Stage Left - Howard Gray

Howard Gray

Subscribe

Stage Left

inspiration, ideas and life lessons from pop culture and entertainment

The Slight Blue Flame

The Slight Blue Flame

I love this bit from musician Hayden Thorpe (formerly of Wild Beasts) answering fans' questions: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How do you see yourself in twenty years? That is if the world still exists… > The world will still exist in twenty years, maybe just not this one. > Twenty years time looks simple, if

Face/Off

Here's one way to get people to turn their heads.

Standing on set

After he’d shot his scenes for the day, Alec Baldwin would retreat to the comforts of his private trailer. He did this for years, until one day another actor asked him something that caught him off-guard. Wouldn’t he want to be on set for the rest of the

Transforming 'average'

This morning I asked Jacinta what she was wearing. It looked fabulous. Something from a boutique perhaps? A well-known designer piece? A vintage gem? Nope. Straight off the shelf from H&M. It didn’t have the greatest design, or most stylish cut. It’s definitely not the most striking

Going back to the Old Oak

You know those people who like to talk about how many books they’ve read this year? It’s ok, unclench your jaw. This post isn’t one of those humblebrags. I haven’t read a page in weeks. There’s certainly plenty of value in getting through a load

The resident earworm: west on 27th

The resident earworm: west on 27th

Much of it was cleaning windows, picking up sandwiches, and writing mailing labels. But it was the most impactful job I ever had. I started working at that independent record store when I was 15 and arrived for a week of work experience. By the time I was finishing sixth

As good as it gets

As good as it gets

It’s easy to forget that even Hollywood legends had to start somewhere. There was once a time when Jack Nicholson was pounding the pavements of Los Angeles, trying to get hired. Before the yeses began to flow, he was on the receiving end of inevitable rejections. But there was

Free or full price

In 2010, a heavy metal kid suddenly took the dance music world by storm. When Sonny Moore aka Skrillex broke onto the scene, he played over 300 shows in the first year. In the second year, he did maybe 10% of that. What changed? Well, a lot. Profile, direction, team,

30 degree days

Stringer Bell doesn’t like 40 degree days. Except when it’s 30. Let alone 20. For many of us, the last few weeks have been clocking in at 40, 45, maybe 50 (metaphorically speaking, if not literally). This morning, it was nearer 30. The cold cut into my fingers,

The $15m unbranding

The $15m unbranding

When Matthew McConnaughey decided to stop doing romantic comedies, he told his agent, Jim Toth at CAA, to make sure any romcom scripts did not make it past the desk. For 6 months, that’s all that came in. Nothing got past the desk. Then, another romcom, but with a

The Entertainers

The Entertainers

This piece was originally the introductory bit to the 40th edition of my monthly newsletter ‘Adventures [https://howardgray.net/newsletter/]‘ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There’s been a piano in my family home for as long as I can remember. While I never got past ‘chopsticks [https://youtu.be/25CtoSJD9eo?t=96]’, my

Opening Credits

Opening Credits

January signals the peak of Hollywood’s awards season. It’s the time for recognition and credit: for the work itself, and for the talent both above and below the line making the work happen. Of course, credit also comes from the credits themselves. First, it’s worth being aware

Serious Fun

10 years ago The End [https://djmag.com/longreads/end-club-changed-london] nightclub in London closed its doors for the final time. It’s hard to overstate the impact The End (along with close neighbour fabric [http://www.fabriclondon.com]) had on the electronic music landscape in the late 90s and early

The Tension: Chaos / Order

The Tension: Chaos / Order

What we can learn from the world of talent agencies, and why invisible order can power our infinite loop. Listen now: Anchor [https://anchor.fm/the-tension] |Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6LMEdgYVPEaG5V8to6FXx0] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tension/id1478890616] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=

The Secret

Tony Gilroy is one of the world’s most revered screenwriters. He’s written movies as successful, and as diverse, as Armageddon, The Bourne Identity, and Michael Clayton. When describing the process he applies to his work, Gilroy often talks about The Secret. He’ll take a walk around New

Great (Un)Expectations

Music, Media & Entertainment

Great (Un)Expectations

Below is a very lightly edited version of a brief introduction I gave at the final presentation day for the second cohort of the AMP NYC [http://www.nyc.gov/ampnyc] media & entertainment accelerator program in New York. I’d had a busy few days and showed up at the

Future of Learning

The Educator’s End Credits

They don’t exist right now. Of course, there’s the bibliography for a book or research paper, but as the ways we learn become more fluid, episodic and interactive, and the range of sources and contributors become more eclectic, we should start thinking about education content the way Hollywood

Lucky Number 7 - and a 40-degree day

Many of us are captivated by the number seven. It’s supposedly lucky (more on the reasons behind this were discussed on this NPR episode [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11803762]) But what happens when we ditch it? Look at a survey with respondents asked to

22,000 songs in your pocket

Back in 2001, Apple CEO Steve Jobs uttered his now legendary one line pitch for a new product his company were about to release. ‘1000 songs in your pocket’ It’s unlikely even he knew how rapidly things would evolve from that point on. From iPod Classic to iPhone X;

The Circuit

The challenges — and the importance — of being out on the road, in the middle, on the circuit as a creative professional When I was a talent agent, something I didn’t do as much as I should have was developing a deeper understanding and empathy for the experiences of my

Becoming a wizard

Regular readers may know two of my favourite podcasts are ’The Moment’ with Brian Koppelman, and Seth Godin’s ’Akimbo’. Every year or so, the two get together on ‘The Moment’ for a discussion revolving around the themes of showing up in the world and going out and doing creative

Keep it boring

> Wanna know what kills more police than bullets and liquor? Boredom. They just can’t handle that shit. You keep it boring, String. You keep it dead f***ing boring. Joseph ‘Proposition Joe’ Stewart, The Wire As a way to go about one’s business, perhaps we underestimate keeping it

A lot can happen between now and never

A lot can happen between now and never

My wife and I are getting deep in the game. The Game of Thrones game. I admit I never went fully in at its peak. I merely hovered around the fringes: an episode here, a few scenes there, and on one occasion gingerly deploying a Sean Bean GIF into a

The Rise of the Residency

The Rise of the Residency

A few years ago, the London nightclub XOYO announced a change to their program – shifting from rotating guests each week to a program of residencies – the same DJ playing every week for a 3 month period, alongside a guest or two in support. The announcement proclaimed the importance of going

Cross Training: The ChefTender and The KitBar

Cross Training: The ChefTender and The KitBar

Last week I was facilitating an education program in Herndon, Virginia. Herndon is an interesting little place – sat right next to Washington Dulles Airport an hour drive from the city, it’s the DC home to perhaps a dozen large companies, yet is in a completely different state to DC