Court vs. Entertainment

The entertainment industry is almost amazing when it comes to how things are done and how much work goes into one project not even thinking about how many people it takes to get some things done in a timely fashion. At the same time in the entertainment industry it is that quick to find yourself in harm way when it comes to legal issues. There’s so many ways to end up in court; just simply creating a piece of artwork and posting on a social media is not that safe anymore.

Looking at three cases that could impact my company really helped in showing me that I always need to double check things, ask questions, and have all contracts written correctly. The first case I looked at was the fact that the Subway footlong subs aren’t really a foot long. They have had many claims against them saying that the footlong is really only eleven inches verses twelve inches, and being fraudulent and deceptive to the public. Which the footlong represents $142M of there sales. This specific case showed me that when it comes to advertising, being creative could really hurt you. Calling one thing something that it is to make revenue will always bite you in the end. Me being right in the middle of creating advertisement I may want to help lookover for things like that in scripts and props, just to better help the client.

The second case that I did a little research on was that TV Networks filed legal claims saying that skipping commercials is copyright infringement. Mainly focusing on the DISH subscribers with the Hopper feature are recording television show and skipping the commercials when they later view the recording. To be honest me personally, I don’t see why even start a case on this subject matter. It’s the same thing as purchasing a DVR and doing the same thing recording your favorite TV shows then when you later watch them you skip the advertisements, many consumers want to watch a show for the show and not the three to four minutes of ads. Reading over this case was a little comedic because there is really no real argument.

There was an company called Areo starting in New York, which provided live cable television to online members and also provided a DVR service, that allowed them to record for later viewing. NBC and some other local stations sued Areo, claiming that the retransmissions of their signals were copyright infringement on public performances of copyrighted work. This shows me that there is always better things that come up, new ways of doing things and if you want to move for ward with the big guys you have to be ready. I should be able to provide services for those online ad holders and move forward with the new generation.

There are legal issues when it comes to any industry or any topic, but as an entrepreneur you have to know what you’re stepping into, and do the research.

Tips For Working in the Entertainment Industry

The entertainment industry is full of entrepreneurs and lots of money, but of course it is hard to manage things when working as an individual. So here are a couple tips to remember when entering or continuing your work in the entertainment industry. Always remember if you want to be the best you have to be ok with sucking at it first.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS. Whatever brush, trick, DVD, etc. you think will make you successful will not make you successful. No matter what it is hard work will always trump all. So you better make sure you love what you are doing because you will have to do it a lot in order to be good at it. Have you heard of the 10,000-hour rule? Be a good artist first then network. Too many people focus on networking to get a job when they cannot produce better work than their competition. Networking is important, but I am a firm believer that good quality and quantity raise to the top. No one is going make you a profitable entrepreneur, they can only show you the paths, which you can take, and it is up to you to take them and develop in your own way. Create awesome pieces of work and most of these problems will be non-existent.

DO NOT RELY ON ANYONE. Not your parents, friends, family, co-workers, etc. Be prepared to walk this journey to become the best artist alone if need be. That doesn't mean you can't ask or even take help along the way, in fact its encouraged, but the second you begin to rely on these things is the second you will begin to bitch and moan about how you never had good teachers, or money, proper training, DVD's, or friends in the industry. All these are unnecessary excuses for why you couldn't do something yourself. Instead do it all yourself and inspire others to join your cause in whatever it is you do. There are plenty of people who are in worse situations than you and make it work so don't fuss and fight unless your prepared to make a difference about it.

SHARE THE WEALTH- DOESN’T BE GREEDY. Share your knowledge with the world. When you leave the mentality of "what can I take from everyone" and move towards "what can I give to everyone" around me. Only then will you enrich your environment and create opportunities for not only yourself but also everyone around you. When everyone around you is good, you will then push and enable each other to become better. The more you share the more people will gravitate towards the environment you created. This can lead to networking and creating a buzz for your career.

BE POSITIVE / EMPTY YOUR CUP. You know those individuals who talk negativity all the time on other people, and usually talk negative on other studios claiming they could do it better, but they have never worked before. They act like they know everything in order to impress people. Those people don't get jobs for a couple of reasons. One, they are annoying. The industry is small so keep your mouth shut and do what you love. Two, they think they know everything. If that were the case you would already have a job at the best studio in the world. Empty your cup so that you may learn what others have to teach. This industry has no room for egos so leave it at home.

