we-verytheoriststudent

[we-verytheoriststudent]

The Assault on The Summit

The assault on the summit.  This is almost always the most difficult and challenging leg of any mountain chosen to be climbed. It can be a stark place  where many have lost the strength and the will to push onward. In losing their will, they do not fare well, falling victim to the mountain and frequently the remains of failure remain are strewn on the mountain side demanding other climbers to take note and beware. The climb became more focused as in Entertainment Branding the summit came into focus. It is in knowing who we are and how are product is seen from the outside that is the longest part of the climb. I know all too well that the this mountain in particular has claimed many. Project Management and the creation of Pro Forma Financial Statements was my base camp and now I can clearly see the summit. This month in Final Project: Business Plan is that Summit Assault and for myself and others like me who accepted the Mastery Challenge and undertook the quest to attain our Entertainment Business Master of Science degree from Full Sail University, we make the final leg of our ascent. 

I have pushed myself, determined to attain new perspectives, wisdom and knowledge to further my career and the lives of my family members. It was my plan and my hope to become something better than I was when I began the climb. In many ways, in this climb I relate to both the experience of Obi-Wan Kenobi while struggling with the inexperience of young Jedi, Luke Skywalker. For myself there is an outpouring of emotions and an inner upheaval of mixed feelings as I scratch and claw my way toward the summit, determined to finish and take with me as much of the treasure that is stored at the summit.  I am excited and relieved. I am cautious and anxious. At 58 years of age there is also an element of fear that I can not seem to shake, elude or eclipse. I can only equate what I am experiencing to seeing the finish line in a marathon while viewing the vistas from the images that I have seen from the top of Mount Everest. The view is spectacular. The sense of accomplishment is amazing -- fulfilling and rewarding, but the clouds below reveal many, many other peaks that demand to be climbed before I can ever hope to claim the mantle of Master. And as I am enjoying the view from the top; a view that less than ten percent of all others have experienced, it is these other peaks that I must climb that causes me concern, because it is only as a Master will I ever see the success and creative fulfillment that I seek. I have learned a great deal in this particular climb and have gained many skills that will aid in my assault on the other mountains. My biggest concern is accessing these other mountains and trekking toward the peak, but I will put my trust in what I have learned in the last twelve months to navigate treacherous terrain in preparation to assault the next peak. 

[we-verytheoriststudent]

Masters of Our Own Destinies

Here I am, thirty-three months into my Full Sail University career, six weeks from graduation with a Masters in Entertainment Business and attempting to take it all in. No, this is not “Hey Mom! Look at me! I did it, aren’t I awesome” moment. This is a wow, so many things that I held as absolute truths having begun my career in Los Angeles have been completely overturned by my three-plus years in school. Many long held truths have been overturned by the changes in technology and many by the years of hard-won experience that Full Sail professors generously share with their students. 

It is so difficult to believe that just 10 years ago we had to have  a film deal or a record deal with a major label. We almost always had to shoot on film because the digital video resolution just “didn’t feel right” and it took a day to see what we had shot. Now we almost always shoot on DV and can watch a scene unfold live on a huge monitor, shoot and reshoot until the Director gets exactly what he wants. Just a few months ago that was a big deal, but now we are self publishing literature and music and self distributing films through aggregators. We don’t have to court huge markets but simply find and cultivate our micro niche. Not only will they loyally buy our content through companies like Gumroad they are already waiting for us to put out merchandise to go with their boutique fandom. Where we once needed to fill stadiums or theaters across the country all we need now is to connect with 20,000 fans and we can have overnight market impact and a world wide “buzz” with one thought provoking Tweet. That is why I sit here amazed. In the time it took to get and accelerated Master’s Degree, the career path and business that I chose has the same products, but almost unlimited choices. We we were once held captive by big conglomerate money, but we are now truly Master’s of Our Own Destinies. A creative imagination and your own office and studio built into your lap top and the entire world is available to you, oh creative minds. There is no limit to better. Do not take “no” for an answer any longer. Go forth and create and be a “starving artist” no longer.

