If at first you don't succeed
I love this video about famous people who have failed.
May 15, 2008
May 05, 2008
Boomer File is up and launching content
About a month ago we launched The Boomer File with Lorne Frohman, an original isode by a Baby Boomer speaking directly to Baby Boomers. Lorne has been great to work with, he's a world class writer and an excellent presence infront of the camera. Please check out the isode at http://www.boomerfile.tv
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
January 31, 2008
Isode Network going way slower then I want
Well, the startup has come to a crawl. I recently had to get rid of Josh as our relationship took a turn for the worse. When he started he was coming in to create something with me, and at the time we had not spoken about money. After a couple weeks I gave him un-solicited pay for the work he had done and to help him prove he had income so he could get an apartment. I continued to do so regularly but was not really thrilled with his work which I stated to him. He brought in his roommate to assist in the writing of Birthday Roaster which was the start of the end. Not only did they now require me to pay both of them a decent combined salary, but instead of having one writer that didn't jive we had two. The work they came up with for the 3 weeks of writing was in my eyes brutal. We laid down one weeks worth of this crap with the two of them sitting in front of the camera as there was no way I was going to subject my buddy Worm to this humiliation. I never even viewed the second weeks worth of writing as I simply wanted to break from this terrible relationship. At this point, Josh and his roommate were not only demanding the agreed to compensation but now insisting that the amount should be net, meaning I should pay their taxes. When we agreed to the set monthly amount I offered trying to find a way to pay their rent and bills through the company to allow them to get maximum value for their pay. My bookkeeper nixed that so I told them they would need to invoice me. The thought of having to take a few hours and register a company or even print out an invoice for me was way to much for them to even consider. Things got ugly for a phone call but thankfully calmed down quickly and Josh and his roomy came in to pick up their check. I paid them the net amount they wanted and I will pay their taxes for the month....so for January I got 4 shows written and acted, shows that we edited and finished that truly were un-watchable, and another 4 or 5 shows partially written and trashed for $3,000 - ouch! Plus, for that amount I have two young writer-actors who think I royally screwed them which to me hurts the most.
I learned a great lessons from this. First, alway clearly state any financial terms up front along with expectation for that compensation. Second, never allow an employee to bring in their own choice of working partner. This created an environment in their eyes of them versus me which caused the breakdown.
I truly enjoyed most of the working we did with Josh and expect to see his rise in the future. I wish him nothing but the best.
January 07, 2008
Birthday Roaster - i016 - January 7, 2008
Happy Birthday 2008! Our first Isode of 2008 celebrates the birth's of Sir Sanford Fleming, David Caruso, Charles Addams and Nicolas Cage.
December 14, 2007
Chugging along
Rolling into the new year with a bunch of pieces up in the air. The BirthdayRoaster isode is 15 shows deep with 4 or so more on film to be edited for the start of the new year. I have mixed emotions on this one as I think everyone involved has done a great job and really grown with the project but am not too comfortable with the overall content yet and how it fits into the Isode strategy. We are looking at tweaking the format a bit to better target a market and give the show more of an identity. Currently I can not describe exactly what the show is and that is no good.
The Boomer File with Lorne Frohman has 7 or 8 taped segments and is pretty entertaining. We've begun to edit and liven up the video and we're hoping to launch sometime in January 2008. I think this will be a key ingredient to moving forward as it will open up an audience that has never really been targeted before with online video. Trailblazing is what we need to do and this allows us the opportunity to do that. As well, we will need to finance the whole Isode project shortly as cash is being spent with no sign of any coming in for at least 6-12 months and this demographic will be the ones we go after for the financing.
Another show that's been shot has been another Humber college student, Topher McFarlane who has brought in lots of other students to co-act with him. It's basically a one-liner celebrity bash type of show which is something I want to stay away from, especially with BR in the lineup. The jokes haven't been too clever and the delivery of the host will need to improve. I love his willingness to go for it and bring in support troops so we'll continue to work on it.
Another Isode in the works is one that targets multi-player gaming which really excites me for the targeted massive audience and ability to monetize.
There are two others as well, the Josh Saltsman Show which can be great as Josh is amazing in front of the camera. Need to find a targeted direction to take this but when we do it will be great. Plus Lori Pearlstein is currently writing a show targeted at woman 25-40 which will also be great once developed.
A lot is going on, I'm going broke, but I ain't giving up as I truly believe this is going to work.
December 13, 2007
Birthday Roaster - i015 - December 12, 2007
We sign off from our 2007 season with Birthday wishes to Frank Sinatra, Bob Barker and Mayim Bialik. Thanks for watching, we'll be back January 7, 2008. Happy Holidays to all.
December 10, 2007
Birthday Roaster - i013 - December 10, 2007
This nobel day celebrates with birthday's to Michael Duncan Clarke, Kenneth Branagh and Raven Symone.
December 07, 2007
Birthday Roaster - i012 - December 6, 2007
Happy Birthday James Braddock, Don King and one of our favorite funny guys Steven Wright.
December 06, 2007
Birthday Roaster - i011 - December 5, 2007
The day prohibition was abolished celebrates the birthday's of Frankie Muniz, Strom Thurmond, Walt Disney and Little Richard.
December 04, 2007
Here comes another bubble
Poor Billy Joel, his "We didn't start the fire" song has taken life in the Web 2.0 world for all the wrong reasons. This video is great:
