Shonda Rhimes and Cyndi Stivers: The future of storytelling
Shonda Rhimes y Cyndi Stivers: El futuro de la narración
With the runaway success of shows like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes has become one of Hollywood’s most powerful icons. Full bioCyndi Stivers - Encourager-in-chief, TED Residency
Cyndi Stivers curates special events for TED and often serves as a board member, adviser, business strategist and startup coach. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
going to change about storytelling.
cambiará en la narración.
What's never going to change.
are never going to change,
historias nunca cambiarán,
and exchange their stories
de juntarse e intercambiar historias
that feel universal,
a compelling need to watch stories,
imperiosa necesidad de conocer historias,
that tell each one of us
are never going to change.
is never going to change.
for this conversation,
para esta conversación,
on "Grey's Anatomy" --
this indelible memory she had
un recuerdo imborrable
with any of the executives,
con ninguno de los ejecutivos,
to read for your scripts,
a leer tus guiones,
was the full range of humanity,
to retraining the studio executives,
a enseñar algo nuevo a los ejecutivos,
of the American TV audience.
la audiencia televisiva de EE.UU.
not yet realize that it needs?
no se ha dado cuenta que necesita?
we're anywhere near there yet.
llegado a ese punto aún.
like the real world in actuality.
el mundo es en realidad.
a bunch of actors
trying to make a point,
to do anything special.
that that was new, different or weird.
algo nuevo, diferente o extraño.
because I thought they were interesting
porque pensé que eran interesantes
was completely surprising to everybody --
tan sorprendente para todos...
I want to see play these parts.
que quiero ver en estos papeles.
they look like if they read.
that happens is
through another lens,
normally in charge of things,
normalmente está a cargo de las cosas,
this big machine that you run,
esta gran máquina,
last year when she gave her talk --
dio una charla el año pasado --
is going to happen as we go on?
involved in producing these shows.
invertido en estos programas.
have gone and gotten greatly democratized,
historias se han democratizado,
who rent the audience to advertisers
y audiencias a anunciantes
now that anyone can be a storyteller?
ahora que cualquiera puede ser narrador?
that's happening is amazing.
lo rápido que está cambiando.
sort of an equalizer happening,
como un igualador,
can make something, is wonderful.
hacer algo, es maravilloso.
that you can't find the good work now.
no se puede encontrar un buen empleo.
417 dramas on television right now
hay 417 series dramáticas
because everybody can make something.
cualquiera puede hacer algo.
tantos buenos pintores.
that many good painters.
the good shows,
buenos programas,
one tiny show over here on AMC
de cable por aquí
becomes much harder.
se vuelve más difícil.
the great webisode and who made this,
y quién hizo esto otro,
about the poor critics
watching everything.
are getting more and more vast,
están volviéndose más y más vastos,
for everybody in the audience
para toda la audiencia
winnowed down to just who you are,
you can watch, television shows on --
lo que se puede ver, programas de TV...
wider and wider and wider.
it'll collapse a little bit
va a colapsar un poco
will be network television.
a lot of money around right now.
están invirtiendo tanto dinero ahora?
something exciting about it.
there's something exciting about it.
creo que hay algo de emocionante.
algo emocionante en ello.
there's something exciting about it.
with characters from all over the world
con personajes de todo el mundo
for everybody at the same time
con todos al mismo tiempo
that television can now take on
internacional que la TV asume ahora,
la programación pueda asumir el reto.
here's our American audience.
para la audiencia de EE.UU.
out into the world
about the fact that America is not it.
eso no representa a EE.UU.
and everything, but it's not i.
pero no me representa.
taking into account the fact
of these other places in the world
while we're telling stories.
cuando contamos historias.
that the world is a universal place,
de que el mundo es un lugar universal,
se vuelven universales.
nuevos programas también.
launched "Scandal" in 2012,
of support on Twitter
tricks up your sleeve
will happen in that regard?
coming out this summer.
llamado "Still Star-Crossed".
to be able to do them in time.
that we would live-tweet our show
de que sería divertido.
that would be fun.
comenzarían a tuitear en vivo también.
would start to live-tweet along with us.
fueran parte de ello
to be a part of it,
on Twitter together
una experiencia compartida
de hacer eso posible
to make that possible
de involucrar a las personas
to make people feel engaged
all those different people making stories
esas personas hagan historias
are going to break through
storytellers will get paid?
a los narradores?
with this concept as well.
to watch this particular person's shows,
de una persona en particular,
un pasaporte a Shondalandia, ¿no?
a passport to Shondaland. Right?
That's a lot more work for me.
