Break time - stepping back, re strategizing ... what's going to be my next move? No ideas right now. Lake Shore came to an end after a successful development period (2.7 million hits), but it never landed a home with a Canadian broadcaster. Why? Various reasons, but mainly because it was too risky, too hot, too sexy. I guess Canada doesn't want to go where our neighbours swim, the obnoxious sexy hot waters. Oh well, still a proud producer. Hate it or love it, it is what it is.  I accomplished more than I hoped to achieve, I dived into this project knowing it was a gamble so as the french say, c'est la vie...

Alors, now I'm in Jamaica for a variety of reasons, but the main one is to re group and clear some of the clutter that has piled up on my mind & Jamaica is by far the most inspiring, peaceful and loving place to be in when one needs to think with a clear head. It had been a while I needed to write a new blog and today I walked into the beach bar with my lab top, sat on a bench on the beach and it all just came to me... so here I am sharing it with you. 

I'm working on a project right now remotely, but nothing too loaded. Working remotely from any location is one of my favourite things to do now. I almost never want to work from headquarters anymore, but I know I will miss the routine of structured work environment (not that I ever really did that, I've mainly been a freelancer). Aside from my current project, www.smallbizontv.com, I plan on travelling to south of france, Italy, asia and middle east. All as a part of my re grouping experiment and finding my new focus. 

Exploring is my newest thing now, well...I'm generally an adventurious person but now more than ever. So I share a few photos of my new discoveries in Jamaica. You can also visit my photo journal of my previous Jamaica trips here. 

Depending on where I am, I say I adapt pretty well. I throw a fist back home if everything is not at my disposal and here in Jamaica, at times I've had to dig the water out of the well, boil it, cool it and drink it. I kinda' like living different life styles. What I admire about myself is the fact that I was born in the city, raised in a privilege environment but I love country/farm life. I wonder how I can intertwine both worlds (city/country) in my life... 

I'm sharing with you some of my favorite bookmarks ... from news to online software's, just a mix of things I enjoy having in my cyber life.

http://www.newser.com/
Simple, brief and quick news from all around the globe. No long articles, just direct to the point. This is where I get my dose of news every morning. I highly recommend it to everyone.

http://www.gsmarena.com/
I love mobile phones, what can I say :) Always on the lookout for what's coming out.

http://www.kayak.com/
Best deals for your travels. I only buy my tickets here. What's even greater than cheap tickets? Setting up e mail alerts weekly OR daily for the best deals on your chosen destination right in your mailbox.

http://www.fax.com/
Great online resource. I travel a lot and my faxes reach me right in my inbox wherever I go :)

http://prezi.com/
The new way of creating presentations. Much better than power point. Give it a shot and you will never go back ;)

http://us.moo.com/products/minicards.html
Easy, sexy, and compact business cards. I love it so I thought I'd share it. It's not for everyone, it's for select few.

www.Facebook.com
I don't have much of a social life these days, so Facebook has become my social platform. I catch up, mingle and chat with my friends from wherever I am. I wouldn't want to live without it.

http://abundance-blog.marelisa-online.com/2011/03/25/best-ted-talks/
The 20 best TED talks. Great for some motivation and inspiration. Happy watching.

http://playbackonline.ca/
My quick updates on industry news (Film&Television).

http://hootsuite.com/
Need to control your facebook, twitter and linked In accounts from one platform? Or schedule tweets/statues future updates for when you don't have time to keep up with your social networking? This is the software to stay on top of all your social networking sites.

I've decided to share with you a series of photographs that I keep in my pile of things that I review from time to time to feel inspired. I think as a creative individual, we have to learn how to surround ourselves with creative elements to constantly fuel our imagination. Looking at photographs is just one way of getting inspired - so here is what inspires me...

People often ask me "what do you do?"
I find it to be a very challenging question to answer.

At first, I say 'we do everything' and when I get the confused and I don't understand look from people I try to explain it in more details...sadly most of the time they say "ooh..ok" as if they 'get' it, and we switch topics and move on....

Here are some quotes I've pulled from So you want to be a PRODUCER. ...  I highly recommend this book to everyone who is in the biz.

