An excerpt of Kelli’s Q&A with Hollywood Producer, Gary Goldstein, an inspiring voice in the film and music industries. Gary Goldstein produced one of the most iconic cultural expressions of the last generation: Pretty Woman. He has gone on to mentor many of the leading creative voices in music and film. He is an accomplished film producer, an author, a speaker, an innovator, a philanthropist, and a great guy. This is definitely one of the best fireside chats yet. (To hear this entire interview, please visit the Resources Page on my Website.)
Kelli Richards: Gary, put on your consultant’s hat for a moment, if you will. When you look forward at the entertainment industry, what do you think is the biggest challenge we face, and what kinds of solutions do you see down the road?
Gary Goldstein: Very few people understand – artists and everyone haven’t really been taught — business literacy. They don’t know the meaning of it. The value of your intellectual property is so precious that to give it up for a royalty after expenses… well, the landscape is changing. Make it your mission to find out what works for YOU. Get engaged, get involved in these conversations. Become joyful and excited about learning the marketing piece – the business of your art. That’s never going to be less than central to your success. You know, Lady Gaga, she didn’t invent innovative marketing in today’s sandbox. But she and her team simply mastered it better than most. Her talent’s evident, sure, but her unspeakable, astonishing success is the stuff of brilliant, innovative marketing.
Kelli Richards: That’s because she herself does that. She has a team around her that’s wonderful, but she herself, makes it a point to understand and to harness the power of social media and technology. She actively embraces it, takes it on, leverages it to its fullest – and for example, understands the power of mailbox money with royalties in her retirement years, so she doesn’t give up her publishing rights.
Gary, What do you think are the DISadvantages of artists running their own content, if you see any – are artists at risk of becoming SO independent, that they won’t lean on the amazing knowledge base and expertise out there in the entertainment industry?
Gary Goldstein: Yes, I think that is the risk. I think the risk is … the deficit is the education gap that we have suffered up until now. And we have a learning gap. There are a lot of folks who really don’t know or forget that they do need to become master entrepreneurs, marketers, business people and get excited about that. Not get so intoxicated just with your music or your website that you forget to get that result, to really drive that relationship with your audience. So to do that, yeah, don’t forget to seek out more successful people in the space. Get mentors. Surround yourself with collaborators who know what they’re doing. …get noticed, get referrals, get access. …
….Get thee to multiple mentors. Get thee to five-minute mentors, lifelong mentors. Get thee to anyone who really has wisdom. Not information, not data, not opinions. Someone who really deeply has some wisdom, some success. Get their counsel. It will help you become fearless and humble at the same time. It will help you believe in the possibility of your goals. So you get out of your cubicle brain and into your joyful, young brain that loves everything new. The cool thing is that it becomes a deeply personal time and journey.
Kelli Richards: And everybody will benefit from a guide on that journey. There’s no reason to do it alone. And the reality that there are people out there like you and I who are such mentors and coaches and guides, and we have a lot to offer those kind of people who are looking for us, who are seeking that support. …
Gary Goldstein: Here’s the beautiful thing about being stubborn enough and hanging out long enough and having a little age on you. For me, the past is a gift but I don’t live there. For me, everything is about where I’m going. The stuff ahead of me, I’m so excited about. Using every learning, every piece of wisdom, every strategy, every relationship that I’m blessed to have in my life. Tribe Hollywood is a great example of that. Instead of me mentoring people one at a time, I want to mentor them a thousand, two thousand, three thousand at a time.
To hear this entire interview, please visit the Resources Page on my Website.) And to learn more about Gary Goldstein’s latest project, Tribe Hollywood or to sign up for his “5 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me About Hollywood” go to https://tribehollywood.biz.
