FilmFemme

Brad Grey & Sumner Redstone (this photo is not from the event I went to)

I will be the first to admit that I kind of squandered the time I spent at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (which was called the School of Cinema-Television way back in the day when I went there).  I went to all my classes and wrote my papers and stuff but I didn’t take full advantage of the faculty or of the cool events that were hosted on campus.  Of course, now that I’m in the real world and getting really panicked about things like SQUANDERING MY ENTIRE LIFE, I sometimes go to the events on campus that I get those annoying emails about.  Tonight, USC and dean of the cinema school Elizabeth Daly hosted a discussion with Viacom Chairman and all around media mogul Sumner Redstone, moderated by Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey.  Even though I’m generally wary (read: terrified) of industry-types since my stint as a talent manager’s assistant, I was really excited about the opportunity to see these two bigwigs in conversation.

And guess what?  It was disappointing as hell.

I showed up at the new SCA building early because I was assured the event was “oversold” to ensure capacity.  I didn’t even get to bring a +1.  The theatre (a shiny new lecture hall with a huge screen and state of the art projection that didn’t exist at all a mere 4 years ago) did end up full, but there was hardly the clamoring for seats that I imagined.  So, that’s annoying right off the bat.

As the theatre was filling, a number of VIPs took reserved seats in the front row, including Redstone, Bob “The Kid Stays in the Picture” Evans and other Hollywood business luminaries that I didn’t recognize.  I did see Redstone pinch Evans’ cheek, so that was kind of awesome.

Dean Daly introduced her pal Brad Grey who introduced his boss, Sumner Redstone by way of a 10 minute video about the guy’s life.  I had already read his wikipedia article on my phone while I was waiting for the program to start, but it was kind of interesting to see Bill Clinton and Les Moonves expound on the guy’s life.  One problem I had though, that I often have with things like this, is that the silly bio video just wasn’t very cool.  With the resources of Viacom at your fingertips, the technology that made Transformers 2, you can’t put together a slick and awesome mini-biopic?  All you can give me is a split screen with a talking head on one side and some lame word like “vision” on the other side?  That sucks.

Once the video ended, Redstone himself took the stage.  First, yes, the guy is old.  He is OLD.  He is 86 years old which is old.  I wouldn’t have guess he was that old though.  He shuffles around and is a little hunched over, but generally he is in good shape.  More on this later.  So up to the podium he shuffles, makes a lame joke about Grey being nice because he works for him (that’s almost exactly what he said) and starts in on a speech.  Not like an off the cuff “Hey it’s great to be here.”  No, a speech that was written and read off of a piece of paper.  Ok, not really what I expected.  The speech is about two things:

1. We need to protect movies against piracy

2. Everyone wants 3-D

I wasn’t having too much fun listening to the first part, it was actually really boring and I think totally unnecessary and misdirected at a room full of aspiring filmmakers.  But it was fine.  When he started in on the 3-D part, I decided that, though clearly Mr. Redstone is a saavy businessman who has found extreme success though his own wits, talents and ambitions, he might be just a little bit…out of touch.  He went on and on about how everyone wants to see 3-D movies, it’s the future of movies, it’s awesome.  Um, Ok.  I saw My Bloody Valentine 3-D and if that is the future of movies I’m going to go ahead and resign my membership to the Arclight.  But what really made me question this man’s judgement (in regards to 3-D only) is when he said he wanted to re-release Grease in 3-D.  WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!  GREASE?!  I love Grease.  More than one girl should, probably.  But I would have zero, zilch, no, none interest in seeing it in 3-D.  WTF Sumner Redstone.

Finally the speech was over and Redstone sat down with Grey to answer some boring questions about instincts and influences.  I understand these questions are kind of mundane, but his answers to them could have been really compelling.  COULD HAVE been.  Because the thing is, he didn’t answer them.  I don’t think during the whole Q&A with Grey or any of the subsequent Q&A with audience members he answered one single question.  Instead, he just kept evoking the fact that Paranormal Activity was bought $370 thousand dollars and then made a shitload of money.  He seriously mentioned that like 20 times.  When people asked him about his instincts he said something that amounted to “I have good ones.”  When someone asked him about his biggest regret he said “I only made good business decisions.”  He mentioned how EVERYONE thought MTV was just a PASSING FAD when he had first acquired the brand with Viacom.  You sure showed them, Sumner!  Also, did you know he coined the phrase “Content is King!”?  I sure didn’t, but I will never forget after he brought it up 50 times.

Oh, and about him being old.  At one point, Grey asked him about staying so vibrant and active.  He made a comment about consuming a lot of antioxidants and then said “Diet and Exercise.  I think that’s the secret to health.”  I literally almost lost it.  I got a glare from a fellow audience member.  But seriously, the secret?  Really?  That’s the secret wisdom you impart about 86 years on earth?  Oy.

Brad Grey was definitely the best part of the event.  I’m sure he’s a smarm machine, but he was funny, charming and cute as a teeny tiny but extremely powerful dwarf!  I like that little Brad Grey.  He’s neat.

None of this is to take anything away from the extraordinary accomplishments that this clearly extraordinary man has made and no doubt will continue to make in the realm of media.  At 86, being the chair of Viacom, he sure doesn’t have to answer people’s questions if he doesn’t want.  Hell, I probably wouldn’t.  But the thing is, if I didn’t want to, if I was just going to talk about Paranormal Activity and how the youngins shouldn’t be downloading the movies on the internet, I wouldn’t even bother showing up to something like this.  I kinda wish he hadn’t either.

5 Responses to “Inside the Industry: Sumner Redstone & Brad Grey at USC”