The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, Front Money

UPDATE 5/21

Since I realize that I must (more actively) pursue the Joint Venture, then I'm posting here to bring the older post into a newer time frame. I'm hoping to work on consolidating these blogs in the near future, but for now, I will be addressing these issues on IMS Producing Partners. As it stands now, IMS Producing Partners is a membership site for Vested Partners. I may change that structure in the future though. We'll see. AG

 Normally I post these subjects on IMS Producing Partners, but since that site was set up as a membership site, few people will see the posts. IMS Producing Partners is not functioning entirely as I had intended yet, simply because I am running out of time to manage that end of things the way I would like to.  As you may see from reviewing The Gnomes of New Hope blog I've decided to pull back from certain management activities and focus on completing the book series. All seven of the Illustrated Storybooks need to be finished and in the marketplace before we can really start to fly, so-to-speak.To do that we need to raise the funds needed to complete the artwork and conform the book layouts to the new printing specs. It's a lot of work, especially in the context of all the other work that is under way. That's going to require at least 150K, possibly more, in whole or in part, drawn from Front Money. Front Money has a 300% return and no time frame.

This post addresses two of the critical subjects necessary for producing The Gnomes. Front Money and the Joint Venture. Conversations recently with investors has caused me to review the contracts and the Business Plan.

 In terms of the Front Money Agreement; I've reviewed the original contract and updated it by clarifying the language and expanding upon some of the terms which seemed to be presumed in the previous agreement. This expansion and clarification does not change the terms of any previous agreement, however I added an additional benefit, when it comes to reinvestment of the principle and return. In particular, a reinvestment, at the discretion of the producers, brings with it additional return from the Producers share of the Limited Partnership, if those funds remain in the LP (and if an LP is implemented). This in addition to a commensurate number of shares in the Limited Partners portion. That does not mean that the LP investor gains shares in the GP portion, that means that the General Partners take on an obligation of return additional money to those Front Money Investors from their portion. There are other clarifying points on subjects that might have been misconstrued if they were not  embellished upon further. Of course that makes the document longer, but, oh well.

I can say that I do believe that the Front Money Agreement will not require updating again, because it has been expanded to cover details that I thought unnecessary or unwise in earlier editions. Truth be told, I'm dealing with more sophisticated investors now because the numbers are higher for the budget amounts we need to secure. So review was appropriate.

I'm still finishing some of the Developmental activities that require less investment, but that will need to change drastically in the very near future. Lack of funds is stunting the growth of the project severely. It's not just the project itself. I have substantial outlay required for equipment, facilities, and management logistics and that takes away from moving further into pre-production and ultimately production. I am trying to align the foundations for distribution, which as you know must be in place before even considering going into production. So the focus, goal, and reality is that the publishing needs to be completed and there are numerous details in that regard.

Book One is sufficient to outline the essence of the entire series for advancement into serious discussions about funding other arenas, in particular Cinema and other presentations,  such as the parade float/presentation or concert opportunities.

In house activities are blending preparations of the sound-stage/scene shop/GFX/animation/puppetry and this needs to be funded as well.

It should be noted that the e-Storybook is shaping into a premier exhibition medium and it's development may take precedence over  entering into presentation in some other venues. That in itself is justification for much of the in-house activities that are being developed.

So with all that in mind, not to mention the other intended higher level of professional industry activities, both domestic and international, I have been reviewing the Business Plan. There are aspects of it that have been outdated because of changing circumstances and a new clarity that resulted from Book One being published. So too, have the circumstances with my facilities changed. None of these changes are sufficient to change the Modus Operandi as a whole, but certain aspects of the operation have come into focus and the larger speculation on possibilities, has given way to the utter realities which must be addressed, if this is ever to advance into reasonable, if not the fullest manifestation.

The original Business Plan, which went through numerous revisions to bring it to the state of definition in which it now exists, clearly will need go through numerous other revisions, before it can be considered as a viable production tool. In the present plan, The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture is addressed along with other subjects in a detail which I would like to isolate from the narrative presented.

From my point of view now, the assorted subjects that have been addressed need to be separated into more distinct sub-categories and the entire document needs to be structured, so that it refers to those sub-categories as adjacent documents instead of having the details of those sub-categories integrated into the language of The Plan. Doing this will give The Business Plan much greater flexibility to include new categories, such as First and Second Class operations, or The Ancillary Markets and effectively produce distinct operational guidelines for each category. The whole point of The Business Plan is to lead into the management structure that is identified within it, not just to raise the capital to do so, but also to set the groundwork for the Board of Directors of The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, IMS Management Incorporated, and The Gnomes of New Hope Productions to operate in accordance with the plan, or to at least be set on the path to the ultimate operating structure which will originate in the plan. But that plan also applies to other projects as well.

These organizations must be set in place, if another larger studio does not step in to take over operations of The Gnomes of New Hope. That option is always on the table, but really, I'm not holding my breath.

So I am reviewing the Business Plan in order to make it a more useful tool. That plan is divided into sections already and I can provide sections for review to investors if they want to see it, but for now The Front Money Agreement is the primary document and the actual Business Plan is only available to vested IMS Producing Partners. Book One and all the adjacent production documents are sufficient to present the scope and methodology to Front Money Investors.

The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture requires a buy-in. I'm splitting the shares in The Gnomes of New Hope (essentially) in half and selling those shares to The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. That means that the twelve member Vested Board of Directors will gain 100% of all the rights to exploit the project in both the domestic and the international markets. They will not have the right to change, expand upon, or develop the Core Creative Materials. That right remains with and under the purview of Image of the Mind Studios. I will sit as the Chairman of the Board and in that capacity retain the one twelfth share of The Elder Gnomes shares. The remaining eleven Board Positions are available for sale to the appropriately credible investor.  That means that the Board positions require active vested individuals, with the credentials to fill a specific role in the management of the organizations and the project as a whole. There are the normal positions; CEO, CFO, etc, but there are also positions that are specific to the industries involved in this project. Theatre, Film, Television, Merchandising, etc. Each of the Board positions in The Elder Gnomes has a supervisory capacity over the other organizations (until they are fully capitalized) and the Business Plan has a tiered structure running across all the organizations previously identified.

The Elder Gnomes will alway retain ultimate authority over The Gnomes of New Hope, but the organizational structure accommodates other productions under the same defined structure. A parallel example would be this; The Nunc Licet Joint Venture, IMS Mgmt, and Nunc Licet Productions. This organization would be for the project "Nunc Licet" a stage play about Emanuel Swedenborg. Any other project would have the same organizational structure; The Alpha & Omega Joint Venture, IMS Mgmt, Alpha & Omega Productions. "I Am Alpha & Omega is my Mangum Opus. In all instances of project originating from Image of the Mind Studios, IMS retains Creative Control. The same would be the case for a project originating elsewhere.

