It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Men World

I want to have Don Draper’s talent and Roger Sterling’s dialogue.

AMC’s drama Mad Men hits way too close to home in all the painful places. Creator Matthew Weiner so accurately captures the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat that creatives go through regularly day in and day out. The agony could be softened if all of us had Roger Sterling’s silver fox good looks and verbal acuity.

“I shall be both dog and pony.” — Roger Sterling

For anyone who has ever had to submit to the humiliation of a cattle call, you dream of Roger Sterling going to bat for you.

Sometimes you have to jump off a cliff.

The third season finale of Mad Men was the super bowl fantasy football game for anyone working in advertising and the ultimate coup for the small business owner. Forget the melodrama of Don Draper’s personal life; his victory is in the office. With the current recession providing never-ending stories of layoffs and mergers that generate more layoffs, who wouldn’t root for Don Draper jumping off the cliff?

“We’ve been robbed!” — Don Draper’s secretary

What is so fascinating about the writing for Mad Men is how today’s current business climate is so artfully woven into the storyline of Sterling Cooper’s business. In the last season of Mad Men, Sterling Cooper’s purchase by an international conglomerate sets the stage for a revolt by the real assets of the company—the talent. How many employees stuck as pawns in a merger would love a weekend raid of the files and the clients that they worked so hard to cultivate? Who is being robbed here? The value of a company is not the money in the bank, but the talent, dedication and hard work of the employees who make up the company.

I want to work.

The most telling exchange concerning the tension of creativity and business occurs in the last episode of Mad Men, Shut the Door. Have a Seat. Don Draper confronts Bert Cooper about the second acquisition of Sterling Cooper, revealing that if you are creative, you want to be free to create.

Don Draper: “Who the hell is in charge here, a bunch of accountants trying to make $1.00 into a $1.10? I want to work! I want to build something of my own.”

Bert Cooper: “I’m not sure you have the stomach for the realities.”

The realities of starting an agency will be revealed in the next season of Mad Men, but I am sure that Matthew Weiner and his talented writers will keep it honest and addictive.

Brand Like Andy

Turquoise Marilyn, 1962

If ever there was a branding genius it was Andy Warhol. As an artist with a background in commercial illustration, he instinctively designed his life, becoming one of the most recognizable brands of all time. His artwork featured famous brands—both people and products.

Andy used social media before there was social media. He would be tickled pink that blogging and tweeting have made everyone a superstar. It’s easy to picture him responding to the online world of self-promotion the same way he responded to the publication of the Serendipity cookbook, “Oh wow.”

Naming
Andrew Warhola becomes Andy Warhol.

Memorable Tagline
“Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes”

Eight Elvises, 1963. Sold recently for $100M.

Brand Management
Good brand management creates perceived value for the product that will exceed the cost of production.

Andy Warhol with President Carter, 1977.

Advertise
Create a perception of your brand that it is special and unique.

Studio 54, mid-1970s.

Publicity
Any press is good press. As Andy would say, “Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.”

Loving the Alien

Writer/Director Victor Bornia

A Paradigm Shift in Technology

Traditional media companies and movie studios now find themselves at a disadvantage in the entertainment marketplace. New technologies in computer architecture, software and digital delivery systems have given the upper hand to creatives. Writer/director Victor Bornia’s newest project, Darkening Sky, is an exciting example of the new creative power of the artist in the digital age.

Narrowcasting and the Effectiveness of Social Media in Marketing

The advantages offered by yesterday’s costly marketing and advertising plans have evaporated. Why guess what your audience wants when you can ask them to participate and give feedback? Narrowcasting—advertising to a very targeted audience—paired with the use of social media has removed much of the marketing guesswork.  YouTube, iTunes, Twitter and Facebook make it possible for the independent filmmaker to advertise and distribute a film without the 100 million dollar marketing budget once required.

Paramount recently used this strategy for Paranormal Activity to generate demand in specific geographic locations, and to allow the audience to determine a distribution plan for them. Utilizing free social media applications and targeted online advertising, Paramount has generated $103,690,184 as of Nov. 15, 2009 from a movie that cost a mere $15,000 to make. That’s a pretty good rate of return on their investment. Profits from many independent movies have out paced bloated big budget studio movies (think Universal’s $100 million stinker Land of the Lost).

Darkening Sky: A Perfect Storm of Talent and Opportunity

Advanced technology cannot replace talent or experience. With a background in visual effects and computer animation, Victor Bornia is marrying artistry and storytelling with cutting edge technology. The other strategic component that he has added to the mix is an alien abduction/conspiracy storyline. The multitudes of online sci-fi communities are a testament to the strong audience that is awaiting Darkening Sky’s well-crafted story. Using Facebook, Twitter and an engaging website, Darkening Sky looks to have all of the right pieces in place for a very successful launch.