TAKE INITIATIVE. Be proactive in your learning. Never wait for information to fall into your lap. If you want to know something go find it. The Internet can teach you anything now a days. That means go to workshops, demand certain classes be taught in your schools. Make a difference in your community that will make you better and everyone around you.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SUPPORT. Surround yourself with positive, motivated, kind, hardworking artists and you will be surprised how much better you will become when you surround yourself with people who are successful. Also act professional at all times.

DO OTHER THINGS! Draw a lot, but have other hobbies, hobbies keep you sane and help you become more socially aware in the world. Pick up a sport, go out on dates, travel. Experience is the most important tool you can use and it usually comes with age. Those experiences can be used in your work. How can one truly paint a scene that depicts love, if you have never been in love before? Make sense?  Be aware of the world around you, there are so many moments and experiences waiting to happen that will spark an idea or solve a problem for you in your drawings. So don't miss out on them.

NAME YOUR PRICE. It's important to know from the start how far do you want to take this. I mean how much of a successful artist do you want to be? Because the better you want to be, the more sacrifices you must make. Do you want to be a mediocre artist, making cell phone games? Do you want to be an entrepreneur who has worked on a few semi popular events? Or do you want to be that guy that everyone knows your name? All of them are great options and some people live happy lives doing the smaller things. Everyone is different. So name your price of how awesome you want to be. If it ever gets higher than that, then get out while you can. If you can live with the fact that you might not be able to do some things in your lifetime then you will be all right. Be aware that your goals and priorities can and will change, like when starting a family.

NEVER STOP LEARNING. Art will take you the rest of your life to master. The second you say you're good enough is the second you become replaceable. Enjoy the journey of learning.

HAVE FUN. OTHERWISE WHAT'S THE POINT?

Positive Negotiating Tactics

There are many times that we, as people have to negotiate with another party to come to a mutual agreement on something that will benefit both parties. When negotiating sometimes we don’t come out with exactly what we want as an individual or company but most times you can agree with your opponent on something that will benefit both parties, or at least be fair. There are many techniques that you can use to help you get through a negotiation faster and sometimes in favoring your needs and wants. I interviewed an old teacher of mines, George Harnish, on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at around 7:30pm over the phone.

Interviewing George Harnish, a Rockford Public Schools theater and TV production teacher, I find out that he negotiates all the time. Harnish was my teacher all the way through high school teaching many students the background of how to produce news television shows, and also producing many theater plays. I found out that he has to negotiate many things all the time in his field of work to get things done. Harnish tells me that most of his negotiations usually come from getting sponsors on different shows, and for the school wide news show that he produces on a daily basis.

Harnish and I talk about different techniques that he uses to get through negotiations appropriately and fast. We first go over mutual benefit, which he tells me that he usually starts by explaining how the opponent will benefit from the agreement. He tells me this usually works just because he makes sure he puts the other opponent first, which makes them feel like he cares more about what he can do for them. He also goes in and tells me that sometimes the opponent can easily try and get over on you and try to add a bunch of extra to the deal that would only benefit them. He always keeps and opened mind to things; but also he has to keep in mind “good thought, bad idea,” which is a saying that he still uses to this day. He says that usually when people randomly think of things that sound good but thinking more into it, may not come out well, and that’s what the opponent does sometimes to add to their benefiting end of the deal. Finally we go over the routine of using objective criteria, which is grabbing industry trends and facts that you can use to your advantage. He always uses objective criteria for everything, because “if you can’t prove anything, you have no backbone, no purpose, and no outcome.” Many times he can cut out so many extra things that come up, with having the facts already presented.

When negotiating we usually come to agreements, and with using some simple techniques you can get there easier, faster and with more of an advantage over your opponent.

10 Tips for Staying on Budget...

Staying on a budget to save money is one of the biggest things that we as people have so many problems with. Hearing most excuses like, it’s too hard; I don’t make enough to save money, I have nothing to save for, and the biggest one of all is when you hear there is no reason too, life is too short to save money. We all have something that we look forward to doing or buying, and usually if we didn’t buy that item when we first noticed it, it’s because we didn’t have the money at the time of purchase. And those are the reasons why we save money, even if we don’t have anything we are looking forward to, we can always start early because things come up. Here are ten tips from HowStuffWorks, focused on staying on a budget with a future purchase in mind. This can help us all raise money for the unpredictable future.

The first tip would be to stay focused on saving. Determine an amount that you want to save for the month and create a budget including your income and expenses for the month. This can also be done in companies, many times when I am budgeting for a film and I have a certain budget I try and save a decent portion for emergencies. So first thing I do is budget everything out.

