Being an actor or creative type in Hollywood, save for the occasional movie star or blockbuster auteur, is one of the most powerless jobs possible. Actors have to go through casting director associates, then head casting directors, then directors, producers, and random studio producers. And that before the sex-on the couch. One “no” anywhere along the way, and it's back to (insert day job).
So when actors and creators get together and collaborate, there can be a problem with everyone wanting to run the show. Look at most actor-run theater companies in town and you'll see little fiefdoms.
The amusing part is that, when you ask an actor, writer or director what is broken in Hollywood, the studio system invariably comes up. But give one a small bit of power, and they immediately set up the exact same system. But the benevolent dictator is a myth, whether they live in Malibu or Silverlake.
This comes to mind as I follow the silliness about the Streamys and the formation of the International Academy of Web Television. For those of you who don't know – which is likely everyone reading this except JSto – the Streamys are like the Oscars of web television (again, aping one of the exact entities that so many proclaim to despise). This year's ceremony, the second, was a disaster – technical glitches and D-list presenters clearly there for a free buffet of some sort.
This has caused much hyperventilation among a class of people prone to hyperventilation in the first place (there's a reason that the term is “drama queens” and not, say, “plumber queens”). Cries for transparency in the process abound, offended parties are sounding off wherever possible and a lot of hand wringing is underway.
And all I can do is laugh.
1) An academy? Really? The goal is to replicate a broken system? The point of the Internet is that it is the wild west. If the RIAA and a million lawyers can't stop piracy, you think you can rally together creators looking to set up their own private fiefdoms online under one umbrella and have it not descend into ego clashes and power grabs?
2) And will the people complaining over an award show shut up already? Yes, some douchy, low-rent comedians made fun of you. Yes, the producers decided to put up an award show without a tech rehearsal (no, really – that actually happened). What the hell does that have to do with you? The medium, web television, is not going anywhere. A poorly planned, poorly run award show does not mean that you'll never be able to quit your day job.
It reminds me of the early days of Major League Soccer. US soccer fans were so happy to have a league that few noticed just how bad the level of play was. Anytime a journalist pointed that out, the writer would be attacked mercilessly. But once Columbus Crew Stadium opened and owners had a clear path to profitability, the league was clearly here to stay, and the fans could relax and not feel the need to defend the sport so ferociously.
Web television isn't going anywhere. So not every misstep is the end of the world.
You want to make web television relevant? Make better shows. Don't worry about awards.
(In the interest of full disclosure: Once upon a time, I wrote for Tubefilter, a site about web television operated by three board members of the International Academy of Web Television. I was let go in short order.)
(thanks to Manic Street Preachers for the title)
"which is likely everyone reading this except JSto"
ha--you got me!
Posted by: JSto | May 20, 2010 at 08:35 PM