Sleepers come seemingly out of nowhere. They are the little films that confound expectations, attracting enthusiastic audiences that happily spread the word. Sometimes they come from the studio system, produced almost as an afterthought, but mostly they’re produced well off the radar. On occasion, they upend the established order by opening at No. 1 at the boxoffice. But more typically they start small, building over time, hanging on in theaters as more heralded movies come and go. Often the filmmakers involved meet with initial rejection before wildly triumphing in the end. In the process, they expose the limitations of Hollywood’s conventional thinking about what makes a hit.

10. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (Sony Pictures Classics, 2000)
Budget: $17 million
Domestic gross: $128 million

8. “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight, 2008)
Budget: $15 million
Domestic gross: $141.3 million

7. March of the Penguins (Warner Independent/National Geographic, 2005)
Budget: $8 million
Domestic gross: $77.4 million

6. Jackass: The Movie (Paramount, 2002)
Budget: $5 million
Domestic gross: $64.3 million

5. “Juno” (Fox Searchlight, 2007)
Budget: $7.5 million
Domestic gross: $143.5 million

4. “Saw” (Lionsgate, 2004)
Budget: $1.2 million
Domestic gross: $55.2 million

3. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (IFC, 2002)
Budget: $5 million
Domestic gross: $241.4 million

9. “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” (Lionsgate, 2005)
Budget: $5.5 million
Domestic gross: $50.4 million

2. “Napoleon Dynamite” (Fox Searchlight/Paramount 2004)
Budget: $400,000
Domestic gross: $44.5 million

1. “Paranormal Activity” (Paramount, 2009)
Budget: $15,000
Domestic gross: $107.6 million

The full story and video clips from The Hollywood Reporter

Dr. Howard Suber, author of The Power of Film, teaches an extraordinary class on strategy, storytelling and strategic thinking at UCLA in the MFA Producers Program.  During his course, he has an on-going email conversation with students present and past on the key topics of the class.  We had dinner the other night and discussed the importance of online entertainment.  He is a bit more of a skeptic than I am– I am a true believer, I admit it.

In his class emails he talks about the truism “it’s not what you know, but who you know” which reflects the nepotism, name dropping and almighty rolodex or contact list in Hollywood.  He turns this notion on its head and says the more important thing is “who knows you.”  In his class, Dr. Suber emphasizes the importance of having credibility and a stellar reputation.  In my email to him, printed below. I reference his more accurate and useful truism and apply it to my experience and the importance of “being watched” in the context of making a deal or getting a job in the entertainment industry and how New Media affords you the best platform.

Dear Howard–

For several years, I have been a consultant for FreMantle Media, one of the leading worldwide media companies. I’ve met and worked with their executives, producers and writers across Europe and Australia. I recently started developing my own online series with them.  The reason I got my deal was management had an opportunity to watch me work.   They knew my work ethic, how I relate to their business and what my general approach to drama development was.  They watched and knew me personally.

I think “being watched” is how any one gets any deal or any assignment in this business.  It absolutely goes back to the principle you articulate about “who knows you.”  No one is going to risk any kind of a substantial budget on someone they don’t know on some level.  Spec scripts used to be the way people got to watch and get to know a new writer.  But those days are pretty much gone.  Budgets are too high and most everything is an adaption, a franchise property or a remake.  There are plenty of better known writers ahead of a newbie.  What a newbie brings to the table is a new eye, a fresh take and original ideas– not easily financed any more (with the rare exception).  Then there is the nightmare of distribution even if you do get financed.

That is why I believe online comedy and drama is the future for talent.  The barrier to entry is low.  Productions values can be minimal because the screen is small.  What makes a series successful is really clever, interesting and engaging writing.  The online series is very much a writer’s showcase.  All you really need is a distinctive voice. Distribution is equally available to everyone.

To prove how clever writing emerges in even the most minimal format– take a look at the article below from THR:

“Twitter sensation Shit My Dad Says is headed to television.  CBS has picked up a comedy project based on the Twitter account, which has enlisted more than 700,000 followers since launching in August and has made its creator, Justin Halpern, an Internet star.”

“Will & Grace” creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are on board to executive produce and supervise the writing for the multicamera family comedy, which Halpern will co-pen with Patrick Schumacker. Halpern and Schumacker will also co-exec produce the Warner Bros. TV-produced project, which has received a script commitment.  The comedy’s title will change if it gets on the air.”

