[Reallybadbrad]

This is an interesting thread. I’m glad to hear the term ‘grinder’ being used. It describes a lot of people out there.

I wanted to share some things with you I’ve learned in the car business and in feature film production.

Currently, I’m located in an emerging market, Houston, Texas. I’ve been in this market now for 7 years and have made a name for myself by producing top pro bono work. The nobody’s I’ve befriended and helped are now producers in their own right and producing commerical properties with huge profit potentials and they love me and wouldn’t go anywhere else for their post. I helped build the clients I have now and that is lesson #1.

Lesson #2 is about grinders. Grinders are looking to exploit your negative perceptions of yourself. Inexperience, insecurity as an artist and they are to be avoided. It’s kind of like having a frigid sex partner, neither one of you will be satisfied with the act and it could cause further problems down the road.

Lesson #3 is about finance. Case in point. I recently started actively marketing my special effects and animation again in this market as more filmmakers are taking steps to produce features in this region and most of the CGI producers in this area are less experienced or incapable of “selling” their work to the clients with confidence and being able to offer terms which are favorable. This is lesson #3 – terms.

I met with some filmmakers last month. They expressed an interest in using me to produce some effects for their film. They have limited funds but are actively seeking funding for their projects. I worked out the effects and figured it would be necessary for me to bring in a couple of animators, but additional computers to render with and my break even would be about $10,000. I bid the project telling them I’d need the ten grand and could defer the rest of the payment until after the sale of the property. They couldn’t do this. Just like the person coming in the buy a car with $1000 in the bank, they’d rather finance as much of the car as possible, even if it ends up costing them more money later, so that they can keep their cash. I was pissed that they turned it down, I was giving them a great deal and really putting myself and my team out on a limb to help them get the picture made. They told me they were going to write the CGI out if that was the case and we both had nothing in the end.

4 Weeks later… I made some additional connections and partnered with some other animators and was in a position now, for the client, where we could provide 100% financing of the effects. I immediately contacted the client and let them know we would be able to produce the effects for them, we could finance the effects 100%, but the effects would cost them $100,000. In this finance arrangement, we are seeking 10 cents out of every first dollar that comes in from the sale or licensing of the picture and that if we can review the budget, the proposed crew and schedule and these things meet our requirements, then it would not be neccessary for us to have our names in the chain of the title of the film. They immediately wrote me back and said “that sounds great, let’s have another meeting.”

By being in a position of providing credit to the credit worthy, my business is now looking at twice the income from the same project and we’re able to work with a client we were not able to accomodate before. So by partnering with my peers I was able to turn a 0$ situation into a small windfall.

FYI: my original bid was $50,000, out the door, TTL with a $10,000 down payment.

Now I’m looking at twice the money for the same work.

Lesson #4 – listen to the client. “I only have $1000.00 and I need a 30 second HD commercial” may initially sound like a grinder to you. Your response might be I can do it for that, but you haven’t really heard them. Even if you can do it for that, you’re not going to get his $1000.00 because that’s all he has. You might get $100, but chances are you are dealing with someone nice and they dont’ want to exploit you either. It might be the end of the fiscal quarter and they may have to make a large tax payment, but they do have money coming in and they NEED this commercial. Find out what they have in mind, that is, if 100% financing is something they’d be interested in taking advantage of, see what kind of schedule they’d like to create for payment, what they’re comfortable with, and THEN see if that’s something you are comfortable with and make a deal. Financing is a service you should consider offering but not until you understand how to protect yourself FULLYand you do that easily but running mental scenarios of cause and effect in the context of consequence and doing thorough research.

Something to think about. You know your business better than anyone and your needs. If you are just starting out, make friends and develop partnerships. It will only serve to strengthen your position AND negotiate TERMS over PRICE. Both you and your customer can win in this scenario.

Later skaters,

reallybadbrad

[Reallybadbrad]

This is an interesting thread. I’m glad to hear the term ‘grinder’ being used. It describes a lot of people out there.

I wanted to share some things with you I’ve learned in the car business and in feature film production.

Currently, I’m located in an emerging market, Houston, Texas. I’ve been in this market now for 7 years and have made a name for myself by producing top pro bono work. The nobody’s I’ve befriended and helped are now producers in their own right and producing commerical properties with huge profit potentials and they love me and wouldn’t go anywhere else for their post. I helped build the clients I have now and that is lesson #1.

Lesson #2 is about grinders. Grinders are looking to exploit your negative perceptions of yourself. Inexperience, insecurity as an artist and they are to be avoided. It’s kind of like having a frigid sex partner, neither one of you will be satisfied with the act and it could cause further problems down the road.

Lesson #3 is about finance. Case in point. I recently started actively marketing my special effects and animation again in this market as more filmmakers are taking steps to produce features in this region and most of the CGI producers in this area are less experienced or incapable of “selling” their work to the clients with confidence and being able to offer terms which are favorable. This is lesson #3 – terms.

I met with some filmmakers last month. They expressed an interest in using me to produce some effects for their film. They have limited funds but are actively seeking funding for their projects. I worked out the effects and figured it would be necessary for me to bring in a couple of animators, but additional computers to render with and my break even would be about $10,000. I bid the project telling them I’d need the ten grand and could defer the rest of the payment until after the sale of the property. They couldn’t do this. Just like the person coming in the buy a car with $1000 in the bank, they’d rather finance as much of the car as possible, even if it ends up costing them more money later, so that they can keep their cash. I was pissed that they turned it down, I was giving them a great deal and really putting myself and my team out on a limb to help them get the picture made. They told me they were going to write the CGI out if that was the case and we both had nothing in the end.

4 Weeks later… I made some additional connections and partnered with some other animators and was in a position now, for the client, where we could provide 100% financing of the effects. I immediately contacted the client and let them know we would be able to produce the effects for them, we could finance the effects 100%, but the effects would cost them $100,000. In this finance arrangement, we are seeking 10 cents out of every first dollar that comes in from the sale or licensing of the picture and that if we can review the budget, the proposed crew and schedule and these things meet our requirements, then it would not be neccessary for us to have our names in the chain of the title of the film. They immediately wrote me back and said “that sounds great, let’s have another meeting.”

By being in a position of providing credit to the credit worthy, my business is now looking at twice the income from the same project and we’re able to work with a client we were not able to accomodate before. So by partnering with my peers I was able to turn a 0$ situation into a small windfall.

FYI: my original bid was $50,000, out the door, TTL with a $10,000 down payment.

Now I’m looking at twice the money for the same work.

Lesson #4 – listen to the client. “I only have $1000.00 and I need a 30 second HD commercial” may initially sound like a grinder to you. Your response might be I can do it for that, but you haven’t really heard them. Even if you can do it for that, you’re not going to get his $1000.00 because that’s all he has. You might get $100, but chances are you are dealing with someone nice and they dont’ want to exploit you either. It might be the end of the fiscal quarter and they may have to make a large tax payment, but they do have money coming in and they NEED this commercial. Find out what they have in mind, that is, if 100% financing is something they’d be interested in taking advantage of, see what kind of schedule they’d like to create for payment, what they’re comfortable with, and THEN see if that’s something you are comfortable with and make a deal. Financing is a service you should consider offering but not until you understand how to protect yourself FULLY.

Something to think about. You know your business better than anyone and your needs. If you are just starting out, make friends and develop partnerships. It will only serve to strengthen your position AND negotiate TERMS over PRICE. Both you and your customer can win in this scenario.

Later skaters,

reallybadbrad