[Michael Munkittrick]

[Leo Ticheli] “Why is there such a short non-compete agrement?”

I misspoke apparently as there is no non-compete with verbage that states my inability to work within the market. The “non-compete” as it would seem is only while I’m on their payroll during the transition period. Once I step outside of the organization, I gather that they feel they will have a solid grip on the market, similar to our own over the years. I think that is a huge error on their part, but being on my own team…I’m keeping rather quiet about that.

[Leo Ticheli] “If your clients love you, why would they wish to be served by someone else? Why would they not ask you to serve them after the ninety day period, leaving the new owner out in the cold?”

THAT’S what I’ve been asking myself, but my attorney and accountant seem to believe that their goals might be more lofty in the respect that they aren’t interested in the video production side as much as they are the drect plug-in to broadcast. Our contract lays out some pretty specific language about our operation and ownership of the local “community access” network. We own all of the facilities and it could effectively garner an affiliation overnight. There is a lot of talk about NBC having an interest in becoming a truly local station. That would be a very profitable card to hold should their interest be in that specific arena. I’m in no position to run a network affiliate and truly could not put together the financing considering my current investments outside of the studio at present…and maybe that is the reason for the lack of interest in a real non-compete.

Does that make sense to you? I can say it, but it sounds kind of weak.

[Leo Ticheli] “Sounds like you have many irons in the fire, a television production business, new products development, and the possibility of accepting a full-time job that could leave little time for your other various interests, not to mention a personal life.”

Amen!! But that’s the reason that this feels like a potential option for me…I guess. My lights are doing well, my new dolly rig will be introduced sometime before the fall and I anticipate that our new program will be reasonably successful. I’m just not sure how much work one guy can do without his demise being impending.

All in all, my greatest concern is for my family. With my numerous health concerns, I wonder if I’m not literally working myself to death. I dispise the idea of working for someone else, but I am assured that I will have a voice in the direction of the cable company’s strategy. If I had a dollor for every company that I was told that from…well, I’d have a lot of dollars. I’m just kind of stuck in limbo and the weight that the question brings seems more than I have the capacity to rationalize given all of the different direcctions that I’m heading as of today.

P.S. Leo, did you get my email about reviewing my new “InfiniFlo Evo-Lite” lights? I sent a few messages through your site, but I didn’t get a response. We’ve been sitting through customs check after check with clearances in hand waiting for the first pallets to arrive (they were due in November 2005) and if you’re interested, I’d like to ge your ideas of them. Let me know privately at munkittrick[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Thank for the input Leo.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

[Nick Griffin] “What’s the downside for you in this?”

Frankly, the real loss is in time. I’m pretty happy watching my daughters grow up, and even though I’d get a pretty good view of it while working for someone other than myself, I’m actually pretty frightened of the possibility that I might have to sacrifice something that I don’t see as of yet. The purchase price is more than fair although it’s not ideal. The dollars that are left in my hand after all is said and done would technically allow me to rebuild a good portion of my studio in a year or so…but as you know, once you step out of the spotlight, garnering that attention again takes three times the effort. As an odd side note to this situation, I sold my last studio to a very well known studio based in Miami in exchange for a turnkey operation that required only man-hours to make it generate revenue. That group lost interest when they found that the growth model for our part of the state is far slower than they considered. Ultimately, they dropped their ties to the area entirely and headed back to the metropolis. The group who has an interest in my current studio has less lofty goals and more realistic ambitions, which is why the concern is weighing so heavily.

[Nick Griffin] “what’s up with the lack of non-compete and why just 90 days?”

I’ve been asking myself this one too. The specifics are rather loose, but one of my “gimmies” is that I MUST be allowed to freelance within this market as I have a lot of business that relies on my work. The buyers’ representative stated that their contract does not prohibit me from working in this market after a 90 day transitional phase. My gut tells me that’s there some underlying madness to this plan of action that might be unconventional, but highly effective. I know that they are pretty serious about the purchase and we DO meet the need of a ready-to-roll studio with clients that generate a good revenue stream. However, even if they double the income to the studio, they will still not be able to support the model that they are implying that they will follow. Of course, my degree isn’t in business forecasting and business futures, so I leave that to the number crunchers, but it does leave a lot to chew.

[Nick Griffin] “I would advise that you have both a lawyer and an accountant carefully examine the deal before going any further.”

Oh, of course. As we speak, both my business attorney and my mother (who is a damned good lawyer as well) are reviewing the paperwork and “terms”. So far, there is nothing out of the ordinary. My accountant, who has not been there for a lot of the process thus far states that his review of our finances DO prove to offer a pretty stable platform to move into the broadcasting realm…which might prove to be the logical step for these guys. We have the contract to run the local “community access” channel and could conceivably earn the right to bid for the new NBC affiliateship (if that’s a word). So, their interest might be based on that, but that alone wouldn’t make sense considering where we are in the scheme of things.

