying some of these definitions. You may finally discover the Hollywood Speaker’s actions start following their words.

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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The Perils of Stunt Work and Why They’re Killing Your Industry Relationships

August 6th, 2009

Lest anyone think that I’m making all this up, yes I’m an award winning director. Yes I’m an award winning composer. And YES, I started on set as a stunt player specializing in sword stunts. Hey, no one is a specialist in Hollywood when you start out, right? I still do the odd stunt gig, because it’s fun, physical, and puts me in front of the camera again (which I love).

We all know that stunts are inherently dangerous. This is why we don’t allow our lead actors to do them. There also may be an insurance factor there…depending. So, stunt folks take on more danger in their on-set life. But more than this, especially with those of us who do close-in combat stunts and weapon work, we have to make it look dangerous without actually being inordinately dangerous. In fact, we learn quickly that the safer you are, usually the better and more dangerous it can look. But that’s not how it started for me.

See, I got the whole idea about using my stunt work as an “in” to the business, because I’d trained in martial arts for years. I thought that with all of my training, that I’d be perfect for on-screen combat. I mean, how much more training could I need than what I already had? Boy was I wrong. I signed up for some courses in how to do on-screen sword work thinking that I was going to be bored the whole time. After two-and-a-half years of stunt training, I learned a powerful insight that I’m going to share with you that affects every aspect of your life in Hollywood: relationship and conflicts.

Body mechanic. That’s right, body mechanic. It’s what your body tends to do without any conscious intervention. This includes any subconscious training that your mind may have received i.e. thousands of repetitions of something. In martial arts, that’s all we do. Practice the same moves over and over. And like a pianist learning a piece of music, the more perfect your practice the more powerfully the subconscious can automatically control your actions. After several years of near-perfect practice, my body only wanted to do one thing when in a physical confrontation: inflict pain. Lots of it. Trouble is, in stunt work, you don’t get to stay on set for very long if you keep knocking your partner out. In fact, you don’t even need to knock them out. Even the fear that someone is going to get hit again will ruin the rest of the takes, because they’ll be flinching and subconsciously ducking to avoid more pain. This makes the believability of the stunts untenable. So the last thing we want is to make painful contact with any stunt partner. In the end, it’ll make us look bad.

In my case, I hit an awful lot of folks with elbow strikes, fists and worse before I could train myself out of years of my martial arts impulses. I learned that action looks better on screen when you don’t hit someone hard. Now, sometimes, of course, you have to make contact, and sometimes with great force. But by and large the best action shots come from not making contact.

Now, what does this mean for relationships in the biz? Well, the quickest way to get fired off the gig, any gig, is to demand that you’re right all the time. Whether it’s about your opinion, your shot, your dialogue, your motivation or your choice of pizza, if you have to be right, it’s like hitting someone in the face. Hard. Kills communication. Kills the exchange of love. Kills everything. And yet, so often, in this town people are running around trying to show how “right” they are about things. Now, that may be okay in NYC, but in LA, that’ll get you pegged as someone who’s not a “team player.” Now, of course, there’s the odd exception like the agent from “Tropic Thunder” played by Tom Cruise…but those are the people we laugh at. They’re not the people we want to make multi-million dollar movies with. Sometimes we have to, but we hate it.

How do we deal with confrontation, then? We act like a stunt man. Get the result without the damage. Do you have to be right? Can you put your ego and pride to the side long enough to hear the origin of what they’re saying? If you’re new to LA, you’ll notice that nobody tells you like it is. If you’re coming from a culture that celebrates brutal honesty, you’ll hate it here…until you learn to listen for the underlying issue for why someone is saying something. If you can figure that out, even if they’re yelling at you, you can address their real issue and look like a god.

Case in point, I had an AD that was really upset at me for mentioning that I thought we could be moving a lot faster in our schedule. He basically, and loudly, told me that I was crazy, the crew was, in his estimation, moving at lightening speed, given the parameters of the budget and my demands. He totally disagreed. He was a big imposing guy. I was intimidated, but I was also the director. How dare he!? It’s my SHOW! But, after about 2.5 seconds of wanting to put it back in his face…instead of shaming him and escalating things, I listened for learning. I heard why he was saying what he was saying. He was actually open to my thoughts, but he had a big block in the way: his ego. No problem. How did I find it, it was all in his language, “I’ve done… My crew…” He also felt alienated, “You’re schedule…my work…our work ethic.” You can see the division, right? You and us. There was nothing about “team” in his language…which means that he was no longer operating from what’s best for the movie he was operating from what was best for him. Fine. Easy to fix. I was able to inform him that my comments were no reflection on his work ethic nor on the crew. It was something that I wanted to partner with him about fixing. I had some ideas, but my ideas were only for the benefit of the production. If he had better ideas, I coveted them… etc. etc. Of course, I had final say, but it’s useless to have all the power if you’ve got no respect. Yes, directors etc s&%t and poop diamonds…but this kind of thing works everywhere. If you can hear and see the underlying issue and address it, things get handled fast, everything gets restored fast, and no one takes an elbow to the head.

