Archive for 2017/01


The Inauguration

I couldn’t watch. People have been sending me notes all day, about Trump’s speech, about the few people in attendance. I lived through the election of Nixon. The sixties had brought so much positive change, we thought it was impossible to retreat. But the truth is, we didn’t. We’ve got gay marriage. For now, you […]

Howard Kaufman

He famously told a household name band he’d make them more money in two years than they had in the previous twenty. And then he did. Most people don’t know who he was. Because unlike those that followed him into the business, Howard was not about fame, he was about protecting the interests of his […]

Trump

This is a classic case of disruption. And until the Democrats recognize this, change their strategy, they’re doomed. Talking about the popular vote is no different from record labels saying customers preferred CDs in the era of Napster. Trump won with a new playbook appealing to a broad swath of the public and until the […]

Happy Valley

I used to live at the movie theatre. One of the greatest thrills of my life was moving to Los Angeles. Back in the days of platforming, when it could take months for a flick to make it to the hinterlands, if it ever got there at all, every single movie opened in Los Angeles. […]