[we-verytheoriststudent]

The Home Stretch

It is these times just before the first light when I have time to reflect over what will be of many cups of coffee intended and necessary to get me through the day -- while my family is still peacefully asleep -- before the routine sets in -- before the tranquility is shattered that I ruminate on my quest to earn my Master’s  of Business Entertainment and consider the journey. I am now far closer to the end than the beginning and it is these times when I am unto myself that I consider the person and the passion for film and stories and the skills that and knowledge that I have acquired and the artist whom I have discovered within me. He is very creative and he has a very distinct voice. There are moments that I fear for his future and at the same time I am excited about his future and the possibilities hidden within the unknown. It is with the completion of each class and now that includes Advanced Entertainment Law that I see how my Full Sail mentors -- my extended tribe and adoptive Yodas, are carefully crafting another sliver of their brand -- my career.  Advanced Entertainment Law has opened my eyes to the myriad of litigious pitfalls and elements possibly arrayed against this new Creative, but it is in that awareness that we are best prepared and I am far more prepared today than I was four weeks ago. There are many who have gone before me and blazed a clear and true path. And just as those who have gone before me like Phil Palen or Gary Rizzo or Steve Beres and many others, I have the opportunity to take the Creative and plan it out through Project Management, pitch my ideas through Entertainment Business Finance, showcase and promote my ideas through Digital Marketing secure my my best opportunities through astute Contract Negotiation,  build upon this through Product and Artist Management and now, with Advanced Entertainment Law, I have some of the skills to protect my work and create a structure that will enable my vision to grow. For months I have been using these newly acquired skills, not in large swaths, but carefully and incrementally until I become proficient. Once again, I am cautious and guarded about the future but I am also cautiously optimistic. As an artist, I have far more to offer now that I have ever had and I believe that it is this acquisition of skills and knowledge that will have me invited past the Gate Keepers and hopefully one day into the Full Sail Hall of Fame.

[we-verytheoriststudent]

Show Me The Money

The previous eight months of the Entertainment Business Master’s Program has taught me how to expand and develop my creativity, think laterally and focus on who I am and to discover and project my personal brand. In branding myself it is to discover what sets me apart from the millions of others who seek the opportunities that I do and make that brand valuable on a commercial scale. Product and Artist Management has added another layer and expanded my horizon to encompass creative strategy and that strategy is to consider another person and their artistic craft and discover what their brand means to me; to discover how they covey their brand to an audience and then have to evaluate this person simply as a product. I must evaluate them either as an asset or as a liability. I have to evaluate if they are worth my time or a waste of time. I have now had to learn that if I am to be successful as a business person, that I need to set aside my personal feelings and evaluate that person or persons, their creative expression and look at them and must evaluate if their art is economically viable. I have to evaluate another person’s  worth. I have to to decide if I can represent them in good faith or see them as a product that I can or cannot work with to enhance their career, all while enhancing my own. This has been one of the most difficult aspects of the program that I have had to embrace...and the most illuminating, because that is how others in the Entertainment Industry will look at and view me. This class has forced me to take a long, hard look at my craft and my brand and try to “up my game”. In looking at others as “products” I have had to look at myself first as just a product and find my own value. I have come to a difficult conclusion: the Entertainment Industry is a great place to dream it is the wrong place to look for self worth.

[we-verytheoriststudent]

Sometimes It’s Not What You Say, But to Whom You Say It

The first Neanderthal Cave Paintings are said to now date back more than 65,000 years; the earliest known communication, long before written language and possibly even before verbal languages as we know them, and still today the messages, the communication to the viewer are clear and understandable, transcending time. One would think that as we as a species grow and develop in language and culture and technology that our communication would be simplified and far easier to understand. In studying the art of Negotiation, I have discovered that this is far from the truth. Our words and actions and body language are as unique to us as our finger prints. These personal idiosyncrasies are compounded by the fact that we all communicate in four very distinct manners, the Inspirer, the Commander, the Thinker and the Quiet Supporter and all of this simply within our own culture. Understanding that there are many within our own culture who would find our individual way of communication foreign to them, although we share a common culture and language is daunting when considering something like negotiation which has a courtship-style that is language all to itself. I have discovered that the rules of negotiation are not written but dictated by the types of communicators with which we engage. It is our cognizance of our own predispositions and recognizing those of others and their communication idiosyncrasies that will allow us to form a rapport, gain credibility, engender trust, find affiliation and negotiate with effective confidence.  

