What is a project schedule in project management, Project planning/management

http://www.coleyconsulting.co.uk/projplan.htm

In this weeks blog post I’m going to be talking about, what is a project schedule in project management, the product planning framework model and how it associates with my industry. I like what we have learned in class so far and I’m looking forward to applying it in more real world situations.

Just like a product manager would, me as a videographer can look at my past projects, and see that I have been involved with different plans: new product development plans, strategic plans and annual marketing plans. The product planning process overview is almost identical to how I would plan a shoot. Clarifying my scope is important because without understanding the scale of my plan, who the audience is, when the plan is going to be implemented and how the plan is going to fit into a budget or financial requirement I couldn’t ever successfully hand over my product. Doing an environmental scan before reaching out to possible future clients is also beneficial. Just like before a presentation, research is key in any project.  Therefore finding the facts, collecting data, doing as much research as we possibly can, will definitely help our business to compete with other companies/products.  But even if we keep everything in mind about planning every little detail of our projects we can never forget where we’re heading. I’m talking about goals and objectives. Since goals are different for everybody, I can’t exactly pin point what me, as a producer should be concentrating on in the near future. I know that I will not ever stop learning; therefore every new project I start will be better than the one before.

Just like at the end of today’s class we were reminded of our S.M.A.R.T. goals and how we should be specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented and time based. But being smart is only one of my strategies. I’m looking forward to seeing how my next projects turn out with everything that I learned in class. It’s going to be a good feeling to look back at this blog at the end of my program and see the progression I’ve made over the year.  

Product and Artist Manager post

In this weeks blog post I’m going to be talking about how artist and product management goes into play within my industry, which involves a lot of extreme sport cinematography and editing. When talking about my separate edits I like to look at them as individual products therefore everything I learn in this months class I will be able to use towards my career. The top of the line professional athletes receive large amounts of money and other products through their agreements with their sponsors. The riders are followed by the media, just like celebrities and other actors are in Hollywood. With that in mind the main talents in my videos can be looked at as artist. Understanding how to evaluate the artist helped me to accurately look for things in talent. The talents image is also a huge part in my industry, since the riders with the better image are more followed, therefore valued different. Industry contacts are key in my industry, without a previously built relationship with the possible future companies I could never even pitch my ideas to the right people at the right company. Knowing what kind of contracts they might be having with their companies I will be able to pitch my future projects more successfully. Without the major companies supporting the media and all other aspects of the industry, progression would not have been close to as high as it has been. Naturally just like any other business this one also has it`s advantages and disadvantages. An advantage might be an artist acting on behalf of his or herself but at the end of the day it is really up to the actual talent to decide how they act. Whether what we’re talking about is a new negotiation or just being professional. Disadvantages are to the talent when partners end up ending the previous partnership.   

Interview Blog Assignment

For this interview assignment I decided to interview Sydney Garlich who is not only active in the entertainment show business but negotiates deals daily whether it is for an upcoming show or her new contract with an entertainment company such as DubFactory Entertainment or Anti Gravity Incorporated.

Her two most recent deals that I will be focusing on are her most recent contract with Anti Gravity Atlanta and Dub Factory Entertainment. Some of her objective criteria that she used in those negotiations are: past performances, continuous progression within the industry and being a well-known aerialist.

Within separating the people from the problem, she told me she had to remember her emotions about the companies and their past acquaintances. Sydney said she liked working for those agencies in the past and that made her more comfortable to go into the negotiations.  Her ability to communicate in a professional manner was also important; she had to remember what key terms to use about the industry while pushing towards what she wanted out of the agreement. Her BATNA included being an independent contractor. That allows her to get hired just through her, without the need of an agency. Knowing that she didn’t have to worry about what would have happened if the agency tried using any dirty tricks or tricky tactics. Her status as a well, international and nationally known aerial performer helped her keep the leverage she needed to get what she wanted.

Mutual benefit was also very important for both parties. The agencies and Sydney both knew that together they will be able to advertise the name while keeping her employed. Dirty tricks and tricky tactics weren’t present in her past 2 negotiations and when they were before she dealt with them accordingly. Since both Dub Factory Entertainment and Anti Gravity Incorporated Atlanta hired Sydney before, they had a good relationship.

From talking to her I was able to reflect on what I learned over the past few weeks while hearing her story about how she made it as an aerial performer and entrepreneur. 

Boat VS. Cable

A few weeks earlier I talked about shooting wakeboarding and how it`s different to shoot someone riding behind a boat vs. a cable park. In this blog post I will be going into detail about how it can all affect your wallet. People would think that going out on a boat all you need is a few gallons of gas and you`re set. Well that`s not the whole story, we can`t forget about the boat prices and how a brand new wakeboarding boat can run up to $85,000. Also it`s way better for the environment as well if you just go to a cable park and enjoy the electricity driven pull as it tows you around the lake. When you know someone with a boat and they want to ride you might be able to get a few sets in a day but not nearly as close to much riding as you could on a cable park. There are 2 major waterski and wakeboard manufacturing companies: Sesitec, and Ski-Rixen. While I think Ski-Rixen`s been around for a longer period of time Sesitec is definitely been making some great achievements and always been one of the more innovative companies in the field. Just in the last 3 years alone there has been over 6 new cables built from coast to coast. That tells me that more people are starting to realize the potential in wakeboarding behind a cable. It’s also a way better investment than just buying a brand new boat and always having to fix it. If someone builds a cable park there is a huge potential of making some serious money. It’s a great business but, there are some other expenses as well that we can`t forget about such as putting up a concession stand, possibly a pro shop/rental etc. A perfect local example of an investment like such is the Orlando Watersports Complex right next to 528 and the airport. It`s a great place with a boat, 2 cable parks and even a system 2.0. all in one lake. It gets choppy quite often.  

