Artist Manager

Being in the film industry, artist management tends to occur more within the actor realm. There are two types of actors in the industry, those who can direct themselves and those who need direction. The more professional ones know how to direct themselves and do it correctly. The others are more inexperienced and require a better manager or director to help push their limits.

Not all inexperienced actors are bad however. There is the classic story of how Marilyn Monroe who was too shy to become the sexy idol we know today. To help her, managers pushed her to show more emotion, more sex appeal and to block the audience overall. Blocking is a big part of an actors life because it gives them cues where to go and mentally blocking allows them the time to become the character themselves.

The manager’s job is to fully understand that actors are on a different planet emotionally. Some managers’ baby their actors while others push hard to get what they want. A good example of a pushy manager is from the recent movie 'Rock of Ages' where Tom Cruise has a manager that is in it for himself. Granted this is a music manager but in a sense they fill the same kind of emotional role for their client. 

Overall it is important as a manager to embrace the talent that you have in front of you. If you help and guide them to their potential, you will always be successful. If you take away their pride, you will only dig a whole for yourself.

As an artist, you must be willing and confident in your art and pushing it to the limits. People will criticize no matter what your profession so you stick your head up high and listen to your gut. If you have chosen the right manager, they will make the decision that they know will help you and make you happy. 

Negotiation Station

Negotiations are apart of everyday life and within a producer's job, negotiations are the main reason for your job. Producers approach or are approached by potential clients that have an idea and want it made into something. Together, they come up with a solution that will give both parties what they want. How do you know what techniques to use in a negotiation? Going to our friend YouTube and Google, there are some great videos that can help.

The first video that I have found that I really enjoy is actually a webinar, something that is being used more and more everyday to communicate with more people at a 'real' time basis. To get to the goods, please for to the time 5:48 as the speakers take time introducing themselves first. The video uses the example of the bank system and how contracts are used within a bank, however these concepts can easily be substituted for anything. I find it really interesting within the video that they break down the meaning of contracts and how to effectively use vendors.

Within this next video that is from Ted helps show how to take the personal aspects out of a conflict. You should go to the balcony of the discussion and keep your focus on the prize. This speaker has traveled around the world to help solve conflicts and brings together stories of everyone's culture showing that our stories guide our emotions and our reasoning for our negotiations. He describes that we need to become mediators in everything we do to understand others and calls it the third side to life. This is a powerful speech that can change the way negotiations are conducted, the way humans see one another.

In this last video, it is set in a classroom where the professor discuss how good cop, bad cop works within a negotiation chamber. He starts out by saying that in the police handbook, it is said to use this technique in interrogations because it worked every time. Like in a negotiation however, it caused confusion with the other party and caused them to break down. When it goes to 23 minutes, he starts to talk about how to make it better for both parties instead of one party being short changed and how to react if someone is doing it to you.

Overall, I learned a few different techniques to how to handle negotiations from a 3rd party or mediator. Also I feel that when someone tries to play good cop, bad cop to play it back to them and tell them you know what is going on. I think the best think I have taken away from these videos is always being on the balcony and being calm and honest with who is in front of me. No matter what kind of negotiation I am in, to be cheerful and kind and optimistic.

Light that Yeti!

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

How many times have we as a whole heard this saying. Way too many in my opinion but it does hold that sense of real movie making. Within this blog, I've already covered camera although I'm sure I will quite a few more times as new things develop. But lets take a second and talk about lights. I know it's not the most fascinating to most of you but you'd be surprised what you can get out of your money.

Lets talk packages; Kino Flos vs. Arri Kits. The easiest way to tell the difference between these lights is that a Kino Flo has those grim bulbs that probably remind you of your high school days or your bad cooking experience in the kitchen. Incase you didn't have one of these, here is a picture.

What a beauty, right? Not so much. However the one thing that I love about Kino Flos that give them a second glance in my book is that the bulbs come in different colors. So if you wanted to go for a Matrix look, you could do that, granted you would need a lot of Kinos. It will cost roughly $600 for a nice yellow glow package (which includes 4 bulbs) only lasting 5,000 hours. That is $0.12 an hour! You may think that is a smoking deal but 5,000 hours on a film set will go by quickly. Will you be prepared for that?

Another one of my favorites is the Arri Kit. Unlike the 1 ballasts deal with kinos, Arri comes with a lot more tools. An Arri Compact HMI 200W Fresenel Light includes compact 200W Head, 125/200W AC Ballast, Filter Frame and Barndor- 200 Total Watts. What did I just say? Let me break it down...small light, lots of power. It even comes with its own power box to help you out. Arri is a great company that provides well crafted lights. However it is only one light that you get. The picture below has different sizes for you to build your own kit with if need be. 

Are you sitting down? I hope so for when I tell you the price. The price for this simple kit is $3,056.95. Yes, you read that right. You could buy a new car for that price but being part of a production company you have to understand that price is something you have to work for and with.

Eco-Yeti

Being an eco-friendly business maybe a tough call for most owners; either they have already started their business and it's too difficult to switch or they are scared of the price of going green. Granted, Baby Yeti Productions is still a home production company but that doesn't mean I'm not looking out into the future.

 One thing that I would enjoy having within the work place once owning an office with employees is a garden that will supply the kitchens with the fresh ingredients that is needed. A great example of this in the workplace is at Google Headquarters. Having a large garden such as this requires people to harvest, train employees and also a chef to prepare the food. As Google has not released an exact price for what it cost, one can only imagine. However I do give them props for having such a great space and helping the environment. I would like to have a community garden with the employees at Baby Yeti so that it is everyone's garden rather than just mine. This video is of one of the main men leading the Growing Connection Gardens at Google.

