The Cost of Protecting Yourself and Your Ideas

These days it's harder and trickier to get your original content out there. No matter who you are someone is always looking to take advantage or exploit you and your material. From web videos to movies someone out there might have already thought of some aspect of your idea and feels they are entitled to something for that.

For me this can be tough because I know that I love running my ideas by people to gauge their reactions. This can make things tough because if they offer one piece of advice and I use it in someway they have a claim to my idea. Take Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman who recently settled a lawsuit with a former collaborator. Michael "Tony" Moore states that he grew up with Kirkman and worked on The Walking Dead and other projects. Moore goes on to state that he was "duped" by Kirkman and his agent to sign control of The Walking Dead over to Kirkman. The deal would grant Moore 60 percent of "comic publishing net proceeds," 20 percent of "motion picture net proceeds" and future finical interest other projects.

Even though both parties allegedly had a deal this is a prime example of how people can become greedy and risk the future of your work. This is why you need to make sure everything you agree to is in writing, especially when it comes to someone either offering their input or running an idea across. Or just make sure you don't talk about it over email, text or aim so there’s no written record of it (kidding).

Another problem these days is the Internet. In recent years more people have taken to the Internet to either post their short stories for feedback or as a means of just getting their material out there. They hope that someone somewhere will see it and that will lead them to a manager or publishing deal. By doing so they are making their material readily available for someone to pick it apart and use it for their own idea.

The recent Santa Pawslawsuit against Disney is an example of how you need to protect your material and be careful whom you give it to.  Ray Harter, Richard Kearney and Ed Corno are suing Disney because they feel that the movies Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws and The Search for Santa Paws are unauthorized copies of their short story and script, Santa Paws: The Story of Santa's Dog. The plaintiffs claimed they conceived of their Santa Paws in 1991. They also filed suit against former William Morris agents John Ferriterand Barry Jeffery allegedly shopped the project around to studios. U.S. district court judge Catherine Perry made judgment in favor of Disney, ruling that the short story Santa Paws is not substantially similar to Disney's Santa Paws.

The Santa Paws case kind of leads into my next point and that is about remaking content that has already been made. One of the things on my list that I want to accomplish is that I want to be able to create a true Resident Evil movie and not the films Paul W.S. Anderson has made. However, in order to do this I would either have to write my script on my own and then hope that Capcom and Sony Pictures like it or go about the way Mortal Kombat: Legacy was created and write and shot a short video and hope it get’s Capcom and Sony’s attention.

Of course, if I go about the Mortal Kombat: Legacy way then I have to worry about Capcom and Sony suing me for infringing on their copyrighted material. These days with more and more remakes and reimagining’s being made it can be hard to know who truly owns the rights to the project and everything associated with it. Kings Road Entertainment is currently suing their former head of production SvenEbeling over the rights to All of Me. Seems like Ebeling and West Coast Productions were working on a remake of All of Me with Dreamworks, but things fell through. Ebeling was fired, but not before he alleged gave the rights of All of Me to WCP.

So should I try to get my idea for a Resident Evil movie made, I will need to make sure I go about it the right way or I will be owing Capcom and Sony quite a bit of money.

Just by reading this it seems like the entertainment business isn’t as fun and glamorous as most people think. It is a business were you need to protect yourself and everything you create because the second someone else gets a hold of your idea it’s gone. Then you’ll be sitting there watching other people succeed on that one thing that could have launched your career. That is why research is so important to everything you do and also trusting the right people to handle your work because if they slip out you are out of an idea.

How I Got My First Taste of being an Artist Manager

Some people think that being an artist manager is a piece of cake. Their friend gets famous and they just ride their coat tails into fame and fortune. However, they get into the situation where they don’t want easy money to go away so instead of helping mold their friend’s career they become Yes people.

Growing up I’ve always had friends who wanted to either be in a famous band or become the next big actor. I would become friends with them because they were my way to get my ideas to the right people. As they would work on their craft I would always try to only give positive notes. I didn’t want my express lane to NYC or Hollywood to close due to negative feedback.

