The Letter of Rejection

Yeah, it happens to all of us.

You pour your heart and soul into something. You seal the envelope and take a deep breath as you pop it into the mail. You send it off and wait. And wait. And finally get a note in return. Just one simple piece of paper that shreds your hopes and dreams into kitty litter...

This was I believe, written

by Hunter S. Thompson to Mike Peters,

an aspiring writer who'd sent a satirical piece to Rolling Stone.

I've had worse.

You see - a Rejection Letter isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's actually a good thing. Any salesman will tell you that a "NO" is better than a "Maybe". "No" means "we're not interested, move along." "Maybe" means that you have to hang around and wait. And there's nothing worse than waiting.

Of course, there are some ways of saying "No" that are nicer than others.

I pitched an idea to the good people at McDonalds many years ago. A couple of days after dropping off the package, I got a call from the VP of Marketing. He explained their marketing strategy and why my project didn't fit within their plans. He spent at least 20 minutes with me because I had taken the time to include McDonalds in my plans. Very nice. What more can you ask of them? I ran out and ate a Big Mac to thank him.

I pitched a project to William Shatner once. He called. We spoke. He turned me down for scheduling reasons - but offered a number of very good creative suggestions which improved the overall quality of my project. Advice from Captain Kirk??? BONUS!!!

These days, you often don't get any feedback at all. You send in your project - and it falls into a black pit.

Nothing...

At...

All...

...hello...?

They don't even bother to say that they're not interested.

There are a few good people out there, real gems who do offer feedback and comments. They're the ones who earn your respect and put on a good face for their companies. They're the kind of people you'd want to work with on future projects.

Even this form rejection slip is better than nothing. It's impersonal but informative.

Essanay Studios made Chaplin films back in the day.

They actually used this slip when rejecting screenplays.

Tony Stark: Superhero

I come to the Marvel movie franchises as a newbie. When I was a kid, you were either a Marvel or a D.C. guy. I was a D.C. guy. I followed Batman and Superman. I knew who Spiderman was, but I'd never read one of his comic books. That goes for the rest of the Marvel canon as well.

When the Spiderman movie came out - I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I knew all about the radioactive spider before the movie, so no big surprise.

But then this "Iron Man" guy came along. I'd heard the name, seen the covers - but never got into it. (To be honest, I'm still not "into" Iron Man - I don't buy the comics.) But I do enjoy the movies. Why?

Tony Stark.

He's cool. He's flawed. And he knows it. Forget the tin suit, I'd watch a Tony Stark movie any day of the week. That's what makes for a great superhero - when his secret (or in Tony's case, not-so-secret) identity is as interesting - or MORE interesting than his Superhero identity.

I've come across a number of pitch properties where the hero derives his powers from the suit that he or she wears. I call these "the magic golashes" - as in, "He can fly when he wears The Magic Golashes". But as soon as he kick them off - he's just a regular guy.

And that's the problem - nobody wants to see a "regular guy". Your hero has to be as amazing and cool in his daily life as when he's in the suit. Bruce Wayne as played by Michael Keaton in the Tim Burton Batman movies (and by Adam West in the 60's TV series) - was boring. The persona only exists as Batman - which frankly - and I hate to say it - is bad storytelling.

Nope. Take it from this D.C. guy - Iron Man is a brilliant character because of who he is, when he isn't in character.

Fortune Telling

I attended an industry function last week. Everyone was milling about discussing the biz: who's working where and on what, to who, etc. The topic turned briefly to a small studio owner. He's got a decent business providing service work to larger studios and making TV commercials. Great for him - he's living the dream.

Now let's flash forward 15 or 20 years. Our studio owner is ready to retire and wants to sell his studio. What is a studio - and what is it worth?

If he's bought the building that his studio occupies in downtown Toronto - he's sitting pretty on some prime real estate, so he's set. Let's not worry about him. If he's renting his studio space - then the asset is the studio itself - so let's look at that.

What is a studio?

A studio is made of up three things: People, equipment and intellectual properties.

You can't sell the people. That's kinda, sorta... against the law. The new owners would have to keep the key talent from leaving. But that's a variable - they might stay. They might not. So that's not an asset.

The equipment. The hardware and software is outdated the moment it hits the store shelves. So the gear itself isn't worth much. Maybe 1/2 of it's list price at best. Maybe there are some rare and collectible pieces of art or autographed tchotchkes lying around. Who knows? But overall, the stuff ain't worth much.

And then there are the Intellectual Properties. What characters, shows, logos, trademarks does the studio own? These little gems are what holds the value in the future. This is what people want.

