And the beat goes on...

Gahhh...

Logistics, Logistics and more Logistics!

This 64 page excel document is a mountain all in itself!

To many it is known as a dead stop, an intimidation so ghastly that it ends many journeys!

I lovingly call it 'THE BUDGET!'

This is where the other geniuses come in... they use phrases like 'forensically question' and 'economically viable'.

Well... I'll keep my attention deficit disorder under wraps for now and keep my head down.

Sugar anyone?

It takes discipline to be disciplined!

So here I am working on the Character histories and story maps... it's like a spider spinning a web on crack...

We are not talking minutes here.. this is hours... and lots of them!

Each character needs a history, richly colored and lovingly crafted so that when the scripting is done, we have a strong reference to keep our story believable.

Boring as hell.. but it is crucial to a powerful story!

If you're going to tell a story, it helps to have well... um... a story in it... hahaha.

..and the hits keep coming...

More than ever, I begin to realise the importance of a planned vision... of seeing your end product in your mind as if it is done. Preparation, preparation, refinement and more preparation.

Then there's the importance of keeping your mind open... allowing others to give input...

To helm any project means you need to 'know it all' without being a 'knowitall'...
Listen as much as you can, Learn as much as you can and do as much as you can...

Excellence, Brilliance... etc. these are words are much more than mere results.

These words are a discipline that needs to be present from the word 'Go'.

Great people bring greatness to the smallest tasks... so the small things..EVERY little thing!

Greatness is a decision.. and I have made that decision with all my heart!

Whn I speak to sponsors, actors, crew etc. I speak with confidence and passion. Dignity is something you give everything around you. never be ashamed to sell your dreams to people... you are a machine! yoo can dooo eeeet!

Putting the 'Fun' in Funding...

So here we are... where we have never been before... cautiously peering over the edge of an intimidating precipice when suddenly...

...eh?

It's not half as bad as I thought!

I shake my head vigorously and gasp in surprise as I notice the lies and misconceptions of the nay-sayers scattered on the ground all around me... it's crazy... impossible is a mere point of view, nothing more!

They bark and they spew. They advise and they warn. We cover their cowardice by saying: 'they meant well'.

Well heres my new philosophy: If your negative opinion does not have a working alternative attached to it, shut the hell up!



The mountain:

My movie is going to cost me 30 million Rands (about 2 million pounds).

Its a great concept, powerful script and funny as hell.

I have awesome writers on board, the best crew are all saying yes and my cast is fantastic.

Investors are smiling at me greedily.... here's the catch:

I do not want investors! I want sponsors, advertisers and media partners!

Investors mean risk. I live in South Africa. Risk + South Africa = Epic Phail!

So off I go, I find clever people to help me work out the budgets, find great marketing and branding trade strategies and go find me some money!

Annnnnd they're off. 'It cant be done'; 'It hasn't been done'; 'You are biting off more than you can chew'.... it goes on and on... small minded, slow witted cowards who do not realise that 'can't' is a pure matter of perspective.

From my pont of view, ANYTHING looks possible!

The nay-sayer lies down on his bed of mediocrity where the pillow of challenge looks like an insurmountable mountain!


I send the first email... the answer is yes.
I send the second email... the answer is yes.

It would appear that Donald Trumps' motto works perfectly!
'When preparation meets opportunity, the idiots call it luck'.

I wait for answers from the other emails... nothing.. the deafening silence of rejection threatens to overwhelm me.

Another investor calls to see how it is going. I lie to him and say it is going very well.

No replies on them emails.

Phone not ringing.

Deafening silence.

And so I keep preparing.

Refine the story.

Upgrade the details.

Approach more clever people.

Research some more.


click the Send/Receive button as if it will speed things up...

Upgrade some more, refine some more.

and the project gets bigger...and better!

and still the deafening silence...

Then....

It starts.

The emails start arriving...

And the phone starts ringing...

The deafening silence had prepared me.

I have the answers. I have the strategies. I have the vision firmly in my mind.

I will accomplish this!

And I will not use one investor!

Impossible?







Just watch this space!