This information is all outlined in greater detail in The Business Plan, but in a Gnutshell; The Board Positions in the Elder Gnomes require a buy-in. Each seat on the Board maintains 1M shares at one dollar per share. Shares in the Elder Gnomes belong to the Joint Venture as a whole and not to the person sitting on the Board. There is accommodation to recoup the buy-in after there is a stock split. If a Front Money investor's credentials match the need of any of the Board positions in any of the organizations; Elder Gnomes, IMS Mgmt, or the Production company, then there are accommodations for the transfer of the Front Money investment to that organization and Board position upon approval.

To put it plainly, this project needs to move out of my hands and into an organization of numerous people fulfilling an array of management, creative, production, and performance roles. This is the point of the plan briefly outlined above. I remain open to all other options, given that one realizes that the depth of implementation of the Business Plan will dictate the actions that must take place.

That's all for now. AG

IMS Product Gallery

The link above will take you to that page. I am returning to building that page somewhat, now that I am concentrating on the IMS Sales Office and Showroom at 1325 Industrial Boulevard in Southampton. I am no longer focusing on placing our products in the stores, although I will do so, but rather concentrating on setting up our wholesale operations within the studio and setting up a shopping cart. I you are reading this and work in sales, I am open discussion of sales representation for various products and such. My energy needs to stay focused on the studio environment. If you are a retailer and see something that interests you, send me an email to discuss it.

AG

Architectural Lighting Equipment

 Here is a link to some lighting equipment I have available for sale or trade. I will trade the equipment for Theatrical Lighting equipment. I need DMX dimmers and a board, 3.5/6" lekos, Source Fours, or a video projector.  Being that I am building "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" there are numerous other supplies I could use. There's an email link on that site.

https://ims-stuff-for-sale.blogspot.com/

Purchasing Book One

Here is a link to follow if you'd like to purchase copies of

Book One, an Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope

Architectural Lighting

I recently acquired the lighting equipment that was used to light the Bryn Athyn Cathedral for the June 19th celebration.

The Cathedral decided to install a permanent lighting system, because numerous occasions for lighting the Cathedral had begun to arrise and they wanted to eliminate the effort necessary to set up the equipment that had been in use and have control from a main switch.

So I bought the old equipment after the new system had been installed.

I am currently sorting and categorizing the equipment. I've separated it into Lots. Some of the equipment can be used in the studio for the sound stage, which I am in the process of designing and building.

Before I reconfigure the cables for use on my stage, I am going to offer the Lots for sale to other facilities which may like to illuminate their buildings for special occasions. I considered making the equipment available as a rental and doing the installations as a service, but that would take away from the work required for The Gnomes, so I'd rather sell the equipment, or trade it for the theatrical equipment I need for the sound stage.

I will post the photos when I can. If you think you might have a use for this equipment, contact me directly and I can send you some documentation as a PDF via email. AG

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

Thoughts on "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure"

As I have proclaimed numerous times, Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure is one of The Gnomic Tales that is part of The Gnomes of New Hope collection of Storybooks. The Gnomes of New Hope began life as a simple puppet show, a result of my working for The New Hope Arts Commission, serving as the Technical Director for The New Hope Performing Arts Festival. I performed this role for nine years, and during that time, I became frustrated designing, building and operating shows for a wide variety of people, some of which did not appreciate my efforts and others who did not understand what could, or not, be done, and still others who were demanding premadonnas. The whole gamut of circumstances were present, but what it added up to, was a desire to spend my energy setting up a show the way I thought it should be. A show that was simple and straight forward. A show that was innocent and good. A show that was for everyone. A show that was fantastical. A show that wasn't hard to understand, or too challenging, or religious, or political, or perverted, or hostile, or ugly in any way. A show that had potential to expand. A show that could become a film. A puppet show? A live action show? A stop-action film? An animated film? A show that had become a Project!

What started out simple has become complicated. Rats! What started out as a simple puppet show became a full blown musical theatre show and in order to build an audience for that show, it  became a series of Illustrated Storybooks. Which is where we stand. Almost ready to release the first of seven Storybooks to the public.

But that's not all, or even enough. In order to produce this show, a work space needed to be acquired, equipped, and set up to accommodate the personnel required. That is in the process of being refined. Image of the Mind Studios is in a 10k sq ft warehouse space with 40 years worth of effort to set up a functional studio. But again, that's not all, or enough!

The business management to effectuate this endeavor must be in place, along with sufficient funding to carry it through. This too is underway. I will not discuss that here or now. Those discussions are now reserved for the IMS Producing Partners blog.

So whatever needs to be done, will be done. How long will it take is another question. But as Gerald Schoenfeld said to me once, "you have to have your ducks in a row". And that's what we're doing.

Mostly the work that needed to be done to set this up, needed to be done by me. But that time is coming to an end. It's time to take it out of my hands and put it into a system of production that employs a wide array of other talents. To do that depends on production management and finance. That's where we stand in terms of the theatrical endeavor, but also in terms of distributing the published goods.

I will leave those discussions for another time and place.

That's all for now. AG

Recent post on IMS Producing Partners

Here is a discussion on Finance and Licensing as it pertains to the Ancillary Markets.

The Alpha & Omega Society

Here is a link to explore.

A Retreat Community

Vehicles

   Now that the Creative Content of The Gnomes of New Hope is locked into the publishing layout, other business can be attended to. Some of that business is getting the trucks back up and running.

1961 Corvair Rampside

   For over twenty years I operated my Corvair Forward Control, 95 Rampside as my primary work truck. I worked that truck like a dog and it served me very well indeed. I put nine engines and five trans-axles in it to keep it running over the years. Part of that was a result of experience, knowing that; after a certain time of operation, the best approach is to pull the power train and swap it out for another prepared one, leaving the old power train ready for bench inspection and repair. With an old truck like that (1961) it's best not to let the parts break in operation. That only results in more damage and expense, not to mention getting stranded.

   So, I am now preparing another engine for the Corvair truck. I built an engine years ago, thinking that one would be a long term engine, only to be faced with having been supplied with faulty rings by Clark's. I spent five grand building that engine and it only lasted a few months before the compression ring in piston number one broke and blew out the piston and wrecked the head. I'm rather uncertain about the demise of that engine, because one thing I did do was to modify the combustion chamber of the heads. I used a 102hp set of heads and altered the volume of the chamber by eliminating a block of aluminum that was positioned directly across from the spark plugs. I made the presumption that that block, being where it was, added to the head temperature, so I removed it. I did calculate the volume, using fluid and calibrated beakers, as best I could. But I'm still trepiditious about the results in terms of performance, because the rings failed before I could make a determination.

So now I'm using that block with a new set of stock pistons and stock 110 heads.

   It's funny, but after that engine crapped, an engine I spent five grand building, I put a junkyard engine from a car in and ran it for years with no trouble, until the rings finally gave out. Go figure.

   I'm looking forward to having that truck up and running again.