Secondly they say to use cash, cash helps because you can easily discipline yourself to only take out a certain amont and that is all you have for the week in a personal situation. I do this also; take out 25 dollars and that is my personal money for the week. Using cash helps with being able to see everything in your hand and not just using a card, which with a card its easier to swipe that to count actual paper dollars. In business this may be harder to carry around cash all day, usually everyone prefers cards anyhow.

Cut those bad habits out or at least cut down on them. HowStuffWorks says whether its alcohol or tobacco, if you cut back on it that’s just even more in your savings account. Most say that you cannot stop smoking overnight. Ok, Fine. Make a pack last longer than usual. In business we can do this by just cutting back on unnecessary things like meeting at a restaurant, do a meeting over Skype; its free, saves gas and dinner prices.

Four, you want to make sure that your not the only one focused on budgeting, if you have a spouse they have to be focused also. It doesn’t make sense to save if someone else is going to go back and spend it. In a company it is easy, come together with management and go over the budget with everyone explaining that things will have to be cut back on to save finances.

If you have credit cards start paying down the debt, chose the card with the highest interest rate and pay that one off first, if you have any others pay the minimum each month until the first one is paid off, then do the same to the next. And of course for a company it is the exact same way.

Number six and seven can be fit together, keep your receipts and balance your checkbook. Many times if we look over the receipts that we acquired over the month we can see exactly were all of our money goes. It can get depressing once you realize that a good portion goes to those bad habits, fast food, and just stuff that shouldn’t even been bought. Once we see the damage for the month its easier to cut back and really focus on necessary items. Also balancing your checkbook with those receipts and maybe your bank statement for that month will also allow you to see all expenses. This also gets you in the habit of keeping a balanced checkbook, which is a good habit.

With those receipts, look to find something to cut out, something that isn’t needed, even look at bills and find ways to cut those down. Maybe open windows during the day with a blowing, instead of turning on the AC. Going grocery shopping one every two weeks instead of going every time you think of something to eat. Planning trips, like going to get groceries, go pay this bill, go to class, and then come home. Instead most of us find ourselves coming home and leaving back out because you forgot something. Going to the grocery store with out a list, this wastes time, makes us pick up random groceries (making us go back later), go home to see that we bought doubles of things and nothing makes a complete meal.

Number Nine from HowStuffWorks says to have a special account, a bank account. “If you find that you keep reaching into your savings, set up a CD or other acc­ount with early withdrawal penalties. Banks and other institutions pay more interest if you'll agree to let them use your money for a longer amount of time. Putting your savings into a yearly CD will yield more than a three-month note would.”

Finally number ten, encourages you to be flexible, most budgets have to be flexible because we don’t know what tomorrow entails. So having an extra little money to the side for those sorrow Saturdays, and Sunday fun days’ aren’t that bad but use them for what they are their for. Being able to adjust your budget for need instead of wants is okay.

Find more info on the ten steps on their website and use their budget calculator, or read further to find out about how to savemoney at the grocery store.

Don’t Like Keeping A Bank Ledger?

We all have flaws, and when going into business we all have to keep in mind of the flaws that we have. Some of us don’t like to keep track of paperwork, moving through projects with everything in their head. Some of us move projects way too fast and don’t do their best on it, and then it ends up biting them later on. Some of us just simply cannot keep track of where funds are going, and when going into business this can really hurt us.

Many of us in business have these portable devices called smartphones. Many of us have these things on our smartphones called apps. One app that I have came to find out that really helps with budgeting and keeping track of every transaction on all my accounts, and it’s called Mint, free right from Intuit. Mint automatically organizes your spending into categories like rent, gas, clothes, lattes, and shows you where your
money goes in easy-to-understand charts. Mint also provides you with the options of creating budgets and showing you ways to stay within them, and of course how to stay under budget. Allowing you to create goals to have a certain amount in a certain account at a certain date or any type of financial goal, Mint can help. Just imagine what you want to accomplish with your money. Mint
gives you the simple steps for meeting you goals, along with free advice, 
gentle reminders, and encouragement. Keep track of all cash, credit cards, loans, investments, and property, all with one free membership.

Mint is not only an app, you can experience Mint on the computer as well, just log into Mint, and sign into all of your accounts and, boom, there you go, your on mint. Retracing some old transactions so that they can initially advise you on where to go from signing up. Intuit has really done it now. Allow Mint to send you updates on all your accounts and that’ll really help stay within a budget.