The Business Plan "Executive Summary".

The first thing when writing a business plan for a media type company would be(or any company for that matter) "what is the point". It may seem obvious but it's a crucial first step and it's harder than it may seem.

Take my company...
What is the point of my company that I have with my two friends? What is that the ACN Network is supposed to do, and how does it make money?

This is what I have had to ask myself and then clearly answer. I have to keep asking myself this question from time to time. Because believe it or not it evolves.

One of the ways that I was able to help myself work through the answer to this quesiton was by doing and Executive Summary which is the first step in my business plan.

My basic outline of my business plan is in the summary and it looks like this.

Executive Summary:

• Introduction (One sentence about who and what you are)

• Products and Services (One Sentence maybe two, no more than three about what you do(mine has one))

• Target Market (General Demographic target)

• Competitive Position (In your market, field how do you stack up against the competition? Is their a gap in the market for what you plan to do?(Two three sentences at most)

• Goals and objectives (Use bullets 3 goals 3 objectives. Give a time frame for each.)

• Management (The structure of your business, who is doing what. Give a little bit as to why, maybe how the word the description of "who".)

• Finaces (Overall day to day cost, overhead before day one and on day 1. Make a cash flow chart and projections. Projections should be monthly quarterly and yearly.)
  

This whole thing should be clear, to the point and no more than two pages. Most of the information up to "Management" will fit onto the first page.

The second page in my report is my financials. Keep in mind the details in the finacial section will be covered in much greater detail later in the plan and the nuts and bolts numbers covered in the Appendix at the end of the business plan. Keep it straight forward and simple, typically an investor won't look at anything else during the pitch. If he has not seen the plan before you pitch, then those are the only two pages the investors will likely look at during your meeting anyway. They should be able to get enough information from that and your pitch to know if they want to buy in.

That's all for now.

PS- Update

Will be putting up some video's of my adventures in Producer land soon, on a youtube page of the same name "TheCastleMuse".

The link to the video youtube deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYFZqY7vNbQ

First Meeting of the New Year

Well it's 2012 and the production company that I started with two of my friends will be one year old at the end of this month. On that note I am about to go downtown to a new office and have a meeting with one of the partners and a Director that did some work with us last year.

We ACN Network had the opportunity to film the 1st ever Chicago Greek Film Fest, we had an amazing time. Michael J. Hauser took over the Director's chair for the show. Rob Rhodes, Bayley Pokorny, Dan Machut, Allisha Lillion, and of course Spiro Frentzas where all on hand for the show.

All of these wonderful people where able to donate their time and equipment to the show. We are still in post but hoping to get some final shots and have something up soon.

The really good news is that a Greek newspaper is doing a piece on Spiro and he of course mentioned the company! Now, Spiro, Rob and myself will all have our pictures in a newspaper in Greece!!

The possibility of having our work internationally distributed is amazing and I am really looking forward to seeing how far this project can take us. Will update more after the meeting. So excited, I didn't sleep last night.

Before the First Money meeting:Nuts and Bolts

"Your always two meeting away from the money", that's a little saying that I say to myself so that I don't get too excited when I have an upcoming investor meeting.

This of course begs several questions, mostly what in the world should you do with an investor meeting.

Here is what I know so far.

1. Investment meeting come in layers:

• Introduction


• Pitch and Facts


• Initial Asking


• Counter Offer, Negotiating


• Contracts and Terms


• Due Diligence


• Final Negotiations


• Final Price


• Contract signing


• Cutting Checks

2. The more prepared you are in the first meeting the faster the other meetings can happen

3. Here is what you should have or be working on.

• The script is DONE! (See Treatment VS Script for more on this)


• Initial story boards done, initial production illustration


• Budget top-sheet


• Schedule out line


• List of locations


• List of staff


• List of talent


• Contact info for all of the above(and price quotes if you can get them)


• Distribution projections*

4. I try to have a list of questions in mind for the investor, remember just because you want the money they have does not mean that you want to get into bed with anybody. If you get the wrong investor you can find your self locked into a nightmare and no chance of actually getting your film made.

• What kind of turn around time are you hoping for?


• Have you ever invested in a film before?


• If yes, what kind of experience was it?(much of this may happen naturally in the course of the conversation)


• If this goes well would you be interested in doing more films?

More than anything your trying to create a dialogue with the investor where you get a really solid sense of their expectations. Many times new investor's to film will have no idea what to expect. Be wary of the person who is dropping too much industry slang. It has been my experience that the people who are using waaay to many acronyms and sound like they are trying too hard are trying too hard. That is usually an indicator that they may not be legit and your waisting you time or they could just be a putz. Industry slang is only helpful if it's relevant helpful and used in context with the meeting your having. An example is if someone is saying LOI or using a term you don't understand and they start using the heck out of it they probably caught on that you are not familiar with the term and now they think they have a one-up on you. They don't usually if it's being overused it's suspect. Which means they are compensating for something and that is another clue.

