It’s Worth Your Time

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t miss it again this year.  Fortunately, I was able to keep the promise.  I’m talking about the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg.  For some reason, this festival’s schedule and my own have always been out of sync.  However, last Saturday, I finally had the chance to attend.  I reveled in the opportunity to view some very nice short films plus one truly funny feature: Barry Munday.

A touching scene from Barry Munday

This comedy with hometown star Patrick Wilson is quirky, but also totally engaging and, after a recent recut, closer to the director’s original intent, it’s finally getting the hoopla it deserves.

But I digress.

In addition to a great lineup of festival-circuit shorts and features, Sunscreen also does a good job lining up thought-provoking speakers.  I’m thinking of one session in particular:  a workshop with Producer Ralph Winter and Producer / Director Phil Cooke.

Producers Ralph Winter and Phil Cooke

Both gentlemen have impressive track records in the business (X-Men, Fantastic Four).  But this isn’t about name-dropping.  It’s about passing on a simple idea.

Time is a commodity, and should be negotiable as a commodity.   Winter – Cooke cited this concept in reference to how deals are negotiated.  You might not be able to offer an A-list star big bucks for your small quirky feature. However, if you can guarantee the star that she or he will be on and off the project within record time… Hey! You just might have something.

This whole idea of the time-value equation led me to thoughts beyond the art of the deal.  It recalled an internal debate I’ve been having for some time about the imposition of our media culture on all things time-related:  the three to five-thousand media messages you’re barraged with each day (including this blog post).

I offer no great insight here.  More of a challenge really.  If you’re the one doing the communicating and you want to focus on the value proposition of your message, forget the actual message for a second.  Think about your user’s (reader, viewer, consumer) time.  If you can get them in and out of your message quickly, you’ve added value to your idea, no matter what it is.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

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