Details matter
A groundbreaking observation.
One of the best meta commentaries about the power of storytelling occurs during a throwaway scene from Good Will Hunting.*
The narrative is too graphic for a business newsletter but Casey Affleck is telling a tale, trying to impress Robin Williams. Matt Damon overhears Affleck, then asks him a question about a specific detail in the story. He doesn’t know the answer. Damon does, then says something like “I know, because that’s my story. I know those little details. That’s what makes the story good.”
“Details matter” isn’t a groundbreaking observation, but it’s a helpful reminder in a world where the edges are being sandblasted off of so much content. Maybe this will change. It probably will. But also it’s impossible to envision anyone other than Eddie Huang writing this review. He knows those little details.
We’ve been working on a project for the last two months that requires making something that a lot of companies do sound different. And, when you get down into the weeds, there are differences. Important differences. But you have to dig.
That’s the Three Point Four Media difference. We ask the questions. We do the reporting. We uncover what matters. We find out how our clients like the apples.
* I couldn’t remember the name of the movie at first so I asked some friends. One of them used AI to find the answer. There’s a lesson there somewhere.
The links, bebe.
An article
And we begin: “To fellow tourists he met around the world, Jeffery Shuman was a semi-retired developer with a bright smile, an even tan and a fat wallet. In truth, he was a legendary bank robber on the run from the Toronto police and the US Marshals. Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit.”
I’d like to see the P&L on the amount he stole vs. the amount it cost for law enforcement to spend five years across many countries trying to track him down. We’re not pro-bank robbery at Three Point Four Media, but sometimes you just have to tip your cap and move on. (In the words of Matt Levine, not legal advice!)
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A book
Careless People burst into the world on the back of a gag order from Facebook that has to have increased the book’s profile immensely. Would I have read it were it not for that press cycle? Probably not, Barbara. But I have to say I understand why Facebook tried to stop its publication. It makes the company, specifically Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, look terrible in new and exciting and specific ways. Details matter!
While it’s less convincing from some perspectives (gives too much credit to Facebook for the 2016 election outcome), it presents a stark portrait of paths taken and paths not taken, and how where we are now was very much a product of intentional choices made by a few.
Also! What’s the point of having the world’s most robust surveillance network if you can’t learn about the existence of a book that portrays you in a negative light until right before publication?
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A movie
In fourth grade music class, we did a group project that was essentially “make a music video.” Most kids, being nine, crafted cute little ditties set to some Disney song. My trio—and I cannot stress enough how much I was the Tyrese Halliburton of the group—made a stop-motion film about a bird learning to fly, set to “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open.” There was a whole debate about what parts of the song we were allowed to use due to the songs being about drug use and, again, us being nine. Sam and Ben, the visionaries behind our film, were into Tom Petty. I… was not.
Fast-forward three decades. Sam is still making movies. His latest is Jetty, a 53-minute documentary that follows the creation of a jetty in Rockaway Beach. It’s simple, sparse, and powerful. Richard Brody gave it a rave: “Bringing an aesthetic eye to the work of securing a shoreline devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Sam Fleischner’s film highlights the beauty of social responsibility and civic trust.”
(Note: Not to be confused with Hulu drama, The Jetty: “While investigating a case of arson in a sleepy lakeside town, Detective Ember Manning (Jenna Coleman) gets drawn to the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl, and a world of secrets and illicit affairs.” Would watch this, too.)
Jetty is playing at Anthology Film Archives this weekend and into next week. The music is by Animal Collective. Uncensored, I assume.
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A project
We’re helping a client of ours with media training for some upcoming opportunities. Bill did media training when he was at Vanity Fair. He learned how to stop doing jazz hands.
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A run
I had this great plan. I was going to go for a run and call my friend Rich to chat while I ran. I am bad at slowing down, so having a phone conversation would force some discipline. (My goal was that Rich wouldn’t be able to tell I was running.) Sadly, however, Rich was, uh, not around, probably because it was mid-afternoon on a weekday. I never run with headphones, but my AirPods were already in so I decided to listen to music. Big mistake. This was the closest I’ve gotten to throwing up from running maybe ever. I blame the humidity. And my pace. And the hill between 3rd and 5th Ave. And Rich. Mostly Rich. Beautiful views from Bush Terminal Park, my new favorite Brooklyn park.
Next week, another interview with someone you know. Until then, this one.
“How do you describe a technology that feels very sci-fi but is quite real?”
Carissa Justice wants people to celebrate brand language, not just the cool new logo. She’s the founder of Nimble, a writing and brand studio that does great work for clients like Strava, Figma, and Google X’s new start-up Taara. She also runs The Subtext