An Interview with Victor Bornia

What inspired you to take on this project?
I wrote the screenplay, so…I was biased! My writing tends to focus on the dark side of human relationships; I also find alien abduction phenomena fascinating. Darkening Sky is the result, basically a twisted psychological drama wrapped in an alien abduction thriller…two of my favorite things.

How have hardware and software advances helped you in the editing room? And what equipment and programs are you using?
New technologies not only made this film possible at all, it raised the bar on what we could achieve with the resources we had. We were very fortunate to shoot on the Red One camera with a brilliant owner-operator DP who really understood the ins and outs and gave us gorgeous imagery. The film is being edited in Final Cut on a quad-core Mac Pro tower with gobs of RAM and acres of hard drive space — all of it just laughably affordable these days (~ $100 for freakin’ 1.5 terrabytes?). I’m a long-time After Effects user but am doing a lot of VFX work in Motion, which has a lot of surprisingly sophisticated tools. I’m also an old-school Lightwave 3D user (how I made my living), so that’s the tool for 3D, rendered on a trio of Frankenstein hot rod PCs I built for my work.

Do you believe that independent filmmakers have any advantages in the current media market?
I’d say being truly independent has brought us all the advantages of light vs. heavy, small vs. large. There are pros and cons on both sides, of course, but the biggest advantage is that we’ve been able to move from concept through to near-completion very quickly; there aren’t a lot of layers to sift through on creative and business decisions (more like a phone call with my partner). Less waiting is good.

How important is a producer to the independent filmmaker?
A producer makes sure that a film actually gets made, so the answer would be, “indispensable.” BUT: that’s not to say filmmakers need to sit on their hands and wait until some Big-Deal Producer grants permission to make a movie. It wasn’t really until I realized that I would need to “become a producer” myself that things started to break loose… Still, this was definitely a co-production with my partner Karly Young. She handled SO much and made it possible for me to even “think like a director.” Couldn’t have done it without her.

How are you using viral marketing/social networking in promoting this project?
Marketing is actually Karly’s main area of expertise, so I’ve been able to stay focused on the film itself. So far I think we’re using social networking pretty basically, to share what’s going on as things develop. Once the film is finished, I’m sure our online presence and interaction will become a much more significant part of what we’re up to.

Who are your 5 favorite directors?
That’s a tough one. David Lynch, Ridley Scott, Adrian Lyne, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson are probably the easiest choices for me… I don’t love everything they’ve done, but they made my all-time favorite movies. There are many others, but those are the people who have consistently delivered things I enjoy and am inspired by.

What are your 5 favorite sci-fi films?
Blade Runner (by a mile); then probably The Matrix, A Scanner Darkly, Dark City, and Terminator. Honorable mention: 12 Monkeys.

***

Victor Bornia Answers James Lipton’s Inside the Actor’s Studio Questionnaire

What is your favorite word?
Evocative.

What is your least favorite word?
Edgy.

What turns you on?
Vulnerability.

What turns you off?
“Sexy” behavior.

What sound or noise do you love?
Pipi (our girl pug) snoring.

What sound or noise do you hate?
False indignation.

What is your favorite curse word?
Fucktard.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Novelist.

What profession would you not like to do?
Medicine.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“Sorry, we need to send you back.”

Portrait of a Master Tweeter

Why is Tim Siedell so damn funny?

Tim Siedell, creative director and co-founder of Fuse Industries, has received a lot of attention—from Fast Company to NPR—for his humorous Tweets as badbanana. He has been re-tweeted, plagiarized and sited in numerous “best of” lists. He’s not funny in a-man-walked-into-a-bar kind of way, but in a David Sedaris kind of way (think demented Larry Tate from Bewitched mixed with your uncle who drinks a little too much at Thanksgiving and always says something he shouldn’t).

Donuts, time machines and bucket lists.

Effective communicators have a distinct point of view. The image of David Ogilvy and pinstripes on badbanana’s Twitter page tells us all we need to know about the tone of his Tweets—advertising’s most brilliant executive mixed with the disaffected Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. As the phenomenon of Tweeting has exploded in popularity, many Tweeters have been nailed for ghost Tweeting – but not badbanana. Only one author could give voice to an obsession with donuts, time machines and bucket lists.

Not sure if there will be donuts at my early morning meeting. Better take my FryDaddy. — badbanana 8:36 PM Jul 13th

I went back in time and stepped on some butterflies and now Jeb Bush isn’t president anymore. You’re welcome. — badbanana 8:13 AM Aug 31st

Got my to-do list and bucket list mixed up. I guess my household projects will just have to wait until after I win a Tony. – badbanana 10:22 AM Jun 20th

Viral and verbal loop-de-loops.

badbanana’s stats are a testament to the viral power of authentically great writing. For someone who describes himself as living “about as far away from New York and Los Angeles as you can get at the same time,” his Twitter account statistics are proof that genius triumphs over geography. At the beginning of last month (October, 2009) badbanana had 44,682 followers; by the end of last month 142,327 and at this very moment: twittercounter. Take that Britney.

