Establishment and Movement: Hollywood Style

Ahhh, the interdependence between the Establishment and the Movement. The Establishment has cash, clout, and connections - the raw material and relationships that get projects launched and buy-in, well, bought. The Movement has an endless stream of quirky, this-just-might-work ideas, youthful energy, and the naivity (what a blessing!) of not having 'experience' to dull its sense of possibility.

Truth is, the Establishment and the Movement need each other, and when they work together, it's powerful and expansive.

So why doesn't it happen more often? Why doesn't big money get behind new ideas more quickly and with greater resources?

Because people who have money want to protect and grow it, that's why. They're not interested in 'maybe' propositions; they want to bet on a sure thing. New ventures pose risk, which means that if things go South, they'll have to trade in their Mercedes for a Smart car or their expansive manse in for a studio flat. Rather than risk, the Establishment often puts its money with other - you guessed it- established organizations, thereby creating and reinforcing what many of us call the 'old boys club.'

But not every member of the Establishment is hardened in this way; some turbo-wealthy people, trust fund kids, and foundations are finding ways to seed new ideas. Take Good, the magazine for example. I blogged about Good previously (here), just one great example of how Old (inherited) Money can hedge it's bets on the Movement. The Cleveland Foundation has the Civic Innovation Lab, which provides seed grants to people and ideas whose time might one day come. In both cases, the dynamic interchange between the cash, clout and connections of the Establishment and the hope, possibility and adventure of the Movement are a joy to witness...and to experience.

But there's another, longer-term reason why it's important that the Establishment and the Movement never loose sight of each other: because one day, all of us in the Movement will awake to learn that we have become the Establishment.

Keith Richards probably never thought he'd be seen as the Establishment. Nor did Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorcese. But if you watched the Oscars a few months ago, there were Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas enjoying a big the-Movement-is-now-the-Establishment group hug.

David Carr wrtoe in the New York Times, "It was less poignant than telling that these four men, Mr. Scorsese included, were onstage together, having become what they once assailed. They are the establishment, and they are not ready to cede the field to a moshed-up world of indies and global filmmakers."

Or are they? Scorcese couldn't be more flattering about next generation talent like Leonardo DiCaprio. And Spielberg is executive producing (with Mark Burnett) On The Lot, which gives new members of the Movement a chance to be discovered.

If you're a member of the Establishment, ask yourself, "What am I doing to seed the Movement?" and if you're a member of the Movement, ask, "How am I reaching out and being accessible to the Establishment?"