Author: Guest Blogger

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If Your Life is a Movie, Can You Avoid a Clique Ending?

From feedback regarding last week’s email, it seems as though there was a misunderstanding.

If in Fact I Have a Sense of Humor, it is Very Dry

Sometimes what I see as an attempt at being satirical, is taken literally. I do not do “Ironic” very well. Last week’s email message was my poor attempt at being tongue-in-cheek. It was intended to come across like a bad script that is trying too hard until it become so so pseudo intellectual that is comical. Much like what I am writing right now.

Some of you thought it was real life, an incident that happened to me in Southern California. It was not. It. It was pure fiction, and poor fiction at that. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Short Term Role

I am old enough to have made Super 8 films when I was a kid. My intention at 18 was to pursue what I had been doing since age 8, be a magician. I already had a nice side business doing birthday parties, fundraisers and even public performances in theaters and in some cases, magic with a storyline from start to finish. It was my passion, but then those Super 8 films changed everything. I had submitted them on video to an educator who was from a well-known arts family. Suddenly I was being asked to move to the city of angels, which I did, setting my magic wand and collapsible top hat to the side.

And finally, the Theme of of “Living Life as though in a Movie is Introduced!

I mention the just written series of details because it, for me, was a significant moment when I went from something I was genuinely good at (magic) and began to live a part that I had never intended to play which is that of a wanna be filmmaker with very little actual filmmaking talent but was in complete denial of this fact. And tragically, I portrayed this filmmaker character for literally decades. Even after moving to my beloved home since 1988, New York City, did even the reality-inducing Big Apple wake me up to the fact I had been cast in the movie known as my life with a possible tragic ending.

Saved by a Reflection I Never Saw Coming

And it wasn’t until, I was fast becoming and old man that I finally looked in the mirror and knew the sad truth. Ironic, because mirrors are great friends to magicians because they rehearse their tricks for hundreds and hundreds of hours. But no longer pursuing a career as a conjurer, myself and “looking glasses” never got together much. Why then, now, finally taking in “reality?” A much better part came about. A role I never saw coming but when I took it, turned out to be the most rewarding and an important experience for me in my life. One through which I finally found something far more important outside of myself. I became a parent. The most meaningful and important role that I have ever had. And of course, I am not unique with this. Many are having the same kind of experience.

How about You? Are You Living Out a Part?

Are you on the celluloid screen of your own making? If your life was a movie, how would it end? Tragic? Ambiguous? Happy? 

P.S. And by the way, this was not intended as a dry satire, although it may seem to be.It was “real life” if such a thing exists.

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An Aha (Lightbulb) Moment for Filmmakers with Sales and Marketing Side Hustles

Tools to Help with Sales

One day, when you make that that movie you have been working on, maybe you can put your knowledge gained by doing sales and marketing toward promoting your career as a filmmaker. Meanwhile, we hope you will find some of these persuasion tools useful to you. You may have heard of some or even all of them, but it is always good to be reminded of what you know. We forget about that sometimes. A moment of revelation when the light switches on, can sometimes be as simple as being reminded that you know what you know..

Expertise: Are You in Charge of Your World?

A belief in you being an expert in your area of expertise, is always someone who is sought after. Those who are experts are highly valued, especially by those who need their assistant to solve a problem of theirs. So the trigger in this case is to not forget to let those who need you for your consultation abilities, how you can help them.

Spotlight: Make it About Them

There is a human desire to want to be recognized, to want attention. Needless to say, there are many reasons why this can occur. For some who are driven to be known, this comes as the result of circumstances in their past. That is why it is always a good idea to use the term “You” a lot in what you write and talk about. It seems there are those who cannot get enough of that word.

Identification: You are Like Them

You will likely have more positive results if in your copywriting you relate to the reader how you are much like they are. Clearly, this comes from having your sense of who the persona of your specific niche is. You must get letting them know the similarities you and they have. It will often give rise to them liking you more and are therefore more likely to enlist your services.

