Business Plans

Bob Dorf, a 'serial entrepreneur', has been speaking to many about the concepts of business plans and how they work, or don't work. A quote he stated while at the NYU Entrepreneurs Challenge was "It's all fiction. How can you look me in the eye, and tell me how many customers you're going to have." Not being the classiest of word choice but I do agree with Mr. Dorf. While writing my business plan the past few months, I have come to realize that the stressing over fictional numbers is a waste of time. The focus needs to be put on the creation of the company you are building the plan around.

The biggest thing that caught my eye however from Mr. Dorf was his statement of what every startup should have which included people that fall into three sections: the hacker, the hustler and the artist.

Another great motivator is Adrian Ysan who joins start up companies in early phases just to help them through the rough times. One of the biggest things I have come to learn through his blog is that no matter what kind of company it is, all it takes to keep it going is constant action from the owners.

An article from Forbes magazine stated "Rarely do I meet a startup founder who has a great idea, has done the basic analysis, created a business plan, and also called 10 potential customers..." When reading that, I was shocked and frankly, still am. While in the middle of still writing a business plan, I have to know that everything cannot be planned out for or be expected. It is wise to make one and have the start up costs accounted for and measured and really push for the big idea but things can only go so far.

For those of you writing a business plan now, don't stress. Know that no matter how many hours you put in writing numbers and equations, nothing will beat a great idea. So go out and make that great idea happen. 

Music Video

With so many film graduates in the world, I wish there would be better music videos for those upcoming artists. A lot of the time there is no story, just behind the scenes footage showing the artist. There are plenty of options when there is little money being presented and an artist manager should want the best for his artist and push for this.

A great example of just behind the scenes footage is by the upcoming artist Allen Stone. In this video, it is 99 percent backstage. The song lyrics tell a great story and that should have been featured within the video.

This music video however has gone just a step above, the band Metric with the song 'Breathing Underwater'. Even though most of it is on stage of a concert, the quality of the lead singer is high quality and there are some insert shots of her life. Those insert shots create a story in its own that help guide emotion.

Money is usually a key ingredient to why an upcoming artist doesn't have great music videos. Usually since the artist is new, people don't want to risk their own money to help make a video.

Some options are settling on one location during the shoot and not spreading out to different ones. Also, limit how many extras are present; the more that are present for a long period of time, the more mouths you have to feed. The last tip, art direction doesn't need to be as big. Here is a great video from well-known artist Kid Rock with little art direction in 90 percent of the video. 

*Warning, this is Kid Rock, so there are inappropriate moments.*

This last video by Taylor Swift relies more on the existing location to tell the story. This is a great example of having a limited amount of extras on set. This song is from the movie Hunger Games.

Overall I feel that if there is going to be a music video, there should be some kind of story within it. It will help make the artist more memorable and the production quality will be better.

So next time you are thinking about making a music video, please sit down and make a story out of the lyrics. 

Griswold Video!

Here is the Griswold video released off of Old Navy's YouTube page. Enjoy!

Griswold Christmas

With the holiday season in full swing, companies are doing their best to win the hearts of consumers everywhere. The trick that one company is using is to bring a holiday classic back to life.

It has been told many times that a great movie to make is a holiday one as it will ring promises of being played at least once a year, every year. When thinking of Christmas, many think of the film Christmas Vacation. That is what the company Old Navy is hoping for at least. They have created 5 commercials bringing back the family from the classic movie.

"We have a strategy this season to be doing it all the way, larger than life. Gifts all the way; Cheer all the way," said Michelle Wlazlo, global senior VP-adult merchandising and licensing

The thought of bringing in these characters is said to hit home within their direct target market of consumers.

           

Having been released only 2 days ago in the Ad Age site, there are many hopes that these commercials will make many for the company. If it does, I suspect that it will be just a start to using holiday classics for promotions once again.

It is said that the first ad that will be released will be the re-enacting of Griswold plugging in all the lights. It is one of the most memorable scenes and will raise the bar on what other goodies the company can bring to the table. It will be one of the most remembered Christmas ads of the season.

Dates on when the ads will be released have not been disclosed yet but I feel that they will be coming within the next two weeks to bring in the spirit of Christmas shopping to all around.

Here's hoping for the best with the Griswold's this holiday season. 

General Petraeus TV Mini Series?

With all the hype about the recent affair that has rocked not only the White House but many more instead, the ever infamous General Petraeus affair with Paula Broadwell. What does this have to do with a film company you may ask? Well everything that has happened within the case thus far has seemed so sure real, that I had to make a visual prediction of how this situation could go 1 of 2 ways.

