Herzog: It's A Movie, I'm A Storyteller

This week I am attempting to live remotely and feel like I am part of MIPCOM in lovely Cannes. MIPCOM is a conference where the future of entertainment is pretty much determined. The people here set the taste for what comes next year and even the next 10 years. For a lover of movies and TV shows it is a very interesting look at that industry.

The MIPCOM bloggers have been posting little interviews with interesting people over on the, aptly named, mipblog. This minute of Angela Natividad interviewing Werner Herzog was particularly interesting.

SOUNDCLOUD IS DOWN. this post will be better when it is back up and has its audio aides. carry on.


He talks about his craft with so much reverence but at the same time he is surprising relaxed. He mentions that he dances with his movie but in the end "the film doesn't try to be an academic cerebral thing. It's a movie, I'm a storyteller."

These sentiments are shared by some of the people I look up to most in advertising. My boss from this summer remarked in an interview, "Don’t be precious about ideas. Bricklayers don’t get precious about bricks."

David Abbott often wrote that he was not a lover of words but merely employed them.

Bill Bernbach said “I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to choose the plain looking ad that is alive and vital and meaningful, over the ad that is beautiful but dumb.”

The true artistry in movies or in advertising is knowing exactly what your goal is. And not getting caught up in something your work isn't.