1962 International
            Loadstar CO 1600

   So years ago, I bought a Medium duty truck. I found the CO1600 and was smitten. I had been looking for another truck, one that was slightly heavier duty than the Corvair. I was looking at buying a Jeep Cab Over, a truck I always liked, since I was a kid. I think that is because I had a toy version of that truck. The Jeep I was looking to buy was rough. The guy was going to sell me two trucks, so I could make one. I was on the fence when I found the International Loadstar. It was a cab over and it looked like a grown-up version of the Corvair truck. It was a lot bigger than the Jeep. I guess the deciding factor was the propensity of the Jeep to flip forward because of the weight in the nose end. But also the Jeep shop was on the verge  of closing, which had some effect on the decision. So went with the Loadstar. It was a hulk that I had to rebuild, basically from the ground up. I rebuilt the cab doors and floor, put in a new engine, new tires, a rebuilt dumping stake bed, rebuilt braking system and numerous other things, including installing  a 14' 4k lb crane arm. The odometer in the truck includes a 100k digit and the odometer on this truck was under 50k original miles. So for a 70 year old truck it's practically new.

  Well, ironically, the Loadstar lasted about six months on the road before I blew the transmission. That was my own fault. I did not have a good understanding of how to operate the power take off or the creeper gear. First gear is a creeper and is not synchronized. The shifter in the Loadstar is a four speed on the column. The adjustments on the shifter and the hydraulic clutch are critical. I found that out the hard way. I wrecked first/reverse because the adjustments we're not right. I thought a little gear grinding wouldn't matter. I was wrong. Any gear grinding is not acceptable. It will result in damage. It took me six years to find another transmission. I think the reason for that is that; when the price of steel went up all the old trucks got scrapped, so these Cab Over Loadstars are increasingly rare, at least in the scrap yards.

  So now I have another transmission for the truck and I'm preparing it for installation.

  I have to say, I'm looking for another one, set up as a tractor to pull my semi trailers. I figure that a 35' trailer will be just about right for loading "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" into as a rental. So that's the direction I'm headed in.

Parade Float
   The other vehicle that is being worked on is a parade float. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to build the chassis of the parade float using a Corvair truck as the donor vehicle. The suspension and power-train are perfect for what I need to do. The real advantage here is that the power-train and rear suspension are a self-contained unit. That means the length of the chassis can be whatever distance is needed, since all the engine controls are via cables, particularly when using the automatic transmission.

  I'll discuss this project further elsewhere as it proceeds.

That's all for now. AG

Business Plan

Although there have not been too many posts on this blog lately, that doesn't mean things have not been busy. In fact, that indicates just how busy things have been.

Publishing:
The larger part of work has been on finalizing the publishing of the Storybooks of The Gnomes of New Hope. The initial focus was to plan to meet demand for a wide distribution of the books, so the publishing was being set up for that scenario. There have been a few delays in that plan, but the basic requirements for that level of distribution are in place. But now I have decided to pull back from that and focus on setting up in-house on demand publishing. The main issue there is inventory and the outlay required, across the board, for deep saturation. The outlay is just too high, the return is too delayed, and the balance of the books still need illustrations in order for the entire collection of books to be "immediately" available. Without the full collection available for distribution, as a collection, then I think deep saturation, or any attempt to achieve that, would be a foolish move. To do so may impair the market by inserting an incomplete product and risking alienating the audience. So on demand publishing, directed at a targeted audience, industry professionals and select individuals such as investors, is the best possible scenario, until such time as the entire collection is closer to being released (as a boxed set). As it stands now; three of the seven books are assembled and fully Illustrated, with only book one completely ready for press.

That being the case, Book One is being published and released on demand, as it is being used to prime the publishing systems; manufacturing, distribution, investment and pre-production for theatre and cinema.

The Business Plan
The blog for discussions on this subject is IMS Producing Partners, but essentially the Business Plan that is moving forward is as such - there are four organizations involved; The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture (the funding operation), IMS Management Incorporated (logistical management), The Gnomes of New Hope Productions (the producing organization) and Image of the Mind Studios (design and development). The implementation of these organizations is contingent upon no other organization stepping in to buy The Gnomes of New Hope franchise. So for further discussion on these subjects keep an eye out on the other blogs and pages on Facebook, most particularly IMS Producing Partners. If you are an industry professional or investor, the entire package of materials, including investment documents, will be available in an electronic package, presented in "Gnomes in a Gnutshell". Make a request via email for discussion on the subject.

AG

Recent posts on Facebook

Here's a link to the Facebook page.

IMS Publishing

Here is a link to the IMS Publishing page.

This page is within the Gnomes of New Hope blog.

The IMS Publishing page is the only page (in these blogs) that is set up so that discussions can occur, mostly for the purpose of answering directly relative questions on the subjects posted.

I rather prefer private email to; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

A Christmas Song

I thought I'd write a Christmas Song. Here are the lyrics:

"A Christmas Song"

Christmas is a time,
   When people come together.

Christmas is a time,
   Of changes, like the weather.

Christmas is a time,
   We work on our behavior.

Cause Christmas is a time,
    We sing praises to our Savior.

It's a special time indeed,
   For all people who are in need.

People we know,
   And people we don't.

People we see,
   And people we won't.

The ones who laugh,
   And the ones who cry.

The ones who live,
   And the ones who die.

At Christmas we bring,
   New life to our world.

We see joy,
   In every boy & every girl.

Special days and special ways,
   We look past our struggles
      to find.

We walk the path together,
  And so, we are no longer blind.

We reach out to each other,
   With happiness & joy we greet.

Wishing well with peace,
   To all we meet.

Yes we reach out at Christmas,
   We reach out to each other.

Trying to Love, each of us,
   As a sister and a brother.

For Christmas is a time,
   When people come together.

Yes Christmas is a time,
   To renew our life,
     A life of Love for our Savior.

AG

If anyone wants to write a melody line, let me know. I may do it in the future, but maybe not.

Parade Float and other production thoughts

Here's a link to thoughts posted on Facebook...

... and further thoughts on the subject.

I was originally thinking, primarily, in terms of the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, but now I realize that the Macy's Parade is also a major factor. So since the objective is to take "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" to Broadway, then the New York Parade needs to be one step down from a Broadway Premeire, meaning the Philadelphia parade would be one step up from the local parades, but one step down from New York.

I'm thinking that the basic presentation format will remain essentially the same for all levels, only the technology will improve as we move up the ladder.

I'm looking at basically three levels, almost parallel to a community model; local, county, state.

There are local parades in the surrounding communities, surrounding Regional Theatres. Possibly LORT D, but that would probably be a Second Class troupe, if it was a Road Show, as opposed to a Licensed show. In terms of a Licensed Show, my plan is to assemble the show into one semi-trailer and then rent that out, leaving casting etc to the producer. But those rentals will only take place in second or third-run (ie; Regional & Community). By that time the show will have it's audience by virtue of the published & merchandizing goods and the first & second class runs and the parade float may or may not be effective. By then I think parade activity will be fun (and advantageous) but not critical to building the audience.

