Efficiency

It has been harder and harder for me to share my thoughts and experiences with you from the confines of this blog. That is why I am forcing myself to make the time right now to put down a few words.

I believe what I am going through these days is what all creatives are going through. We are simply overwhelmed.

There has been so much that has been racing through my mind, so much that I have wanted to share here. Yet, I have been pulled into too many directions regarding too many projects. By no means am I pointing any fingers. I believe everything I am doing is out of necessity. Though on many days it is hard to know if I am moving in the right direction or not.

My current circumstances have me thinking more and more about efficiency. This past Sunday and Monday (July 4th & 5th) were the first two days that Karen and I have had in a long time where we didn't have to race around to be somewhere. We actually had a little down time where there were less demands on our shoulders. I had almost forgotten what that was like. (With less pressure on us, we were actually quite productive.)

In the today's world, the pressures, the responsibilities, and the demands all seem to increase daily. It is tough to keep up with it all. Everyone wants more, yet they give less.

Racing thought, There have been so many advances in the last 3 years and the masses are oblivious to the opportunities in front of us. For the first time ever, no matter what your passion the cost of entry is virtually zero. And on the other side, the cost of distribution is also virtually zero. This mainly due to the ever increasing power of the internet and the tools available. Never before have we seen this. This is unfreakingbelievable. 50 years ago, people dreamed for the opportunities that are in front of us right now. This really is a pivotal time.

We are going to see more and more people who follow their passions and create a sustainable living for themselves. They might not be millionaires, but they are going to be able to do what they love and they are going to earn a very respectable income doing what they love.

Back to Efficiency. While I have been quiet here in this format, I have been working steadily to put myself in a position to open up revenue streams for my creative efforts. These efforts include identifying and assembling a team of go-getters who are talented, creative, passionate, humble, and intelligent. Of course I am blessed to have my dearest Karen Worden who is at the heart of it all. She really is the heartbeat. She doesn't get the recognition she deserves. So here in this space, I would like to shine a little light on her. She is amazing.

If you are going to carve out a career for yourself pursuing your passions, you will be best suited with a strong team around you. Though he is getting absolutely thrashed right now, LeBron James understands the power of surrounding yourself with those who compliment your talents and can push you to new heights. We view Shaquille O'Neal a lot differently today because he fled Orlando where he may have never won a championship. (I can literally feel the heat right now just for writing those few lines.)

In terms of my team needs, I dream of the day where we have a full time assistant editor who can handle web videos and behind the scenes stuff. I also dream of a full-time graphic designer. I do want to thank Filmmaker Julian Tancredi who has been excellent in helping us finalize the artwork for our NBTW DVD cover. One day maybe we will even have an assistant, that would really help with efficiency.

Where am I right now? As you can see above, we are literally in the final stages of finalizing our Night Before the Wedding DVD. I was with DVD Author / Filmmaker Cory Reeder all day yesterday delivering assets and conceptualizing the menu. Believe we have a simple yet dynamic menu that suits our current needs perfectly. The last step is to now find our DVD manufacturer. We are only going to run off 300 copies in our first run. It really feels great to be in these final stages and to be so close to delivering the film to those who have waited a long time. The other news surrounding the film is that we will be screening it in New York City on Friday September 24th.

The focus has been with NBTW for the last few weeks to get this work done. Shortly my focus will turn back to Goodbye Promise where our editor Aric Lewis has been shaping the rough cut. My days will require watching dailies over and over again and working with Aric to figure out the spine of this film.

In addition to all the work required on the two project above. Karen and I have been extremely busy with our Film Courage radio show. I am really excited about some things we have on deck for the show. We really have some tremendous guests scheduled and our listener ship has been on the rise with more and more folks discovering the show overseas.

Our Film Courage Interactive series at the Downtown Independent is now booked up through February. We have had so much demand that we have added a date in September and are awaiting confirmation on a second date in October. We have seen the event grow from average attendance of 40-50 for our first four events to an average of over 100 at our last two. We certainly hope we can maintain that kind of momentum. We are really proud to have partnered with Producer John Paul Rice (One Hour Fantasy Girl). 50% of the box office for our July 26th event is going to the Downtown Women's Center. It's an event we are really looking forward to. In addition to OHFG, we will also be featuring the works of Julie Keck, Jessica King, Suzy Benfatto & Shawna Baca.

We have a couple of other projects in the works that I cannot mention until they are further along. Now you can see why I have efficiency on my mind.

My question to you, how do you stay efficient?

(Though I understand if you prefer to discuss 'The Decision.' For the first time ever, we got Gary Vaynerchuk to respond to us. Here is what he wrote us about LeBron.)