A real money person, is relaxed. They have done this many times and are mildly excited to see another venture work out, if your numbers are right and the project your selling them on is one you believe in you should be relaxed too. Bottom line, you both want to make money and nobody wants to waste the other person's time.

The social investor: This should probably go in a "Pit-falls" section. Basically a social investor is somebody with money but no real interest in dealing with you financially. They want to go to parties and hang out with you and talk about film. They want to be a part of the scene with out taking risk. So you'll hear them from time to time talk about their cash but mostly they just want to be social.

The good part about this type is that they often have massive networks of industry people and it is a good way to meet folks who are higher up on the film food chain. Maybe even actual investors. So keep the contact but don't get your hopes up.

Recap:

• Have your numbers ready ahead of time.


• Be ready to defend your script.


• Don't be afraid to walk away to protect your project.


• Don't lie about what you have in place.


• Don't be intimidated, if they are not gonna invest they are waisting, YOUR TIME!

*Distribution is your most important piece next to the script. If you have distribution in place with actually theaters, include that. ANY theater that you have on paper is a huge step in the right direction. Internet, and Film festival's almost don't count unless your target is a festival. DVD distribution at retail stores and other avenues(ie RedBox) have forms that you can download to submit your project. They want a finished project though, unless you have some special relationship with them. I add the filled forms for the different DVD avenues in the packet at the back of the distribution section. When I say filled out I mean a printed pdf, not filled in with pen.

Downtime...what to do when nothing is happening

Downtime(aka unemployment) is a really good time too________. It's a really good time to WRITE!

Many times when I am on a set or out with other film makers there is a lot of (Set Downtime) in which your basically killing time until your needed to do some specific task(this is usually in between takes). The thing that happens the most is people begin to talk about projects that they would like to do or idea's that they have been thinking of. This is always entertaining and exciting unfortunately even the best idea's usually need a script. So if no one has written anything down(which is usually the case) then your stuck with a good idea and no way to do anything with it. I try to take notes, little one lines that help me remember idea's that people had. I add to the note the persons name, location,ect so I have reference for the conversation.

Now after the job is done, or in my case when it's winter and most of the work has gone to warmer climates . It's when I go back through my notes and get a chance to take a better look at some of the idea's that came up on the show.

As a producer it's important to have a constant bank of concepts and where you got them. Having the reference of where you got an idea/person who helped inspire it can lead to a creative relationship down the road that is beneficial to both parties.

Now to the actually writing, first issue "But J I am a producer not a writer!" Great, you and I both know that if your reading this you have concepts in your head that you want to see come to life. Make script notes, if you think of a really good piece of dialogue put that in there. Then, your task is to make your notes presentable. In other words you idea's for a project should be organized enough so that another human can read them and turn them into 90 pages of gold.

Obviously you need to find somebody who can write.

If you want to learn to write I recommend read "Save the Cat" by the late great Blake Snyder.

Of course the best advice one writer can give another is "just keep writing".

The other thing that is good to do with downtime besides writing is the different parts of "Pre-visualization"

Check out "Film Directing:Shot by Shot" by Steven D. Katz

This is the thing, many and I mean by many almost EVERY SINGLE ONE of any indie project I have ever been apart of that dies does so because of Development/Pre-production.

The bottom line is, if you don't have a script you can't even start. You don't have a good idea that has substance too it you don't have anything to build into a script.

Also DT(downtime) is a great time to expand your film knowledge by reading and taking classes. Of course your watching film, this is also a good time to catch up if your behind on your "gotta see it" list.

So to recap:

• Organize and review notes


• WRITE!!


• Pre-visualization/Pre-production practice(haha PPP)


• Expanding your film IQ (reading, movie list, classes, ect)

The Michael Bay experience

Basically I am talking about this so I can be done with it and say, "read my note". When comes to film everybody seems to get convinced that they are an expert on it because they have an opinion. Some one was telling me that Transformers movies where garbage because they did not have good three act structure and that Michael Bay had no right to get behind a camera unless he was the head of some explosion shot.

Several people have gone on and on about how terrible a person MB is and just overall a famous person's son who "cheated" his way into the industry, blah blah blah.

You know what, maybe all of these critic's are right. I only know what my experience is and the little details about MB's personal life and what ever I could care less about.

2 things, one Michael Bay gave me a chance and I know that when I saw him at the wrap party for the Chicago Crew he was genuinely excited when I told him that myself and Rob got to work on the film for 11 days. He was excited to talk about the robots and the place that the film was coming from. He was talking to me not at me or over me. We had a conversation (Ian Bryce chiming in at the right spots) that if you heard it would sound like two geek's who loved Transformers as kids and got to see them come to life.

You may have to "run with a banana" on a MB set, but that is to me is an honor.

