Lessons learned in the world of Television

Lessons learned in the world of Television
I am here in Las Vegas attending NAPTE which stands for National Association of Television Producers Executives.
The convention has just ended and I am leaving to the airport to catch the red eye flight out of here.
Reflecting on the convention, I leave with valuable lessons, some which I will share with you, faithful readers of my leadership column here at the Puerto Rico Daily Sun.
A young lady approached me after a session and she congratulated me for the question I asked the panelists on the last session of the convention. I asked them to give us an idea of how to make more money in 2012, since the title of the session was “How will we all make money in 2012”.
I didn’t get a very good answer from any of them to tell you the truth. One advised to work on content, since content drives television and whoever can provide good content, will always have an advantage. Another one said to look into different delivery mechanism, not only television. To look at social media, twitter, face book, printed media, computers, I phones, podcasts, etc. One guy said to text a lot, he actually works for Nokia, so I guess the answer is understandable.
A big lesson I can share now is that whenever you are attending a convention and you are not speaking in that convention, get up and ask a question. When you get up and ask a question, you first state your name, you tell the audience what you do and where you come from. At that moment, you become one of the speakers in the convention because now they know who you are and also you are in the recording of the session and many more people that didn’t attend the session but that will listen to it through a webcast or in a DVD will know who you are.
I was pleasantly surprised when a lady approached me and told me that she was a regular reader of my column here in the PRDS. She said her husband was the agent of Miguel Cotto the fighter. I told her to tell Miguel I am very sorry for the passing of his father.
Another lesson that I can convey to you is what I answered to another lady that approached me when I asked another question on the session about Latin American tele novelas and programming in general.
She knew I am a professional speaker and writer and asked me what I was doing in a convention for television producers. I told her that right now, my most important client is a television network, specifically America CV 24 with stations in New York, Puerto Rico and Miami. So, I add value to my client by being there and looking at the industry first hand, in person and meeting people who can be of help to my client.
I also told her that out of that convention, I will learn lessons and principles that I will be able to communicate to audiences that will hear me speak in the future.
Let me share a three more lessons with you now.
I learned something very important from David Kelley. He is one of the most respected and prolific creators of network dramas in American Television. He has created award winning series including some of my favorites, such as Boston Legal that I love, The Practice that I watch regularly and he also wrote for L. A. Law created by Steven Bochco, one of my all time favorites and where he rose to executive producer.
He told the story about him being a lawyer in Boston in a law firm for about three years and during that time, he got to try one single case. In that particular case, he practiced his closing argument for hours, in front of the mirror, when he would pause, how he would use his hands, how his argument had to flow so as to win the case. When the judge asks him to stand up and deliver the closing argument, he suddenly looks at the State Attorney and asked him if he had any other evidence to introduce and when the guy said no, the judge looked at David and said, “not guilty”. That means that David had won his case. Yet, even though he won, he was so disappointed in not being able to deliver his argument that the judge looked at him and asked him if he wanted to go into his chambers and do the closing for him.
What really matters in life is not the final victory but the journey to get that victory. What matters is what you have to do to win, not getting the win. If you are a tennis player and you have to play for the championship, you rather beat the opponent than win through default. You want to sweat it out, to fight to the end and win. Easy victories don’t satisfy much.
Another lesson I learned was from Donald Trump. He was asked if any of the participants on his celebrity Apprentice program had disappointed him. He said that five or six but that he didn’t want to name any, so as not to tarnish the celebrity. Then he was asked if any of the celebrity participants had actually surprised him with his or her performance. And he named Joan Rivers, the oldest participant in the whole group of contestants. He thought that because she was 76, she would not have the energy of the other celebrities, and yet, she displayed more energy than any of the other celebrities in their twenties, thirties and forties.
Big lesson, don’t discount anyone because of age, color of the skin, nationality or any other characteristic that has nothing to do with performance.
Important lesson taught to me by David Shore. He is the creator and producer of House, one of my favorite programs also. He was there with another producer and with Hugh Laurie, the main actor. At the end, I wanted to give Hugh an autographed copy of my book “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow Yet” but as soon as the session finished, they all stood up and with security guards blocking the audience, they walked out of the room. Mr. Shore, though, was the last one out and I did have a chance to hand him my book, for him to give to Hugh Laurie. He said, “No, thank you”. This is the first time in my life than anyone refuses to accept my book as a gift. So, I conclude that he is arrogant, insensitive and I might even stop watching House so as not to watch what that guy writes. He also forgets that I now am telling you and I will tell the whole world through face book, twitter and social media.
On the other hand, I gave my book to Elizabeth Murdoch, CEO of Shine, a huge production company and the daughter of multi millionaire media mogul, Rupert Murdoch and she was very down to earth, loved my book and said that her daughter would also read it. This woman could buy David Shore with her spare change in her piggy bank.
The lesson, no matter how successful you are, or whatever accomplishments you have earned in your career, don’t look down at people, don’t turn into an arrogant SOB because sooner or later, it will come back to haunt you.
It was a fantastic convention and even if you are not a television producer, you should sign up and take a look. Next year it will be held in Miami, close to us in Puerto Rico.