 |
Joint Ventures - What Are They And Why Should I Know About Them?
What are joint ventures (or jv's)?
Those who establish adaptable formations will survive even if they are small. While those who establish unadaptable formations will perish - even if they are large. Why should I know about joint ventures? Are you a young or new filmmaker? Are you wondering how the hell you're going to fund your film, find and get permission to use locations, feed and pay your actors, source your equipment and technicians? Perhaps you're more established and are tearing your hair out with grant applications or are wondering how to find sponsors or angels? Or maybe you're an actor or screenwriter and you're sick of your crummy day-job and trying to juggle auditions with bar shifts or fit writing around making your rent. Not a filmmaker? Don't have a product or service to offer? It doesn't matter. You can still make money with joint ventures. It's about understanding the concept of value. If you provide value to people you make money. How can joint ventures get me everything I want? Every resource you need is already available to you. You just need to change your thinking. You've heard of OPM - other people's money. It's bandied around all the time in late-night infomercials by real estate gurus. The concept is based on the power of leveraging resources that you borrow from others. Borrow whatever you need. What could you do with access to other people's money/credit databases/groups reach/access/distribution reputation/credibility skills/experience labor membership inventory office/warehouse space advertising/mailing time equipment bulk discounts internet exposure?  How do you think Hollywood movies get made? It's all joint ventures The movie industry is one giant joint venture. Producing a movie involves deals with studios, big film companies, distributors, directors, actors, writers, DVD manufacturers, toy manufacturers, book publishers, composers, musicians, record companies and giant fast food companies. What is product placement all about? How much money does Coke or Budweiser give to have their products featured prominently in feature films? Start learning how to do business like this now. Think about it in relation to your projects. What can you offer in return for that craft services table? Big companies, Fortune 500 companies, use this method on a grand scale. 20% of their revenues are from joint ventures. Most of their joint ventures are done with their competitors. Walmart got into Mexico on a joint venture. Jay Abraham (who has been described as America's number one marketing wizard) says that 99% of small businesses are not using joint ventures. And you are a small business. Whether you're involved in filmmaking, you're an actor or a screenwriter - face it, you're in business. Where do I start? Zig Ziglar said that you can get anything you want out of life if you help enough people get what they want. Forget about what you want for a second ($100,000 to make that low-budget feature film) - what does the person you're talking to want? What is their "hot button"? When you're pitching a script or a tv series idea, have you ever asked, "What are you looking for?" Listen and stop talking. Find out what their hot button is. Networking - how many times do you go to networking meetings or film festivals and people are coming at you with their 5 minute "elevator speech" - "Here's my card. Let me introduce myself. I'm Nobby Nomates and I'm a filmmaker. I've just finished a project about one-legged Mongolian sherpas...." ZZZZZZZZZZ.....nobody's really interested, nobody's really listening, they're just wondering, "What's in this for me? When will he shut up for long enough for me to speak?" The fact is that nobody really cares about you, they're just interested in themselves. Forget about what you want, your ego, your product, When you meet people it's not about you, it's about them. People don't want to hear about you, they don't care what you did in the past. They want to know what you're going to do in the future, because that's where we're going to live! People don't care about your qualifications, they want to know one simple thing. "What are you going to do for ME?" If you can show people a way to get what they really want, they will be prepared to help you. If you can show them how to get it at no cost and with no risk, they will listen to you. If you can do all the work and make it easy for them, they will be seriously interested. Help someone get what they want and they will bend over backwards to reciprocate. Here's the process: "What do you want?" (Ask many questions, drill down, find out exactly, plus their level of motivation.) "What do I get?" (Specific commission structure – when, how much, how long?) "You should talk to" – make the introduction. GET PAID. Learn how to use barter to get what you want. Here's an example from the business world: Chrysler in the 1970s had a thousand Imperials parked in the Michigan State Fairgrounds and they couldn't sell them. They traded them at retail (sticker price) for tv and radio advertisement credits (known in the business as scrip) for five years. They took the scrip to the bank and used it as security to borrow money to manufacture more cars. So they got their retail price for the cars and bartered that with radio stations for the advertising. A Beverly Hills hotel was bought out of Chapter 11 and immediately issued $3 million-worth of credits for rooms, food and beverages to be used over a five year period. Scrip brokers bought it for $1.5 million in cash. They cash converted future services! Think about it...A hotel room costs about $7 but retails for $100. Give the room away and people staying there will spend more money in bars and restaurants, tours and other services, easily covering costs and making a profit. Or barter the rooms at full retail for goods you would normally buy at full retail with after tax dollars (buy $100 room for $7!) AND you make money from the guests. And up to 40% of credits are never used! Anything can be bartered and transferred or used for money. How can you apply this in filmmaking? Swap services at retail value Dentists swap services for radio advertising. Webmasters trade their services for accounting and legal services. Businesses can pay a part of employees' salaries and perks in goods and services. Our only limitations are in our own minds. Want to stand out from the crowd? Want to learn how this business really works and get what you want faster by helping other people? Then learn how to do joint ventures.  The information on this page was reproduced with the kind permission of Robin J. Elliot (listen to interviews with Robin here) who has been working with organizations, entrepreneurs, charities and individuals for 19 years in the business of joint ventures. His mission is to teach people about joint ventures, help them to do joint ventures and put them in touch with others who are already doing joint ventures. Learn what joint venture planning and creation is all about. Return from Joint Ventures to the WILDsound Film-making Feedback Events home page.
|
