Rebranding. Already?

Yes, and I'm stealing a bit of jargon from the TV news world. Welcome to "Efforting".

Jan 07, 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey gang! We’re almost a week into 2025 and I hope your year is off to a great start.

First off, I want to thank everyone who clicked, read, shared and supported my first big post here featuring an update on Jake Lloyd (and of course, his amazing mother Lisa.)

The story spread far and fast, with pickups from outlets like People, TMZ, Variety, US Weekly, Buzzfeed, NBC News, and many more. I am so pleased but not entirely surprised at the response, given how much interest and love I sense coming Jake’s way from the Star Wars fandom (and beyond).

I told Lisa that I normally don’t recommend reading the comments. But this time is different, and I thought both of them might enjoy seeing the many kind words that several of you posted. In the meantime, I promise to keep in touch with Jake and Lisa and pass along whatever news they feel comfortable sharing when the time is right.

REBRANDING – ALREADY???

Next. You may have noticed that I tweaked the title of my Substack to include the word “Efforting”.

Let me explain.

TV anchors, correspondents, producers, and anyone who writes broadcast copy that’s meant to be aurally absorbed by an easily-distracted audience all know the importance of using engaging, simple, and direct language. Therefore, many of us (ahem) develop a certain disdain for euphemisms and corporate-y doublespeak.

I’m not a fan of “getting granular”, “taking it offline”, or “aligning with stakeholders”. (Not bad ideas, necessarily, they just use just idiosyncratic word choices). And if I ever tell you I don’t “have the bandwidth” for something, you have permission to pepper spray me in the face.

There is, however, one particular phrase I hear a lot in TV newsrooms, though it’s certainly not exclusive to that setting. For some reason, I always kind of admired its strange boldness.

EFFORTING.

As in, “We’re efforting an interview with the senator,” or “She’s efforting a statement from the police department”— that sort of thing. I never really use it myself in real life (nor should anyone, really) but typically, I used to hear someone on an assignment desk use it at least once in most morning meetings. (As I type this, Microsoft also thinks it’s not a word and wants me to correct the spelling.)

So, “efforting” basically means, we’re trying.

And so I got to thinking that “efforting” might apply to a lot of us. We’re all efforting in one way or another to make our way through a life that can be legit tough sometimes.

Efforting to be a better friend, a better parent, a better human. Efforting to advance a career that feels stalled. Efforting to prove something. Efforting to take better care of ourselves and the people we care about. Efforting a dream that you refuse to give up on.

Our social media profiles often make our lives look perfect, fun, and effort-LESS. Deep down we know (or should know) that’s not reality, but sometimes we’re even efforting to not get depressed when we feel that FOMO.

One of the reasons I really like “efforting” as a verb is that it’s a great swap for the word “struggling”. Efforting at least suggests that we’re taking more control of our own path. It has a feeling of intention behind it, and power. Maybe a little hope.

I also think “Efforting” just has a universal, shared-experience kind of ring to it. We’re all out here doing it, and doing it the best we know how. And so I think it kind of fits as a rough guide for a theme for this column, as I figure out what it should be.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have a better idea for a name, let me know. Maybe we’ll have a naming contest.

LOOKING AHEAD

Happy Skeleton Crew Day! I am truly loving this show, and even better— I’m currently working on a deep dive feature story about the show’s visual effects for the Industrial Light & Magic website. Coming soon!

On Tuesday January 15^th, I’ll join my good friends Lacey and John live on their TRB Galactic Goonies show to talk about the Skeleton Crew finale. Can’t wait!

Ciao.