Defy, The Danny Harf Project

For this weeks blog post I`m going to discuss and try to go into as much detail as possible about producing, funding and actually how much money did Defy: The Danny Harf Project make. Being a wakeboarder pretty much my whole life and shooting/editing it for over 8 years I can safely say I have a huge interest in the market. Not to mention bigger productions and just wakeboarding in general.

Defy might just be the next big step for the wakeboard filmmaking world.

It’s downloadable online or you can order a double disc (Blu-ray/DVD combo pack) It also did great at the 2012 X-Dance where it won an award for the Best Soundtrack. The BFY crew made the movie. They always do a solid job whether is shooting,editing or producing. You can check out more info on them over here. When a huge production like this takes place (took over 2.5 years to shoot) you can expect other huge brands to try and merge/sponsor the event. Im talking about huge industry names like Monster Energy, Fox Riders Co., Ronix, Transworld Wakeboarding and Nautique boats, who were actually the very first company to make a wakeboarding tower for a boat.

Needless to say they still are the number one wake/ski boat manufacturers in the world. As far the actual budgeting goes for the movie it was really hard to find all the information but heres a pretty good interview I found where they kind of go into detail, One of the answeres states that “between C/Chopper Dave at radar with Ronix and the Fox blue lake stunts. My guess is around $25k just on stunts.”

Not to mention building the rails, the material, rental equipment, travelling and the camera gear/editing cost later.  As far as how much money the flicks going to make my sights are unclear since its one of the newer productions out there and we won`t be able to see the total profit until were down the line a little more. 

One things for certain though, Defy is a milestone in not just the wakeboarding community but the whole watersport world. I love it and I can only recommend it.

Motion Picture Association Of America

For this blog post I decided to analyze the Motion Picture Association Of America. I know that my interest is more in the area of extreme sports but after doing some research this was my best option.

            The website itself looks super well done and I like the slideshow feature with all the famous artist/movies they were in. It automatically reminds me about that emotional connection I`ve built with them over the years.

            Within their “blog” section there are multiple little blog posts about recently occurring topics like: the super bowl sweep, Open act falls short, Senator Dodd on Pro Jobs and Anti-Piracy Legislation.

I liked the Anti-Piracy post because it`s definitely something that’s happening right now. It’s a huge problem for not just the film world but also the entertainment business in general. People are able to just go online, seed, leech and download illegal content from the palm of their hands. The website even goes as far as calling these people criminals and I`m honestly not surprised. It does take away jobs and it does cause major harm. They keep on going with stating that it’s becoming a “sincere discussion about how best to protect the millions of American jobs affected by the theft of American intellectual property.” But for us to be able to protect what’s ours we must learn to work together and maybe one day we can stop the online piracy.

            On another interesting part of the associations website they go into showcasing their existence in recent news articles. Which I personally like to see because it`s always good to be up to date on what’s happening currently within our industry. The very first post that caught my eye was an article published in The New York Times, Sunday Review. The headline reads: The Perpetual War: Pirates andCreators. It goes into discussion about how online piracy has been growing and taking leaps and bounds into the media world. Which is definitely not good news. Looking at the graphs its scary to imagine how the online safety`s going to look like in the next couple of years. It`s a huge problem for not only the Motion Picture association, but also the extreme sports world. I can`t emphasize how many times I’ve heard of an awesome new video coming out but before I can even go to the store and get one my friend`s have downloaded it offline. It`s our own choice whether to be a part of this or take a stand. Whatever we do, one thing is certain. Piracy`s not going to stop and we must choose which side we take in the battle and stick with it.   

           

                        

TED.com

Speaker: Chris Anderson

I want to start by saying that It hasn`t been too long since I discovered TED but I`m sure that well keep on seeing the positive effects of speeches like this one floating around the web. Through these videos/posts people are not just able to learn about a certain topic but can also reply, send a video back or even create their own TED event. The speaker Chris Anderson is a funny but intelligent fellow from England.

He inspired the audience by telling them that there`s more to the world and TED than we would think and that we must use technology to our advantage. There is a great example from the video, the world and all of us that are living in it. If you just look at a number of people without interaction just doing their own thing, there wont be too much innovation. But If you look at the individual people and their unique taste, hobbies and past experiences. You can see how the Internet allows us to share out thoughts instantly through videos like this one. Like Chris said the little 6-year-old boy was just a fan of breakdancing but through his interaction with the world, putting up his video he reached a level of dancing he could`ve never been able to. Social Networking is becoming huge and we must use it to our advantage.

I definitely agree with the speaker and how we need to share our passion/skills with others through the web. Therefore helping others while getting feedback on our own topic. Adversity is being overcome on many levels. First of all there`s a broad range of different types of people/counties in the video not to mention the multiple languages and how more people in more countries can watch TED now!

I also really liked the whole Kenya TED movement and how we`re able to communicate in even more ways with the way HD video and technology has been evolving. Needless to say the Web is moving at such a high speed therefore allowing us to exchange information and share the passion we have. This speech definitely helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the speakers’ topics through their entertaining speech and all of the visual effects. Personally I liked the drawings/animation/flow of the presentations. I know the Internet and web videos are still evolving but seeing what technology enabled us to do thus far keeps me wondering what could be next?