The Democrat Convention: A Creative Challenge

 

Convention Director, Glenn Weiss - Photo credit: Janis Friedlander Svendsen/Facebook

The creative process has always fascinated me.  The process of growing a work of art from an idea to its ultimate presentation is a journey filled wrong-ways, bumps, dead-ends, and potholes. But every now and then a great idea appears from the sky somewhere and things come together.  It seems like a miracle.

I thought a lot about the creative process when watching the Democratic National Convention last week.  The format for a national political convention has remained constant for the last 60 years or so.

 But now, during the Covid-19 epidemic, the organizers were tasked to transform the entire shebang to somehow fit into a TV show with no audiences. Impossible!

 It is difficult to even consider that level of challenge. Glenn Weiss, the “show’s” director, has previously been successful at steering  the Tony Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors and other shows, but what we saw last week was a monstrous eight hours of content over a four day period.  Dozens of cameras, live and taped, worldwide locations, kids and adults.   

 Talk about a daunting challenge!