I was watching Dragon's Den the other night - that's the show where people pitch ideas to Venture Capitalists. The lady who created Woofstock (a dog festival) was offered $500,000 for 50% of her business - with the opportunity to grow it bigger. The key interest to the investor was that she had worldwide trademarks on the name and the brand. A name and a reputation for quality is worth a half million dollars - and she turned them down.

I was chatting with the founder of a local festival yesterday. Someone has started a competing festival - calling it a "summer version" of the original. I advised my friend to trademark the name which she had originated and was now being widely used. Its one of those things that could be very valuable in future years.

Create something new and original. Grow it. Own it.

I met with a very smart man yesterday. He gave me some good advice - the equation for wealth.

Innovation + Harmony = Money

Catching Up

Sorry for not posting. I've been busy. Let's catch up.

I've pitched a number of shows and we have some interest. It's "wait and see" time again.

This past weekend I received a disturbing email. A fan of BRAIN EATIN' ZOMBIE BABIES demanded that I post new episodes "or else".

"Or else"?

BRAIN EATIN' ZOMBIE BABIES was an experiment. A test bed to explore new ideas, make mistakes and learn some new things. I would have liked for it to have gone viral and earn some bucks - but it didn't do that.

BEZB's failed to find their audience. It found 'an' audience - but not the right one. I had intended it to be a funny kids show, targeting ages 12 to 14. Instead we got some very strange men in their 30's and 40's tuning in on a regular - some might say 'obsessive' basis. Very strange men.

I am going to continue to make and post new videos as things appeal to me. But the BEZB's are done.

The pitching continues. I'm expanding my focus beyond kids animation and into live action reality programming. Again, this is simply because I want to produce shows that appeal to me. Shows that I believe in, rather than, simply "product".

I'm also laying the groundwork for a new venture. It's not TV - or media - but it is directly related. And my experience in pitching and creating pitch bibles has helped greatly in the past few weeks. More details on this as things progress.

Spell Fury - Product Placement

Check out the Product Placement that I arranged for Spell Fury. Hell - check out ALL of Spell Fury. It's a good little show. We'll get into a discussion of the who's, what's, how's and why's of product placement shortly.

What you're looking for - and more importantly, what the sponsors are looking for. Do it right, and you can make a deal in an afternoon, the way that Travis Gordon and I did.

Monetizing the Internet - Part 1 What Not To Do

(Okay. So the guy ain't Ben Turpin. But he should be.)

I received a note last week from this fellow, asking me to click on his blog so that he would earn funds from adsense:

Majid Ali said...

Please for humanity's sake please do it once
I have made a blog at blogger.com Since i have added a google adsense in the blog but haven't made a penny with this. I need your help and support to help me make some money to PAY MY Tuition Fees.

The entire plea is printed in the comments of an earlier post. To be honest, I didn't bother clicking on his blog. I hate spam and I don't want to encourage it. That said:

HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY ON THE INTERNET TO SUPPORT YOUR PROJECTS?

You may recall my Brain Eatin' Zombie Babies project. Yes, it's still alive - but I'm working on other things at the moment. I will post more BEZBs later this summer. We've had a good response, but it'll take time to grow the property.

In my internet 'travels' I've met some interesting people. One of the most interesting and enterprising is Travis Gordon and his web series "SPELL FURY". Travis has been producing web series for a number of years and his total hits number in the millions. He's not viral by any means, but he's a known presence on the web. In 2009, Wired Magazine called him one of their "Seven Web-o-tainers Worth Watching".

And so you should. Why? Because Travis Gordon is doing it right. Check out his work at www.spellfury.com

So, what does this have to do with monetizing the internet? Everything. Because Travis has just finished his first web video with a product placement. Working with Travis, I was able to find a major corporation that is willing to feature their products in his show.

Hang in there, because I'm going to tell you how we did it.

The Key Idea...

I've had a few notes over the past few weeks, people sending Pitch Bibles, links to 'pilots', etc., all asking the same question: "What do you think of my project?"

To be honest, some of them are good. Some are "less than good". I've heard one really neat, original idea that I think should be developed.

But the question that I ask in response to my correspondents is about the key idea behind their show: in the simplest terms "Why Should I Care?"

Why should I care? Why would I (or anyone) watch your show instead of some old House re-run? What's in it for me, in terms of the investment of my time and attention?

When you have a good answer to that question, you're well on the way to developing a successful pitch. So what is the answer?

Strong characters. Strong motivation. Clear goals. Clear obstacles to be over come.

All that 'writer' stuff.