ZADI DIAZ — PT 2: 2000 Words On “Derivative Bullshit...”

PT 2: 2000 Words On “Derivative Bullshit…”

This is my additional comment to the various conversations that are happening online about this topic. Started by Spytap.

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This is such an interesting conversation, and honestly it’s doing me a ton of good for various selfish and unselfish reasons. :)

I think I should have been less… nebulous?… at the end of my previous post. The thing about battles and wars.

What’s concerning me the most at this critical point in time is that we (independent web show creators) aren’t searching for the secret sauce hard enough. In not making ourselves unique in what we do, we are playing at a disadvantage. I truly believe that storytellers on the web need to learn the language of the web. I honestly, wholeheartedly do. I get that a writer just wants to write and not worry about coding, or that a director doesn’t want to think about the various ways his stories have different points of entry, or that an actor just wants to perform in the way that is suitable for TV, or that an editor doesn’t think about the competition for attention… but that approach is defensive. We need to be playing offense.

David Nett’s point about this also being an indie TV community really threw me for a loop, because as someone who is always advocating doing things differently, I honestly failed to see that, yes, there is something else of extreme value that is growing here for many people…

…but

In the way that we are schooled to write/act/direct for theater or film or TV, there is also a way to do all of those things for the web.That’s how it’s different. The intimacy and instant connection of the web is something that YouTubers (and others) have tapped into, and definitely a lesson we can add in our “how to direct/write/perform for the web” book. And honestly, if I *had* to compare web entertainment to one of its older predecessors it would be the performer/audience dynamic of live theater.

I am not as harsh a critic as many of our new media friends. I do believe that what makes your show successful is dependent on your goal - as Liz Miller pointed out in a previous post or tweet. That is true.

I also know that when it comes to smaller battles and larger wars, if we creators don’t at least show an interest in how to build web sites to house our shows, or how to write simple HTML code to provide simple links people can click on, then we are giving up one of the greatest gifts that has been given to any generation. Hear me: You are handing over your creative power on a silver platter. Please, as a new breed of storyteller, learn how to use the web.

…and somewhere in Arkansas a group of 15 year-olds are laughing at a bunch of pretentious web show creators who wax poetic about innovative storytelling. They’re already doing it.

(* the above was a knock on me ;))