“A producer raises the money. Well, yes, a producer does that, but also a heck of a lot more. A good producer does many different things, and must have both creative and business skills. Mainly, producers want to tell stories. But so do writers. So do directors. So do some studio executives. The difference is that it’s the story a producer wants to tell that usually reach the screen” Larry Turman
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“The film being shot began life as an idea in the producers head. It was given real life by the producers skillful, relentless nurturing, most likely over several years. It sometimes feels as if you’re pushing a peanut uphill with your nose” Larry Turman
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“A producer is dependent on writers, directors, actors, and studios, but it is he who starts the balling rolling, keeps the ball rolling, and makes sure it stays on the rolling path he has in mind.” Larry Turman
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“A producer is a man with a dream. I say, ‘I don’t write, I don’t direct, I don’t act, I don’t compose music, I don’t design costumes. What do I do? I make things happen.’ A producer is like a chef. You get all the right ingredients together and make a tasty stew. You put the wrong ingredient together, it’ll taste bad” David Wolper
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“What a producer does is generate things. Each day a producer has to get up, create and engender activity. You have to be a self-starter, initiating every phone call, soliciting every meeting – as many as it takes to get the answer that you want or the results you need.” Larry Turman
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“To be a producer is to be an entrepreneur, it's starting a business from scratch each time you initiate a project.” Larry Turman
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“A producers basic MO is to explode out of the starting blocks and keep pumping, with focus. If you do not thrive on that and on competition, producing is not for you” Larry Turman
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“There are so many different things that must coalesce to take a film from idea to finished product. It’s the producers job to find people to do what he himself can’t do, or indeed may not know how to do. Even Armani, dazzling designer that he is, needs someone to run the factory, and people to cut, sew, fit, pack and ship his label.” Larry Turman
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“Your job as a producer, is to get what you want to get made, the best way you can, and to see that it gets out there in the world in the best way, that it gets attention with a good campaign, and a comprehensive marketing plan, and that you try your damndest to get the people to come. It’s a responsibility that someone gave to you; either a company or private investors have given you money to make a movie, so its incumbent upon you to do what you can, to help them not lose money, to make money, hopefully without bastardizing your own artist dream for it” Larry Turman
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What's your definition of a producer?

MR

Quick interesting facts about Starbucks:

• Starbucks originates from Seattle where it once was a coffee bean roaster & retailer
• Original Starbucks owners were three partners: English teacher, Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker
  
• Starbucks is currently the largest coffee house in the world
• 17,009 stores in 50 countries
• One Tuesday afternoon in February 2008, Starbucks closed all of its US Stores. A note posted on 7,100 locked doors explained the reason: "We're taking time to perfect our espresso. Great espresso requires practice. That's why we're dedicating ourselves to honing our craft."
• Over 200,000 employees
  

Howard Schultz is an entrepreneur who is in the business of expanding and sharing his passion with the world; coffee. He is not in the business of making dollars that continue to double and triple as years pass by but rather keep the connection of their customers and their heritage alive throughout the years, and finding ways to reinvent that connection and emotional attaments years after years. This is the reason why Starbucks has maintained its statues as the biggest coffee brand in the world. No matter what business you are running, your product will be outdated, outrun or outgrown after a while, HOWEVER, if you build your business on a the model of love and passion, and always find strategic ways to transfer those two elements you have for your products to your customers, you will be able to stand the test of time and continue to be the peoples choice. No one gets tired of happiness, which is ultimately what a Starbucks coffee shop does; great tasting coffee, good feel environment = joy = happiness.

What this video as Howard tells his story of Starbucks...

Howard's latest book, Onward, is my current read which is highly recommended to everyone. "In January 2008, chairman Howard Schultz resumed his roles as President and CEO of Starbucks eight years after he relinquished them, replacing Jim Donald, who took the posts in 2005 but was asked to step down. Schultz’s immediate objective was to restore what he characterizes as the “distinctive Starbucks experience” after years of rapid expansion that had compromised it." (Read more here)

One must learn how to sell happiness, you master that and you can be making the big $.

Founded by Jon Basso in 2005, The Heart Attack Grill serves food “ taste worth dying for” such as Quadruple Bypass Burgers, containing around 8,000 calories … wow… that is four days worth of food for the average person.

