Ice-T
Ice-T visited our Leadership in the Entertainment Industry class yesterday. I could tell that a few people in class were deeply offended by his style, but mostly people loved it. He was easily one of the funniest and most engaging speakers we've had at the GSB.
Here are a few points he made:
1) TV is about selling stuff. It's all about more viewers. The storyline, the plot, all that content is just to get more viewers. More viewers = more money.
2) He had nothing but good things to say about Dick Wolf. "He's straight up." Apparently Ice-T told Wold he (Ice) should have his own show and Wolf said, "Every actor thinks he should have his own show." They did the show, but it didn't do well - so Wolf said he wished he had a "stronger vehicle" for Ice-T. That turned out to be Law & Order. Ice-T wasn't going to play a cop, but then his manager told him, "You can always quit." Now it's 8 years later and he's still on the show.
3) Business comes down to one simple thing: "make more money than you started out with." How true.
4) The people with the power work artists until they're "burned out, busted or dead."
5) There are four stages of being an artist as far as agents, directors, etc. are concerned:
- Who's Ice-T?
- Get Me Ice-T
- Get Me A Young Ice-T
- Who's Ice-T
6) The difference between music and everything else even movies is that with music people get together to enjoy it - they really get into it. I don't know if this is the case anymore - one of the things you can see with iPods is that iPods make music actually a very solitary experience.
7) Computers are a very solitary experience. People want to use the Internet to connect.
8) Movies have reached a technical barrier. When Star Wars came out, at that time, it was amazing. But now movies have reached a technical barrier where there's nothing they can do that will really knock your socks off.
9) The more money you have, the higher the caliber of the swindler who will come after you. If you have $10, you'll get a $10 swindler. $10M and you'll get a $10M swindler. Get enough money and entire groups of people will try to get it from you.
10) On the Internet, taking a little money at a time is better than trying to take a lot of money. Charge a few bucks for a picture, a download, etc.
11) People go on the net because they want FREE stuff. They'll spend hours on your site until they reach the Paypal screen. MySpace is successful because it's free!
12) Parents, if you don't want kids listening to rap, sit down and listen with them.
13) "I act out of love but I do music to remain sane."
14) Do something on the side to fulfill your desire to create.
15) The Internet is a big party line for the world to connect.
16) Struggle and pain are good - people want to know that you're going through it.
Here are a few points he made:
1) TV is about selling stuff. It's all about more viewers. The storyline, the plot, all that content is just to get more viewers. More viewers = more money.
2) He had nothing but good things to say about Dick Wolf. "He's straight up." Apparently Ice-T told Wold he (Ice) should have his own show and Wolf said, "Every actor thinks he should have his own show." They did the show, but it didn't do well - so Wolf said he wished he had a "stronger vehicle" for Ice-T. That turned out to be Law & Order. Ice-T wasn't going to play a cop, but then his manager told him, "You can always quit." Now it's 8 years later and he's still on the show.
3) Business comes down to one simple thing: "make more money than you started out with." How true.
4) The people with the power work artists until they're "burned out, busted or dead."
5) There are four stages of being an artist as far as agents, directors, etc. are concerned:
- Who's Ice-T?
- Get Me Ice-T
- Get Me A Young Ice-T
- Who's Ice-T
6) The difference between music and everything else even movies is that with music people get together to enjoy it - they really get into it. I don't know if this is the case anymore - one of the things you can see with iPods is that iPods make music actually a very solitary experience.
7) Computers are a very solitary experience. People want to use the Internet to connect.
8) Movies have reached a technical barrier. When Star Wars came out, at that time, it was amazing. But now movies have reached a technical barrier where there's nothing they can do that will really knock your socks off.
9) The more money you have, the higher the caliber of the swindler who will come after you. If you have $10, you'll get a $10 swindler. $10M and you'll get a $10M swindler. Get enough money and entire groups of people will try to get it from you.
10) On the Internet, taking a little money at a time is better than trying to take a lot of money. Charge a few bucks for a picture, a download, etc.
11) People go on the net because they want FREE stuff. They'll spend hours on your site until they reach the Paypal screen. MySpace is successful because it's free!
12) Parents, if you don't want kids listening to rap, sit down and listen with them.
13) "I act out of love but I do music to remain sane."
14) Do something on the side to fulfill your desire to create.
15) The Internet is a big party line for the world to connect.
16) Struggle and pain are good - people want to know that you're going through it.
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