Hi friends, the CA recall election is our Brexit. Seriously, it’s the same size economy with potential reverberations across the world. The polling is actually close. It’s not enough to just vote NO, it’s too important. Spend 10 minutes today and text ten friends: Here is what I said: “Have you voted in the recall election yet? Polling is super tight and I’m hoping to get 10 friends to each text 10 friends so that some guy whose entire bio in his bid to run the 5th largest economy in the world is “search YouTube” doesn’t have a chance.”

Something that occurs to me about the Q believers, most of whom it seems were actually older folks. It’s preferable to believe there is a cabal of pedofiles out to get you and you are part of the resistance than that the system you love is actually completely indifferent to you. Not just that it’s indifferent to you, but actively harming you. And it can be easier to believe a conspiracy than that the American exceptionalism that promised you a worry free life is a lie, and harms you and others.

When I was 13 I was riding the train between Sacramento and SF by myself, like I did every weekend from 12 years old on (divorced parents, it was the 90s, save your judgement Im fine.) I would always sit in the dining car to find someone to talk to. (Thread) If I rode on Friday nights, all the other divorced kids would be aboard, too, and we had formed a pack - we’d find each other and take over the dining car with homework, sodas, jokes, drawings, stories. It would get rowdy, in a sweet way. (Maybe not to other passengers, dunno)

As a white person, I am so ashamed to benefit from privileges that cost lives of black and brown people every day in this country. My work has been to help elevate voices that need to be heard, and then do my very fucking best to get white people to shut up and listen. So: 1/ If you are a white person who is outraged by just the last 24 hours of racism in America but you haven't done more than tweet outrage, I have some suggestions for how to start to deprogram your bias. Start here: passionriver.com/AmericanTrial

Friends: I am formulating the seed of an idea that I'd like some feedback on. See, there is something about this article I wrote back in 2018 about my fundraising journey, how I framed it & how people react to it that is not sitting well with me anymore 1/ medium.com/techstars/how-… I wrote this as an anthem for the struggling entrepreneur, to feel less lonely on the hard hard road we've all chosen. I say in it: you out there, keep going. And the response to this article is often something like: LOOK AT THE GRIT OF THIS ENTREPRENEUR. I think I reject this.

This is a dangerous and misleading headline and article, and does not reflect what I am hearing from distributors or even from AMPAS. It assumes there will be festivals next year, of which there is no guarantee. indiewire.com/2020/05/filmma… In fact, this position, as I am seeing in so many places fundamentally lacks courage and leadership needed to lead our way out of this. It encourages everyone to stick to the way things are, as if there is ever going to be a normal to return to.

This is hard/embarrassing for me to share, but on the off chance it helps someone else today: After a really productive and exciting last week of gathering resources for our community, pivoting the business to support them, I could barely get out of bed this morning. (I have two toddlers, this was not an option.) And while I *do* deeply feel like the work we started last week is crucial to forward momentum for our industry (independent creators), I have to admit that today I probably can't be the one pushing forward. Today I need to pause.

Ok quick reminder about how the film business works. The “success” of a film - some of you want to say, “it’s merits - is based on way more than a great script and a great director. 1. Budget. The way budgets are assigned to directors is often not what the project requires, but an expression of the faith the funding institution has in the director. This process is absolutely rife with bias. Cc @Inclusionists for details

Regarding Filmstruck, et al (RIP). For the last several years I have heard smart producers, distributors in Hollywood be excited about “how many buyers are in the marketplace.” They never stopped to look at ownership structures. (THREAD) In fact, most of the buyers had the same ultimate owners. And when the massive consolidation started to happen (AT&T merger, Disney etc) there would be, actually, only a few buyers in the market. What does this mean for creators and consumers? Nothing good.

I have spent the weekend at @StoweStoryLabs listening to and coaching film and TV pitches. And I've noticed a few things that I think might be helpful to filmmakers, but really anyone who is pitching a project (business, etc) that they really care about (thread) 1. In the case of films, we are playing make believe for a living. What I remember about playing make believe as a kid is that it was really FUN. A great pitch should feel fun, should bring you a sense of joy, because you have a chance to play make believe with someone else.