Besides I was in a Military Academy that was sponsored and run by JTF6 out of Panama, and a Heavy Industrial Painter's Apprentice I can work 99% of anybody I meet under the table. People complain because the can't handle the heat.

Yeah I know, it's not cool or whatever to be excited about working on a film, and I know the enthusiasm and a genuine desire to work my arse off on a set are usually looked down upon by all the cool kids because they are so "unimpressed by famous people".

For me I say "It would suck to not be excited" because that would mean I no longer love what I do and it is just a job. I have 3 jobs, and they will always be just a job. The first short film I ever wrote, took me 5 weeks dozens or rewrites. Josh(the director) and myself stayed up for 72 hours straight building set's and doing everything to make sure things where ready when the crew got there, during the shoot and after everybody left.

It was the beginning of my career and one of the best days of my life. I have been to Hollywood, I have sold everything for a film, I have been hung up on, blown meeting, and slept on the street for a networking opportunity. Yet on day 11 on MB set it was still like that first day painting sets and going over the script with a fellow film junkie at 2 in the morning.

I am not in film because "it's cool" or "it beat bar tending/or school". I am in film because I am addicted I love it it is part of what I am. Guess what, it's part of who Michael Bay is. When I met him and Ian on what Rob and I call "Day 0" I saw what I could become. The odds are good that I won't, that doing what I am doing now is as far as many people ever get.

The thing is I've already won, because I know that I am never going to stop. What ever the odds who ever tries to crush my career, or tell me I don't know how to light a shot, or my script "still needs work". It does not matter these are the same people who hate MB yet who have never Directed anything. When your talking in film, generally your not doing.

That said, I have work to do.

Originally posted on my facebook...

Be careful what you wish for.....contracts

Ok so the latest hurtle. "Two meeting's away from the money" is a great way to think of things until your actually getting close then you get to what I like to call "contract land".

What "contract land" or "contract hell" depending on how many you have to do is where your talking to legitimate persons with legitimate contacts to the money that want to invest serious amounts of cash into your property(script/production/whatever your selling).

Everything you do at this stage begins with the script, and how people percieve the overall viability of your property. Basically," will it sell". If they think yes then your in a great position, because what happens next is you actually get to do an initial pitch to the money yourself. Keeping in mind that often their are many many many "middle men(or women)" that you have to got through. As a producer your actually a middle person yourself.

As a rule the money does not like to talk to the talent at all except in social situations ie wrap parties or awards shows. Why you ask? Because someone spending millions of dollars on something went to a business school and is concerned about the bottom line not which scene is going to be shot entirely with a steady cam. Creative people usually want to talk about "vision" and "theme". That is a huge waste of time in ANY meeting with money. Never bring the director/writer to an initial meeting with with the money.

How do you do this you ask? This is where contracts come in.

Wikipedia sources the definition of a contract as:

"...a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties with mutual obligations, which may or may not have elements in writing. "

But they are so much more. A contract is the thing that keeps people who are not lawyers honest. It's what gets people to do things that they have changes there mind about.

Let's say you have a very paranoid writer who also wants to produce a film(mostly because he should have the balls to be a director but wont put the work in, but I digress) and has been tossed around the industry so does not trust anybody. How do you get him to relax and keep him away from the money initially? By the way you want to keep this guy away from the money because his paranoia will be contagious and the investor will then get spooked and you'll have wasted a ton of time and hope for nothing.

Your write a contract that the writer/producer signs that basically states that you won't leave him out and won't let him cut you out. So by nature of the contract if you go to the money and leave him out of the process he can sue you. Now actually enforcing that is very difficult to do even if the violation or "breach" of contract is obvious and blatant. The reality is that at the end of the day everybody wants to do business and nobody wants to get screwed. You establish your relationship with the talent early on and in writing then everybody gets to relax and just do business. Nobody has to worry about getting left out.

Now you go to the investor, you pitch the project. They either say yes and set up another meeting to discuss terms of the investment or they say no and you go to lunch early.

This is also where "Two meetings away from the money" comes in again. You still have to wait.
Many investment firms at this point will run a "due diligence" check. Which is basically where the do a sort of "corporate back round check" on you and your company. They go to see who has done what. If you've been convicted of securities fraud or bank robbery they may immediately bail. By contrast if you've got a dozen DUI's they may not. It just depends, mostly they want to know that your not running some sort of scam and that you are who you say you are. Often these meetings are facilitated by some sort of middle man that you've met somewhere coffee shop/gym, friend of a friend, so your being vouched for. So due diligence does not always happen. Especially now, when you might be dealing with a company that is owned by a famous rapper so the have a few felonies in their pot.

Mostly just go to the meeting being as ready as possible, go in ready to answer any question and treat each meeting as though you where getting the money that day.

NOW, having said that. I treat every meeting seriously but I also don't get over excited. Yes my pulse always races and I always am a little nervous. Which is good, but you should not go out and quit your day job until the check clears in your bank account.