By Selina Wilken
If there is one thing that’s easier said than done, it’s fighting against the norm. Whether it’s fashion, politics, or any new way of doing anything, it’s very hard to stick to your guns.
Alongside our coverage of popular entertainment phenomena, we make sure to write about emerging artists within the music, book, film and television industries here on Hypable. These are fresh talents, just waiting to be discovered.
Yet usually, being “discovered” means gaining success in the industry. And gaining success means that some big corporate beast swallows you up and packages you for easy distribution to and consumption by the masses.
There are trends within all creative industries, of course, which you have to understand to gain critical acclaim (usually, the key is to be ahead of the trends, so put that teen vampire-ghost romance you’ve been writing on hold until the inevitable nostalgic genre revival in 10-15 years). In the book industry, for example, we are currently seeing the YA genre slowly shifting from the dystopian gang-of-unlikely-heroes adventure to the real-world John Green-style gloomy romance.
In television, you’ll find that a big chunk of premiering series are book- or comic adaptations, riding on the superhero movie train or the Game of Thrones wave: new shows Outlander, The Leftovers and The Strain are all based on books.
Meanwhile Netflix offers thrilling-yet-somewhat-monotone Talking Head 2.0 dramas in the same vein as Breaking Bad and Mad Men. And then there’s the cute-turned-disturbing revival trend, where every show (and movie) you loved as a kid will be picked back up, polished, and put back on the air with a fresh cast, a crisp HD look, and nothing new to say at all. Just more of the same, because reviving shows attracts eyeballs. It’s that simple.
And movies? On the big screen these days you’ll almost exclusively experience remakes, sequels, prequels, or adaptations. Except for your occasional original premise rom-com, of course – but since the basic premise of a rom-com is pretty much always the same, that hardly counts.
Even the indie business is overrun with predictable premises and unimaginative characters, and it doesn’t help that big-name Hollywood stars are flocking to the scene, desperate to be a part of something resembling art.
But then there are the completely independent artists. And by independent, I mean unknown enough to be untainted by the business, and outside corporate control. Original content in the form of web series and short films is being created every single day all over the world; some funded by Kickstarter campaigns or similar, some not funded at all. All have the potential to be brilliant, off-beat, and unique. Some gain their own fan bases, proving that thereis a market for originality, and artistic ingenuity.
Somewhere in LA, there is a group of young people working together to create fantastic, innovative productions such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Awkward Black Girl, and pretty much anything Starkid. All over the world, talents of all ages join forces to create something different – something that breaks the norm, and that doesn’t conform to industry standards, but follows unique artistic visions.
…At least, in a perfect world, that would be true. But why do most people create anything artistically these days? That’s right – to be discovered. To be signed, to be labelled, to be authenticized on Twitter (!).
And that’s when the sponsorships come in – and with them the demands, and the restrictions. The bigger your YouTube accounts gets, the more sponsors you’ll have. The more you have to conform to your sponsors’ demands, the less personable you’ll be.
But does that mean that the bigger you get, the worse (or less authentic) your art becomes? Yes and no.
No, because it’s still your art, and your voice, and you having “made it” means that when you make something – as compromised by networks and sponsors as it may start to become – a lot of people will pay attention to it. And once you’ve passed the initial selling-out stage, you’ll be “famous” (ugh). And if you’re one of the blessed few – think Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, and Patrick Stewart – you’ll get so big that you can start to gain back some of your artistic control. And that’s where you, potentially, can make an impact rather than just a name for yourself. And that, of course, is fantastic. (And a fool-proof career path, am I right?)
But yes, until you reach that legendary stage, your fame will negatively impact your art (by restricting and mainstreaming it). Say you have a little web series you’re really passionate about. A story you really want to tell the world. Ideally, you want to sell it to a network, or even better, Netflix. Certainly this is the goal of most (though not all) web series creators.
But once that series is sold? Unless you sell it to something like Geek and Sundry, it’s probably going to end up streamlined and polished and molded into a very cliche, predictable format. Devoid of most meaning, because god forbid it should make the audience think too far outside their designated little boxes.
As soon as you sell out, you’ll most likely have to compromise your vision. Your quirky, off-beat casting choices will be overruled. Your borderline offensive yet richly layered jokes will be scrapped. Your sociopolitical statements will be censored. Because that’s not what The People want. It’s what your own little circle of 100 original viewers wanted, and it’s what you want. But the TV and film industry has, to put it in bold and angry-comment-sparking terms, gotten lazy, predictable, and pointless. It’s relying on nostalgia, repetition, and cliches to hang on to its viewership.
That’s not where art is born, but hey, it’s where the money is. It’s a corporate world, I get it. Doesn’t mean I have to accept it though.
And let’s make something clear: there is nothing wrong with producing streamlined, calling-card worthy content and releasing it online. Practicing your technical writing, acting and production skills by creating short films and series is a great technique, and it benefits the rest of us who get to experience your work, so keep at it! And wanting to “make it” in the industry is a worthy goal – not only for the fame and fortune, but because if you make it through the pinhole, you might just gain enough attention (and money!) to make something that matters.
Ideally, you’d be creating professional, sleek calling card content alongside your edgier, off-network material. Shaking things up, but still being realistic about making a career out of doing what you love.
There are actually quite a lot of web series makers and YouTubers who’ve begun to break through and “become someone,” whatever that means – just look at Darren Criss, or Justin Bieber.
The problem isn’t these people. The problem is the industry, and what it’s becoming. The more money is involved, the more streamlined the product has to become. The bigger your name gets, the more pressure your team will put on you to create something guaranteed to sell movie tickets. Quantity over quality, that’s how big business is done.
New talents can conform to the machine and practice crafting the standard model of the network sitcom or the sci-fi romance, and thereby gain jobs. And yay jobs! But feeding the beast, when there are endless possibilities to challengeit? Not so yay. Here’s some alliteration for you: conformity is easy; change is the challenge.
What we need is not young wannabes who try to replicate what they see on TV to be discovered and absorbed. What we need is not web series versions of The Vampire Diaries and New Girl. What we need is not The Next (insert iconic title here).
What we need is The New. The Different. The Mind-Blowing. The internet and the power of the modern laptop allows you complete, wide-open artistic freedom.Use it. Blow us away.
Unless, of course, your aim isn’t art, but craft. Again, I am in no way putting down those self-made creators who are trying to sell their work to established corporations. Go for it! Get a piece of that sugarless, non-fat, gluten-free, vegan cake they’re probably serving over there. Prove me wrong about the established industry, I dare you.
But ultimately, shouldn’t we be creating art for ourselves, and the precious few lucky enough to witness it with us? Of course then the question remains: are films, TV series and music still considered art forms, meant to make us critically reflect on our own lives? Or are we looking at a world in which, barring a few notable exceptions, entertainment simply exists to distract us from real world issues?
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