 Another way that Baby Yeti wants to be eco-friendly is with the packaging in which we deliver to clients. We have recycled old DVD cases and also started using recycled paper as sleeves to house the films. When buying small quantities of the paper, it may seem to be more on the expensive side. However if we shop knowing we will need lots more in the future, the more the merrier and the price tends to be cheaper that way. Adobe was big on making sure it's packing for all their software was also going green.

 One thing I have personally noticed while being on movie sets myself is the amount of plastic bottles lying around everywhere. I would like to give every crewmember their own reusable water bottle with our logo on it so that they can bring it to work everyday. Something like this would be costly being about five dollars a pop. However, that would reduce the amount of trash and recycling that would be needed, the amount of water needed to be bought each production.

 There are some more great production tips that have been released by the Producer's Guild of America.

Groups to follow

There are many ways to network within the film industry and I have there are new groups almost daily that form and start picking up more people.

One of the film groups that I follow is Women in Film and Television. Now of course you'd think this is only open to women however men are allowed. This is a great community that brings strong women and men together to network and plan future creativity. On the website, there is an events calendar that lists all of the WIFT gatherings which has easily been made at the same time every month (4th Wednesday of every month).

However this is not a woman's casual book club. This group does have memberships and different levels that include benefits starting as low as $40. Some great benefits that are included in all packages are discounts on products/services and the ability to attend all events and also participate in programs that WIFT provide.

As a producer, I tend to look for groups specifically to help me find people that are like me and could help me and teach me what they have learned and the mistakes they have made. A great place that I have been keeping notes on is the Producers Guild of America.

The benefits alone from this group are really great in helping in the side of social networking. There are also medical benefits, discounts on seminars, screening program and more. However it is not that simple to become a part of the group. As this is a very high and dignified group, there are strict requirements that include having a producing title in a motion picture or television or new media title. The requirements are broken down even more so on their website but let it be known that there is a heavy price to be a part of the guild. Just standard producers council costs $1,125 to apply.   

So You Wanna Be in the PGA - Episode One from Producers Guild on Vimeo.

Overall, my strategic plan is to find more groups that are like WIFT that build on community and social networking and to one day be a part of the PGA. I feel the PGA is the big time leagues and once there, everyone will know that I am serious about the work I am doing, if they don't believe so already. 

Ted Talks To Me!

Ted Talks is an interesting place overall if you have never been. What Ted is, is a way to let people's thoughts, creative abilities or logical rambles be displayed in a way that is able to go to millions of viewers.

Now you maybe thinking to yourself, why put this up on a 'production handbook' blog; where is the production part? Well let me tell you what Ted has done for me. Simply put, Ted has taken all those thoughts fighting and circling within my head and placed them in someone else's who can talk the talk. One of these great people is Jeremy Rifkin.

Jeremy Rifkin made a video called "The Empathic Civilization" in which he talks about things such as mirror neurons, soft wiring within a human, selfhood and much more. Many of you must think 'Gosh, now she is bringing science in! I am so lost'. Well fear not my friends for I have a reason for everything.

Something that Jeremy talks about that really caught my attention is being soft wired for sociability. The way he explains it is throughout the differences in time. In caveman days, you would shout and whoever was around was the only civilization that was known to exist. Within medieval days, of course they knew of other kingdoms but the distant ones were more so like aliens. Now come to today's world and everyone knows everyone in some way because of technology; twitter, date sites, face book and other social platforms have broken down those walls and created a broader emotion within us.

A great example that Jeremy used to describe today's effect on being soft wired was through the Haiti tragedy. A few hours after the earthquake happened, thousands of dollars and people were there to help because of what they had seen on the news or read on twitter.

Understanding this type of psychology I believe will help me transform and better business and overall a better understanding of what the customer needs based on what they see and hear. 

Florida Film Festival 2012

Enzian once again will be hosting the Florida Film Festival starting April 13th and ending April 22nd. Festivals of any kind have been known for the after parties and the networking experiences. On this years Press Preview Party, there were sneak previews of some shorts and what they think will be hot.

The first film to be shown at the festival is 'Renee' at 7:00pm.  Within Winter Park, Florida, everyone knows about 'Renee' because it filmed part of their scenes on Full Sail University campus. The film pulled in students and even some teachers to help make their film complete.

A part of the films, there are many featured guests and jurors that are also a part of the festival. Some include Cloris Leachman, Barry Levinson, celebrity chefs Jeff Pottter, Chad J. Galiano, Martha Hall Foose, Marcel Vigneron and also Gui Alinat. Meeting these people is the icing on the cake for most but listening to them speak about their jobs, lives and making it in the business is breath taking.

If listening to people talk is not your thing, maybe you'll enjoy the parties. Some cost a bit more than others but it's all about the experience. The first party to take place is the Opening Night Party on April 13th from 8pm to midnight. For the party only is a whopping $85 to get it. But if you're more into the food tasting kind of parties, than there is a taste and presentation for only $10. There are evening feasts, morning brunches and award shows.

For those that are strictly business, you can expose your company in front of hundreds at the events by becoming a festival sponsor. Just some of the benefits you get is logo placement on the website, posters and programs. You also get access to ALL the parties and events; that is worth it since one party itself costs $85 to get in.

Overall, there is something for everyone at the Florida Film festival whether you are the film guru, celebrity fanatic, food hog or party animal. Enzian puts on a great show every year and the participants are never disappointed in what they see. Come out and celebrate in whatever way you want.