I think there is a potential in making a movie about this situation, maybe not with the actual names of Petraeus or Broadwell but of the story itself; a higher general falls in love with the woman writing his book. The love will make them betray their families and their country while the hymns to pull on the strands of lust that lie within the air are just too great.

Sounds pretty catchy...however I always feel that as great of a story as it could be, with some alterations to the plot of course, I also think the government would not approve and it would cause a bigger uproar.

Although, I do believe timing is everything. I also feel there could be a good chance of having a try after things simmer down and General Petraeus makes his speech at Libya, as was previously planned (although that is still being tossed around).

For those that are overwhelmed by what I just wrote because you have no idea about the Patreaus situation, here is a video describing what has happened thus far.

As I said earlier, the potential of this situation being created into even just a TV mini serious could make a dramatic exit to General Patraeus' life and could have him portrayed in a different light than what he has been thrust into within the past week or so. With it being 2012, society as a whole has gotten much more open about things that were considered sinful in the 1950's such as birth control and same sex marriage. A TV mini series exploring the life of a general swooned by a manipulative writer could catch the eye of the generation of today.

To find out more on my thoughts on what has been happening in the world of film prospects, subscribe to my blog! =)

Taxing Your Kickstarter!

Being a part of a small production company or setting one up on your own as an indie filmmaker can be a rough spot to be in. However with the Internet, anything is possible, right? Yes, but not without a catch I am afraid.

Many know of the site Kick Starter and how it works. For those of you that don't, here is a simple picture pulled from Kick Starter itself, explaining it.

Seems too good to be true! The only downside is that you may not reach your goal of money and not get your project funded. But then there is that magically 'what if' you get above your goal. I'm talking $100,000 above your goal, do you have a plan for what to do with all that money? It may seem as a shock but projects get overfunded all the time on Kick Starter and similar sites. Kick Starter even has a page devoted to those who recently got over funded. 

I got the idea to do more research after having a great class discussion about what could happen once you go way over your initial price and the answer is simple...IRS will get you. I know it may sound scary and unreasonable since you didn't ask for all that money.

Here is a great article written from Forbes magazine describing just how something so good can bite you in the end. The article includes great tips and advice to help you if you get into that situation.

The most important thing I have ever been told and will certainly put to use within my company, is always have an attorney by your side. They can always help you or answer any questions that you may have. There are too many resources out there to help you find a great, legitimate one if the idea of searching for one is just too scary.

Overall, the idea of Kick Starter and IndieGoGo and similar sites may seem like a dream come true to most creative, starving artists but in reality can actually put you in a worse position if you are not aware of how the system works.

World of Law

Within the world of film, the production company needs to be surrounded with attorneys and a constant update on the world in the industry. A great place to find some of these updates is in podcasts by Gordon P. Firemark or Article 3.

The first that they talk about within episode 35 is the talk with James Taylor suing Warner Brothers Records. A big part of this is the fact that with a previous case with Universal, it was decided that digital downloading is to be treated like a license that should be treated with royalties, etc. How does this affect the film world? I feel that you download much more than just music these days between TV shows and movies that that court decision could heavily affect how much money production companies should be getting from the downloads themselves.

Within episode 30, the first thing they discussed is how the JOBS Act has affected crowdfunding. Crowdfunding will play a huge part in any start up production company using sights such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and other sites. It is suppose to help make it easier for regular people along with professional entrepreneurs however discussed in this podcast is that there are predictions that as it is implemented there will be lots of changes. How has this affected these websites however? The money is seen as being donated but the bill is officially saying it is ok to be doing that and have expectations to have returns and won't be affected very much at all. This leaves the platform open for production companies as long as the sites just follow regulations. However a special regulation has been adjusted to take out the solicitation where you could only go to those you knew (friends and family) for film productions. You can actually put an ad on the Internet and get money from it.  Bad news is, if you get up to 1/2 a million dollars, you must have an audited financial statement.

 

On another website, Article 3, there was a discussion of the film The Decedents within episode 46. The film surrounds legalities of real estate and a good tip that could help in writing the script and in pre-production is doing what the producers did; they consulted a law professor to help make sure everything they were talking about was true to point. This was a big step with going outside of their own legal team in order to make sure where they were was also being told in a true light.

Overall, attorneys can be a lifesaver whether it is to help solve problems the film has stirred up, current laws that may affect funding your project or just getting legal advice to make your movie true.