Basso says he believes America needs shock therapy to cure it’s obesity problems…. how is this shock therapy? He serves free burgers to anyone over 350 lbs … I think he is trying to solve the obesity problem in USA by killing the obese individuals…. who wouldn’t go for a free burger in this economical climate? actually forget the economy, who wouldn’t go for free food?

Take a look, and share your thoughts… I’d love to know what you think of this business model or anything else that comes to mind ...

PS. Jon Basso used to own several personal training fitness centers….

National Geographic, al jazeera, BBC and Canal+ talk about what kind of content they are considering to buy over the next 12 month.

informative and covers the basic grounds for the programming structure of these four broadcasters.

At 26 years old, I found myself negotiating and talking to people with 20+ years experience & I discovered the hardest part of it is NOT the lack of experience on my part, but pulling all that confidence together and talking to the VP or CEO of a large production house. How do you keep your calm and remember your words when one presents you with solid facts? Insecurity can be a kill point.

Here are a few pointers I have picked up in the past three month doing some hard negotiations:

• Always be open to different possibilities, don't put yourself in one shoe.
• Let them do the talking & seek as much information as possible.
• Do not assume anything, put everything on paper.
• Ask when you can finalize the deal. It’s important to express your deadline otherwise you are at risk of losing your deal.
• Be ready to hand over your power of approval or sharing it, specially when your dealing with the big players. They often will want to 'consult' with you and have the final approval.
• Being laid-back or agreeing to the opposites conditions is part of negotiation. It’s about asking for things but also giving in. Call it "negotiating", call it "coming to a mutual agreement", it all comes down to the same thing.
• Answer questions simply and truthfully. Don’t fluff things or over talk. Do not lie.
• Start negotiating using different mediums. EX: on the phone, in print and in email. Depending on the items, each of them would have to be fought on a different front. This way, if they agree to a couple things on the phone, and a couple things by email and more in the contract, it can look like you are demanding less then you really are. This comes with experience which is part of what will make you a strong negotiator. You have to be ready to defend your demands with rock solid answers.
• Show confidence at all time, even if your rejected.
  

Find yourself a mentor with years of experience in the area which you are doing your negotiations, someone who has no ties or connection to the deal you are making and brainstorm with them, exchange ideas but always make your own decision and trust your guts. Also, always get 2nd, 3rd, 4rth, 5th opinions... the more Intel you gather, the more knowledge you will have, the more power you will gain, thus making you a better negotiator. BUT keep in mind, there will always be individuals that are considered experts in the field that will try to put you down by saying things such as "that's not how it's done" or "this has never been done before", or "you can't do it this way"... yadda yadda yadda... I say there is a first time for everything. Lake Shore is my proof. I cannot tell you the endless amount of experts/producers/directors that put me down when I first started this project. Look at me now, I am co-producing my first television project with eOne. I trusted me, my vision and I ran would it.

Last but not least, to the up and coming producers, I will share with you the words I live by:

"Experience is always valuable, and sometimes vital, but it doesn't always trump a clear-eyed, fresh approach"
by Lawrence Turman - my mentor.

I'm looking at this video that's highly commercial and mainstream and I'm loving the use of their gray set design ... it can nicely apply to any video that wants to follow today's trend ... and J.LO of course, sexy as always. The costume design, hair style & accessories just pulls together this entire video. Am lovin' it!

As I ended the development of my main project for 2010, Lake Shore, and put it in the hands of the 'higher power' (I cannot officially release any further information), I have been thinking of producing one or two gigs in the beautiful islands of the Caribbean...

My Christmas vacation in Jamaica inspired me to spend some time in the islands ... my preferred destinations are that of the above and St. Lucia...

For those who are familiar with my work and if you aren't, click here to see some of my past work ... contact me if you know anyone in St Lucia or Jamaica in need of some producing work on the multimedia side of things... my services range from music videos, commercials and web design.

I'm always open to discussing new projects and ideas ... as long as I get some of that island food :)

With all this said, I'm thinking of investing in a Canon 5D Mark II camera and coming down there and just.... shoot :)

MR