“Halpern, 29, had moved back in with his parents in San Diego, and on Aug. 3 he launched “Shit My Dad Says,” a Twitter feed featuring colorful — often profane — comments and pearls of wisdom made by his 73-year-old father during their daily conversations.”

Full article is here:  Shit My Dad Says

So Justin Halpern got a deal based on 140 character Tweet depictions of his dad.  He translated his ear for dialogue and sense of humor into a running comedy.  The Powers That Be watched him do it.  Believe me.  They are watching everywhere!  There are staff people whose only job is to troll the Internet for new talent.  If you are talented enough to develop a following they will find you– guaranteed.

Don’t forget Juno scribe Diablo Cody first got noticed for her blog about being a stripper among other things.

From her Wikipedia page:

“Cody began a parody of a weblog called Red Secretary, detailing the (fictional) exploits of a secretary living in Belarus. The events were thinly–veiled allegories for events that happened in Cody’s real life, but told from the perspective of a disgruntled, English–idiom–challenged Eastern Bloc girl.  Cody’s first bona fide blog appeared under the nickname Darling Girl after Cody had moved from Chicago to Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

“Then, Cody signed up for amateur night at a Minneapolis strip club called the Skyway Lounge. Enjoying the experience, she eventually quit her day job and took up stripping full-time.  Based on the popularity of Pussy Ranch (her City Pages Newspaper blog) received, she was able to secure a publishing contract with Gotham Books. At the age of 24, Cody wrote her memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper.”

As another site says:  “she gonzo-blogged about the local sex industry until people with money began to notice. ”

Cody wasn’t the overnight success everyone depicted– she put in long hours developing a distinctive voice that got noticed online.  She was being watched until they knew her well enough to invest in her.

Last but not least, the WGA has just admitted its first member for writing a self-financed online series– her name is Ruth Livier.  Her Writers Guild membership is based entirely on her online credits.  Livier is a 30+ actress who feared the roles were dwindling for her age range and for her ethnicity.  Here is the story and a whole Guild issue about writing online series in general in  WGA Written By Magazine

Here is what Livier has to say about creating her series:

“In the entertainment community there is typecasting. The ‘powers that be’ don’t really know what to do with you. In my case I am not dark enough to fit their Latina stereotype and not white enough to be white. That’s why writing and producing for New Media is such a fantastic option. It affords us the opportunities that traditional media hasn’t. Let’s be real, the opportunities to break in through ‘traditional’ channels are slim. Like my friend Dennis Leoni says, “The oldest form of affirmative action is the ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ network.” And he is right. Try breaking through that! If you are not a part of the GOB network, mainstream media is super expensive. I don’t know about other Hispanic Americans with similar upbringings to mine, but rich relatives do not abound. No one has the private money to fund theatrical projects. I am not complaining. I’m grateful for my life experience.

I’m just saying New Media, the vehicle we are now using for Ylse, is a fantastic resource and a wonderful opportunity for us. We have immediate and unaltered access to a world audience and are circumventing traditional media platforms which are controlled by a small few.”

Read the full article in Hispanic Tips: News and Ideas

As the old foundations of Media Empires crumble there is plenty of opportunity for talent willing to think and create in a new way.  This is the good news in the Old Media Armageddon.  My advice is don’t waste your time on a dying paradigm that’s more interested in excluding you than including you.  This is a tremendous time to be a pioneer and create new ways to tell stories.  As Gary Carter says in his lecture on Storytelling in the Digital Age,  Old Media is based on exclusion (scarcity) and New Media is based on inclusion (abundance).   I know which one excites me.

Power of Idealism characters believe that life and love should involve a grand passion or an heroic destiny.  They see the world in terms of sweeping epic poetry or as a struggle of operatic proportions.  Intensity of feeling (good or bad) makes this character’s life worth living.

Power of Idealism characters believe it is better to be in intense pain than to feel nothing at all or to be simply content or complacent.  These characters are more than willing to suffer for their art, their iconoclasm or their noble or romantic gestures.  They believe pain is necessary to living a life of passion.  They embrace their pain and even tend to wallow in it.