I think the first stage of parade operations, addressing the local level will need to expand rapidly if it is followed (almost simultaneously) by the Premeire at The Bucks County Playhouse. No arrangements to use the playhouse have been made, using that space for the World Premeire is purely speculative. But the stage design is being altered fro 3D to 2D to accommodate the size of that stage. That's not to say there are not any 3D stage props, but the primary settings are being converted to flats and drops. Transporting large stage props is prohibitive at this stage of operations and I don't want 3D props to be part of the rental package, we can leave that up to the production company renting the materials. I'm not sure yet about costumes. They could be part of the package, maybe an option, although I want the show that goes out to be consistent, so costumes will probably be included.

But I diverge from the subject of parade activities.

Look for discussions on the Rental Packages. For now I'm setting up the trucking scenario, so Rental Packages are quite a ways off. I can only say that the set construction for the parade activity will cross over to preparations for the World Premiere and those materials, being non-union will be used in-house for cinema and ultimately converted over for use in the rental package, since those sets need to be reconstructed by union personal for Broadway.

That's all for now. I'm still engaged in publishing. The first book in the series is about to be released. AG

MOTU Mach Five

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/motu-machfive-3?amp

Here is a lengthy (older) review of the program I am getting ready to install for our work on the recording of the Gnomes of New Hope music. Until this time we had been using Reason, but I'm looking to switch to Mach Five. It's all very complicated, but I hope to be able to set up a dedicated work station.

I recently attempted to access Digital Performer on the Publisher thing workstation and realized rather quickly that the publishing requirements, for which the workstation has been set up to fullfill, are quite different than those for the music production. Changing the settings around leads to confusion and added difficulties, so separate work stations for audio, film,  publishing, and management is clearly the best approach.

I thought I'd post this review of Mach Five for the benefit of the audio technicians who are watching the blog for clarity about how things are proceeding and the tools we are using at the studio. I know we have had discussions about Pro Tools, but I made the decision to go with MOTU products, even though we do have Avid, Logic, and some others programs, like Reason, which are available to us. The learning curve is steep on all these programs, but the music for The Gnomes has been done using Digital Performer, and now I'm looking to switch the sampler to Mach Five. Part of the reason for sticking with DP is the potential application to animatronics. I've got enough of a grip on DP to use it for that purpose in addition to the music composition.

That's all for now. AG

Parade Float

I'm very interested in moving forward to configure the chassis for the parade float. I have a 1985 Dodge Ram 4WD pick-up truck, which I intend to strip down to the chassis. My thinking is to set the chassis up to operate via RC. For years I have been thinking about the design of a portable stage, for numerous purposes, but now I see those designs being applicable to the parade float. Although the primary intent is for The Gnomes of New Hope, the mobile stage can also serve other parade float customers on a rental basis. So that is the direction I'm planning on in that regard.

I have difficulty posting photos, when using my smartphone to make posts, but if I can, I'll post some photos as the work progresses.

Some music from "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

I found this post that I made on Facebook last year. It's worth checking out. We're getting closer to recording more vocal music. I expect to be doing "The Stone of Wisdom" soon. It's first on the list, after Book One is in distribution.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10210723867273526&id=1254627788

IMS Studio, work in general

Recent events have led me to work on refining the work environment at (what I call) Studio 1325.

With the impending approach of winter there is much preparation to the building and grounds.

I'm in the process of becoming the owner of the property, meaning my expenses will increase substantially.

That means that "The Gnomes of New Hope" needs to produce commensurate capital influx to support both the work environment and the expenditures required for general operations and the specifics of producing the assortment of end products we intend to create, a number of which are already "in-process".

One pending event is the relocation of my 1944 Star Trailerized Home. I acquired that years ago, thinking I might use it for location film work. I lived in it for nearly four years, before circumstances turned me into a condo dweller. During that time, I also began building my 1962 International CO1600 as a mobile workshop and to pull the trailer, while bringing the workshop to the location as well.

In fact, I had (and may still have) the opportunity to purchase up to four small RVs which were used as classrooms. I imagined renovating and equipping them into work vehicles (ie: camera truck, costume, props, production ofc) as rental units for location film work. But practically speaking, trailers are more efficient in terms of registrations and insurance.

In regard to the Star, I have intentions of doing a "ground up restoration". So I am preparing a space in the back lot for it, since I can no longer keep it where it is, and I need it in close proximity in order to work on it.

These preparations have led me to work on the CO1600. The truck needs a transmission (a Borg Warner T98-1P) which I have been trying to locate for years to no avail. So my approach it repairing the CO1600 will be to upgrade the engine to a 392 and use the T-34 that I do have. There will be a lot of work and adapting required, but the improvements will be well worth it. However, if I can find another T-98 1-P transmission that will make life easier for the time being.

So, working on the truck has led me to getting the snow plow painted and rigged up for it.

Last year I bought a 1985 Dodge Ram pick-up with a plow. The truck had been butched for parts and plow was too big for it, but it is exactly the right size for the CO1600. It'll be great, once I get it all working. I'll be looking to partner with someone who may want to use the plow truck during the winter months to develop a plowing business.

The '85 Dodge Ram is going to be stripped. If anyone needs body parts let me know, before I sell it for scrap. The chassis and power train are not for sale. I'm turning the chassis into the parade float/mobile stage. I'm going to see if I can rig the steering, braking and accelerator for RC (remote control). That only makes sense, if we use RC to control the animatronic puppets on the parade float. The parade float/mobile stage will be a rental unit.

So that's the direction things are taking, but for now the major efforts remain in publishing the Illustrated Storybooks.

The absolutely final revision of book one is "inches away" from being ready for press and subsequently distribution into the (international) marketplace. Here's hoping for the best.

That's all for now.

AG

RCK

A new approach to the ownership of the shop is being crafted, keeping it in the family. It is not clear yet how that will pan out, but thanks to the new economic environment, business is up. More later.

As it stands from my point of view, and my vote in that regard, I would like to see a greater focus on robotics. I am intending to move into animatronics with the puppet studio, so that may play a role. In any event, RCK is a manufacturing/CNC/fabricating shop on-site. Heavy fabrication (welding, large objects) is jobbed out, while the lighter work is done in-house. RCK has historically been a Swiss house working in 10ths. I think the very close tolerance work (2-10ths) burnishing and such, is less desirable but still possible.

So, anyone interested in robotics, with money to spend, get in touch with me.

AG

RC Kletzing Inc. (circa 1959)

Selling the Machine Shop

Above is a photo taken around 1959.

After over 60 years in operation, we no longer have any family members who are capable of running this business. So we are offering the family business for sale. (circumstances have changed somewhat, so urgent action is no longer needed, but we are open to possibilities)

Established in 1952 and still intact and operating, the decision to sell the business has been made, since there is no one in the family who wants to continue to manage the business, now that my father has moved to the Spiritual World.

Please pass this around. It must be sold as an ongoing business by the end of the year or it will go to auction.

Look for more photos to be posted, or I can send them via email.

