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Hollywood film producer Brian Grazer has one particular strategy that he credits with inspiring him to develop and produce award-winning films like “A Beautiful Mind,” and it starts with getting out of the office.
At this week’s Upfront Summit venture capital conference in Downtown Los Angeles, the Imagine Entertainment co-founder outlined the process he uses to break himself out of a creative slump, which he calls “curiosity conversations.” The essence of it, Grazer said, is finding at least one person to interview each week that has experience outside of his area of expertise; the further from the movie business they are, the better.
Graze recalled a recent, impromptu “curiosity conversation” with an Uber driver that evolved into Grazer paying the driver to teach him the Russian martial art of systema. “It’s not easy, but I would recommend everyone do something like that,” Grazer said. “You’re supplementing the [film and television] pitches that you get with those conversations.”
Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer at the 2022 Upfront Summit in Downtown L.A.
Image courtesy of the Upfront Summit
Grazer’s Hollywood connections have granted him the chance to meet with a who’s-who of experts in their respective fields, from the late science fiction writer Isaac Asimov to hip-hop legend Dr. Dre. He spoke keenly about his conversations with Elon Musk, who advised him while Imagine was producing the National Geographic sci-fi series “Mars,” and also reached out to the late Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard to broaden his hip-hop knowledge during the production of the Eminem-starring “8 Mile.”
“It does give you a better sense of detection as to whether an idea is an old idea, or a new idea, or an old idea that needs a new perspective or refresh,” Grazer said. “It helps you understand who is or isn’t full of s--- on a particular subject.”
Grazer co-founded Imagine with Ron Howard in 1985. The production company is reportedly in talks to sell a majority stake to London investment firm Centricus Asset Management, but continues to produce content at a rapid clip and recently landed two Academy Award nominations for the Andrew Garfield-starring “Tick, Tick… Boom!”
“I think that you have to believe that there’s a glow of goodness in the thing that you’re trying to make—that people are going to benefit, there’s a win-win in the equation,” Grazer said about the projects he chooses. “I’ve chosen to make movies that try to do that, to inspire people [and] empower them.”
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Snap’s parental controls.
Courtesy of Watchful.
Snapchat is planning to introduce Family Center, which would allow parents to see who their children are friends with on the app and who they’ve messaged within the last seven days, according to screenshots provided by Watchful, a product intelligence company. Parents would also be able help their kids report abuse or harassment.
The parental controls are still subject to change before finally launching publicly, as the Family Center screenshots—which were first reported by TechCrunch—reflect features that are still under development.
Santa Monica-based Snap and other social media giants have faced mounting criticism for not doing more to protect their younger users—some of whom have been bullied, sold deadly drugs and sexually exploited on their platforms. State attorneys general have urged Snap and Culver City-based TikTok to strengthen their parental controls, with both companies’ apps especially popular among teens.
A Snap spokesperson declined to comment on Friday. Previously, Snap representatives have told dot.LA that the company is developing tools that will provide parents with more insight into how their children are engaging on Snapchat and allow them to report troubling content.
Yet Snap’s approach to parental controls could still give teens some privacy, as parents wouldn’t be able to read the actual content of their kids’ conversations, according to TechCrunch. (The Family Center screenshots seen by dot.LA do not detail whether parents can see those conversations).
In addition, teenage users would first have to accept an invitation from their parents to join the in-app Family Center before those parents can begin monitoring their social media activity, TechCrunch reported.