Shonda Rhimes and Cyndi Stivers: The future of storytelling
Shonda Rhimes et Cyndi Stivers: L'avenir de la narration
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.
dans la narration.
What's never going to change.
are never going to change,
ne changeront jamais,
and exchange their stories
et d'échanger leurs histoires,
that feel universal,
qui semblent universelles,
a compelling need to watch stories,
un irrésistible besoin de regarder,
that tell each one of us
qui nous indiquent tous
are never going to change.
is never going to change.
ne changera jamais.
for this conversation,
on "Grey's Anatomy" --
sur « Grey's Anatomy »
this indelible memory she had
ce souvenir indélébile,
with any of the executives,
to read for your scripts,
pour lire vos scripts
was the full range of humanity,
un éventail complet de l'humanité,
to retraining the studio executives,
les exécutifs du studio,
of the American TV audience.
du public américain.
not yet realize that it needs?
ne réalise pas encore qu'il a besoin ?
we're anywhere near there yet.
like the real world in actuality.
ressemble le monde réel.
a bunch of actors
les uns des autres
trying to make a point,
to do anything special.
that that was new, different or weird.
que c'était nouveau, différent ou bizarre.
because I thought they were interesting
car je les trouvais intéressants
was completely surprising to everybody --
très surprenant pour tout le monde,
I want to see play these parts.
que je voulais voir jouer.
they look like if they read.
that happens is
through another lens,
d'un nouveau point de vue,
normally in charge of things,
la personne responsable,
this big machine that you run,
cette grosse machine
last year when she gave her talk --
comme dit l'année dernière,
is going to happen as we go on?
involved in producing these shows.
dans la production de ces séries.
have gone and gotten greatly democratized,
se sont fortement démocratisées,
who rent the audience to advertisers
qui louent le public à des publicitaires
now that anyone can be a storyteller?
le modèle commercial changer
peut être un narrateur ?
that's happening is amazing.
qui se produit est génial.
la panique est palpable
sort of an equalizer happening,
d'égalisateur,
can make something, is wonderful.
créer quelque chose, c'est merveilleux.
that you can't find the good work now.
trouver le bon travail est effrayante.
417 dramas on television right now
qui passent à la télévision
mais les trouver est impossible.
because everybody can make something.
peut créer quelque chose.
peignait une peinture.
that many good painters.
the good shows,
les bonnes séries,
one tiny show over here on AMC
becomes much harder.
devient plus difficile.
the great webisode and who made this,
le super webisode ou un autre,
about the poor critics
watching everything.
un boulot facile.
are getting more and more vast,
deviennent de plus en plus vastes,
for everybody in the audience
pour tout le public
winnowed down to just who you are,
you can watch, television shows on --
ce que vous pouvez regarder, les séries --
wider and wider and wider.
it'll collapse a little bit
ça s'effondrera un peu
will be network television.
un réseau de télévision.
a lot of money around right now.
dépensent beaucoup d'argent ?
something exciting about it.
there's something exciting about it.
il a quelque chose d'excitant.
there's something exciting about it.
il a quelque chose d'excitant.
with characters from all over the world
avec des personnages du monde entier
for everybody at the same time
pour tout le monde en même temps,
that television can now take on
peut maintenant revêtir
here's our American audience.
voici notre public américain.
out into the world
about the fact that America is not it.
qu'il n'y a pas que l'Amérique.
and everything, but it's not i.
mais il n'y a pas que l'Amérique.
taking into account the fact
of these other places in the world
à travers le monde
while we're telling stories.
pour raconter des histoires.
that the world is a universal place,
est un endroit universel
de ce que je peux voir,
de lancer de nouvelles séries.
launched "Scandal" in 2012,
of support on Twitter
incroyablement large sur Twitter,
tricks up your sleeve
votre prochaine série ?
will happen in that regard?
coming out this summer.
« Still Star-Crossed », qui sort cet été
to be able to do them in time.
les mettre en œuvre à temps.
that we would live-tweet our show
that would be fun.
que nous trouvions amusante.
would start to live-tweet along with us.
que les critiques se joindraient à nous.
to be a part of it,
on Twitter together
to make that possible
de rendre ça possible
to make people feel engaged
all those different people making stories
créant des histoires
are going to break through
storytellers will get paid?
vont-ils être payés ?
with this concept as well.
avec ce concept.
un modèle d'abonnement ?
to watch this particular person's shows,
regarder les séries d'une personne
a passport to Shondaland. Right?
un passeport pour Shondaland.
That's a lot more work for me.