Contact me by email;
Arthur Greisiger
image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

Or call the shop directly at (215)357-1788 and ask for John Greisiger

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6447548403890032640

IMS Management

Here is a link. I'm going to start addressing the Management Structure that I am working to implement. There is a business plan that addresses these subject in more detail and establishes some of the contract parameters for finance and management. I expect that as I find the time, I will transfer that information to IMS Producing Partners. Once again, I point out that blog is a member's only site, as it is designed to address issues that are if concern to our vested partners. All of this is developing and much of it takes place outside of the internet environment. Clearly, those vested partners who are serious have made the effort to communicate directly with me and have visited the studio. Some have contributed resources solely on my word, and for that I am thankful. To those of you who have been watching the progress and who have contributed, I want to assure you that we will not give up until we have made a decent profit and have paid you back for your contribution. Once again, you are welcome to visit the studio and see first hand how things are proceeding. I do hope to manage IMS Producing Partners, so that I can post a tour of the shop, but that needs to remain private , for obvious reasons.

So expect more discussions about management to be posted on the IMS Management blog.

The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture

The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure

   Although there are numerous subjects surrounding the Studio activities, which I could post here, I tend to be focused mostly on production activities for The Gnomes and thus, posting more frequently on that blog.

    One thing, however, if interest is the sculpting work that needs to be done. Elsa Acton sculpted our Constable Warren, but she has gone on to live in The Spiritual World. So now I need to set up and begin sculpting Ferny. I'm very fixed on having a Garden Gnome sculpture of Ferny reading and using that as a Point-of-Purchase Display item. I'll discuss all this more later, but for now, I'll try to post those images.

    I've found that the size and format of images needs to be specifically prepared for posting via a smartphone, so I may not have them right now, but I will begin to post more images after I set-up a file specifically designed to work with the phone.

AG

Posting on this blog

As you might see, I have been posting less than I used to, at least here. I've been quite busy building the studio and preparing The Gnomes of New Hope. There are a few subjects which are more relevant to thus blog, which I am beginning to focus on more. So you might see more posts here than you have lately, but as you can see from the previous post, there are events which affect the frequency of posting here. As it stands now, I use my smartphone to post and placing images via that method has not been terribly successful. I have been building a server for the production office and given the appropriate security, I may begin addressing the web from my studio. I have avoided that, because I did not want the distraction if having the internet in my workspace. I guess I'll explain that in another post.

AG

The Theatrical Development Centre

I just crafted a detailed post on this subject, only to have it disappear on me. I'm angry and frustrated by that, so maybe I'll come back to it, but I doubt it.

I feel like I've just just been intellectually raped, because I won't be able to generate those thoughts again easily. It's too bad because it was an excellent essay on producing theatre, really excellent... and valuble!

Let me just add this; if you are writing something in the digital environment, don't let yourself get carried away with your thoughts and forget to save frequently. Otherwise you too may end up angry and frustrated! I think I will change my method of composing for that very reason.

I really wish I could recover what I wrote. Oh well, I'll address this subject again after I do so independently of this blog.

AG

Posting activities

I have not been posting here on a regular basis. This is because I maintain a number of sites, including an Image of the Mind page on Facebook. All these sites require attention to keep them reasonably current. Another factor is that for some time now, all my postings have taken place from my smartphone rather than a workstation. I'm developing an in-house network and the complexities of doing that are, shall I say - more than I expected, but necessary.

In terms of IMS, the primary focus is refining the studio space. I have a massive amount of work in front of me, because in addition to making the space workable for the production goals, I am also engaged in restoring the building, which is a 20k sq ft industrial building. The building was a rental property, which was abused by one tenant after another, to the point where primary systems need to be replaced and structural maintenance needs to be implemented. Half of the building is used for RCKletzing, Inc., a CNC machine shop (215-357-1788), and the other half is IMS.

So in addition to production and publishing activities, I am engaged in setting up shop and restoring, refining and maintaining the property. It's a huge amount of workload. Fortunately, this project; The Gnomes of New Hope is written. The only work remaining for the package of Core Creative Materials to be complete is publishing layout & completion of the artwork for Volumes Two & Three, and scoring the music. The rest is all production work.

As you may have seen elsewhere, there is an extensive array of Ancillary Markets, but the foundational work of developing the prototypes for those markets is a separate issue. Although the overall success of the primary markets is tied to the ancillaries, they are not part of the Core Creative Materials in the context of completion of that package, rather those markets avail themselves of those materials.

That's all for this update. Check The Gnomes of New Hope blogs both here on eBlogger and on Facebook as well as Image of the Mind Studios on Facebook.

   The IMS Producing Partners page has not been updated for awhile, mainly because it is a subscription page set up for production management issues and because, for the time being, that information is best conveyed face to face, with the few partners involved in what we are doing.

AG

Biographical Essay

Here is a link to;

Career History of Arthur Greisiger

This is an earlier draft. It is part of The Business Plan for the Gnomes of New Hope.

I willl be replacing this with a newer version in the near future and will place it on the side bar.

AG

Posting on this site

* It was that; I would use this site, which I refer to as "The IMS Virtual Studio", for a good amount of thoughts on what has been going on, or going through my head.

* For some time now, my energy has been on The Gnomes of New Hope and assorted other blogs and forums that addressed that project.

* That does not mean I have abandoned this site, but it does mean that there has been a limited amount of time available for posting on the blogs.

* Work in the studio and setting up a production line for numerous products, as well as, a sales office and other related work has been quite consuming in terms of time.

* So if you search this blog you will find projects mentioned here that are, in all likelihood, in stasis awaiting other facilities, equipment, personnel or capital influx. It is only a delay in progress or a shift of priorities based on viability.

* If anything is of sufficient interest to you, I invite you to inquire via e-mail.

* I do expect to restructure this and other sites to refresh everything, once certain other goals are met. I am also building an internal server which   will allow more efficient information management.

* You can be certain that The Gnomes of New Hope is the priority and that anything discussed on that blog or on IMS Producing Partners is the most current thinking and/or actions being taken.

* I also post on Facebook and sometimes on Linkedin. Check the links above.

Theatre Operations

I might say "strangely enough" but it is not all that strange that my mind is leaning toward finding and acquiring a functional dark theatre to build "The Gnomes" (and other shows)

I'm facing some difficult, if not insurmountable challenges with the current studio location. Although the studio is well on it's way to being a very functional work space for production, manufacturing, and sales (and many other aspects of the operation) there are severely undesirable elements which are imposing themselves upon my sphere of creativity and functionality.

These factors existed before and I, generally, have been able to circumvent them to stay on my mission, but now the situation has become exacerbated to degree that is beyond unacceptable. I see little choice but to remove myself from the scenario. Doing this will take an extreme amount of cost and effort on my part.

So, if that is the case, the only practical choice is to set up shop in a theatre.

Of course, shop facilities are a priority, in addition to a backlot. Viewing such a change as a "final move" means to me; replacing my existing facility with nothing less than what I already have, but adding a functional stage with the capability to open the house for an audience.

This would essentially become "The Theatrical Development Centre". The cost of doing this is in the millions, so it is even more critical that "The Gnomes of New Hope" be funded or sold.

All that being said; I am in search of a theatre and the right deal that will make that happen.

Let me know if this is up your alley.

AG

Studio Operations

The Lion's-Share of the work on the Core Creative Materials is finished. I will need to shift back to Scoring the music, but the focus of attention needs to be, and has been, on refining the Studio Space to accommodate production personnel.

