Larry Kasanoff has produced more than 200 films, including Terminator 2, True Lies, and the Mortal Kombat franchise. So it's fitting that one of the most useful lessons of his career came from a kid on a set tour.
Larry had decided to redesign the Mortal Kombat character Kano, dropping his metallic eye because it felt too close to the Terminator's exoskeleton. A junior-high student touring the set saw the new design and had a full-blown panic attack over the change. As Larry puts it, "My mistake hit me. My audience point-blank told me what to do." He had been designing for himself, not for the people who loved the character. He changed Kano back that day, and the character is still going strong decades later.
That tension between an artist's instinct and what the audience actually wants runs through the whole conversation. Larry and Mark get into the bet-your-job decision behind Platoon, why an idea everyone instantly loves should make you nervous, and the 3D network that folded in six months because it chased technology with no real idea underneath it -- and what all of that says about the rush to make decisions by algorithm.
A candid, funny, and useful conversation about creativity, risk, and the discipline of knowing when to trust your gut and when to listen.
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