However, as the years passed I started to realize that I wasn’t going to get far by only feeding them positive feedback on stuff I thought was terrible. So I started to slowly truly express my thoughts and feedback to them.

It’s funny how people react when you tell them that the direction they are taking will only lead to them going no where. Examples of this are when I told my friend’s band that their new songs about pot would never make it past any A&R executive. This is coming after they won a major battle of the bands competition and performed at one of the huge yearly festivals on the East Coast. What happened two years later? They broke up because the band hit a wall and couldn’t find that spark to carry them to the next level. Many people in my town were surprised about it, but I knew it was coming because of the direction they took.

Most recently I had a friend who released her first single and music video. This is a girl who I have respected as an artist since I first met her. When I finally sat down to watch her music video I couldn’t even make it half way through. It was one of the worst things anyone could have recorded and released to start their career. I told her what I thought of it and that next time she faces decisions like this I am always available to help her.

As much as it stinks to have to be the one who puts a damper on someone dream, most of the time it’s for the better. Just like with Creedence Clearwater Revival people will jump at the second someone offers them a chance at their dream without knowing what they are getting themselves into. Having that outside party to help you out can never be a bad thing especially when it comes to your dreams. 

Is Eric From Entourage A Perfect Example of How to Become an Artist Manager?

The show Entourage gives an interesting look at the life of an artist manager from friend to professional. Now I know this is something you might read and wonder how I came to write this so let me explain.

When we are first introduced to the character of Eric (E) he has been Vince’s best friend since childhood. They grew up together and when Vince got his big break Eric unofficially because his manager. As the show continued throughout the seasons we witness Eric’s growth through his career choice. We also get to see how even being the artists best friend doesn’t mean you share the same career goals.

Through the first few seasons Eric is basically a bonafied Yes man. His job is to agree with whatever Vince’s agent says because he knows what’s best for Vince. This right here is a prime example of how managing either your best friends or a total strangers career can be a challenge. You have to prove to the artist and any other person involved in their career that you know what you are talking about and doing. This can be going out of your way to find the perfect project for them or making sure they are keeping their life in order.

As the seasons progressed so did Eric’s ambition and career goals. He started asking for advice from people he saw as mentors and taking a risk in opening his own management business. These were ricks that Eric needed to take in order to prove not only to himself that he can make it in this business. However, one of the biggest things Eric could have done was no longer be Vince’s Yes man. He would truly give his advice on projects because he didn’t just want to sit back and collect his commission.

Finally, Eric would prove that he has what it takes to take over one of the biggest management firms in Hollywood. Of course, you can say that this only happened because it was a TV show, but in reality it shows what hard work and having the “it” factor for finding projects can lead you. It shows that you need to have that personally connection to the artist and be willing to say no to them. Not everything they say or want to do is right and best for their career. They need to know that no one artist is the same and sometimes you need to forge your own path.

I think one of the main reasons I choose to write about is because when I first started watching Entourage I showed me what I wanted to do with my life. My friend was going to be Vince and I was going to be his Eric. Only thing is that my friend knew I wasn’t a yes man and would tell him if something was wrong or not fit for him. Another reason is because if you look at a lot of artist these days their family and friends play major roles. Brittney Spears and Kanye West are two major examples of how sometimes family and friends are the best management.

Now I’m not saying everyone should look at Entourage as a way to learn and understand the entertainment business. The show gives you an inside look, but it truly doesn’t show you the blood, sweat and tears that go into managing an artist. Yes, you might get to enjoy yourself here and there, but it isn’t always fun. You are on the job 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Most of your time will be spent on the phone depending how big your artist is. Oh and let’s not forget the late nights and ever changing schedule.

Those are things that I learned first had watching agents and managers work. Being constantly on the clock isn’t something most people can handle so along with the knowledge you also have to be ready to commit to yourself and the artist. Their life becomes your life. 

Interview with Beau Ryan of Machinima.com

With the web becoming an ever-growing environment new media companies are becoming major intuitions for both established and new entertainment professionals. Machinima.com is becoming one of the major hubs to distribute already established content and new & original series. In the past few years Machinima has worked with studios like Warner Bros. to produce and distribute the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series.

