How ‘Steve Jobs’ illuminates the world of executive comms
Although the Apple co-founder’s contemporaries might tussle about how faithful the depiction is of the title character, the launch-day frenzy should be readily recognizable.
For anyone who has worked in the speechwriting, executive communications or PR business and supported an executive who has presented at a major event, much about the new movie “Steve Jobs” will seem familiar.
No matter how faithful a portrait it is of the man (played by Michael Fassbender) who co-founded Apple—debate rages among those who worked with him—it is certainly an accurate account of life behind the scenes on the day of a product launch presentation. Actually, we are given a backstage pass to three events: the launches of the Mac in 1984, the NeXT cube in 1998 and the iMac in 1998.
Poetic license
At each event, it is marketing VP Joanna Hoffman (played by Kate Winslet) who attempts to keep the tech guru focused on the product launch. His attention is continually distracted by a series of visitors to the green room, from angry and frustrated co-workers (chief among them Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and CEO John Scully) to angry and frustrated family members (chief among them his daughter, Lisa, and her mother, Chrisann).
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