C'est beaucoup plus de travail pour moi.
going to be different ways,
a lot of content creators
beaucoup de créateurs de contenu
in being distributors,
par le fait d'être des distributeurs,
that I deserve to get paid for it,
que je mérite pour ça
the people who work with me,
and they're all making a living.
de manière à gagner sa vie.
is getting harder and harder.
devient de plus en plus complexe.
la réalité augmentée...
that you can't really binge-watch,
possible de se gaver de télévision,
avec ces choses-là.
of those for storytelling?
l'avenir de ces choses pour la narration ?
j'ai passé beaucoup de temps
and paying attention.
et à être attentive.
think of them for gaming,
les considèrent pour jouer,
for things like action,
a sense of intimacy
and have a conversation with Fitz,
et avoir une conversation avec Fitz
while Fitz talks to you,
a choice that he makes,
a television screen,
sur un écran de télévision,
and he's having this conversation.
et avez une conversation.
from a television screen.
who's about to execute somebody.
qui va tuer quelqu'un.
to another character very rapidly,
à un autre personnage,
and tells you, you know,
se tourne vers vous et il vous dit
and why he's afraid and nervous.
et pourquoi il a peur et est nerveux.
and I'm not sure it would work,
j'ignore si ça marcherait
of something like that
d'une telle chose
pour le public.
would be interesting,
serait très intéressant
the people who watch my shows,
les gens regardant mes séries,
in there for them.
d'intéressant pour elles.
the input of the audience?
can actually go up to a certain point
jusqu'à un certain point
I'm going to choose my own adventure.
or I'm going to run off with --
ou je vais m'enfuir avec --
your-own-adventure stories.
où l'on choisit son aventure.
I want to be in control of everything,
je veux tout contrôler,
or I'm watching a movie,
la télévision ou un film,
that a story is not as good
ne sera pas aussi bonne
over exactly what's going to happen
de ce qu'il va se passer
what I wanted to happen to Walter White,
qu'il arrive à Walter White,
is not the same, and it's not as powerful.
n'est pas la même, pas aussi forte.
of how "The Sopranos" ends,
de la fin des « Soprano »,
that's nice and satisfying,
qui est bien et satisfaisante,
and it's not the same emotional impact.
ni le même impact émotionnel.
what that might be.
d'imaginer ce que ce serait.
I don't get to imagine it,
que je ne puisse pas l'imaginer
to know that somebody else has told.
rend ça très fort.
decide that, you know,
les requins gagnent,
que ça devrait sur vous.
and you can walk away debating
vous pouvez en débattre
C'est pour ça que c'est de l'art.
but in a very different way.
mais de façon bien différente.
sell the right to sit there
qui vendent le droit d'être assis là
than storytelling.
que de la narration.
as a form of storytelling,
what about the super-super --
getting shorter, shorter, shorter.
de plus en plus court ?
now has something it calls shows
it sounds like commercials.
que ça ressemble à des pubs.
comprend tout à fait.
really wonderful about it.
are watching television on their phones,
regardent la télé sur leur téléphone,
des contributions, des produits,
most of the product is coming in,
for shorter periods of content,
pour du contenu plus court,
a way to make a lot more money.
un moyen de gagner beaucoup d'argent.
to make it and put it out there.
de le créer et de le rendre accessible.
a short attention span, like my daughter,
et une capacité de concentration courte,
that's what you want to make,
ce que vous voulez créer,
and it actually feels like narrative,
et que ça ressemble à un récit,
no matter what you do.
peu importe ce que vous faites.
que vous ayez élevé vos filles
going to consume entertainment,
elles consommeront du divertissement
the algorithmic robot overlords
robotiques et algorithmiques
what they've already done.
de ce qu'ils ont déjà fait.
and make people well-rounded citizens?
corrigerons-nous ça
than how somebody else might do it.
de quelqu'un d'autre.
how we're going to do it in the future.
comment nous le ferons à l'avenir.
the subject of all of my experiments.
de toutes mes expériences.
what I call "Amish summers"
all their computers and stuff
until they settle down
avant qu'ils ne se calment
sans appareils électroniques.
in watching our own thing,
à regarder notre propre truc
that we're being fed, sometimes,
que l'on nous nourrit, parfois,
your own opinions
que vos opinions
more and more right about yourself.
de plus en plus sûr de vous.
maybe it'll all explode,
de la surcorrection ou une explosion
just become more idiotic.
un peu plus idiots.
any corrective that you could do
des rectifications que vous pourriez faire
that television has the power
que la télévision a le pouvoir
about medical shows.
sur les séries médicales.