Thus far, I have considered the studio as a private working space, even though it is 10k sq ft, a pretty big private space. I like it that way, but considering that we are rapidly approaching the time when production activity will increase "on the floor" then my work area will need further refinement. I have to do it, but I will need a tool room, where the tools can be locked up. My habit is to keep the tools I am using at the work station, but if there is going to be more traffic on the floor, the I have to consider that.

The other very important objective is to Garner sufficient resources to pay back our current Front Money Investors, which is a substantial amount. A primary goal is to close out all the storage areas and bring those supplies back into the operation. As it stands now I have three semi-trailers and one shipping container in storage, which needs to be paid off and put back into active storage.

(In that regard; I'm looking for another International CO1600, 1700, or 1800 tractor to pull the semi-trailers)

I'm looking to pack the show into a single 35' semi, of which I have two. Of course, that size show will be for smaller venues.

Anyway, for those of you who have been patiently waiting to see enough action to believe there will be a return on your investment, I invite you to stop in the studio in Southampton to talk about things and look over our progress. Send me an email if you like, or just come in 9-5 m-f.

More later.  AG

Facebook postings

I have two pages on Facebook where I also post. One for "Image of the Mind Studios" and one for "The Gnomes of New Hope". So I suggest checking those pages also, because sometimes those posts are more recent. I think I put links to those pages on The Gnomes of New Hope blog or just do a search in Facebook. AG

New Concepts

   Revised 8/21/17

Well, interestingly enough, there have been some discussions lately about theme oriented theatre.

As you may know, there is an element in "The Gnomes of New Hope" called "Gnome Fest" and we are looking to produce an environmental theatre/festival project based on that part of the show.

So I am actively looking for producers who may like to be involved in this or any aspect of The Gnomes. We will need to have a team of producers working together on the numerous aspects of this show, because it is simply too big for any one producer to effectively handle.

NOTE; I am building "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture" as the funding mechanism for this and this JV requires a Board of Governing Executive Producers. There is a buy-in to that board, which consists of twelve board positions. I am the Chairman of the Board. Discussion will take place on IMS Producing Partners.

Years ago, I was developing the concept of Gnomeville, as a theme environment that people could visit, but I put that aside for various reasons. I still have some property in mind for that concept, but it is very expensive land and I'm not sure that can actually happen, because of zoning.

    But way back when... I wanted to have "Gnomeville" be a stop along the New Hope/Ivyland Railroad. There is some remote possiblity of that happening, but the land to do that (along the railroad) may not be available.

I only make mention of it in case there are interested parties who may like to work toward that goal.

That concept remains a potential, but is not a priority right now, as we still have to finish illustrating the story, distribute the e-Storybook, finalize the puppetry presentation, film that show, start working on the animated film, deal with merchandizing, mount the stage musical and plan a tour.

   So as you can see, we're pretty busy. And there's the business factors related to all that and facilities development as well.

   But another amazing circumstance with incredible potential has arisen. I am working on devising an outline for that concept and trying to align the forces to look seriously at this.

   Unfortunately I cannot reveal much of that concept here, only to say it is relative to a theme park and, not only it is huge, but it would benefit literally thousands of people and hundreds of businesses.

That is not, however, directly connected to the Gnomes, other than the possibility that "The Gnomes" may be presented within that environment.

   It is beyond the capabilities of Image of the Mind Studios as it now exists, but if we build the organization in accordance with the business plan laid out for The Gnomes, then implementing that concept might not be out of reach.

  That project would require some serious land development and management resources and abilities. So clearly, I would only provide the conceptual development, as that is my specialty.

   In that regard, I will begin discussing some of the business plan for IMS, in the most general terms, on IMS Producing Partners, just in case we can move that concept forward. It will be contingent upon investment in IMS.

   Just one point here regarding financing; I am still functioning under the Front Money Agreement and my minimum is $10k. I expect that minimum to go up as a result of increasing costs of numerous items, including the Legal fees for finalizing our contract structure, implementing the Joint Venture, and making a Closely Held Stock release. These subjects will be addressed in more detail on IMS Producing Partners or at the Studio.

Another focus for financing is Licensing & Options, if this applies contact me.

More later,

AG

Preparing the e-Storybook

    I thought I'd post this here instead of the Gnomes of New Hope or IMS Producing Partners pages.

 That's not as easy as it sounds! (preparing the e-Storybook) I thought the layout I had was sufficient, until I started adding links and dealing with file size & hiearchy.  I rather found out the hard way, that your file structure needs to accommodate a rational order which is discover-able both by the computer, the main file links and yourself as the craftsman assembling the document. Being PDF files, they are fixed and not easily changes if you find errors or make changes. Basically, you have to rebuild the files if that occurs. That means going through 3 or 4 programs and integrating numerous files to come out with one document. Gad Zooks!  But then there is the issue of Digital Rights Management, which affects not only the hiearchy, but also the capability to integrate music and video, all-the-while securing the files. Interestingly enough, this complicated structure, tends to add to the difficulty of copying the files, because they don't work if the file locations change. So that's a good thing.

So work is advancing nicely on finishing the e-Storybook from a technical standpoint. After that is all functioning properly, then we will address the remaining artwork for the books.

In that regard, I am thinking that I will license certain aspects of the project, maybe the television series and/or film/theme parks presentation(s). I expect that doing this will raise the funds required for the finishing artwork. I know all of this sounds obscure to people who have no idea what this story really is, but preservation of the product lines is critical to the success of this project, and revelation of the details of the stories is reserved for Industry Professionals and investors in the project. I have a huge amount of time and money invested in this project and knowing the extent of the markets for the items in the product line, I simply cannot reveal the essence of this project to the public or any individuals who are not vested or legally bound & committed to the classified nature of the project by providing the Restrictive Covenant Agreement. I can, however provide progress reports and other items related to production activity, which, as you see, I am doing.

It has become clear to me that attempting to advance with production, or even pre-production activities is inadvisable without, at the very least, finalizing the functionality of the e-Storybook to the point where it can absolutely be distributed at the retail level. We are set up for manufacturing the product line "Gnomes in a Gnutshell" and I am working on refining some of the tooling required for packaging. Unless I have orders for fifty or a hundred thousand units, with a short delivery time, I expect to produce the product lines in house. But even then, assembly and shipping will take place from Image of the Mind Studios in Southampton. The one thing I am firm on is that this product line is to be produced and manufactured in America. There are a couple of reasons for that, not the least of which is inventory control, but I won't go into that now.\

I have to say I am very impressed with the e-Storybook. That is not only because I have written and produced it, but, truth be told, it looks really great! I hope it has the desired effect on the audience. There are samples posted her and on other pages, so you can look see what it looks like by searching around these pages.

You can get to me by email, or stop by the studio.

Well, that's all for now. AG

Posting from a smartphone

I have attempted numerous times to post updates from my smartphone. It is strange that the post from a workstation vs a mobile devise seem to be different. I am posting this more as a test to myself than anything else, so there is any substantial content to this post. If I can figure this thing out, I may post more.

