FC/LA: A Meeting Of The Most Creative Minds
Join Fast Company editors and writers live from our creativity counter-conference in Los Angeles on May 6th & 7th!







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Nicole LaPorte to OWN co-CEOs: OWN was losing money not too long ago. How has the turnaround happened?
Sheri Salata says "We didn't believe what people were writing." She says if most of her team had done even 10% better than the day before, they had the right recipe: momentum. -
Rainn Wilson and Shabnam Mogharabi of Soul Pancake are up next, talking about how the uplifting web video company got its start.
Eight years ago when they were thinking about how to start a web content business, "the worst of humanity" was on the Internet. They wanted to change that.
So with Mogharabi, they decided to make uplifting video content that had an edge - nothing smarmy, sappy, or Oprah-esque (oh, snap!!) -
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Years after Reading Rainbow was canceled from PBS, LeVar Burton has jumpstarted the program again through Kickstarter and via a new app. His mission is still the same as it was back then: "Meet children where they are, and take them where you want them to go." TV is just one of many screens that kids use to interact with the world now, he says. So now kids can learn to read and explore the world through literature using the tech they're comfortable with.
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LeVar Burton on working inside a brand close to people's hearts:
Reading Rainbow: It's dangerous - now the program has been part of the childhoods of so many people who are adults now. "There's nothing in the world that's easier to do than disappoint people," he says. So its next iteration had to strike a chord in the sweet spot of nostalgia that is childhood. The 200 or so former children in the audience agree! -
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"Don't be afraid to fail. You will learn so much more from your failures than your successes. I know I have." - @levarburton #FCLA15by michmarkowitz via twitter 5/8/2015 12:11:20 AM
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Pretty insane lineup for the final #FCLA15 session of the day: Scott Borchetta (American Idol + Big Machine), Franklin Leonard (Blacklist), D'Wayne Edwards (Pensole), and Julie Smolyansky (Lifeway Foods) being interviewed by Fast Company editor in chief Bob Safian. They are all discussing how crazy they are in their creativity. Borchetta says the Big Machine mantra is "start crazy and work backwards." Leonard says it's crazy NOT to be creating. Natural selection selects FOR creativity. Modern conventional society selects it OUT. Fight that urge, he says.
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Catching up with a few more highlights from Day 1 of the event:
At Wild Card, founder Nick Temple and his wife Alison Temple— who is the managing director of 3AM, Wild Card's movie marketing joint venture with RSA Films— shed some light on what for many of us is the best part of going to the movies: the trailers. Joined by Wild Card's music supervisor, Marcy Bulkeley, the team walked us through how trailers get made and the art of fitting big stories into small, yet powerful, packages. Fun fact: the team made the entire trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes using only early footage of actor Andy Serkis on a green screen. Talk about creative constraints! You can watch the final result here:Theatrical Teaser | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | Campaigns | Wild Card
Wild CardIn the creation of theatrical motion picture campaigns, on-air promos, interactive game advertising and entertainment-related marketing materials, Wild Card delivers its clients a commitment to excellence.