What marketers can learn from Alfred Hitchcock
It can be hard to take a risk after years of success, but the legendary filmmaker epitomized why it’s important to keep changing. Here’s why you should never stand still.
In the movie Hitchcock, there is a scene where Alfred himself is lamenting to his wife, Alma, that no one wants to make the movie Psycho because it was a large departure from his previous movies. Though he suggested an inexpensive budget and a fast timeline, Paramount Pictures still rejected him, claiming its sound stages were booked even though the industry was in a slump.
So Hitchcock and Alma, while sitting by the swimming pool in their backyard one afternoon, discussed the pros and cons of making such a movie, particularly without a movie studio behind them. As they laze by the pool, he builds the case for going back to making the movies the way they did when they were younger.
He looks around their property and suggests they should make the movie themselves. It would, of course, mean putting everything at risk. Alma says, “Even the swimming pool?”
Psycho, of course, was one of Hitchcock’s best movies.
He and Alma not only didn’t have to give up their swimming pool, it was nominated for several awards (though it never won an Oscar) and is considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
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