Trust: You Can Gain it, in Part Through Addressing their Objections

The reader or viewer will continue to have questions regarding whether they should trust you or not. Are you the correct expert who can supply them a solution? They have deeply rooted ideas of who they should have involved in their pursuit of their needs. They have many questions for you they want answered before giving you the green light. Anticipate and answer these questions in a manner that is much like an FAQ.

Guru: Be a Humble One Who has the Answers

A vital psychological trigger is conveying to them on a continual basis that you are plugged into the world of solutions to their problems. Therefore, they can rest easy with you. In short, you need to give them what they want. Provide them with ongoing reasons you are who they need to work with. Know what they want. Give it to them. There is no better way to succeed.

Picture: Show Them Don’t Tell Them

Always be aware of their need to be shown very clearly what is in it for them. This can be in the form of images, graphs, videos and other forms of communicating ideas Words need support visually. Having a variety of mediums to learn more about your solution, can be very persuasive in a way that words alone are not.

Competitiveness: The “Be There First” Syndrome

Most people who you will be selling to are going to have at least an aspect of the competitiveness within them, their innate desire to want to be a winner. Most people do not want others to see them as being a losers. Let them know how you can help them in this competitive world we live in. And don’t forget to bring the lightbulbs.

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Creating Promotional Videos Can Help Pay Your Bills

Is Making a Video Promo for You?

For all you filmmakers out there who are feeling the pinch of losing the “indie” pathway (did it ever really exist?!) and are now, in this pandemic era, looking for a way to put your movie process skills to work, if you have not already, you might consider this. To help pay the bills, a possibility to consider is making promo videos. No, this is not “selling out.” It is a method for putting food on your table. And now more than ever that is important.

Pros and Cons

The fact is that there has been an explosion of interest in using video of a way to sell products and services. This interest in using video to promote things has both a good and bad side to it. The good side is that there are an ever-growing number of technologies available, that make it increasingly easier to help you create videos. The bad side is that there are an ever-growing number of technologies available, that make it increasingly easier to help you create videos. YES, you read that correctly, both the good and bad sides of the emergence of technologies share identical reasons!

Things to Think about when making the Choice of Whether or Not to Make Videos

With it being easier than ever to make videos, should you still use video as a means of earning an income? In other words, the creation process being easier makes it easier for your potential clients to make their own videos! This fact could make you think twice about offering the service of making videos for people. In other words, if everyone can easily make videos now themselves, why would someone hire you to make videos for them?

An Upbeat Insight and then Another Issue

Why would someone enlist your assistance with media development if they, themselves, could quite simply do it themselves? As my 12-year-old daughter, who is wise beyond her years, says, you cannot do everything. She suggests that people exist out there who have no interest making their own videos and would much rather prefer to hire someone like you to make them for them But then another issue arises which is that since video technology is so accessible to anyone, you are going to have lots of competition from folks who want to get paid to make promotional ideas just like you do!

Is there a Solution to Getting Hired to Make Videos Despite the Competition?

Yes, there is a way to be able to get hired, despite the competition that is out there. The solution to this problem is to specialize in making videos for a VERY SPECIALIZED niche/industry. Become THE person to hire to have videos made in this niche. If you choose the right niche this could make your videomaking skills to become in high demand!

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Movie Making

The Process is Changing

New Rules

It is getting harder and harder to make a movie “Hollywood Style.” It takes too many people in a studio or even outdoors. This means more of an opportunity to be exposed to COVID-19. Are filmmakers willing to put their health on the line or even their lives just to create content?

Self-Filming

Enter the new form of making movies via selfies. Your phone as your camera, and the use of available light. People are getting more and more used to the vertical phone frame look, such that it is possible to use it in large quantities, especially if it is made clear that the protagonist is filming the video that you are watching.

If You Dream, be Realistic (or Maybe Not)

The bar of entry is still high with the big players, but given the right amount of marketing and storytelling, you can directly compete with the higher end brands and maybe even use the use the process to promote your services or products. This is good news for creators.