Hello beautiful people!
Let’s get to Googlin’!
Because you’re building relationships with fellow creatives with whom you would never compete for a gig (you’re not the same type, the same vibe, the same age, the same ethnicity, the same gender identity or expression for cryin’ out loud), you have zero stress sharing resources, and that means your community show bible is potentially massive.
Think about the power in that!
Of course, with a massive, powerful show bible comes the potential for overwhelm and that’s why it’s so important to create a practice of updating — and refining — your show bible on the regular.
Listen up!
You already have a show bible brewing. Right? RIGHT?
You have a list of everyone you’ve ever worked with. You have a list of those you want to work with. You have a list of leaders whose leadership style you want to model. You have a list of people whose work inspires you. You have a list of well-known creators whose voices already speak the stories you want to help tell. You have a list of lesser-known creators whose voices are starting to whisper the stories you want to help tell.
And you have access to IMDb-Pro, The Futon Critic, iSpot.tv, IBDb, IOBDb, CastingAbout, and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, plus dozens of industry rags, trade publications, gossip blogs, Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, podcasts, Clubhouse rooms, livestreams, the credits running on every bit of content you consume, and convos with fellow ninjas about who’s inspiring and delighting them.
But you can have all the information in the world and if you don’t purposefully manage and “yes, and…” that info, you’re nowhere. (Tweet it.)
Today’s work: Update your Google Alerts. Dig in there and delete any superfluous ones that you no longer need to keep tabs on. Add refinements to ones that are coming in too busy or unfocused (like adding the word “cast” to a Google Alert on someone’s name that’s returning way too many hits that are not the casting director but instead the little league coach by the same name). Remove those former-tier targets from the regular rotation.
Get more purposeful with your “yes, and…” action for the information coming your way via Google Alerts. Put on your calendar a regular date for doing this if you didn’t do it the last time this was part of your homework. *ahem* Clock in regularly to get up to speed about your world and to build your fluency with the people, projects, and details you’re tracking. You only lose the advantage of a long-forgotten bit of work you did if YOU drop the ball on tracking its progress through the festival circuit.
Look at the advantage I now have with the film I discussed in today’s MP3! I can reconnect with the team to rekindle our relationship. I can be sure I’m involved in the festival run or distribution plans for this project. I can pitch myself to podcasters seeking interviewees using this “hot new release” as a reason I’m relevant. I can have my team put out a press release. I can update my resume with notable festival or distribution entity developments. If I were an actor, I could use this as an opportunity to send out postcards and do a blast to my newsletter, update the “latest” section on my website, grab footage for editing my demo reel. All this new energy off ONE hour of having clocked in on my tracking work.
What advantage can you get from what you’re tracking? Can you find a blurb about yourself out there that could refresh your reviews section on your website? Is there something going on with a target that gives you a chance to send a quick email or tweet letting them know you saw their good news and wish to celebrate them? Or is it just about clocking in to do more focused work with what’s already headed into your inbox right now? How can you be more purposeful with your tracking action starting today?
’til tomorrow… stay ninja!
