Happy Friday!
This week I had the opportunity to lead a class lecture at American College of Thessaloniki in Greece. It’s the fourth time I’ve taught at the school, as part of a longtime partnership between Fallon’s founders and the Dean there. I find it so fascinating, challenging and rewarding to translate the context of digital, social and interactive in the U.S. to European students. As always, I learned a ton from teaching others. Looking forward to the next class next month!
Beyond work, I really enjoyed reading this oral history about Clerks, as it celebrates its 25th Anniversary: The Improbable True Story of How ‘Clerks’ Was Made. Kevin Smith and the filmmakers embraced their constraints and established a new zeitgeist for all films! This quote really defines the creative process of pioneering something new : “If there was anyone on that set who actually knew how to make a movie, it would have warped the whole experience because someone would have been like, ‘What are you doing? This is unorganized, there’s no schedule, and you’re making it up as you go along’.”
I skipped precious sleep this week geeking out on the documentary “Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives” on Netflix. Clive Davis was a phenomenal talent scout, genius collaborator, and the ultimate lover of music. He has signed more top-selling artists than any other promoter in the industry — Janis Joplin, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow – and his batting average is super high. He helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream in the 1960s, brought country into the mainstream in the 1990s, then R&B, then hip-hop, and then… Alicia Keys. He made Kenny G put out the most popular instrumental Christmas album of all time – and he’s Jewish! He made The Bodyguard Soundtrack the second-best selling soundtrack of all time. Name a genre and year, and it’s clear that Clive impacted the pop soundtrack of that moment. I’ll never think of Whitney Houston the same way.
This week Dr. Phil posted a video where he acts befuddled about VSCO girls and the things they say in the popular viral trend, like “sksksks” and “And I oop.” My mom was also asking about VSCO girls last weekend, and my daughter and I figured out the easiest explanation is that it’s the new “Valley Girl” from the 1980s. Don’t be like Dr. Phil and make the kids cringe. Read this article. Then you can sksksksksk with the best of them. And then you’ll know why they’re cringing!
See you on the internet!
Greg
GREG SWAN 