Wait, is that
title about to mean something? Now? After all this
time? How did all this happen?
So last week I get
contacted by a documentary filmmaker that wants to
interview me for her film on video bloggers.
Ironically, she works at CBS here in LA at
Television City. Which meant I got to have a meeting
at my old stomping grounds...
So cool. She found
me on wikipedia and I said she definitely needed to
see my own documentary. That should help her piece my
portion together. Her thesis for the film is pretty
dead-on. There are now YouTube stars that are vlogging
to millions and millions per week. So much so that
they get more views than network shows, have their own
agents and managers and won't even TALK to this
filmmaker. They get paid off the ads and are turning
DOWN networks because it doesn't help them at all.
Jenna Marbles gets 10-15 million views per week. It's
crazy. So her thesis is simply how the hell all this
happened and since I'm the first, I'm the starting
point. And I'm also that old "pushing-40" guy who
started way too early (6 years BEFORE YouTube) and who
watched the youngins adopt the new, easier technology
and fly past him. As well, no one seems to actually
document their life as much as just make funny videos.
Documenting your life honestly... well, it's scary,
it's hard - and it's not a lot of fun sometimes. It
also isn't a lot of fun to follow to be perfectly
honest. So it's easy to see how people were far more
popular and more power to 'em. Jenna Marbles is funny
as shit and should be on TV now. There's some great
talent (amongst a lot of mediocrity) that deserves
every one of those views.
Anyway, the
meeting at TV City was great fun, I just
love being in the building and Ana also has a great
energy about the project. She and her crew will be
interviewing me on the 18th and of course it has in
turn made me excited about talking about "The Journey"
again. You forget sometimes that it is really cool,
there are a lot of fascinating aspects of it
(being the guniea pig of sharing information
publically ala facebook) and there's just a lot of
great stories housed within the video
blog...
...which leads to
Laura Adler calling me about a pitch she's doing that
she wants me to be a part of. A TV show about
blogs/bloggers, with me being the pilot episode. Uhm,
okay. What? LOL. Suddenly being the first and longest
running videoblogger is actually a helpful thing....
but wait, there's more?
Linda Blake
contacts me about pitching my story (as she did in
2009 to NPR) to the Wall Street Journal. She's a
multimedia producer at The Wall Street Journal (yes
you still have to pitch everything even when you're a
producer-lol). Her pitch is awesome, as usual, and a
little different than the '09 NPR pitch:
"It would
focus on the broader notion of the Facebook
generation getting older. It's one thing for
potential employers to troll social media sites,
but what about your kids viewing your antics from
college as documented on fbook. In your case (which
is a fascinating and more extreme example) I ask;
What if your kid had free and open access to your
life story - he/she could view your wedding day(s),
drunken rages, lost loves, innocent glories, career
failures? How would you handle this / explain it to
them? Is this a positive thing? Any thoughts on
this angle? You must have given some thought about
how Vienna will react when she grows
up."
Exactly what
I talked about a couple years ago. I even
wanted to do some college lectures on the dangers of
FB and what people are sharing. Not just information
that could get you in trouble with future employers,
but how your mind holds onto memories differently when
you document them. Linda throws in the kid angle - and
it's a really interesting story. And as longtime
readers know, I have struggled with what will
happen when kids get older and have access to it. I've
come to realize that the sheer volume of entries
helps. There is safety in numbers, but of course
there's embarrassing things up there... however,
that's been the entire point: DANCE with your
skeletons. Don't hide them. Your skeletons are your
TRUTH. The truth DOES set you free. I'm not ashamed of
anything online because it's the truth. When my kid
reads that stuff, there will certainly be questions...
but that's good! The difficulty comes in how the
outside world treats my loved ones because of
me. It's a subject I broached last year in
Entry
#1146 - Sins of the
Father:
"What
happens when I have children? And they go to
school, and kids google their name? How's that for
a nightmare? So my kid has to take shit for
whatever an 8 year old deems is worthy to pick out
of my past and throw in his/her face? Jesus, how
the hell do real celebrities do it? Do Eddie
Murphy's kids deal with tranny jokes? Are sins of
the father that painful?"
At the time we
were dealing with the drama-twins who decided to use
"The Journey" against me and Talya and created
absolute chaos where there was none to be had. I say
in the entry about "The Journey":
"It is a
wide open gateway to havoc if in the hands of
someone who wants to hurt you. And as long as it
stays public? It always will be. That's a pretty
heavy price to pay. Especially considering the only
people that would ever go back that far? Are
usually looking for something. And I'm happy to
make it colorful and easy to skim. (sigh). Does
this ever end?"
I contend that in
the very end? Truth wins and I'm glad it's out there.
In the drama-twins case it put a light on who they
were immediately and we no longer have to deal with
that drama. The short-term however is incredibly
painful. It invites drama because it is
sooooooo honest. I have no problem with my
wife, my family or my children knowing my deepest
darkest secrets, nor do I even mind strangers
knowing, but what those strangers will do TO my loved
ones breaks my heart. I went on to say (this was
before I had even proposed to Talya):
"I don't
really know what to do. If I'm to spend the rest of
my life with someone, they will now have to answer
for me, because I've chosen to air my dirty
laundry. That breaks my heart. It is a burden. It
is a lot to ask, and if it can come this strongly
from friends? What about enemies? I can't sit and
watch Talya cry too much longer before I'm in an
incredibly tough place. And goddamnit you want to
know what she cried about drama queens? You made
fun of someone she loves. You were mean to someone
she cares about. You talked about us badly behind
our backs at the same time we were driving home
smiling that we took the time to get out of bed to
come to your party or show support by going to your
show. We felt like we were being good friends and
building bonds, and never once did either of you
(still) pick up a phone. You posted back and forth
jokes about my attire on your pages, and she gently
cried about it. Seriously, fuck you for that. I
want to think that we'll both be stronger in the
future, but if not for The Journey (which had been
read incessantly by them from the moment we met),
we wouldn't have to be. I feel
responsible..."
Lots to chew on
for sure. And video blogging and "The Journey" gets a
bigger spotlight in the end. Pretty awesome. Here's to
3 avenues that weren't here in August. ;-)
