The best perk of teaching TV writing at UCLA Extension is that we instructors get to choose one class from the school's extensive course catalogue to take free of charge. 

That's why  I have spent the past eight  Monday nights being mesmerized and inspired by the rants and unique perspective of marketing guru Peter Kraus, who exhorts his students, mostly all of whom are first time entrepreneurs,  to go against whatever business models that have been adopted by the opinion leaders in a given business sector when starting a new venture -- as if showbizzle,  the digital showcase for emerging talent I started with daughter Lindsey, needs any encouragement to be different.  

I mean, think about it. showbizzle doesn't charge a fee to join our community; we allow any member who creates original characters/content for our various channels to retain ownership of their copyright; and we write funny contemporary monologues tailored to the specific talents of our cast. That's what Lindsey did when she wrote and directed the majority of the 141 videos that comprise "The Show" (check out week one) and that is what we are doing with our Performing The Monologue Audition which runs for another couple of weeks.

But the main thing Peter Kraus emphasizes week after week is to go out and talk to your "customers"....and that's why all of us here at the bizzle are still jazzed by the Saturday we spent downtown at Actorfest meeting so many of you in person, whether it was at our booth in the Exhibit Hall, or up on the 9th floor where we sponsored a Talent Search: The Cold Read for more than 100 new members! 

More on the Cold Read in next week's post, but for now check out the submissions for the Performing The Monologue Audition where Members can vote for their favorite videos, get some tips from Industry Pros on "Inside The Bizzle", enjoy "The Show"  as it enters it 22nd week, and tell us what we can do to enhance your experience on the Bizzle.

And by all means, if you are in Los Angeles, Peter Kraus is teaching again next Quarter at UCLA. Tell him Charlie sent you. Out.