Es mucho más trabajo para mí.
going to be different ways,
diferentes maneras,
a lot of content creators
creadores de contenido
in being distributors,
interesados en distribuir,
that I deserve to get paid for it,
the people who work with me,
and they're all making a living.
y puedan vivir de ello.
is getting harder and harder.
se vuelve más y más difícil.
that you can't really binge-watch,
hacer maratón televisivo,
con esas herramientas.
of those for storytelling?
de estas tecnologías en la narración?
and paying attention.
y les presté atención.
think of them for gaming,
piensan que son para jugar,
for things like action,
son para cosas de acción,
a sense of intimacy
and have a conversation with Fitz,
y conversar con Fitz,
while Fitz talks to you,
mientras Fitz te habla,
a choice that he makes,
a television screen,
and he's having this conversation.
y él te está contando esto.
from a television screen.
desde una pantalla de TV.
who's about to execute somebody.
quien está a punto de ejecutar a alguien.
to another character very rapidly,
muy rápidamente,
and tells you, you know,
hacia ti y te diga,
and why he's afraid and nervous.
tiene miedo y está nervioso.
and I'm not sure it would work,
y no estoy segura de que funcione,
of something like that
sería interesante.
would be interesting,
the people who watch my shows,
la gente que mira mis programas,
in there for them.
the input of the audience?
de la audiencia?
can actually go up to a certain point
puede hasta cierto punto
I'm going to choose my own adventure.
or I'm going to run off with --
uno elige sus aventuras.
your-own-adventure stories.
quiera tener control de todo,
I want to be in control of everything,
or I'm watching a movie,
o estoy viendo una película,
that a story is not as good
no es tan buena
over exactly what's going to happen
sobre lo que quiero que le ocurra
what I wanted to happen to Walter White,
lo quería que le ocurriera a Walter White,
is not the same, and it's not as powerful.
no es la misma y no es tan poderosa.
of how "The Sopranos" ends,
"Los Soprano",
that's nice and satisfying,
agradable y satisfactorio,
y no tiene el mismo impacto emocional.
and it's not the same emotional impact.
what that might be.
I don't get to imagine it,
que no logro imaginarlo,
to know that somebody else has told.
lo hace realmente poderoso.
decide that, you know,
and you can walk away debating
but in a very different way.
pero de manera muy diferente.
sell the right to sit there
el derecho de sentarse ahí
than storytelling.
que una narración.
as a form of storytelling,
what about the super-super --
getting shorter, shorter, shorter.
now has something it calls shows
it sounds like commercials.
que parecen comerciales.
lo comprende completamente.
really wonderful about it.
mira TV en sus teléfonos,
are watching television on their phones,
lo más breve tiene sentido.
most of the product is coming in,
for shorter periods of content,
más dinero por menos contenido,
a way to make a lot more money.
de hacer mucho más dinero.
to make it and put it out there.
a short attention span, like my daughter,
de atención, como mi hija,
that's what you want to make,
and it actually feels like narrative,
parece una narración,
no matter what you do.
sin importar lo que uno haga.
criado a tus hijas,
going to consume entertainment,
consumirán ellas entretenimiento,
the algorithmic robot overlords
what they've already done.
and make people well-rounded citizens?
para lograr ciudadanos plenos?
than how somebody else might do it.
de cómo lo haría otra persona.
how we're going to do it in the future.
en el futuro, en realidad.
the subject of all of my experiments.
por todos mis experimentos.
what I call "Amish summers"
all their computers and stuff
until they settle down
un rato hasta resignarse
in watching our own thing,
that we're being fed, sometimes,
your own opinions
more and more right about yourself.
más en lo correcto.
maybe it'll all explode,
quizá todo explote,
just become more idiotic.
any corrective that you could do
que puedas hacer
that television has the power
educar a la gente de manera poderosa,
about medical shows.
sobre programas médicos.
87 percent of people
about medicine and medical facts
de su conocimiento sobre medicina
they do from their doctors,
de sus médicos
and every time we make a mistake,
y cuando cometemos un error,
like we're going to do something bad,
como si hiciéramos algo malo,
información médica.
of good medical information.
en esos programas.
to give information on those shows.
to read the news,
información justa en esos programas
fair information out on those shows,
como si controláramos el pensamiento,
we're going to control people's minds way,
very interesting and intelligent
muy interesante e inteligente
one side's version or the other,
was how we were giving the news.
diéramos las noticias.
you've written as fiction
de lo que has escrito como ficción
esta temporada.
very disturbing for that reason.
muy perturbador por esa razón.
that's about politics gone mad,
sobre la política que enloquece,
we've always told the show --
pays attention to the papers.
atención a los papeles.
We talk about everything.
done our show as a speculation.
como una especulación.
if the wheels came off the bus
se desprendieran del autobús
the wheels were coming off the bus
como si se hubieran desprendido
were really coming true.
se están volviendo verdad.
controlling the American election,
controlando las elecciones de EE.UU.
of being involved in the American election
estuvieron involucrados en las elecciones
what we were going to do for our season.
lo que íbamos a hacer en la temporada.
starts speaking Russian?
empieza a hablar ruso,
and figure out what we're going to do."
qué vamos a hacer".
was going to happen,
in the world do you look?
aparte de EE.UU.?
storytelling right now?
narraciones interesantes ahora?
of interesting stuff out there.
interesantes por ahí.
is always amazing
siempre es sorprendente
estoy ocupada trabajando.
very much television at all,
until I'm done with a season,
hasta que termino la temporada,
to creep into my head otherwise.
ideas en la cabeza.
and talk about being on a throne?
no usan coronas y hablan de tronos?"
until the seasons are over.
hasta que termina la temporada.
interesting European television out there.
