The Nerdist Way_ How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) - Chris Hardwick [94]
He got me an audition and the next week I was driving onto the KCET lot—the local PBS affiliate who would serve as the production studio—in Silver Lake. BTW, KCET was exactly what you’d think: a movie studio facility that dated back to 1912, and while expansions and improvements had been made, the original structures still stood in the middle of it. Also, the rest of the buildings had gone relatively unchanged since the ’70s, complete with fantastic brown furniture and wall art. If Mr. Rogers had had a compound, this was it.
Three auditions later I had the job. Wired Science was a phenomenal experience. I got to work with nice, SUPERsmart people. Way smarter than myself or anyone I had worked with in the past. The show only lasted ten episodes and remnants of it still populate the far corners of the Internet. But I quickly became friends with all of the Wired staffers pulling double duty to work on the TV show: Melanie Cornwell (head of special projects), Scott Dadich (creative director), and Adam Rogers (senior editor). This show was the undeniable catalyst for everything I have going on currently. It led to a writing gig for Wired mag, and though its exposure was limited, it caught the eye of G4 TV, which had just lost a terrific gadget reviewer by the name of Will O’Neill on Attack of the Show. The timing was perfect. Like a glob of alabaster caulk, I filled the position in December of that year.
In August 2008, I wanted to expand. I had had a personal blog on TypePad but rarely updated it. I loved sites like Gizmodo and Lifehacker, so I decided to create a blog that was mostly about other things, but delivered through my point of view. I wanted the idea that Nerds now owned pop culture to be an ideology to which anyone could subscribe, therefore the “ism” of it all. (“I HATE isms,” I heard Ferris Bueller say in my head.) Magically, Nerdist.com was available.
Since that time, Nerdist has sprouted a bunch of different heads, between a podcast, a book, and a television show, but it’s all pieces of the same voice, which is mine. In Sir Richard Branson’s book Business Stripped Bare, he talks about how people chastised him early on for daring to suggest that Virgin could expand into areas beyond music. To paraphrase, “It wasn’t the product,” he would tell them. “It was the Virgin experience.” The important factor was that the point of view was consistent whether it was a record label, an airline, a train, or a mobile carrier. He’s done pretty well with that philosophy and it’s something that I think, as content creators, we should all strive for.
I’ve never been happier or prouder with my work than with Nerdist Industries. It is fulfilling in ways I never could have postulated, because I have ownership over it—not just legally, but creatively. To get paid to create things that interest you is one of the greatest gifts you can receive, and I highly recommend it. I am living proof that it is possible.
I thank you! You finished the whole book! Even the last jerk-offy part where I congratulate the shit out of myself! Just for that, give yourself additional 100 XP and a bunch of high-fives!!!
PS—You’re nice!
THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU BERKLEY BOOKS THANK YOU THANK YOU THE PENGUIN GROUP THANK YOU THANK YOU ALEX MURRAY THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU HANNAH GORDON THANK YOU THANK YOU ANDIE AVILA THANK YOU PAM BARRICKLOW THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ADAM ROGERS THANK YOU MOM (SHARON HILLS) THANK YOU JIM HILLS THANK YOU THANK YOU JIM FACENTE THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU DAD (BILLY HARDWICK) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MIKE PHIRMAN THANK YOU JONAH RAY THANK YOU MATT MIRA THANK YOU THANK