Power of Idealism characters have high standards and seek excellence in whatever they do.  They appreciate the finer things in life and special luxuries large and small.  They strive for aesthetic perfection in all areas.  They abhor anything they consider to be coarse, gross, common, ordinary, mediocre, inelegant or ungallant.  They believe that what is perfect but unavailable or unattainable is infinitely more desirable than what is flawed but possible or achievable.  They are always reaching for the unreachable star.

A character driven by the Power of Idealism wants to stand out from the crowd, to be extraordinary, unique and special. They are youthful rebels, Epic Heroes or lovers whose passion lives forever.  In addition to the examples below, see the Power of Idealism blog posts for more examples.

Character Examples

Coming of Age characters like the title characters in Billy Elliot or Juno, “Jess” Kaur Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckham and Curt Henderson in American Graffiti are young people “finding themselves.” They don’t quite fit in and struggle to find their rightful place in the world. Learn how these characters lose their innocence but gain a more complex understanding of the adult world.

Epic Hero characters like Colonel Robert Shaw in Glory, King Leonides in 300 and William Wallace in Braveheart are warriors in a doomed but noble battle. These Epic Heroes fight courageously and sacrifice themselves for honor, glory and the immortality of story, song and legend. Learn how these characters lose their lives but live forever in our hearts.

Separated Lovers like Rick Blaine in Casablanca, Karen Blixen in Out of Africa and Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago are torn asunder from their lovers but their passion transcends time, distance or death. In Separated Lover stories learn how love becomes stronger than any other force on earth– even death.

Intense and sensitive Power of Idealism television characters include Meredith Grey in Grey’s Anatomy, Carrie Bradshaw inSex and the City, Ryan Atwood in The O.C. and Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek. Learn how these complex characters keep us enthralled week after week.

Power of Idealism eBook

The Power of Idealism Character Type eBook explains how these characters are alike and how each character is made individually distinct. It will help you develop unique, original, evocative and authentic Power of Idealism characters that fully explore all the contradictions, reversals and surprises of a fully formed human being.

Discover the Power of Idealism character’s specific goals, unique emotional obstacles and very distinct responses and reactions to any opportunity, challenge or threat. Create this character’s Immediate Tactics, Long-term Orientation and Strategic Approach in a way that is recognizably “true” at every step of the story and during every moment of screen time. The audience will instantaneously recognize and relate to your character because your character is complex, three-dimensional and “feels real.”

This eBook is thorough analysis of the Power of Idealism Character Type in his or her many guises and roles as a protagonist or a member of a larger ensemble. It is packed with numerous examples from film, television and even real life! Examples from scores of scenes and dozens of quotes from film and television characters clearly illustrate this character’s motivations and psychological dynamics in a story.

Comprehensive Analysis

The Power of Idealism Character Type eBook illustrates exactly how to create and differentiate this character based on his or her:

(1.) World View (beliefs about how the world works) What are the essential core beliefs that motivate a Power of Idealism character’s ordinary actions?

(2.) Role or Function (position in the story or role in the ensemble) What do the other players look to a Power of Idealism character to do or provide in the story?

(3.) Values in Conflict (competing values that push the character to extremes) What opposing choices or goals establish the Power of Idealism character’s moral code? What is this character willing to fight, sacrifice or die for? And why?

(4.) Story Questions (emotional journey in the story) What personal issues, dilemmas and internal conflicts does a Power of Idealism character wrestle with over the course of the story? What does this character ask of him or her self? What is this character’s Leap of Faith in an emotionally satisfying story?

(5.) Story Paradox (emotional dilemma) What is the duality or the contradiction at the heart of a Power of Idealism character’s story struggle? How is the character’s internal conflict expressed in actions.

(6.) Life Lessons (how to complete the emotional journey) What must a Power of Idealism character learn over the course of the story to make a clear, satisfying personal transformation? What actions lead to this character’s emotional salvation?

(7.) Dark Side (this character as a predator or villain) What happens when a Power of Idealism character’s actions are driven entirely by fear? How might or how does the story end in tragedy?

(8.) Leadership Style (what defines and qualifies this character as a leader) How does a Power of Idealism character convince others to follow? How does this character act to take charge and command?

(9.) Film Examples (the Power of Idealism character as a protagonist)

(10.) Television Examples (the Power of Idealism character as central to an ensemble)

(11.) Real Life Examples (historical Power of Idealism figures on the world stage)