MIKE SMITH AND NETFLIX AND THE HKJC ON THE SLOW BOAT TO CHINA

https://usasnews.com/posts/breaking-news-legendary-jockey-mike-smith-has-sent-the-entire-horse-racing-world-into-a-frenzy-afte-thanhtam/?utm_source=facebook

Gawd knows there have been so many times when I have had to bite my tongue so hard to not burst out laughing listening to those who have no idea about the business model of the streaming service that’s Netflix thinking that that anything and everything produced, including horse racing, will be accepted. So very wrong, Tonto.

Anything from Netflix has to be in line with its brand personality and how large an audience the content it produces will attract whether this be “The Beast In Me”, or “K-Pop Demon Hunters” or “Drive To Success” that followed the world of Formula One.

Recently, on one of those online racing radio channels in the land of Oz, there was some brainstorming session going on about the idea of a “match race” between champion Hong Kong gallopers Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior with someone mentioning how this would be “perfect for Netflix” because of the “banter”. 

“Banter”? Between who? Daffy Duck and Fritz The Cat? Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton?

Horse racing has never had anyone with the entertainment value and gift of the gab of Muhammad Ali or Shane Warne or Joan Rivers.

Even if this idea were to be a one hour documentary on the two horses mentioned above, who would the audience be? And in what language would it be produced- English or Cantonese or Putonghua? What’s the backstory that’s so riveting it will attract millions?

Without trying to teach anyone how to suck eggs, before any and all of this, it’s about knowing smart marketing and what might make Netflix interested enough in a project to work and where humongous viewership numbers are guaranteed.

Can horse racing ever have these type of numbers in its current incarnation?

What’s a little surprising is that none of the streaming services have seemed interested in producing a series built around the life and times of jockey Frankie Dettori, which really has it all- the highs, the lows, the near death experiences, the wins around the world, the inability to win a big race in Australia, comebacks and the resilience to keep going on and on and on.

The news that Netflix will be producing a seven part series on jockey Mike Smith is hardly a surprise to some of us. It’s a project that has been discussed and been in the works for almost three years.

Personally speaking, apart from a champion rider and a darn nice person, this news is more of a much needed wake-up call for the world of horse racing as the sun sets on an industry that’s hardly sexy and barely relevant with a cast of characters who are not exactly charismatic nor interesting.

As for Mike Smith, other than his uber success and fame in America, his rags to riches story, and his relationship with fellow jockey Chantal Sutherland, there’s the backstory behind his association with Zenyatta, and perhaps something not known to many.

Named after the third album released by the band named Police, Zenyatta belonged to Jerry Moss, who, together with Herb Alpert, started the legendary A&M record label and whose artists roster included Carole King, the Carpenters, Burt Bacharach, the Police and so many others.

To a couple of us in Hong Kong, Jerry Moss was one of our bosses in America and someone important in helping us build relationships with the country’s music media, who had bought the yearling who became Zenyatta from Eric Kronfeld, below, the business advisor to some in Hong Kong and China including my best friend Norman Cheng.

This was when the both of us were running EMI Music in the region, and at the same time looking at setting up and selling a new music driven entity that we were putting together.

Eric Kronfeld came in- a sharp and tough talking negotiator who had worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry and knew his way around the block.

Though a breeder and horse owner, selling the yearling that became Zenyatta for just US$60,000 was something Eric never forgot, especially when the horse became a winning machine. He might have even stopped going racing in the States.

Do I think that Mike Smith is an interesting enough character for anyone to produce a seven part series on his life? Not really- but his heart is in the right place with how he’s going to use some of the money he will make from Netflix to give back to the profession that has brought him so much.

Personally, I would rather have produced a fly on the wall series on the recent Ashes cricket test matches between England and Australia and all the worldwide publicity that it garnered and with characters like Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Mitchell Stark, Travis Head, the Barmy Army and the 90,000 spectators it attracted to every match.

Horse racing, meanwhile, has done a rather tepid job of marketing and “evolutionising” its own product, which I saw happening first hand when creating the Happy Wednesday brand for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and managing it for twelve years before being struck down by “friendly fire”.

Most recently, I saw it at work after introducing Simon Fuller, the head of X1X Entertainment, to the CEO of the HKJC and saw this become something where The Love Train seemed to become a train wreck and described internally as something “shambolic”.

Who really knows?

Would I, however, produce a series on the HKJC? In a heartbeat. I might even already have a book on the horse racing club that many see as being bigger than Ben Hur. Size isn’t everything.

Horse racing is not exactly something for me to cuddle up to and is not known by those closest to me as being some Mecca of coolness and innovation despite its talk about doing this and that with billions of dollars and yada yada yada.

The main problem is when all this talk comes across as being another vapid circle game wrapped in swaddling corporate politics and governed by the usual suspects.

Those who can help horse racing reach a new and aspirational international and mainstream audience often walk away, because they don’t need the drama and might already have the story in their hip pockets along with all the plot twists and the right resources and connections to bring things to fruition.

There’s actually a strong horse racing-influenced story waiting to be told to a global mainstream audience and set against the backdrop of Hong Kong.

It’s a story idea mentioned almost seven years ago and something that cannot be told by horse racing purists or anything close to corporate coitus interruptus. It must be Django unchained and in memory of Kunta Kinte.

The story? Maybe an unknown young jockey from Australia arrives in the city with his wife and has to learn much about the international world of racing and even high finance by being around horse owners who are businessmen or busy being who they’re not.

He discovers the importance of “face” to the Chinese, Chinese superstitions, learns how to play the game, and, at the same time, learns about himself and how and where he could fit in, becomes irreplaceable and sees where he’s going and avoids the potholes.

No prizes for guessing who the jockey is or what this the plot twists the story takes might be based on and something for an international audience.

Maybe the main character turns out to be related to Peter Pan and flies off to Never Never Land or to a Hong Kong he never knew existed and brings its mojo back to the city?

Anything is possible in storytelling because you’re in charge of the narrative, the creative process and sees the journey ahead.

How to present this project to a Netflix or Apple + or any other streaming service is no walk in the park if it’s to attract an audience that might also be fans of “Homeland” and the brilliant “The Beast In Me” where the central character dances menacingly to “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads.

It can’t be another bland package of wieners and strudels and a theme song by Air Supply  and Now United.

This is where the art of writing and closing the deal comes in and with the packaging not being something that can be created and approved by Le Committee Des Boffins.

Presentation and empathy and kindness are everything in life.

Meanwhile, one can’t help but wonder who in Hong Kong can tell this story in a compelling and meaningful manner, has in hand everything needed to create and build the plot and which will sidestep clichés and approval processes.

Hmmmmmm?

Know something else? Who really cares? There’s a big old world out there that doesn’t seem to have a future and needs help. 

As a global community, we have lost our moral compass and are passengers on a rudderless ship navigated by mad people and need to find our way back home and rethink our life priorities. 

Everything else is as meaningless as a plate of soggy samosas served with the cake that was left out in the rain in MacArthur Park.