Steven D Feld

TV Summer Press Tour 2011: Ryan Murphy's 'American Horror Story' promises gore ...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. --  Ryan Murphy didn't get to be one of the most talked-about producers in television by dusting off the tired and not-so-true. "Nip/Tuck" was about doctors, yes, but its plastic surgeons were less crusading healers and more careless heels. And "Glee," for all its ups and downs in quality this season, blew open the doors of series convention with its mix of comedy, drama and musical numbers.

For his next series, Murphy and "Glee" collaborator Brad Falchuk offer another change-up. Introduced by FX boss John Landgraf as "the most talked-about new show of the fall," "American Horror Story" is influenced -- as Murphy told the press at the Television Critics Association on Saturday --  by such films as "Don't Look Now," "The Shining" and "Rosemary's Baby."

For all that, however, Murphy stressed that show is also, on a deeper level, about marriage and infidelity. In the pilot, which was previewed for critics earlier this week, we find a couple (played by Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott) moving with their daughter to a handsome old house in Los Angeles. The pair has left their old life behind, and as the episode unfolds, we learn infidelity is at least part of the reason.

I don't want to spoil any surprises, so I'll just say that the pilot is absolutely packed with intense moments, visceral weirdness, and gory details of various sorts. As Murphy said in the panel, the pilot alone leaves us with about eight cliffhangers, which, he added, will be explained and/or resolved as the series goes on.

The pilot made an immediate on those who saw it, impression, though it was polarizing, with plenty of critics finding it overdone. One of the big questions -- why do these people stay in a house where crazy and creepy events start in almost immediately? -- is one of the issues that gets explained, Murphy said.

As to why a horror tale was appealing, Murphy recalled a grandmother making him watch "Dark Shadows" in his youth, which, we're left to infer, had an impact on the wee lad. (It was either that or "The Waltons," which Murphy said he had to watch when he was being punished.)

Jessica Lange, who gives a deliciously theatrical performance as a neighbor, was also on the panel, which also included Britton and McDermott.

"American Horror Story" debuts on FX Oct. 5. My initial reaction to the pilot was "too much, too much.

Public Service Announcement For Entrepreneurs ... - Feld Thoughts

Today is Finance Friday and post #2 has been drafted by the Finance Friday team from University of Chicago Booth and is waiting for my edits. I’m procrastinating so I thought I’d write one of my periodic public service announcement for entrepreneurs. This one is more specific than “ignore the macro economy” – instead, it’s “ignore the Dow and the stock market and get back to work on your business.”

Tom Evslin had a post up this morning titled  Don’t Watch The Dow!   that caused me to say “right on.” In 1999, 2000, and 2001 I had a my.yahoo.com page up with a bunch of stocks, including a number of companies I was an investor in, as my home page. I’d hit refresh 5,321 times a day, generating plenty of CPM-based revenue for Yahoo. I’ve written about the emotional ups and downs in the past so I won’t repeat myself here other than to say this activity had zero impact on the stock market (I couldn’t do anything about it), it didn’t change my short term decision making (I’m not a trader), and all it resulted in was sucking a huge amount of emotional energy out of me.

When the market went down, I felt sad. When it went up I got the emotional equivalent of a sugar high. When it went back down again, I was bummed. Up – smile. Down – depressed. Up – happy. Down – cranky. And this was all before lunch time. Maybe it was too much coffee or not enough sleep, but it got even worse when the market shifted from 1/8s too 0.01s.

As an entrepreneur, this was all noise. As a long term VC investor, it was also all noise. Sure – the broad cycles had impact, although lots of people disagree on what they actually mean (e.g. do VCs actually benefit long term from down cycles, are the best companies started in recessions when everything is cheaper and more available).

Over time, I’ve learned that none of the short term moves in the stock market matter at all in my life. It’s occasionally entertaining to turn on CNBC and see my friend Paul Kedrosky in the octobox telling all the other people that they don’t actually understand macro-economics, but it’s no different than watching McEnroe when he’s announcing a Nadal – Federer match. It’s just sport.

So – for all the entrepreneurs in my world, take Tom’s great advice. Don’t Watch The Dow!