Jeff Bezos made employees follow his 12-step guide to making “iconic” TV

Amazon founder and Lex Luthor lookalike Jeff Bezos rose to prominence as an entrepreneur and investor, but according to the new book Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire by Brad Stone, apparently he fancied himself a TV producer, too.

Amazon Prime Studios has been doing pretty well for itself with series like The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Invincible. One of the shows that first put it on the map was The Man in High Castle, a spin on the Philip K. Dick sci-fi novel of the same name. According to Stone’s book, in 2017 Bezos confronted Amazon Studios president Roy Price about what he saw as the “terrible” show. “Why didn’t you guys stop it? Why didn’t you reshoot it?”

“Look, I know what it takes to make a great show,” Bezos said to the TV executive, who I’m going to guess was pinching his skin through his pants pocket to keep from screaming. “This should not be that hard. All of these iconic shows have basic things in common.” Bezos then listed “off the top of his head” a list of things every show needs to be successful:

1. A heroic protagonist who experiences growth and change
2. A compelling antagonist
3. Wish fulfillment (e.g., the protagonist has hidden abilities, such as superpowers or magic)
4. Moral choices
5. Diverse worldbuilding (different geographic landscapes)
6. Urgency to watch next episode (cliffhangers)
7. Civilizational high stakes (a global thread to humanity like an alien invasion – or a devastating pandemic)
8. Humor
9. Betrayal
10. Positive emotions (love, joy, hope)
11. Negative emotions (loss, sorrow)
12. Violence

After this, Amazon Studios executives “had to send Bezos regular updates on the projects in development that included spreadsheets describing how each show had each storytelling element.” If any of the elements were missing, they had to explain why.

Whoosh…just…can you imagine, if you rose high in your field based on your ability and work experience, only to have your boss, who knows nothing about what you do, to list “off the top of his head” a bunch of things he thinks are important, and then find his own impromptu list so brilliant he has you send him regular reports on how well you’re fulfilling the parameters? I’m getting a stress headache just thinking about it.

Jeff Bezos’ 12 rules for making “iconic” TV

Speaking later on the Vox podcast “Recode,” Stone said that Bezos’ rules didn’t last long, and thank goodness. Bezos has since taken a more hands-off role with the company and isn’t as involved with the shows anymore. But it sounds like it was touch-and-go there for a while.

As for the rules themselves, I’m not sure how seriously we should take them given that they were extemporaneously spat out by an egomaniac, but Bezos took them seriously enough to require reports on them, so I guess we can at least have a go.

On one level, they’re laughably over-broad. Of course your show should have a compelling protagonist and antagonist. Of course they should face moral choices. I don’t think you’re going ot make a drama without positive and negative emotions.

But on another level, they’re incredibly restrictive. Where does this list leave phenomenally popular shows like Friends or The Simpsons or any sitcom ever? What about popular antihero shows like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad? You could even argue that Game of Thrones, the biggest show of the last 10 years, blurs the lines between protagonist and antagonist to such a degree that it would run afoul of Bezos.

Maybe I should get my boss one of those “Best Boss Ever” mugs to thank them for not being an overbearing micro-manager. But what if it goes to their head and they become the thing they hate? Looks like I have a moral choice to make.

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h/t Business Insider