The only people who don’t know Tom Cruise is loopy work for him.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, they know it too, but they deny it just like an abused wife claims her bruises are a result of clumsiness.<\/p>\n
In case you missed it, Sumner Redstone, who controls Viacom, went on record that Viacom’s movie studio Paramount wouldn’t renew its deal with Mr. Cruise, because…well, he’s loopy.\u00c2\u00a0 And as a result of his loopiness, he’s hurt the fortunes of the studio.<\/p>\n
And now all the Hollywood insiders are pissing in their pants, angry that Mr. Redstone BROKE THE CODE!<\/p>\n
What code IS that exactly?\u00c2\u00a0 Certainly not the one from the fifties.\u00c2\u00a0 Where gay stars had wives and there was no TMZ to out Mel Gibson.<\/p>\n
The movie industry goes on and on how it’s learned its cyber-lessons, by taking note of what happened to the music industry, yet flaps like this show that the players are still completely clueless.<\/p>\n
The music industry got fucked up when it started to imitate the movie business.\u00c2\u00a0 When execs got all confused and thought THEY were the talent.\u00c2\u00a0 Used to be many executives despised the talent, for its ability to get laid whenever it wanted and be high on drugs, but it was clear, they had no talent, they couldn’t write the songs, they just had to seethe privately.\u00c2\u00a0 But then, with the rise of Tommy Mottola, and the reascension of Clive Davis, the execs became the stars.\u00c2\u00a0 Hiring publicity agents.\u00c2\u00a0 Signing acts that didn’t write their own material and would do what they were told in order to make it.\u00c2\u00a0 And, if you didn’t play ball, you were frozen out.\u00c2\u00a0 Oftentimes not dropped, but put in limbo, your album never being released until you delivered something the suits deemed a hit.<\/p>\n
And this worked for a while.\u00c2\u00a0 Until there were alternatives.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the Internet.<\/p>\n
The movie execs have ALWAYS thought they were the talent.\u00c2\u00a0 With their designer apparel and fancy lifestyles.\u00c2\u00a0 They believe they’re the integral element of the business.\u00c2\u00a0 For a moment there, in the seventies, auteurs got a modicum of control, but that was ultimately too risky, after a few flops, the studios took the reins back.<\/p>\n
And then the system got all fucked up.\u00c2\u00a0 The AGENTS started making movies.\u00c2\u00a0 By packaging them with their clients.\u00c2\u00a0 The classic example being CAA’s "Legal Eagles", loaded with talent, but a dud not only creatively, but at the box office too.<\/p>\n
And then, studios wanted NO risk.\u00c2\u00a0 So they started remaking old TV shows and doing sequels.\u00c2\u00a0 ANYBODY can direct "Spider-Man XX".\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not entangled with ANY talent.<\/p>\n
And now times are tough.\u00c2\u00a0 So, the studios are tightening their belts.<\/p>\n
In case you didn’t know, Hollywood is in a crisis.\u00c2\u00a0 DVDs have stopped selling like gangbusters.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, the industry would like to blame this on piracy…it’s just that it started a while back, before most people knew how to download movies, never mind have the broadband connections to effectively do so.<\/p>\n
So now, the studios are cutting back.\u00c2\u00a0 Disney most particularly.\u00c2\u00a0 The Mouse House essentially halving its film production.\u00c2\u00a0 To save itself.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the production and marketing costs were SO steep, that a few hits really didn’t make up for a string of losses.<\/p>\n
But are the agencies and the talent they represent in on this deal?\u00c2\u00a0 Of course not.\u00c2\u00a0 They just want what they used to get.<\/p>\n
Should Tom Cruise get what he used to?\u00c2\u00a0 When he’s trashed his image throughout the media?\u00c2\u00a0 Should he pay no price for firing the protector of his image, Pat Kingsley, and driving the grosses of his recent films down?\u00c2\u00a0 No, this is one instance where the company is right.\u00c2\u00a0 Fuck Tom Cruise.\u00c2\u00a0 Like he hasn’t got enough money.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s looney-tunes and everybody knows it, why can’t Sumner Redstone say so?<\/p>\n
Just like James Robinson sent that letter to Lindsay Lohan saying she was partying too much.<\/p>\n
It’s funny that these oldsters, hell, Sumner’s eighty three, are hipper than the traditional Hollywood infrastructure, in most cases MUCH younger than they are.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, the young pups are addicted to "Entourage", believing, like Ari Emmanuel, that THEY are the stars.<\/p>\n
But Sumner and James own their companies.\u00c2\u00a0 Which they built.\u00c2\u00a0 Via hard work.\u00c2\u00a0 It appears to me that THEY’RE right.<\/p>\n
