By Staff · July 17, 2017
By: Andrew Schwartz
This past Saturday, Sandra Lord in association with Women Helping Women in Entertainment and The Los Angeles Film and TV Meetup Group, hosted a Private Picnic With a Hollywood Insider Event featuring the legendary talent manager and producer, Barry Katz.
Barry Katz, known for helping launch the careers of hugely successful comedians and actors such as Dave Chappelle, Whitney Cummings, Louis CK and Dane Cook, also hosts a podcast titled, Industry Standard, which offers a unique and insightful look from behind the scenes of the entertainment industry.
Barry prefaced the event by stating he loves these events because he loves giving advice to people looking to break into the industry. In the heat of a mid-summer’s day at Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, Barry spoke to the importance of fostering a community and creating moments that make you an undeniable creative force.
Passion for your craft is essential, and if there is anything you can say about Barry Katz, it’s that his passion for his work supersedes everything in his life. When you’re as passionate about writing, or acting, directing, etc., as Barry is, you will find the power to create content that is undeniably great; content that anyone can watch and instantly recognize as being extraordinary.
If you do anything in this business, you want to have that feeling. Barry defines this as “holy sh*t moments.”
Without missing a beat of his podcast, Barry stayed true to his approach of offering advice on how to break into and navigate through the entertainment industry by accompanying each lesson with an anecdote about an artist’s rise to the top.
Below are some of the key points Barry illustrated:
Tim Conway and Harvey Norman in The Dentist featured on The Carroll Burnett Show. A hilariously simple premise that is carried by two amazing actors.
“The Jacuzzi Lifeguard” with Will Farrell and Jim Carey on SNL. Another amazingly simple sketch between two iconic actors.
Chris Rock’s special Roll with the New; Black People Vs The N-Word. As a white guy from a white neighborhood, hearing this for the first time was a revelation in what comedy could be.
Episode 3, Season 4 of Louis CK — So Did The Fat Girl — the last scene features a seven and a half minute long take of Louis walking with the overweight love interest of that episode. This is a defining moment because writer, director and star, Louis CK lets her dominate the scene. He seamlessly meshes drama with comedy and is comfortable doing so.
All in the Family – the Archie Bunker and Sammy David Jr. episode. No show could take drama, taboo subjects, and comedy and put it all together as they did.
First impressions last — know what your best work is and know what your worst work is.
If you have the chance to something create great, make it better and continue to make it better.
When it is ready to submit, send it out in such a way that makes you stand out.*
*Never underestimate the power of a FedEx envelope — they are free and will stand out if delivered into someone’s office or hands, but only if it contains your best work!
Do something so extraordinary that not hiring you creates a problem for executives.
Take Edward Norton and Whitney Cummings. On his podcast, Barry once interviewed legendary casting director, Deborah Aquilla, responsible for putting Edward Norton in Primal Fear. Norton was a Yale student with no major acting credits and a significant risk for studios to gamble on. Pairing an unknown actor with a star like Richard Gere was unheard of, but Edward Norton came into his audition and took the room every time he did. He eventually got the job.
Taking the room — is what Barry defines as showing up to a meeting and being so desirable that you get hired on the spot — even if that means taking a risk.
He recalls the first meeting he secured for Whitney Cummings. While trying to develop Whitney, one of the executives they were meeting with was late to the pitch. He showed up apologetically, and before he could get another word in, Whitney stood up, got right in his face and after a stand off said, “Look at you, my God, look at you… You’re so good looking you could be a member of Hitler’s master race.” The executive started to laugh, and Barry knew she didn’t have to do anything else: she took a risk, took the room and got the show.
Some people are born a genius, and some people have to work to become a genius.
Studying and practicing your craft every day are ways to become a genius of your craft.
Barry earned the trust of Dave Chappelle by listening to what Dave had to say. According to Barry, this is at the essence of what every man desires; being heard. Barry listened to what Dave wanted to do and put him in a position where he could successfully do that.
Lorne Michaels said, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong f*cking room.”
Aspire to be around people who will challenge you to do to great things as well.
Imagine a conference room with a table, a two-way mirror, and a moderator. You’re on the other side of the mirror and within the room is a group of people with whom you have a personal relationship with; family, friends, teachers, coaches, etc. Without them knowing you are on the other side of the mirror, the moderator will have them write down your ten best qualities; qualities that make them want to be around you.
Then he has them do the opposite: he has them write down your ten worst qualities. Barry then takes it a step further and asks you to imagine the same scenario but with people who you have a professional relationship with — both best and worst qualities. Once you write down what you think people would say, take the two lists with your twenty best personal and professional qualities and bind yourself to them. Take the other twenty qualities and never, ever do them again for as long as you live!
Live by this inventory of good qualities, and you’ll be in a great position for success.
Show up early and stay late.
Work harder and smarter.
Learn how to navigate and get along with people.
Foster a community around those people.
Create “Holy sh*t!” moments.
Know your best and your worst work.
Always put your best foot forward.
Treat every project like it’s your first and make it an ‘A.’
Create a problem.
Bet on yourself.
Prep is important; vision is important; belief if important.
Be one step ahead of the competition.
Study greatness; imitate greatness; become great.
Have a false sense of entitlement.
Be a loner.
Remain stagnant by holding on to old projects.
Send material out that makes people say, “eh.”
I look at people who are in love, and the first thing that comes to mind is “I can’t do that.” I’m always thinking about the next thing, how to do it better and what I could have done differently so I never really get time to relax my mind.
The podcast is titled, Industry Standard, and it’s a free weekly podcast featuring some of the most influential forces in the entertainment industry. The stories are invaluable, and they really will change your life!
My email is [email protected], but with 40,000+ emails in my inbox good luck sending something that will get noticed!
When trying to grab someone’s attention, send something extraordinary that they have to open. Re: a FedEx envelope.
I lived in a very big house for a long time and had a lot of stuff. When I wanted to move, I was looking around for new houses and my sons saw a three bedroom house on the Pacific Coast Highway and they wanted to go there. This house was much smaller than the one we lived in, but my sons said, “Dad, it’s time. You have so much stuff you’ve accumulated; it’s time to start over on the PCH.” That day we called three charities who came with three eighteen wheel trucks, and they took 90% of everything I owned away, and I started anew in my personal life in a way that I’ve never done before. I have to admit; I hated it at first. I hated that I decreased all of the stuff that I worked so hard to accumulate, but that helped me clear my head and get to the next space.
I encourage all people to throw out almost everything they’ve ever done in their live’s — unless of course, you’ve done a major scene with a major actor. But, you have to pretend the score is 0-0; the best thing you can do is pretend you’re cleaning the slate on every project you do and starting fresh.
Take your holy sh*t moments and go one step further. All of the takes/projects you do can suck, except for that one take. You can be shitty 99% of the time, but no one will ever know because if you take the one project that is extraordinary and send that out, you’ll make it!
We all have different strengths, and we know what we do well and what we don’t do well. Some of us are more psychic, and some are less intuitive. I’ve always been the kind of guy that can shake someone’s hand and know that if they have it. I told Dave Chappelle that he’d change the face of comedy and the world when he was eighteen years old and we first met. Twenty-five years later Dave said that it had haunted him ever since because he wondered every day since then how I could have possibly known that. I always knew. When you see something special, you know something special is happening.
I have a friend who has filmed multiple comedy specials on his dime. His manager hasn’t had any luck in selling them, but continues to praise them and encourages his friend to continue shooting them. Why have they not sold? What advice do you have?
Lorne Michaels once said, “People don’t really tell you what they are thinking all of the time.” The point is if your friend is holy sh*t extraordinary, or until he creates content that just blows people away, it won’t be his time.
Any place that people can watch your craft is a great place to showcase your work! Look at Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” music video. It has over a billion hits. Why? Because it’s funny, innovative, unique and is a great sounding song that was uploaded to YouTube, a place where anyone can see it.
This is my first break. No — my first big break in the business was getting Jay Mohr on Saturday Night Live at nineteen years old against all of the odds. I then got three more people on Saturday Night Live without really knowing what it took to be in this business. Soon, I was walking around 30 Rock and Lorne Michaels began talking to and treating me like I belonged when I clearly didn’t. I realized I had a talent for seeing something in some people and having a talent for getting people in the door to be seen. After that it was up to them; after I had cracked open the door, I found it exciting that they had actually delivered.
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