The Connection Newsletter 31 - Learn

Hello!

This is edition #31 of

The Connection

, the weekly email I send family, friends, and future friends (hello!) Glad you're here.

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First, an article I wrote this week: I worked at a

horror production company that produced films you’ve never heard

of like

Asylum

,

Seconds Apart

, and

Husk

. Producing little-known horror films isn’t the best financial model or the best model to produce award-winning films, but because this tiny shop did nearly everything in-house (acquisition, development, production, marketing) films actually got

made

. It was the best education in the film business I could have asked for, and

taught me when the goal is to learn, start small

.

Hot tip:

Pocket

, the article reading/bookmarking app, now allows you

to listen

to saved articles on the mobile app. If you read a ton of articles, highly recommend you check it out.

Now, onto this week’s articles:

…

Seriously impressed with this profile on Johnny Depp

.

Did Disney try to alter his Pirates performance? “Disney hated me. [They were] thinking of every way they could to get rid of me, to fire me. ‘Oh, we’re going to have to subtitle him.’ ‘We don’t understand Captain Jack Sparrow. What’s wrong with him?’ ‘What’s wrong with his arms?’ ‘Is he drunk?’ ‘Is he mentally fucking stupefied?’ ‘Is he gay?’”

…

Who to thank (or blame) for the Twilight film franchise

Love or hate it, Catherine Hardwicke was instrumental in launching the

Twilight

franchise by directing the first film (which ultimately grossed $393m -- against $37m all-in costs). Then she was unceremoniously passed over for the next 3 sequels.

“They came to me and said, ‘You’ve got to find a way to cut $4 million out of the budget in the next four days, or we’re pulling the plug.’”

…

How the champion of athleisure plans to thrive in an ocean of competitors

“Between 2008 and 2015, worldwide activewear sales increased by 42% to $270 billion. In fact, analysts believe that yoga pants and running tights kept the clothing sector afloat during the economic crisis.The challenge facing Lululemon today is that it’s now just one athleisure brand in an ocean of brands competing for the same consumer.”

…

A "sugar date" gone sour

“Women are stigmatized and seen as repulsive and worthless when using their bodies to support themselves,” Ms. Fowles said. “I was in a tough place financially, and I am O.K. with my decisions. Women have sex with vile men all the time so why shouldn’t we be paid for it if we choose? I don’t deserve to be shamed for it, or scammed because of it.”

…

All the family fights you’ll ever have

My fave: “

The I Thought You Had Enrolled in Autopay Fight (Pugna rebus Oeconomicus Autoreddere) A conflict stemming from miscommunication vis-a-vis the payment of bills, frequently precipitated by Shut Off notices from the utility company.”

...

Taylor Swift took on Apple, the streaming industry, voter registration… now scalpers

“[Taylor] used Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform, which scans online data to verify purchasers, and hiked the price of tickets sold elsewhere up to nearly $700 a pop for general admission — leaving an average of 600 unsold tickets at each show on the table. And it worked. It may not have sold out completely, but Swift made an estimated additional $50m on this tour — and cut down her resell tickets from 30% in 2015 to 5% in 2018.”

Thanks for reading!

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