I talked to Beau Ryan a Junior Entertainment Programming Manager for Machinima. It is Beau’s job to browse YouTube for content that Machinima can distribute and also talk with directors and writers about original content for their YouTube channels.

Me: Do you take different approaches to negotiating with someone who already has an established series you are looking to distribute and any original content you bring to Machinima? 

Beau: Yes, we were looking to distribute There Will Be Brawl on one of our channels so we had to work with the creators and TheEscapist.com on getting the rights to the series. We figured that by bringing it over to Machinima, we would be able to introduce it to a whole new audience. However, after the first few episodes we weren’t receiving the views and SEO hits we hoped for and people were pointing out that people could watch the whole series on TheEscapist.com.

When working on new and original content our negotiating takes a different route. We tend to work with the creators on establishing a relationship were both parties can prosper. We’ll work with them on making the series a hit were the views and SEO meet both our ideal numbers.

Me: How do you handle positional bargaining tactics?

Beau: If someone comes in with a figure and mind, but it’s not in our budget we’ll offer them what we have in our budget. It also depends on who the person is. When someone like Kevin Tancharoen comes to us about a series and they have a number in mind then we will talk with our Ad Sales department on helping to find sponsors for the series and help cover those costs.

Should John Doe come to us about their series we will work with them on getting something to cover upfront costs and then offer them some of the CPM traffic. So say for every 1,000 views we’ll offer them $3 dollars, which in the long run can become more then a figure they originally wanted. It really all depends on who the person is and what they have done.

Me: Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal? 

Beau: It depends on their needs and what they have in mind. Sometimes people have a figure in mind and don’t want to hear about CPM traffic payments. Some examples of us working toward a mutual benefit were when we worked with EA on the DragonAge: Redemption series and Warner Bros. on Mortal Kombat: Legacy. For those both parties knew this was going to be a relationship that would prosper and worked on making it so.

Of course, there are cares where we have to say no to people no matter what because they refuse to work with us on negotiating a deal that would work for all parties involved.

I want to thank Beau for his time. You should check out Machinima.com and RadNerd.com.

Is Crowd Funding The Way To Go?

The second the Internet came online is the second everything about the entertainment industry changed. People were able to share information about all types of projects in various stages of development. You could download the script to your favorite movie and not have to wait to go to the movies to see trailers. Then in 2005 a little site entitled YouTube changed the game again. Now a days people from all over the world are creating new and entertaining content every second of the day and uploading so millions of people can enjoy it.

However, sometimes creating that content isn’t cheep and people need to find new and interesting ways to fund their projects. This is where Kickstarter and Indiegogo come in. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are crowd funding sites that allow anyone and everyone the opportunity to donate money towards a project they like. Anything from a $1 to $5,000 can be given to a project to help it meet its goal.

The reason these crowd funding sites are changing the game is because they are doing what YouTube did and that is changing the Hollywood system. Typically if you wanted to fund your project you would have to either beg for money from a studio or max out your credit cards just to finance your idea.

Of course, most people aren’t just going to donate. Both sites allow you give rewards for specific donation levels such as thank you or producer credits, props or stills from the project to even walk-on roles. Think of it as a way of giving back and saying THANK YOU for helping my project out.

The one thing I love about these sites is that they give people the chance to create something that they normally wouldn’t have been able to on their own. By helping them pay for extra props, a real editor or special effects these projects can become something more than just another D-rated movie or short. Plus, if you really enjoy the idea it could also catch the eye of someone in the Hollywood system and give that creator a chance to continuously entertain you.

I asked my friend Traycee King why she chose Indiegogo to help fund the second season of her webseries 8.13.

Indiegogo is a great way to get the community involved and to make them feel like they helped make a film. I also chose it because whether or not I make my goal; I want to finish as much as I can! With Indiegogo, I can keep the funds whether I make my goal or not.

As you can see some people in the system want to give back and get people involved with their projects. Yes, it’s nice to reward fans with cool features on DVDs and Blu-Rays, but lets face it those are old news. With these crowd funding sites you can get people more involved and give them a sense of being part of the project.

