A Hollywood Producer’s Formula for Taking Bigger Risks
Dec 10, 2024
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Larry Kasanoff, a maverick movie producer known for hits like Platoon and Dirty Dancing, shares his bold approach to risk-taking in Hollywood. He critiques the industry's current trend of playing it safe and outlines his three-part framework for innovation: Create, Ask, and Play. Kasanoff recounts how passionate pursuits lead to iconic successes and emphasizes the importance of balancing instinct with audience expectations. Through anecdotes from Mortal Kombat and creative collaborations, he illustrates how humor and playfulness can unlock greater creativity.
The podcast underscores the film industry's need to embrace innovation and take creative risks instead of relying on safe franchises and remakes.
Larry Kasanoff emphasizes that fostering a culture of play and fun in workplaces can significantly enhance creativity and problem-solving.
Deep dives
Embracing Creative Risks in Hollywood
The current Hollywood landscape is criticized for its reluctance to take creative risks, often favoring safe bets such as remakes and franchises over innovative storytelling. The guest highlights that audiences crave new and diverse ideas, and that the safest option is often the riskiest, as it can lead to failure in an industry reliant on creative swings. He emphasizes that the fear of failure stifles creativity, and successful films have historically emerged from those willing to embrace the unconventional. By rejecting a conservative approach, filmmakers can tap into the original and innovative narratives that resonate with audiences.
Power of Instinct and Essence in Decision-Making
In discussing his career, the guest shares a pivotal moment when he took a significant risk by greenlighting the film *Platoon*, despite its unconventional nature and lack of star power. His instinct told him that the time was right to explore the psychological impacts of the Vietnam War rather than simply its physical horrors. This decision exemplified the importance of understanding the essence of an idea, as he prioritized the film’s core message over conventional market analysis. By trusting his instincts, he created something groundbreaking that ultimately won numerous accolades.
The Importance of Asking and Persistence
The guest emphasizes the critical role of asking for support and feedback in the creative process. He recounts how simply reaching out to influential individuals, such as Cher, led to unexpected collaborations that enhanced his projects. This focus on relentless pursuit of goals and building partnerships illustrates that opportunities abound if one has the courage to ask. By encouraging people to challenge the notion that their requests will be dismissed, he highlights the potential benefits of taking risks through communication.
Fostering Innovation Through Playfulness
Promoting a culture of play and fun in the workplace is seen as essential for fostering creativity and innovation. The guest argues that joy can unlock a more open-minded and relaxed approach to problem-solving, ultimately leading to better outcomes. He shares a memorable anecdote from his career in which a humorous miscommunication resulted in the successful inclusion of unexpected elements in a film, demonstrating that play can produce positive results. By balancing seriousness with play, individuals and teams can become more engaged and willing to take creative risks.
Hollywood is known for huge personalities and behemoth production studios taking big swings. But critics worry that the movie industry is playing it way too safe recently — by churning out remakes and fleshing out franchises, rather than dreaming up new things. And the same can be said of many established businesses in other industries. Larry Kasanoff, a movie producer and former studio head, has lessons from his career taking passionate risks to make groundbreaking movies like Platoon, Dirty Dancing, and Mortal Kombat. He breaks down his framework for innovation in three parts: Create, Ask, and Play. Kasanoff is the author of A Touch of the Madness: How to Be More Innovative in Work and Life . . . by Being a Little Crazy.
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