I have to say that posts to Facebook via this smartphone do seem to work, so keep an eye on that page. I did post the Preface from Book One of The Gnomes of New Hope there. It gives a good overview, although it's nothing that hasn't been said before in other posts. It's just consolidated and the fact that it is published in the hard copy of the Gnome-sized Edition rather confirms the objective plans to be more solid.

Hopefully this mobile post will work. AG

p.s it does appear to work. Now I need to check it from a work station make sure it's the same.

AG Bio

If the link in the header does not work for you, persons wishing to see the Biography posted on IMS Producing Partners will need to contact me via email at image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail so I can add you to the list or send it to you directly. The IMS Producing Partners blog was set up to be a secure blog, set up for our investors and producing partners so that the information is not available to the general public and we can use that blog to manage the business of The Gnomes of New Hope on a secure classified basis. I'm still working on that. AG

Puppetry

I thought I'd post some images of the puppetry which is being worked on now.

These three Dragon heads are part of a forty foot dragon which is part of
 The June 19th Pageant at Bryn Athyn Cathedral.
It is the Seven Headed Dragon referred to in the Book of Revelations.
It takes ten puppeteers to operate.

These three heads are in my shop, in order that I can modify them
to accommodate the requirement for them to spew water out of their mouths.
We achieve this using silk to represent water.

Here, the covers, which end up looking like a tongue, create a stowage space for the silk.
These are in process, and the paper mache, formed over an aluminum foil & wire frame, is drying in the sun.

Here is the spring tube mechanism that has replaced the original rubber band design.
With this modification, the jaw is controlled by a spring attached to cables on each side,
thus leaving the mouth open to accommodate the silk.
The cable area is reinforced.

Then the roof of the mouth is closed up, new paper mache applied and then repainted.

            

Here the end of the  tongue is being shaped to create an opening for the forked tongue and silk.
the water is pulled out by children who are attired to represent angels

This shows the tongue shaped before painting

There are many more images of both the dragon and the performances, but I will leave that for another time. I just wanted to post something other than a droning on about the Gnomes of New Hope.

AG

                 

June 4th update

A quick report -  Work on the Gnomes has stopped for the next two weeks, although I came up with another product line and have produced a flyer for that item. I'll post it here or on the Gnomes Blog in the future.

For now I am busy building puppets for the June 19th Pageant at The Bryn Athyn Cathedral. We have a 40 ft Seven-headed Dragon which is described in Revelations 20. This Pageant is in celebration of the New Church and I am involved as a performer as well as having become the Dragon Master. This means this I am in charge of making sure the Dragon is in good shape and operable for the pageant. I am making modifications to the design of the heads to accommodate the river of water that pours out of the dragon's mouth. You can read Revelations 20 to get the drift of the pageant... or vist Bryn Athyn Cathedral on June 19th at around 7pm (when the pageant begins). From around 4pm on there is a community picnic on the grounds.

That's all for now. AG

Shift of Attention

Well, the music scoring has worked out pretty well. I was dealing with time signatures and dynamics, even though I thought I would leave that until later, but really it's best to do that before printing out a hard copy draft. I can print a draft to PDF because that doesn't burn up paper and ink though.

So now the shift for the next week or two is on puppetry. I picked up a job modifying a dragon puppet that I seem to be in charge of. A few years back we built a 40 foot, seven headed dragon for a pageant at church. It's very cool and it take ten people to operate. On June 19th The New Church celebrates it's founding with a pageant depicting Revelations 20. So we have a seven headed dragon for that. I am modifying two more heads to accommodate having water spew out of the mouths of three of the heads. One was done two years ago and another two are now being done. So I'm busy with that for the time being.

In regard to the Gnomes, I am beginning to produce more books and I anticipate that I will release the first book (of seven), certainly to the industry, but possibly to the public. I will likely use that book to raise the funds to continue with the remaining artwork for the rest of the books.  I did not want to release any of the books until the full collection was completed, but I may have no choice. If luck turns in our direction, then maybe I can acquire the funding for the artwork without having to release any of the series. I certainly think it would be far better to release the full collection at the same time, right up. But we'll see what happens. For now I am looking into putting a printing press into the shop so we can publish on demand and bind the books as we need them. Besides the application to publishing the books, this would help for other materials as well. I have printing capabilities, but we need to bring the cost of printing down to a marketable level. So far that is not the case. Even though I was hot on the trail of publishing the books, when it became clear that I needed to publish the sheet music before we could advance, I shifted over to that. Now I need to look at all that again.

I am also considering developing a marketing strategy for internal activities pertinent to the industry and I believe that implementing that before releasing the product is most likely the best approach, but in addition to that I am building a Raid Array for Final Cut Studio and with that considering working with Poser to create some basic CG animations.  I have been rearranging the shop space with the intention of getting the green screen up and running, so these are all considerations. Truthfully however, I'd rather cut a good deal that would buy me some time to work on shop issues, while seeing the production activities advance. But that another issue.

That's all for now. AG

OK, here's an old model I made years ago. I was trying to conceptualize the basic idea so I made little Gnomes out of clay and the set for The Squirrel's Nest scene. The model sets are made out of paper mache and what you see here represents the upper branches of Constable Warren's Tree, where the Gnomes hold their town meetings. This was made before the shape of the show was really formed and before we created the personalities of the characters.  You can see from the artwork provided elsewhere herein, that the characters have become very distinct. These Gnomes were rather generic and we even crated a doll of this style of Gnome. But this design was rejected because everything was too androgynous. I thought it would be nice to include a photo and this is the only one I have available at the moment.

Scoring the Music

I just posted on The Gnomes of New Hope blog thinking I was posting on this blog. Check that post out. Basically I have been busy publishing the score for The Gnomes of New Hope.

The Industry Review Package, the Libretto, and the Storybook DVDs are finished being set up and only await the Music Score being completed before they can be distributed. Anyone wanting to review these materials can do so by paying a visit to the studio and having a sit down conversation with me. I will not be indiscriminately distributing these materials, but I am still looking for an agent to represent this show. As I mentioned before, everything needs to take place out of my Studio in Southampton. I am just so busy that I simply cannot get away. The shop facility is large enough to meet the production needs, so unless someone comes up with a better plan, production will take place centered out of IMS Studio 1325. But I am open to any proposals, so long they are legit, square & fair. and put the money on my table, to be rather blunt.

I do try to keep posting on all the sites that relate to these matters, so if you find one is not current, check one of the others. That's all for now. AG

New Postings

I find that I have some folks looking at the Image of the Mind Studios page on Facebook. So I have tried to post there to keep it going. What this means is that each blog/page that I post on ends up having somewhat different conversations on equally different subjects. Of course most all of what I am posting relates to The Gnomes of New Hope or Image of the Mind Studios. So I suggest you look for that if you care to. I will have to rely on the search engines to get you there because I have yet to have set up a link to that page. It may be n the header here, but I'm not sure. I will try to get a link there when I can. It's easy to loose track of all this stuff. (Actually there is a link in the header!)