See, it’s irelevant that you’re right, because your intention is to fix the problem, right? If you have to be right, then you’re not committed to fixing a problem, you’re committed to proving that you’re best. If that’s your aim, then you miss out on the best part of filmmaking: collaboration. And like I said, if you hit someone once (being right), they’ll wince every time it looks like you’re going to hit them again. This is no way to create an atmosphere of creative risk on set or in the studio.

So next time you find yourself in a quarrel somewhere in Hollywood, stop for a second and ponder how much you want this guy to know you’re right. If you can take a moment and listen to the “why” of the other person, you’ll go a lot farther in this town than if you just hit people in the face. Your friends will probably thank you too…

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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How Introverts Can Win at Networking Events Pt. 2

August 6th, 2009

Hey, Mark Edward Lewis here. After my first article about how introverts can win at networking events (and it’s large response), I though it only fitting that I post something newer…and a bit more specific about how introverts (especially men) can win at the networking events. Of course, this simple technique can also work at so-called “dating events” (like the club) too. This does work with women, but you, of the fairer gender, need to tweak it a little so that instead of being the alpha male you become the alpha queen.

It’s pretty simple, when you think about it. people are attracted to the “alpha.” Animals are attracted to the “alpha.” It’s in our basest nature. Whether we like it or not, it’s an instinct that runs us automatically. Deal with it.

Well, how do you become an alpha? Simple. Have the highest status. Experts have shown us that people are, more than anything, attracted to status. Of course, the kind of status will vary depending on the gender of the person and the kind of culture you’re in. However, it’s interesting to note that, on the whole, men and women respond to the alpha ideal in networking situations and in just about every area of life. An alpha shows up, the males and females cow-tow.

Want to be an instant alpha? Try this Mark Edward Lewis idea out and see how it goes:

Walk into the club or venue and go and get yourself a drink. Easy. Then simply go around the entire venue and clink glasses with everyone and say, “cheers” or “good to see you” or “hey.” No conversation, just an introduction. Don’t be rude, but do interrupt their conversations. Do that with EVERYONE once. Then find a bunch of cute women (or men depending on your sexual preference) and start chatting them up. After a few minutes, ditch the babes, and go around the room and do it again. You’ll find that you have more interaction with people this time. No problem. Have little conversations if you like. But definitely get to everyone again. “Cheers!”

What you’re doing is setting yourself up as a guy who “knows everyone” even though you don’t. After this trip around the venue, find some people that you actually want to strike up a conversation with and notice how easy it is to approach them. Notice how they open their body language up to you. Why are they doing this? Because you’ve put the message out the group that you’re the top dog. You’re not afraid of anyone. You’re not threatened by anyone, because you’ve talked with everyone. Moreover, you’ve had no trouble chatting up a group of hot girls or other social desirables.

One of my friends who does this actually does this, then sits back and lets everyone come to him…which they do! Even the owner of the club usually wants to know who you are…and now the owner and you are buds. Nice. For we who work in relationship-party-meet Hollywood, this technique will get you noticed by the people that you want to go play golf with…and get your script to. It puts you in the driver’s seat of the event instead of feeling like you have to work for each conversation. Ick.

So, the next time you’re thrust into a situation where you don’t know how or who to be, take a little Mark Edward Lewis advice and be the alpha, clink glasses, do a little chat up here and there, and see how the world responds to you…

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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Scripts, Failure and Baseball

August 6th, 2009

So, for the last few months, I’ve been running around LA trying to pitch a particular script/television show of mine. It’s really good. I’m super proud of it. I’ve had the fortune to pitch to the heads of development at Networks and at prestigious production companies as well.. I’ve gotten everything from excited yeses (about 3 of them) to near violent encounters (about 2 of them) and everything in between. Mostly, I heard the LA secret code phrase for, no thanks, “It sounds great. Hey, thanks for coming.” You hear that, they’re not interested.

Now, I’m the guy who hates pitching, hates hearing no’s, hates trying to sell someone. I’m a creative. I’m a director for goodness sakes! I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that trying to pitch arguably the tightest people group on the planet was something I was going to have fun doing. Sheesh! I figure that in terms of even getting someone to read the show bible and respond intelligently, I’m at about 5%. Ick.

Still, after about 6 meetings, I found that I could pitch an obvious “no” and just “practice” on them. I knew that the guy was a no. Didn’t matter. I was going to practice my pitch, and I did… and some people became definite maybes…which, in Hollywood means, “show us another 15 scripts and we might invite you to lunch.” After 14 pitches, I didn’t care if I got a no. I just kept sharing. I quickly realized that my survival mechanism (that way I get when I’m confronted) is a terrible way of trying to get someone to say “Yes.” This survival mechanism sounds like “I have to sell them! Get to the pitch! GET them interested.” Dumb. Getting related to them was not present in my speaking at all. After a while, you discover that getting related to the person becomes far more important than anything you could say in your pitch. It also was a lot more fun. And selling your idea babies should always be fun. <

So, what did I learn from all this? Loads. Last year I started taking on the idea that “Failure is my wealth.” What do I mean by that? Well, it might be possible that it is impossible to achieve true success without a good deal of failure. How much failure? Well, consider baseball. If you are a god-like baseball player, at the end of the season you have roughly a .300 batting average. That means that you’ve been thrown out, flied out, or struck out 7 out of 10 times. That’s a lot of not being on base. Still, we’d call that guy a god.

Most heads of sales for large corporations would expect their top sales people to do around 20% successful closings. Why? Simple. If you’ve got a sales guy that is doing 90%, it means that he’s playing it safe. He’s only going to safe prospects. He’s not playing a big game. If someone is getting 80% no’s, then they’re playing to win, as opposed to playing to “not lose.” Playing to not lose means that you’re afraid to lose, so you go to the “sure things.” So, you end up with a 90% success rate. That seems great on paper, but in reality, it sucks. Playing to win means that you’re going to lose. A lot. Get used to it. If you can lose well, only then you can win…period.

What do we do then? Transform what we say that failure is. So, if you have to fail 80% of the time to have true success, then you’ve got some work to do! Failure is your wealth! No failure? No success. Period. So, get excited about failure, because really, failure is a success…most people don’t have the courage to even try. You do. You’ve got the results. Congratulations!

Let’s celebrate our failures! They’re really successes! Besides, when we fail, then we can grow and get the support we need to be better. Perfectionism isn’t the answer. Excellence is. Excellence is defined as continually doing better every time. Perfectionism is defined as focusing on what’s wrong in order to get it “perfect.” In the end, your excellence will be far more perfect than your perfectionism can ever be.

So fail. Fail a lot. Celebrate the failures. They’re your wealth… and then, go write another script…just don’t steal my ideas.

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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The L.A. Rulebook: Be Careful Who You Think You Know

September 5th, 2008

There should be a rule book for people living in Los Angeles. I’ve lived my entire life here, and I find that I still make horrific faux pas in the most embarrassing ways. This book should be offered at all LA book stores, and it should cover behavior, LA-speak, personal façades, and the LA club scene. Every page should expound on dos and don’ts of the city. Why? Because there’s no city like LA, and there are no people groups like Los Angelenos. The kind of eccentricities and embarrassing scenarios one encounters here can’t be learned intuitively anywhere else. The reason is obvious: no other city has Hollywood. Yes, Hollywood. Breeder of fame, fortune, and political power.

As you know, it’s not uncommon to see the odd celebrity doing mundane tasks around town. We’re nearly used to it…or at least we play it off like we are. You know the LA drill. Don’t stare, take a picture secretly and go on with your life. That’s all well and good unless you don’t know they’re famous.