I realize that this is not the end of my involvement in creative video and broadcasting, but it does feel like the free time will be missed most. I have got to admit however, the time gained while not sorting commissions to sales people, supplying benefits for employees even when business is slow and putting on suit and tie daily might be a nice change of pace. I suppose it all boils down to fear or responsibility…or in this case, fear of the lack f responsibility to some extent. It’s been so long since I’ve had anyone tell me what to do that I fear that I’ve lost the ability to function in that environment.

Thanks so much Nick. Anything further would be most helpful. I need the voice of reason that I lack to help me with the perspective view. Thanks again.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

[Del Holford] “Having done it once, you know the investment in personal angst and finances.”

Sadly, yes. I recall the investment of time and th loss of that investment as I handed off the reigns last time, but I am growing a little older and I am truly kind of afraid of buring out. I work, work, work for years on end so that I don’t have to work when my free time matters. I’m just trying to convince myself that IF I do this again, that I’ll have the drive and interest to do it yet again. I’m already on my third business verture, all three pretty successful…not incredibly profitable, but successful just the same.

I deeply appreciate the input and will add it to my list of rationalizations as I move forward.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

Yep. Just got back from the Apple Shop in Tampa with a shiny new G5 and an Apple service guy installed all of my software for me! Wow, that was cool. Obviously this guy has done this at least once befoe but he installed my OS disk with all of my toys (which aren’t all that many, but are a pain in the butt to do when you’re on a deadline) in 1 hour flat!

Thanks again,

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

Thanks for the reply. No, I am not too worried about resetting or rebuilding the preferences for FCP, but I thought that maybe if I saved the contents of my add-on stuff, like plugins and title templates that I’d save a stitch or two. Considering that I built most of the templates in FCP4 I kind of assumed that they’d work retroactively….oh well.

Thanks again,

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

I was afraid of that. Is there any hope of saving my settings?

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

Great info. Yep, Truespace is apparently in version 7 now, but it’s still not at the level of some of the other apps according to current users. Everything else you said here ties in pretty closely to what I’m hearing from folks. Houdini seems like it wouldn’t add much to the bottom line but would require a lot of time to get prepped to use it effectively.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

https://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=search&txt=ink&w=1&x=0&y=0

This is a stock photo site that I like to use from time to time. They have a huge list of photos that require nothing more than your registration. There are literally 20 or more ink spatter pictures at pretty high resolution.

Enjoy,

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

I was going to say EXACTLY the same thing Rich. The abrupt stopping of various pieces makes it look like a Powerpoint project instead of motion graphics, but then again there is no absolute to your imagination. Overall, I thought it was pretty cool. A few too many plugins at work in there, but still a good presentation.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA

[Michael Munkittrick]

Hey Rich, how goes it? I have no intention of becoming a 3D guru, but I need to understand the workflow and process quite a bit more before I can feel like I’m comfortable handing off my projects to freelancers. My grandfather used to tell me that if you can’t do the work yourself you’ll be SOL when the people that you depend on drop the ball. I have some experience with a few 3D packages as I mentioned, but I simply want to get the most bang for the buck, and seeing as how learning 3D couldn’t necessarily hurt, I figured I’d get something with some longevity, versatile features and most importantly, one that integrates in to the studio with as little headache a possible.

I’m extremely fortunate to have my wife as my business partner as well as at a time management person, so the juggling act would not entail any addition workload as far as I can see. And yes, I did just move into a new “box” but along with that overhead comes the necessity to expand my options for revenue. My belief is that options make the process a streamlined in the client’s eyes. The more services I offer the greater chance for additional work from existing clients as well as new ones that typically go elsewhere to have their 3D work completed. Frankly, I don’t anticipate remaking “Toy Story”, but I need to have the tools available in case I have a client who does.

And finally, I was just wondering whether you’re writing my biography or my life’s story, because man, you recall my thoughts faster than I do. I have so many things on my plate that I am beginning to fell like I’m in a fishbowl. My new studio is a mess due to some unknown signal interference that finds its way into my editing systems. My new lighting line, which took FAR more money to get rolling than I had ever anticipated, put a tremendous strain on my time, budget and sanity. Not to mention the fact that the manufacturer (who’s based in China, go figure) stole my design plans and thought that they could sell them to people in other parts of the world without me finding out about it. To put it mildly, I’m nearing the city limits of Xanax, and I just whipped passed Ritalin town. However, I love the work and I can’t find anything else to do with the few minutes of free time that I have each day, so why not just let the chips fall where they may.

I appreciate your post and I’ll share my thoughts after I have had a few days with the various demo versions.

Michael Munkittrick
Gainesville, Florida USA