How can you prospect for ideas that have not been done before? What is the best way to find an authentic voice, that can use ideas to tell stories that are interesting and empowering? For Academy Award winning producer Brian Grazer, he relies on his observational strength for “perspective on people that make them cinematic and compelling.”
The secret to all human connections and interactions, according to Grazer, is eye contact. He describes this as a tool he uses to create genuine and not transactional interest, and a way to be present with others. Grazer makes it a point to meet someone new every month from outside of his field of business. This has led him to create a large network that includes people from both inside and outside of entertainment field he works in. He details this in his latest book, “Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection.”
Grazer explains Hollywood in our Masters in Business interview this week: How he co-founded Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard; Why his films – include A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, 8 Mile, Splash, Backdraft, Liar Liar and The Da Vinci Cod – have grossed well over $13 billion dollars. And why his TV productions – Arrested Development, Sports Night, and 24 – have made twice as much money as his films. His 2016 book “A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life” was a New York Times bestseller.
His favorite books are here; A transcript of our conversation is available here.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on Apple iTunes, Overcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Stitcher. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Next week, we speak with Nobel Laureate Robert Yale, professor of economics at Yale, and author of a new book, Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events.