I will honestly think about using Kickstarter or Indiegogo to finance one of my future projects. 

How YouTube is Changing The Game

Over the past few years becoming a YouTube Partner has become a career for people. Their videos have received enough plays and comments that they are making six figure salaries by uploading a short and simple video weekly. How is it that most entertainers work years before earning that much, but John Doe from anywhere can achieve that right away via YouTube?

Out of the top ten earners in 2010 from the YouTube Partnership number ten received $101,000, while number one made $315,000.

Number ten on the list Natalie Tran has ranked in over 429.2 million channel views and 1 million subscribers. Natalie’s channel is mostly videos of her talking or ranting about something going on in her life. This type of video is called video blogging or Vlogging. Yet, some how 429 million people have watched her videos and found them entertaining.

The top earner on the list, Shane Dawson, is boosting over 707.9 million views and over 2.7 million subscribers. Just like Natalie, Shane vlogs about things going on in his life. In 2010 enough people watched Shane talk about his life that he was able to receive $315,000 from YouTube.

Now not everyone one of the YouTube partners are able to achieve money like this. No, these people have very tight guidelines to follow in-order to maintain their status as a Premier YouTube Partner. They need to upload a video once or twice a week, interact with viewers via the comment section of their page and maintain a stable number of views, comments and subscribers. For most people this is a full time job.

However, some have been able to cash in outside of YouTube. The people behind The Annoying Orange recently had a show air on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim block. The YouTube user Fred has had a movie made by Lionsgate and is currently working on a show Nickelodeon. Others have gone on to expand their career.

iJustine who refuses to discuss how much she makes from YouTube has gone on to guest on Law and Order and co-host Game Trailers on Spike.

No matter how you look at YouTube is slowly changing the entertainment model. Studios and networks are beginning to pay attention to what draws peoples attention of people online instead of reading the scripts they receive. 

TED talk - Why Videos Go Viral

These days it seems like everyone is trying to create the next viral video. However, most of the time 99.9% of them fail at their attempt. Now why is this? YouTube’s trend manager Kevin Allocca gives us three reasons on why videos go viral in his TEDvideo from November 2011.

Mr. Allocca explains that the first step of something going viral is getting the attention of tastemakers. Examples he uses are how the day Jimmy Kimmel tweeted about the Double Rainbow video it went from nearly no views to over a million in a single day. The same goes for Rebecca Black’s music video for Friday. Comedian Daniel Tosh and others tweeted about video and the rest is history. It seems like one of the key elements for something to go “viral” is that you need to have that one influential person to mention or share your video to the world.

From there it’s up to the YouTube community to take control of the next step in the “viral” process. Just about all the successful “viral” videos have either responses or have been parodied by other members of the YouTube community. Mr. Allocca points out that there are over 10,000 parodies of Friday by Rebecca Black and within the first seven days videos for the other days in the week were created and uploaded. The community within YouTube is like nothing you will find anywhere else. The users are so involved and their creative freedom is unchallenged that on a rare occasion the parodie can out shine the original video.

The final and most important element is that you can’t go into making or uploading a video with the idea that it will be the next big “viral” thing. What makes Double Rainbow, Friday and Nyan Cat so successful is that they were unexpected and didn’t take off till months after they were uploaded. The unexpected factor is also what makes “viral” videos so great because they come out of nowhere and take the Internet by storm.

After viewing Mr. Allocca’s TED talk I have a better understanding of how “viral” videos and how they become the Internet legends they are today. Since new media is slowly taking over just about every industry, the better understanding you have of how to stick out and get people to notice your work the better your idea or business will succeed. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the video Dollar Shave Club created I would have never heard of their business, but with a successful “viral” video they have my attention and business.

No matter how hard your try the Internet can make or break your idea or business. It gives everyone a voice and just about everyone chooses to use it. Anything you think is funny or will be the next big thing can be seen by millions of others as a terrible waste of time. So the things you need to remember when going into creating content is that you need to make sure that it can gain the attention of tastemakers inspire community participation and most importantly be unexpected.