How hiring experts makes bland art

Modern works are boring.

They don’t take the risks that musicians and filmmakers did in the 70s.

One Italian algorithm calculated that the quality of music has been steadily declining for 50 years, and others lament the dull films of the modern era.

How is this to do with more experts?

Clevedon Little in Blazing Saddles

You couldn’t make Blazing Saddles today, said Mel Brooks in 2016.

It was hard enough in 1974, as the executives wanted to chop the film down for safety’s sake, but fortunately Brooks and Richard Pryor had enough power to make a cut of the film as they liked, and screen it to the studio’s own staff – to roaring approval – before the executives capitulated and the film was released.

But not today. Why?

What is the game at play?

What’s in it for the junior producer?

Let’s call him Ted.

Junior Producer Ted keeps his job if a film is not a failure, but gets no particular reward on a hits so every decision will be to play it safe.

He acts as gatekeeper, letting through only those where he would be blameless if it failed. He assesses which films the writer has written before, and which elements score well on a focus group.

Ted is risk-averse. His job demands it.

Here are the outcomes if he says Yes or No:

As you can see, there are no great rewards, and all the risk, of saying Yes.

Avoiding risk is risky

Frank Zappa said that the 60s wasn’t that great, but great experimental music was produced precisely because the moneyed executives didn’t pretend to know what was good. He describes a cigar-chomping producer saying, “Who knows what it is; record it, stick it out, if it sells, alright.”

But in the 70s, as risks and rewards got higher, studios begun to hire young hip music experts to advise on which music was more likely to be a hit. These experts, as Zappa says, “The young guys were more conservative, more dangerous to the art form, than the old guys with the cigars ever were.”

I spoke with a reader for an Australian film finance body, and she had read a fabulous script– full of interesting characters and intriguing ethical dilemmas. She immediately put her stamp of approval on it and flagged it for attention to as many of the producers as she could find.

The producers asked, “Well, what has this writer done before?” and turned the project down in favour of the flops Welcome to Woop Woop and Ricky and Pete.

Playing for safety, it seems, guarantees failure.

The resurgence

There is hope, as Hollywood loses its power and independent filmmakers make a comeback.

We can push back against bland, ignore Hollywood producers, and expert critics.

We can explore, discover, take some risks and develop a palate for ever greater unusual films and music - those that take us on strange journeys of highs and lows of emotions.

Because we like it, not because Ted was trying to keep his job.