87 percent of people
about medicine and medical facts
sur la médecine et les faits médicaux
they do from their doctors,
de leurs médecins ou d'articles.
and every time we make a mistake,
et quand nous commettons une erreur,
like we're going to do something bad,
comme si nous agissions mal.
of good medical information.
de bonnes informations médicales.
to give information on those shows.
pour fournir des informations.
lire l'actualité,
to read the news,
fair information out on those shows,
des informations justes avec ces séries,
we're going to control people's minds way,
en voulant contrôler l'esprit des gens,
very interesting and intelligent
intéressante et intelligente,
one side's version or the other,
was how we were giving the news.
notre façon de présenter les actualités.
you've written as fiction
vous avez écrit en tant que fiction
en prédiction cette saison.
very disturbing for that reason.
très perturbante pour cette raison.
that's about politics gone mad,
sur la politique qui sombre dans la folie
we've always told the show --
raconté cette série --
pays attention to the papers.
We talk about everything.
done our show as a speculation.
pleine de spéculations.
à ce qu'il se passerait
if the wheels came off the bus
et que tout sombrait dans la folie.
the wheels were coming off the bus
que le bus perdait ses roues
were really coming true.
nous spéculions devenaient réalité.
controlling the American election,
contrôlant les élections américaines,
of being involved in the American election
impliqués dans l'élection américaine
what we were going to do for our season.
ce que nous allions faire.
starts speaking Russian?
notre femme mystère parle russe ?
and figure out what we're going to do."
et trouver ce que nous allons faire. »
was going to happen,
qu'il allait se passer
in the world do you look?
aux Etats-Unis ou ailleurs ?
storytelling right now?
intéressante actuellement ?
of interesting stuff out there.
de choses intéressantes.
is always amazing
est toujours extraordinaire
occupée avec mon travail.
very much television at all,
regarder la télévision,
until I'm done with a season,
avant d'avoir fini une saison,
to creep into my head otherwise.
and talk about being on a throne?
de couronne et ne parlent pas d'un trône.
until the seasons are over.
avant la fin de nos saisons.
interesting European television out there.
de télévision européenne intéressante.
the stuff that they were showing,
I want to watch and check out.
thinking about tech stuff,
à penser à la technologie,
we had someone here at TED
nous avons eu quelqu'un à TED
your TV shows essentially in your eye?
et de voir vos séries dans votre œil.
who sat on the pantry floor
dans le garde-manger
to be Toni Morrison, so no.
Toni Morrison donc non.
some bigger world,
un monde plus vaste,
de créer des choses --
when new technology comes out
to want to try it.
à vouloir l'essayer.
and exciting right now,
et excitantes actuellement,
to me, it feels like,
dans une période du Far West
what we're going to settle on.
ce que nous allons choisir.
how to get the technology
qu'on aura découvert
et la créativité de la narration,
of storytelling to meet,
the thing I briefly flew by earlier,
que j'ai évoquées plus tôt,
which is a recent phenomenon,
qui est un phénomène récent
the storytelling process at all?
le processus de narration ?
for the whole season beforehand, right?
pour toute la saison au préalable, non ?
where we were going to end.
où nous allions finir.
that's been going on for 14 seasons
qui dure depuis 14 saisons
who have been watching it for 14 seasons,
qui la regardent depuis 14 saisons
I'd encounter in the grocery store
que je rencontre au supermarché
297 episodes in three weeks.
297 épisodes en trois semaines.
experience for them,
une expérience très différente,
a very short period of time
sur une période très courte,
has a completely different arc
décrit un arc très différent
and then leaving it. It's a strange --
puis en partir, c'est un étrange --
and then putting it down.
puis poser le livre.
of the experience.
something for 14 seasons.
de regarder 14 saisons d'une série.
the way everything's supposed to be.
that you don't think we should touch?
que nous ne devrions pas toucher ?
I think of story that way.
voir les histoires ainsi.
and what characters would do
de personnages, ce qu'ils devraient faire,
in order to make them move forward,
pour faire avancer.
in terms of just plot,
juste en termes d'intrigue
into my writer's room and pitch me plot,
viennent me présenter une intrigue,
I need to hear what's real.
Je dois entendre ce qui est réel.
to think there's something I wouldn't do
s'il y a une chose que je ne ferais pas
pieces of plot off a wall or something.
des bouts d'intrigue d'un mur.
do you think you will use --
pensez-vous utiliser --
on the board of Planned Parenthood
du planning familial
in the Hillary Clinton campaign.
dans la campagne d'Hillary Clinton.
you will use your storytelling
utiliser votre narration
there's a lot of organizations
that they've created for themselves
with a better narrative.
grâce à un meilleur récit.
faire beaucoup de choses
narrative for themselves.
that could happen
that any speechwriter would mean it.
qu'un rédacteur de discours.
that that's, like, my job to do that.
mon travail de faire ça.
SR: Thank you.
SR : Merci.
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