Featured
Make your idea defensible.
One lesson that I learned very early on was that you need to find something unique about your idea so that you can prevent someone from stealing it. Simply filing you treatment with the WGA isn’t necessarily going to protect you, especially if you don’t have the resources to mount an expensive legal battle. You need something that will force Fox to buy your idea or allow you to produce the show with them. You need a good defense! If your reality program centers around a celebrity, make sure you ‘lock-up’ the celebrity... [Read more]
ideas
First Sale = Break-Even
Once we gave up on selling MotorSport Ranch to a major network (ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX) we quickly realized that selling the HD rights in the United States would be a break-even affair. Our goal was to attempt to recoup production costs by selling the U.S. HD rights for 2-3 years. The deal with VOOM would just cover the ‘budgeted cost’ of 13, 60-minute episodes. The only catch was that VOOM would only pay once we delivered all 13 episodes. It took almost ten months after general photography wrap to get VOOM... [Read more]
production
Hiring the right crew!
If you are producing a reality series in Los Angeles or Toronto, you won’t have an issue finding a great crew, but if you are working in an atypical television market like Dallas it might be a challenge. Fortunately, Robert knew the crew that worked on another reality series based in Dallas called Cheaters. I didn’t know much about the show, other than they seemed to hold their cameras steady and tended to stay in focus more often than not. Robert arranged a meeting and we met the crew at Robert’s offices in Deep... [Read more]
sales
First Sale = Break-Even
Once we gave up on selling MotorSport Ranch to a major network (ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX) we quickly realized that selling the HD rights in the United States would be a break-even affair. Our goal was to attempt to recoup production costs by selling the U.S. HD rights for 2-3 years. The deal with VOOM would just cover the ‘budgeted cost’ of 13, 60-minute episodes. The only catch was that VOOM would only pay once we delivered all 13 episodes. It took almost ten months after general photography wrap to get VOOM... [Read more]
technology
Camera Mounts for Cars
For the pilot we hired a camera mount specialist from Austin. The specialist installed cameras on Jack Farr’s mustang and we used it as the ‘camera car’. Joe Dea, our director, was completely frustrated by how much the mount vibrated. Evidently, even an ‘expert’ can have issues so make sure you ‘test’ your mounts prior to shooting (i.e. a week or so before is ideal). Don’t show up to the shoot with a mount you have never tested, you can ruin a whole day of filming if you... [Read more]
Featured Photos
Selling Your Idea
First Sale = Break-Even
Once we gave up on selling MotorSport Ranch to a major network (ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX) we quickly realized that selling the HD rights in the United States would be a break-even... [Read more]
More Sales Ideas
The Technology
Camera Mounts for Cars
For the pilot we hired a camera mount specialist from Austin. The specialist installed cameras on Jack Farr’s mustang and we used it as the ‘camera car’. Joe... [Read more]
More Technology
MotorSport Ranch Screener
Coverage
Entrepreneur Magazine covered our efforts to sell the MotorSport Ranch series which ultimately resulted in the sale of the pilot to INHD and the series... [Read more]
Business didn’t cover MotorSport Ranch, but they did cover the MotorSport Ranch blog in their Selection of Small Business Blogs back in July. Stephen... [Read more]
My first conversation with the reporter from Black Enterprise Magazine was a bit awkward as I tried to explain that I wasn’t black. Of course, the... [Read more]
Fast Company asked, “Are you really ready for the rise of DIY media?” in their regular ‘blogjam’ article. The author pointed... [Read more]