TV europea muy interesante.
the stuff that they were showing,
que estaban transmitiendo,
que quisiera ver y revisar.
I want to watch and check out.
thinking about tech stuff,
en cosas tecnológicas,
we had someone here at TED
alguien vino aquí a TED
your TV shows essentially in your eye?
los programas en los ojos?
who sat on the pantry floor
to be Toni Morrison, so no.
Toni Morrison, así que no.
some bigger world,
un mundo más grande,
when new technology comes out
con lo nuevo de la tecnología
to want to try it.
en querer probarlo.
and exciting right now,
y emocionantes ahora,
to me, it feels like,
de Lejano Oeste y siento...
what we're going to settle on.
how to get the technology
averigüemos cómo juntar la tecnología
of storytelling to meet,
the thing I briefly flew by earlier,
lo que sugerí hace un momento,
which is a recent phenomenon,
un fenómeno reciente,
the storytelling process at all?
el proceso narrativo?
for the whole season beforehand, right?
durante toda la temporada, ¿no?
where we were going to end.
cómo iba a terminar.
that's been going on for 14 seasons
que ha existido por 14 temporadas
who have been watching it for 14 seasons,
durante las 14 temporadas,
I'd encounter in the grocery store
he encontrado en el supermercado
297 episodes in three weeks.
en tres semanas.
experience for them,
muy distinta para ellas,
a very short period of time
muy corto de tiempo
has a completely different arc
un arco completamente diferente
and then leaving it. It's a strange --
para luego marcharse. Es extraño...
and then putting it down.
y después dejarla.
of the experience.
de esta experiencia.
something for 14 seasons.
durante 14 temporadas.
the way everything's supposed to be.
necesariamente de esa manera.
that you don't think we should touch?
que creas que no debamos tocar?
I think of story that way.
and what characters would do
de personajes y lo que harían
in order to make them move forward,
los personajes para desarrollarse,
in terms of just plot,
solo en términos de su trama,
into my writer's room and pitch me plot,
a mi oficina y me lanzan su trama
I need to hear what's real.
Necesito escuchar lo real.
to think there's something I wouldn't do
que haya algo que no haría
pieces of plot off a wall or something.
piezas de la trama de un muro.
do you think you will use --
crees que usarás...
on the board of Planned Parenthood
en el panel de "Planned Parenthood"
in the Hillary Clinton campaign.
de Hillary Clinton.
you will use your storytelling
que usarás la narración
there's a lot of organizations
muchas organizaciones
that they've created for themselves
porque no la han creado para sí,
with a better narrative.
con una mejor narración.
narrative for themselves.
that could happen
en forma de ficción,
that any speechwriter would mean it.
lo haría un escritor de discursos.
that that's, like, my job to do that.
ese sería mi trabajo.
SR: Thank you.
SR: Gracias.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Shonda Rhimes - Writer, producerWith the runaway success of shows like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes has become one of Hollywood’s most powerful icons.
Why you should listen
When ABC kicked off its 2014 television season by devoting its Thursday night line-up to the Shondaland shows How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes -- already one of the most influential producers in Hollywood -- became arguably the single most powerful voice in television today. In 2015, ABC snapped up Rhimes’ latest series, The Catch. Shondaland shows have the special ability to capture both fan devotion and critical attention – she’s won everything from a Peabody Award to a People’s Choice Award.
Rhimes is known for her groundbreaking storytelling, her candor and humor in the face of her critics, and for never shying away from speaking her mind. She’s also known for her social media savvy, and fans of her shows basically own Twitter on Thursday nights. Her first book, Year of Yes, was published in November 2015.
Shonda Rhimes | Speaker | TED.com
Cyndi Stivers - Encourager-in-chief, TED Residency
Cyndi Stivers curates special events for TED and often serves as a board member, adviser, business strategist and startup coach.
Why you should listen
Cyndi Stivers is encourager-in-chief of the TED Residency, an idea incubator at TED headquarters in New York. She started out in hot-type newspapers and has since shepherded media startups and reinvigorated venerable brands on nearly every platform, including magazines, television, radio and online, right back to the early days of the consumer internet. From 1995 to 2005, while in charge of North American operations for London-based Time Out Group Ltd., she led the creation of Time Out magazines, guidebooks and websites for New York and Chicago.
Stivers is a longtime trustee of Barnard College, of which she is a proud alumna. For more work history, please see LinkedIn or cyndistivers.com, and for photos of urban gardens and other obsessions, follow @CyndiStivers on Twitter or Facebook.
Cyndi Stivers | Speaker | TED.com