Kind of like the record business used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 When it was run by entrepreneurs who’d say and do ANYTHING!\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what ownership\/building something does for you.\u00c2\u00a0 No one running a major label today built the edifice they rule.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re caretakers.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing by the rules.\u00c2\u00a0 Risk-averse, to their detriment.<\/p>\n
Everybody knows Paris Hilton can’t sing.\u00c2\u00a0 But you wouldn’t know this based on the Warner Brothers hype.\u00c2\u00a0 You wonder why people think music is a joke?\u00c2\u00a0 The only people who DON’T believe this are those inside.\u00c2\u00a0 Begging the customer not to steal, to still buy overpriced discs.<\/p>\n
Or go to the movie theatre to see crap.<\/p>\n
People follow creativity.\u00c2\u00a0 And stars.\u00c2\u00a0 And Tom Cruise faltered in this game.\u00c2\u00a0 And Sumner said so.\u00c2\u00a0 Touche.<\/p>\n
As for those saying that this demonstrates that Brad Grey and Tom Freston are out of the loop and essentially powerless, I say HOGWASH!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like Ahmet Ertegun going on record.\u00c2\u00a0 Only he can state the truth, for he’s ABOVE THE GAME!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s BEST that Sumner dove in on this, crossed the line, broke the taboo.\u00c2\u00a0 We have to look to our elders for guidance.<\/p>\n
But we must not ignore our young ‘uns or the landscape they inhabit.<\/p>\n
Not that Sumner has.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s even invested in video games.<\/p>\n
We’re in a new era.\u00c2\u00a0 One of sunshine.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially when it comes to celebrities.\u00c2\u00a0 With egotastic.com and perezhilton.com and endless tabloids in the supermarket checkout line who is being denied the truth?\u00c2\u00a0 Who is out of the loop?\u00c2\u00a0 How much image steering can the power brokers effect?<\/p>\n
Now more than ever, it’s not about the penumbra, but the center.\u00c2\u00a0 Make good movies and people will see them.\u00c2\u00a0 Make good music and people will want to own it.\u00c2\u00a0 Focus on marketing rather than the essence and you’re in trouble.<\/p>\n
As for Bert Fields…\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t you realize your credibility’s been jeopardized by that "Vanity Fair" article?\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t you realize people don’t take you seriously anymore?\u00c2\u00a0 That you’re seen as the bulldog who will stop at nothing to avoid losing?\u00c2\u00a0 You’re old.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve lived long enough to have the veil lifted from your act.\u00c2\u00a0 YOU might be incredulous that Sumner went on the record, but almost no one knows who you are.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas every potential moviegoer knows that Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah’s couch and dissed not only Brooke Shields, but psychiatry, on the "Today Show".<\/p>\n
You can only triumph if you respect the audience.<\/p>\n
But it seems that those presently in power in entertainment circles only respect themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 This is catching up with them.\u00c2\u00a0 As more nimble players, younger and less greedy than the old guard, zero in on what the public truly wants and take control of the business, using the Internet to accomplish their goals.<\/p>\n
Hell, you can see it in clothing.\u00c2\u00a0 Did anybody at CAA know what Hurley was years back?\u00c2\u00a0 No.\u00c2\u00a0 But kids on the street did.\u00c2\u00a0 Kids on the street now know everything.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s all available on the Web.\u00c2\u00a0 To act like this isn’t so is to demonstrate such extreme arrogance as to put one’s career in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
Like we’ve got to protect Tom Cruise’s image\/career.\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s lining up to make movies with the star?\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s lining up to invest in his career (Paula Wagner says hedge funds, but her attorney Fields knows nothing about this)?\u00c2\u00a0 One thing the street knows is Tom Cruise is rich.\u00c2\u00a0 Consumers have got no sympathy.\u00c2\u00a0 Funny how a notoriously cold industry seems to care about him.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, we know the truth, as stated above, the players only care about themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 And it shows.\u00c2\u00a0 Sumner’s trying to right the ship, but the usual suspects would rather have it take on water.\u00c2\u00a0 Enough with the insiders closing ranks.\u00c2\u00a0 It didn’t prevent P2P and it’s not going to resuscitate Tom Cruise’s career, which he single-handedly destroyed.\u00c2\u00a0 MOVE ON!<\/p>\n
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