Batman director on client meddling
Published: Wed, 08/08/18
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"When I come in, what I say is, ‘Look. First of all, you’re asking me if I’m interested in this franchise. I am. I love this franchise. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. But here’s the way in which I’m interested in it. And if you’re not interested in it in that way, then that’s totally fine.’ And the good news was, they said, ‘Yeah, we’re really interested in that way.’ And I remember this on Dawn, too. There would be moments where I came in for a pitch that was a certain version of the movie, and somewhere along the way, because they didn’t know me or whatever it was, they’d say, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ And I would just simply say, ‘But that’s not the movie that we talked about. That’s not the movie I want to do.’ And I have to say that they always backed down when it came down to that. And it’s kind of the way that I’ve always done it. And here’s the thing: I’m always happy not to do something. I’m usually looking for the reason to
say no.”
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Something else to ponder:
The great ad man Walter Bregman (who was a for-real “mad man” agency guy back in the 60’s) says you never go off strategy to fit someone else’s last minute brain fart or to appease the client just for the sake of it and not because it makes any kind of sense.
Was good advice then.
I dare say it's even better advice now.
Anyway, if you do the freelance thing, and want to learn how writing just one measly email per day can potentially get you swamped with so many clients you might even need a waiting list to handle them all, go here:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com/client
Ben Settle