Not only funny but gracious, Tim Siedell has generously answered a few probing questions for this blog.

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
Tim Siedell (@badbanana on Twitter)

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The simple life. A cabin. A pond. As long as there’s free Wi-Fi, I’m good.

What is your greatest fear?
Getting too stuffed on bread before the meal arrives.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Everything. But if I had to pick one, my self-loathing.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Being my landlord.

Which living person do you most admire?
The oldest. The hottest. The most dangerous. But it’s rare for one person to hold all three titles simultaneously.

What is your greatest extravagance?
I splurge and buy only the finest brands of aerosol cheese.

What is your current state of mind?
Nebraska. Believe me, it’s a state of mind.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Willingness to wear a towel while walking around in the locker room.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Recklessly wanting to make a boyfriend jealous.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I tend to say “Not guilty, your honor” a little too often.

When and where were you happiest?
Pondering my answer two questions ago.

Who are your favorite writers?
Lawyers. Ever read their stuff? Hilarious.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to heal the sick and feed the hungry. Either that, or drawing.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
The happy writer.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Morning people. They make my coffee and smile so I don’t have to.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Winning the Nobel Peace Prize for inventing time travel. Trust me on this one.

Where would you like to live?
The Saturday after payday.

What is your most treasured possession?
Earlier this year, I converted my stock portfolio into a Subway footlong. I’m holding on to that baby for retirement.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Two and a Half Men.

What do you most value in your friends?
A willingness to help out at any hour, dig deep holes, and not ask many questions.

What are your favorite names?
If I had a band, I’d name it either Filthy Congress or Feature Creep.

What is it that you most dislike?
I don’t like lactose intolerant people. I’m lactose intolerant intolerant.

What is your greatest regret?
I sometimes wonder if my lack of wealth and power may be holding me back.

How would you like to die?
Crushed beneath a pile of cheerleaders.

What is your motto?
Seize the Donut.

Unplugged: Fire, Facebook and an iPhone

Every year when fire season rolls around there is a twinge of anxiety in the air in Southern California.

Living in a canyon tucked into the foothills of the Angeles National Forest brings considerable dread during hot, dry months. So when August 26, 2009 rolled around and we noticed a small puff of smoke over the top of our canyon, we viewed it with cautious suspicion. “I don’t think its anything to worry about,” said our neighbor Ann, “they usually get these things out pretty quickly once the helicopters show up.”  Well, once the fixed wing aircraft showed up, we decided to take a couple of things to my in-laws’ house.

August 26, 2009. Greg's photo: the first day of the Station Fire from our driveway.

The Station Fire began at mile marker 29 on Angeles Crest Highway.

Mile marker 29 is about 26 miles north of Scott and Terry McKenzie’s house. By Friday the 28^th, we awoke to the news that the fire had jumped Angeles Crest Highway and that the street across the canyon from the McKenzie’s had been evacuated. Knowing that they were in Minnesota, we expected a phone call. At 7 am Terry phoned asking us to rescue their cat Arlene who was hiding somewhere in the house. After talking our way through the police barriers and seeing the amount of ash and smoke coming from the canyon right next to ours, we knew we should get ready to evacuate.

You never realize how integral internet access is to your life until you don’t have it. 

After a sleepless night of watching our glowing red windows, we watered the house and the yard, packed up the car and the dog and by 10:00 am on Saturday heard the Sheriffs’ bullhorn bellowing, “please leave the area, you are under mandatory evacuation.” We headed to a house with no internet access. What? I had a sinking feeling that it was going to be difficult to get accurate information regarding the progress of the fire from the mainstream media, but boy was I wrong. There was actually NO news from the mainstream media. Studies regarding “technophobia” and the elderly abound, but we were now entering the Twilight Zone of technophobes without technology. After watching replays of the same video of the fire with meaningless statistics of how many firefighters were on the line and how many acres had burned, we decided to find a spot to watch what was happening for ourselves.

The virtual meeting place became our home away from home.

Armed with an iPhone and no other means of connection, we hunkered down in the car to watch the airplanes pound the crest above our canyon and JPL with the fire retardant Foschek.

Realizing that our friends and family knew we had evacuated, but not wanting to return all of the calls being left on our answering service, I logged onto Facebook and used our status update to keep everyone informed of what was happening in real time. It was amazing to feel connected when, in reality, we were so displaced. Throughout the afternoon, we checked the mainstream news sites for specific information about our neighborhood—nothing. We then turned to our local blogger for information. The altadenablog turned out to be the most amazing source of local news. Citizen reporter  Tim Rutt, armed with a police-scanner, readers’ comments and internet access, out-reported established news organizations. In the face of media consolidation and newspaper collapse, this was a real-life example of how impactful blogging has become in keeping communities informed and connected.