Once we have mastered the art negotiating within our own culture it is only then that we might consider negotiating with those of different cultures as cultural posturing, attitudes and customs are very different from country to country. I have learned of the varied customs that precede negotiation and they are deeply ingrained within societies, from long power lunches for the successful to signing an agreement as simply the beginning of the negotiation relationship. It is the awareness of these societal tradition and recognizing communicative cues that are essential to effective  and successful negotiation as we must identify the type of communicator we are dealing  and it is imperative that we fully appreciate the courtship that is negotiation.

I hope become adept at identifying the communicators that I will be negotiating with and become proficient at reading the body language signals so that I may adjust my mode of communication to fit the needs of the moment.

Dawson, R. (Nov 1, 2000) Secrets of Power Negotiating, Career Press, Newburyport, MA

Horton, S. The Leader's Guide to Negotiation, May 5, 2016 FT Publishing International

[we-verytheoriststudent]

The Journey, Not the Destination

This is a musing of retrospect. I am not one who typically ruminates  on things to come, as in 57 years on Earth I have come to realize that in developing or placing expectations or value judgement on a future event, personal journey or undertaking as in my life I have learned that frequently what we think is far from the results that will be made known or the value that will be taken or imparted to our lives. I came into Digital Marketing with the notion that this would simply be a class on how I would take my ideas and promote my career across platforms that as a middle aged man frequently confound me, seldom without frustration. As usual I was right on target as it was refreshing to be wrong. This class was more about seeing yourself and your business for who you are truly are -- about knowing your “brand” -- about being honest with yourself about who is truly going to give a damn what you are advertising.

Digital Marketing was not about how to use the platforms of social media but how to select and and identify the avenues that would be best for your message -- about finding the “where” and “when”of your audience and about sometimes truly thinking outside the box to catch their attention after they have been bombarded and jaded by the gazillions of over stimulating, mind numbing electronic and digital assaults on their pocket books.

 What I received was an eye-opening look at human behavior and a confirmation of why I no longer begin any event in my life with expectations, that frequently what you are entertaining in your heart is far from what you receive and it is in the expectation that limit the experience and cause us lose or overlook the value of what is offered and intended.

[we-verytheoriststudent]

Numbers Don’t Lie

Numbers Don’t Lie. That is a painful truth in many instances, but when those numbers contain the answers and possibly the keys to opening the doors to one’s future and making what was once unimaginable, possible, those numbers and your dreams and aspirations take the next step toward becoming a reality. Dreams become reality when they become tangible and numbers, although they represent theory or possibly an assumption speak a language that is very real and very tangible to investors. This is where the magic occurs -- when the images that are carried and communicated and imparted by the dream, the words, inspire and capture the imagination with a promise of something new and fresh and exciting and that dream is represented in the language spoken by numbers and those numbers hold a promise then dreams sometimes come true.

For years I have held onto my vision, aspirations and goals, never knowing what it would actually take to make them plausible. For the last month I have been laying the ground work to give me a glimpse of things I aspire to create and apply the knowledge that I have gained and today I have learned how to speak part of that magic language that speaks to investors and that is the language that unlocks the doors when the numbers say the right things. It is in these numbers that I saw that my ideas are not simply words but an idea that carries a promise to deliver on my own vision but on what others value -- the right numbers -- fiscal diligence -- smart business -- financial value.

