Midam: crowd-sourcing gags

April 2, 2009Posted inUncategorized, webNo Comments

Kid PaddleI dropped by the Entreprendre fair yesterday for one thing, a talk by comic strip artist Midam. If you have kids, you might know him better as the author of the Kid Paddle character. He gave a fascinating look at how he runs his business – as a business it is. Despite claiming he couldn’t really draw (modesty, modesty), he is applying a model for anyone involved in the creative industries.

CANNES 2009: THE HUNT FOR KILLER TAGLINES

March 1, 2009Posted inadvertising business, Cannes, Uncategorized

With the Cannes Fest (and its market) coming up, I’m reading a lot of blurbs, pitches and write-ups at the moment. These are the one- or two-line – sometimes only five-word – summaries that people use to grab our attention and perhaps give a little flavour of what the story is about. I always remember “Alien” being sold under the warning that “In space, no one can hear you scream“. The producers of “Speed” showed remarkable focus when they were pitching the project as “‘Die Hard’ on a bus“. That’s five words, folks. Considering the millions of profit it generated, I’d say that’s pretty effective writing.

So I thought I’d start a collection of killer taglines as I come across them. The opening salvo comes from the British company Swords & King.