I have had nine Studios over the years. I was intending to make 1325 Industrial Boulevard the main, and possibly, final location for the studio. I'm beginning to rethink this. It is a conflicted environment, having family ties that are imbalanced (to be kind).
For many years, decades really, I have had the design for a studio compound in my mind. I had thought that by establishing a base of operations at 1325, I could then move to create the Theatrical Development Centre Retreat in a more rural environment.
I thought that the property on Industrial Boulevard would allow us to engage in production activities, while establishing another, more remote, studio compound and so I moved forward to do so, while assisting my father with running the machine shop.
That worked for a while. But now that it breaks down to my siblings, the conflict is too great, too distracting and I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall. My work is not as productive as I want and need it to be.
So I will be developing a plan to begin establishing the Retreat environment and exit the current location. I'm already 65, so I'm not looking forward to setting up shop again. The only way to avoid doing that is to gain sufficient funds to buy everyone out of both the machine shop and the buildings and thus stay put. This is preferable, because I have years worth of energy spent setting the space up. But since there is so much still to be done, maybe starting fresh might be a good thing. Especially if I am able to do so unempaired by foolishiness and unwelcomed & unnecessary confict. It is a dilemna.
Clearly the equity in The Gnomes of New Hope is sufficient to do that. So if I can make that happen, that would be good. If not, then many things that are underway will get disturbed, by having to stop in midstream, pack up and relocate again. If this happens the work may never get reestablished. It has happened many times before and frankly, I dread seeing that happen again.
I say all this by way of addressing potential business partners who may be able to provide the required funding, substantial funding. Not from the "bank loan" scenario. I mean a sizable amount of money that does not get paid back. Selling rights to the project or capitalizing either the production or the new organizations I have outlined in the Business Plan.
I can use Licensing, Options, Production/Distribution Agreements, or The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture.
Also forming IMS Management, Inc. and/or The Gnomes of New Hope Productions can also provide funding.
The composite of these organizations provides an excellent opportunity for growing an collaborative group of production capabilities. They are designed to be symbiotic in nature and over 40 years of exposure to the entertainment industry backs up the organizational structure. The design of those organizations is under ongoing development, but it is available for review on request.
Implementing this structure has been part of the plan, but it has taken a back seat to the refinement of the Core Creative Materials.
But now, being faced with this conflicted work environment, I need to encourage capital investment in the Image of the Mind Studios group of organizations.
Those organizations are intended to come to life under the guidance of a vested group of capable managers, more than one Board of Directors, separate from myself or Image of the Mind Studios as it now exists. I have devised the organizational structure, which in part, is a means to pass all the creativity housed in Image of the Mind Studios onto future generation of artists, producers, and other creative individuals, to continue the work and to create an environment where those activities can florish under a methology that can apply to any and all theatrical and cinema endeavors.
It is somewhat drawn from the studio system in it's concept, but not as all encompassing under one umbrella. The organizations stand on their own as to form, but are interdependent as to their functions. The relationship between the organizations is well thought-out, but the implementation is wholely contingent upon installing the correct personnel. For the modus operandi is intended to be founded on the establishing principles, which set the groundwork for growth of the organizations as service oriented businesses, utilizing existing projects to establish operations that will service an array of new projects designed to avail themselves of the system inherent in the organizational structure, which takes into account the composite as being symbiotic.
I hate to say this, but I may not be long for this world. The stress is killing me. So I want Image of the Mind Studios to become the butterfly that has been growing for decades. I may not see it happen, but I want to be certain that it does.
I no longer need to cling to this. It is larger than I am and I am becoming smaller than I was.
Those of you who see this potential and want to participate in this metamorphosis are welcome to inquire and enter into discussion with me.
AG