I know that this was only the very first steps toward my goal but now having learned the language of the numbers I can now more accurately convey my dream and my goals to those who hold the keys to the doors; the Gate Keepers, and there are many, many, many who hold the keys. You simply need to know how to speak their language and have a dream that will piques their interest.

[we-verytheoriststudent]

What Do People Say When You                Leave the Room?

Three years ago I began my undergraduate studies at Full Sail University. Within days  of stepping on campus I attended a Phil Palen lecture on the importance of developing a strong personal brand; the ability to do such appearing to be more akin to mystic tribal wisdom or the search for the Holy Grail that anything I could study. Since that time it has been my desire to discover what my personal brand was and what made me unique.

Before Business Brand Storytelling and Brand Development, the ability to “brand’ myself has been to say the least,  a vague and confusing notion. The creation of a brand is an awkward thing as we are the ones who know ourselves least. A brand is summed up by Marty Neumeier’s statement as “a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or organization, but I believe that it is the comment attributed to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is far more accurate when describing, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you leave the room”; and we have all heard positive or disparaging remarks in the absence of others. The brand is simply how we affect others on a spontaneous, emotional level.

What I have garnered from this course is that the product that we sell is far less important than the way our brand makes people feel. Jeff Bezos comment is in agreement with Maya Angelou who once said, “I have learned that people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel. Case in point: McDonalds. The documentary Super Size Me revealed that McDonald’s food was far from healthy and bordering on deadly, yet it is one of the most beloved brands on the planet. From Ronald McDonald to Quarter Pounders and Big Macs, McDonald’s has been making people happy since Ray Croc purchased the company in 1961.

For the creation of a strong brand, it is important that we perform an honest, introspective self-inventory so that sum total of our business is in harmony with our social values. There are many attributes that I once considered personal and idiosyncratic, but I now recognize as the very distinct traits of my personal brand. in contemplating the Brand Amplitude, Brand Identity Prism I have begun to recognize this more that I had previously.This became clearer as I considered the statement “Brand Identity provides an articulated description of the aspirational image for the brand, what you want the brand to stand for in the eyes of customers and employees”(Aker 2014). This was highlighted by the notion that “Brand platform is the explicit, sharp and concise written brand statement that make clear what the brand want to stand for (Kapferer 2112). Our personal brand is what we show the world and what the world values in us and makes us unique. In the consideration of these observations, I have begun to examine my personal brand and now know that it is an ongoing, ever evolving process.

My aspirations are in Film and Television as a Writer/Director and I am only one in a sea of Writer/Directors. It is now obvious why Full Sail University is a strong proponent of social networking and of a strong, positive and recognized online presence. Almost anyone can be taught to write a cogent sentence or a coherent story or create beautiful photographic images, but it is that “how you made them feel moment” that is so incredibly important to building one’s brand and career. It is the authentic offering of one’s self that sells the “product” of “you” and sees you considered in the employment arena. That is simply the essence of one’s personal brand and a familiar trademarked logo is simply the visual cue of brand familiarity; a reminder of emotional connection to the brand. The essence of branding that once seemed like mystical tribal wisdom has now been demystified and it is simply finding the correct avenue for my brand the next step.

                                                      REFERENCES

Aaker, D. (2014) Aaker on Branding: 20 Principals That Drive Success. Retrieved April 16, 2019 from https://www.prophet.com/2014/07/book-aaker-branding-20-principals-success/

Kapferer, J.(2112) The New Strategic Brand Management - Kogan Page, Penguin, Random House LLC. Retrieved  April 24, 2019 from https://www.academia.edu/12869300/The_New_Strategic_Brand Management_Jean_Noel_Kapferer_PDF_

Green, D. (May 2014) 10 Maya Angelou Quotes That Will Lift You Up. Retrieved April 2019 from https://mashable.com/2014/05/28/maya-angelou-quotes

MCH (N.D.) Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room. Retrieved April 24, 2019 from http://home.mch.co.uk/your-brand-is what-other-people-say-about-you-when-you-are-not-in-the-room.shtml