The growth of social networks have fueled the legitimacy of blogs as credible news sources.

The takeaway lesson of this disaster for us was that communities are responsible for themselves in an emergency. Assumptions about first responders and reverse 911 calls for evacuation preparedness were proven false in our little unincorporated hamlet of Altadena. Even after the shock of the evacuation subsided, I realized that YouTube and Vimeo told a better story about what happened during the Station Fire than the television networks did. I was amazed and awed viewing a time-lapse video of the fire’s progress filmed by a local resident and posted on Vimeo. It is empowering to live in a time of such technological advances. As bandwidth increases and access to the internet expands worldwide, it seems that the narrative of historical events is returning to the individual and away from governments and corporations. In the words of John Lennon: power to the people!

What would William Morris Tweet?

“It took me years to understand that words are often as important as experience, because words make experience last.” William Morris in 115 characters.

There is an ongoing debate about the longevity of Twitter in technology and cultural circles. Just as William Morris, the 19th century British Arts and Crafts leader, felt about the evils of the Industrial Revolution, people today feel about the evils of social networking and its effect on communication. Many believe that the parsing of thoughts on micro-blogs such as Twitter represent the breakdown of organized thinking. I believe the phenomenon has actually stimulated thought and discussion.

I can’t image living in a more interesting time for communication. Not since the invention of the Gutenberg press or the telephone has there been such a radical shift in the way information is transmitted. Virtual communities are springing up everywhere online and, in turn, mobilizing members to meet up in person.

Twitter is the perfect facilitator.

There are studies trying to debunk the idea that using the internet somehow diminishes your ability or need to have face time with real people. I believe that social networking is encouraging more interesting and thought-provoking personal interaction. Take my personal obsession—the Los Angeles taco truck craze. I know that New York City was way ahead of the curve on this phenomenon but Los Angeles combined the taco truck experience with social networking technology. The Kogi bbq taco trucks came first in their use of Twitter as a quick, easy and free way to announce their daily schedules. “Tweets” reach the customer base immediately, making this type of marketing timely and ensures reaching a very targeted audience. The free press generated by the use of Twitter is far-reaching and viral. Now it seems that Los Angeles has crisscrossing mobile food vendors on every freeway, all posting tweets. From Sprinkles cupcakes to Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches, Los Angeles has mobile gourmet food parking in almost every corner.

Hot dogs and wine got us off the internet and out with friends.

It all started with a little story in the Food blog of the Los Angeles Times announcing that the Lets Be Frank truck would be parked outside Silverlake Wine on Thursday nights. What could be better than grass-fed beef dogs and a flight of wines? Using Facebook, we sent out an invitation to about sixty friends and colleagues to meet up on Thursday to try the hot dogs and wine—thirty showed up! Considering we rarely go out on weeknights, we figured that was a pretty great turnout. Now we get out regularly on Thursday nights to see friends and support our local businesses. None of this would have happened without Twitter—I think its here to stay. And, as William Morris reminds us, “words make experience last.”

Think Twice. Design Once.

Why did you name your company The Fibonacci Design Group? Good question. When you start a company and you need to name it, all of a sudden you have a whole lot of questions. Who are we? What do we do? What makes us different? Is anyone ever going to care what we name this company? After 17 years, I can tell you that the name of our company has launched a thousand conversations. Either you feel brilliant using the name of a 13th century Italian mathematician, or you want to kick yourself when Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code comes out and everyone thinks that you liked that book and that’s why your company is called Fibonacci.

Good and effective design is only as good as the thought process that inspires it. Think twice, design once.

We like to think and we like to design, so we chose Fibonacci as our namesake. Leonardo Fibonacci’s numerical sequences reveal that the practical and the beautiful are directly related. For designers, proof that good design can be quantified by a reproducible pattern in mathematics and nature is truly inspiring. The beauty of the Fibonacci sequence lies in its relationship to the infinite and to its infinite patterns. In the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, each number is the sum of the previous two numbers, starting with 0 and 1 (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144) — beautiful, simple and powerful.

This mathematical pattern can be mapped visually with stunning results.

Flickr photostream “Green Spirals” image from readerwalker.

As the Fibonacci numbers progress, the ratio of each successive pair of numbers in the series approximates the Greek letter phi. It is in observing the relationship of the Fibonacci numbers to what has also been called “the divine proportion” that you begin to see the infinite relationships—of art to mathematics, music to architecture, painting to book design—colliding in inspiring ways.