Cut to: Mark Edward Lewis sitting in a café in Burbank that he’s never been to. In walks an exotic brunette with short hair, spaghetti strap top, bright blue eyes and a saunter four feet wide. Cut to reversal: Mark is doing everything wrong. He’s staring at her, not because she’s so striking, but because he thinks he knows her. He’s so sure of it, that when this babe looks back at him, he doesn’t flinch. He’s sure she’ll recognize him. Her frown, her wince and her look of “in your dreams, buddy” doesn’t phase him. He leaves his stool and ambles in her direction. Four feet from his fingers tapping her bare shoulder, Mark has a flicker of a memory. Cut to Flashback: His living room, a television, late night channel surfing, seeing her chiseled body smashing thugs wearing black. The bumper before commercial reads: “VIP.” Back to café and a medium shot of Mark’s hand inches away. He yanks his hand back as though from a snake. His face turns shades of red, and he slinks back to his stool muttering hindu grace. No, he doesn’t know her. He had simply channel surfed onto one of television’s most exploitative and sexist shows. He’s ashamed he even knows this woman’s face at all, but he’s relieved that he didn’t make a fool of himself and repeat the most used celebrity face-slap pick-up line in the LA club scene: “Hi. I think I know you from somewhere.” Ugh.

Yes, it was Natalie Raitano. Yes, it really happened. No, I didn’t get her number. The lesson: if you think you know someone in LA (and they’re gorgeous), it’s okay to cross into their line of sight so they see you, but honestly, they don’t know you. Making this mistake with a network television star is relatively harmless compared to the more incriminating scenarios you could find yourself in…

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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How Introverts Can Win at Networking Events

September 5th, 2008
I hate parties, don’t you? Especially those thrown in Burbank, or the West Side, or worse yet: Hollywood. Why do we have to go then? If you’re under 25 years old, the answer is quite a bit different than for a 32 year old film director like myself. For those of us not bopping around in search of club-fulfillment, the answer is simple: networking. It’s the synergy that makes the film industry go ‘round. That’s fine…if you like chatting up people you don’t know, laughing at stupid jokes by self-absorbed morons, and screaming at the top of your lungs because of Richter scale rated music. No thanks. I’m an introvert, and so are you. We hate nothing more than getting our charisma and good looks trumped by the clique club suit. But, the successful are reported to attend these debaucheries of biceps, alcohol, cleavage, and fathom deep façades, and we must attend in kind.

The problem: your provocative dress or exceptional posture won’t get a second glance from the clump of chit-chatting partiers you want to meet. The answer? Simple, slick, effective. Get them a refill. Yes, a drink refill. Procedures: first, don’t bother with parties that make you pay for drinks. There’s nobody important at those parties anyway. Second, saddle up to some people you want to start a conversation with, and immediately ask the loudest member of the group if they would like a refill on their drink. Have no shame introvert, interrupt their conversation! Third, whisk yourself off to the bar before they ask you who you are. Mystery piques the imagination, and they’ll be thinking about you every second you’re gone. Don’t rush. Take your time and saunter back. Let them acknowledge you. They’ll interrupt themselves this time. Present your drink, and then introduce yourself and what you do. Of course, they’ll know they’ve been had, but they won’t care. They’ll even give you the time you need for your turbo-charged charisma and wit to reach 2500 rpm. Get the business cards of everyone in the clump, but don’t get drinks for everyone else. It will make the person with the new drink feel more important than those around them, and they’ll remember you for that feeling. Finish the conversation early. Just get the business information and the verbal promise of a meeting and move to the next clump of people (preferably in the next room) and repeat.

Why does this work? Because for the last 6000 years, every guru of every religion says the same thing: serving others will get you everything you want. They’re right. It’s the opposite of what Hollywood says, “when you’re served, you get it all.” Hogwash. It’s all a deception to keep the introverts out of what is primarily an extrovert club. Don’t be discouraged. Trump their nepotism with the service heart suit. It’s an age old paradigm that works…even in Hollywood networking.

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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Thoughts from London Studio Musicians

September 5th, 2008
I’m a native. A California native. Worse, I’m a Los Angeleno native. Born, raised, and most likely will die here. I reek of surfer inflection in my English, of West Coast fashion, gait, brazenness, and rebellious long hair. I grew up in a musical family, recording in LA studios, with LA musicians from the time I was twelve. Tragic. I know AFM rules like my social security number, how to balance string player eccentricities with trumpet player pride, and I definitely know when an orchestra has lost respect for me.

In LA, it happens after your first mistake. Thus, one day, like a frightened fish drowning in a bowl of applejuice, I found myself conducting a recording session in London, England, and my usual LA intuition had to be scrapped. Apparently, my session coincided with both a John Williams and a Jerry Goldsmith session…all in London. I’m not sure how but, I still got the cream of the London Philharmonic crop. The players smelled my California aroma immediately upon arrival. These were the very players that had performed some of my favorite scores. Feelings of inadequacy permeated me as I took the stand and was announced by the contractor. The players applauded! I realized that it was a British custom, but my heart didn’t care. They paid me respect, and now I could conquer Everest. As we recorded, there were several orchestration problems that I had to deal with on the stand to my great dismay. After the second “conductor” mistake, I figured I’d lost that respect. Not so. They encouraged me on with winks and smiles even though they had every right to ridicule me.

