Negotiations and Deal Making in Entertainment

Recently, I spoke to Ms. Misty Wright, a friend of mine who is a freelance Entertainment consultant. She was kind enough to give me a few minutes of her time to discuss negotiations and deal making as it relates to her everyday dealings. Ms. Wright has assisted many top entertainers over her thirty-year career, and the tone that rings truest in her opinion is total unpredictability in human beings. Due to this phenomenon, a constantly changing approach to negotiating is needed to continue doing business at the upmost potential. I was told a bit about leverage and power in negotiations. Some new tips Misty had for me was to always believe, at least in my own mind, I have the power and ultimate leverage. This mental empowerment will project in your attitude when dealing with other professionals. I asked, “So if all or most professionals are practicing this method, doesn’t it kind of cancel each other out?” Misty giggled and said, “Yes, but remember that most forget.” That statement resonated with me. It is true; most professionals don’t continue to practice the craft of negotiating or the simple action and reaction scenarios that play out in most of those negotiations. The second major tool she empowered me with was the concept of status. Misty said, “Always remember how hard it is to build a solid reputation, and how quickly it can be destroyed.” This is also a very true statement because people that are worth dealing with are only going to deal with others that possess a solid reputation. In the real world, dealing with negative emotions or people that just seem to want to ruin someone’s day as soon as they roll out of bed is just a sad fact of life. She reminded me, “You are never forced to listen to B.S. so always deal in facts.” If you have a basis of factual information backing you up, it is hard to win against you. This is not a foolproof method because one does not exist. The unpredictability of human beings trumps any method you may try to adopt fully. The real answer is to be like silly putty. You are moldable, shapeable, and are able to transfer images from one source to another perfectly, but you are somewhat firm and have a shape of your own as well. When you are being pulled in every direction you are able to give in all the appropriate areas with out breaking into. This is the consistency you should strive for as a human that has chosen to constantly deal with other humans. Case-in-point, the best defense against getting burned is to be burned many times. Wow, life is tough, it is an ever changing, ever learning, every day reality TV program with the craziest cast of characters ever imagined. The only solace is the ending of the program, though it might not seem so, is truly up to you.