On one particular cue, the poor first trumpet player had to hit high “E”s over and over while the violins were playing sixteenth notes. Unfortunately, the violins kept blowing it, and because of the setup of the studio, we couldn’t overdub. Had we been in LA, by the third take, the lead trumpet player would have bounded into the violin section and bent his “C” trumpet around the concert master’s neck. Rightfully so. But on our fourth and final take in London, not only did the brass section perform perfectly, they never complained. Even though it was causing the brass a good deal of pain, their respect for the music and their peers allowed the violinists to do their unincumbered best and eventually nail the part.

It has been said that to make an atmosphere of creativity, one must first make an atmosphere of respect. I have to agree. Now, I’ve been told that what happened that day was completely atypical of a London session. Perhaps so. It was a bit idyllic, and I’m a bit naive. But I have to wonder how much more enjoyable the human experience would be if we showed a little more respect in our everyday LA sessions.

Mark Edward Lewis is an award winning Hollywood director of commercials, films and television. He has also written music for films and television for the last 20 years. Mark is a master of getting great performances and production value, and he has the odd habit of writing blogs about his home town, Los Angeles.

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Mark Lewis

  • headshot

    Mark has always had a passion for storytelling. The son of two professional musicians, Mark creates amazing images and stories with music, as he has done since boyhood. Mark has performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Herby Hancock, Steve Amerson, and J.A.C. Redford. This is partly why for more than a decade he has been in demand to score films.

    In filmmaking, learning the in’s and out’s of directing with less than-million dollar budgets honed Mark’s creative and innovative skills to bring in the show on time and under budget, always music to the ears!

    Biography

    Mark has passion for things that touch people at a deep and emotional level. As a child of consummate musicians, he was fortunate to grow up in an environment that encouraged, nurtured, and developed his creative abilities. However, Mark’s vision and passion for telling stories quickly grew beyond what music alone could convey. This passion grew steadily as he established himself in both the music and film industries, eventually as an audience award winning director and producer.

    Mark grew up in Fullerton, California with the sound of strings all around him.

    “My mother plays the harp, piano, organ and is a fantastic arranger,” said Lewis. “My father plays the violin, viola, cello, bass, piano and is a masterful conductor.”

    Lewis’ father was also the conductor of the Fullerton Symphony and taught at Fullerton Community College for more than 20 years. From age four Lewis was “plunking out little melodies on the family Steinway.” He began formal piano training at five, and took on the cello at nine.


    “When I saw Star Wars and was subsequently given the soundtrack, I entered upon a quest to know what secrets Mr. Williams knew that could place such passion into a piece of lyric-less time.”

    Education

    Mark was educated at Fullerton Community College. By age 18, he graduated with Highest Honors with AA degrees in Music, Commercial Music, and a certificate in Recording Arts. Along the way he won the school’s Dan Radlaeur Composition Competition one year and received third place the following year.

    After receiving his certificate in Film Scoring from UCLA, he enrolled at Azusa Pacific University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Theory/Composing-Magna Cum Laude, with the distinction of “Musician of the Year.” Five years under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed composer and film scorer, J.A.C. Redford rounds out his educational background.

    Music and Scoring

    While pursuing his degree in music at Fullerton Community College, he scored his first film and was asked to produce a Contemporary Christian album for the Korean market. Since then, he has produced three number one CDs with a fourth in release. Mark attributes much of his success in creating powerful scores to 5 years of tutelage under the internationally acclaimed composer and film scorer, J.A.C. Redford and his participation in the UCLA Film Scoring Program “This program changed my life as a composer.” Growing up in a contemporary age with solid grounding in classical composition has allowed Mark to bring a unique and innovative style to film scoring.

    Action

    Mark’s passion for action comes from years of training in martial arts, which includes a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Working as a professional stuntman has provided knowledge and experience that has proved invaluable in Mark’s ability to construct and direct action film sequences that captivate audiences. After six years of study, and upon earning his black belt, he also attained a second degree and instructor’s qualifications, including language skills, which forged strong relationships within the Korean business and entertainment industries.


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