For the most part I am busy Scoring the music for the Gnomes, which basically involves literally thousands of pages. I am also working to improve the IMS Producing Partners page and post most often on The Gnomes of New Hope page.

That's all for now. AG

Stuff For Sale

Can't seem to get links working, so here is the page for 

Stuff For Sale

this is not for IMS product sales, its for horse trading.

Divergence

Rafe and I are starting to work on this film again, after many years of no activity. Since I am setting up the film/video editing bench again, I thought it might be a good idea to finish the eight films I have laying around which never got finished. Here's a .mov file of the "Divergence" PowerPoint Exhibition... if it posts, it is a rather large file which I am working to compress.

Continuing Production efforts for "Nunc Licet" : link to script

"Nunc Licet" was presented with some success at

The 2011 World Assembly of The New Church

For the advancement of the play, I offer the most recent edition of 

entire script of Nunc Licet for your review.

An assessment of the presentation at the Assembly; 

During the Assembly, we drastically edited the script reducing the size and eliminating much of the subplot elements in order to fit it into the one hour time frame. We felt that since we were addressing a New Church audience, that certain points in the play did not need to be dealt with, since most of our audience already had a foundational knowledge of who Swedenborg was.  In addition we were limited in our rehearsal time and production values,  so a significant number of subplot elements were removed.  I was not too please about needing to do this, but it had to be done.  You will note that the script provided here for your review has all of the staging instructions included. When I removed the assorted descriptions, instructions and the directions to the actors, leaving only the lines to be spoken, the script is reduced to 126 pages (with some of that material removed simply by crossing it out bringing it down close to 100 pages double spaced).  So here is the unedited script for your review.

Please use the search function above to locate other posting on the subject.

I do expect that we will present another reading in the beginning of 2012.

If you are a producing organization and would like to consider mounting this production as a reading or a full production, please do feel free to contact me in that regard. 

I am removing the postings which refer to the production efforts for the readings that have taken place. If you need that information let me know. I expect to move it to the "Nunc Licet" Archive.

 Nunc Licet... a stage play

 Download a READ ONLY copy of the full script

On-line Synopsis of Nunc Licet
Slightly different than that provided in the script

Purchase a Printed Hard Copy or CD of the Script

This is a limited production custom order item.

Most Recent Thoughts on the Blogs

I've decided to print out all the blogs and revert them to draft. Basically that means that I will be eliminating all the older posts and bringing everything up to date. Since most of the materials for "The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach & Zebby's Adventure " have advanced enough to move out of Development, it seems counter productive to keep the Development Notes posted. This Site represents, what I call - "The IMS Virtual Studio" which essentially is focused more on Image of the Mind Studios than on any particular project. So I think it is time to purge it of any dialogue that pertains to projects that either have fallen into stasis (for one reason or another) or have been discontinued.  The primary focus of attention for IMS is building the organization structure, on the premise that an expansion of operations is imminent. Clearly, the advancement of The Gnomes involves an infusion of resources to IMS, so I expect some kind of expansion or advancement of the goals which have been discussed in the past.

The most significant goal, that has been lingering for years, is the establishment of a Retreat Environment. In terms of theatre, that is part of The Theatrical Development Centre. But that retreat environment also has the objective of being a Spiritual Retreat for The Alpha & Omega Society. What progress may occur on that front is not clear, but the business structure for the Gnomes of New Hope has accommodation for supporting that project.

You may like to watch the blog for The Gnomes of New Hope, as I often post thoughts there more frequently.

In regard to the progress on that front - the Industry Review Package is almost ready for distribution to Industry Professionals and Investors. This package will require submission of a signed Restrictive Covenant Agreement, which is self explanatory. I will try to post that agreement here but you can send me an email requesting that agreement if you are part of an organization whose activity is relative to the project as it is presented on the web page. I will also need confirmation of your position and authority in that regard. I may post some of the proposal package on the web as a secured site requiring a password if it seems appropriate for me to do so.

In terms of producing The Gnomes of New Hope, my primary goal is to raise $50K to be used for that additional artwork needed to complete the Illustrated Storybook. We still need 342 illustrations to complete all seven books. Even though the Libretto and the Music composition is finished, nothing can happen until we finish the illustrations for the Storybook. I will not go into the reasons for that, but if you are a publishing, theatre, or film professional who wants to talk about involvement, investment, licensing, or optioning the project, you ar welcome to leave a message on my phone at 215-292-9787. I don't answer unknown numbers, so you will need to leave a message.

Things are ready to pop on this. I am constructing the puppets for the stop action animated film and moving forward with that aspect of the project. IMS has a 10K sq ft shop space with two stage areas which are being prepared to construct a number of scenic components, including the parade float. I am progressing in-house as much as possible, but still have the desire to involve larger Studios with more resources than IMS as partners in this project. But anyway you look at it, progression will need to conform to the objectives and guidelines that have been developed for this project. basically that means that all work to complete the development and designs will take place in IMS as the Developmental Facility. Details and variations on that will taken place in direct communications contingent upon the level of investment and/or whether or not a party Board of Directors. In that regard, the Board of Directors means the Board of "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture". Sitting on the nine-member board requires a buy-in at the rate of $1 per share. Each Board Position holds 1M shares, which belong to the Joint Venture, with recoupment and stock-split terms. There is also a Front Money Agreement which has a return of 300%,for those Industry Professional who understand the other intricacies of a project of this nature.  That is just a taste of the elements included in the Production Management and Business Plan for this project. I am hesitant to post too much of the details oin the web, but I know there a lot of folks watching the progress of this project. I intend and plan on posting the details on The Producing Partners site, which is a membership only site. That site is not fully developed at this point, but it will be the method by That's we communicate with out Vested Producing Partners. If you are serious about getting involved, do leave me a message at the number given above.

That's all for now. AG

YouTube

I found that the post of "Never Been So Near" below was usurped by YouTube and replaced with a political message about President Obama. I do not approve of this and I avoid any advertising whatsoever on this blog. If you find advertising or political messages here, they were not place there by me. The only purpose of this blog is to promote Image of the Mind Studios and the modus operandi stated above and most significantly at this time "The Gnomes of New Hope" and related business in that regard. AG

S.1a Never Been So Near

Here's a new copy of this animation. I brought it in from the IMS YouTube page, 

as the one previously posted here got erased since it was lower resolution.

Status Report:

    I have a limited amount of time to post and my computer crashed on me when I was writing this update.  Please go over to The Gnomes of New Hope for an Update which was just posted.

  Briefly - I am focusing primarily on the Illustrated e-Storybook, which is taking a lot of time and effort, other than that, the focus of attention is on building the studio facility and animatronic puppetry. We are beginning to return to work on the music and preparing to record another lyrical song "The Stone of Wisdom".  Preproduction packaging materials for the industry are a priority and release of the Illustrated e-Storybook  will likely be delayed until all three volumes are complete. This for marketing purposes. 7/11/16 I've altered the date of this post to bring it to the top. I recently looked at this again and it delighted me. I'd like to get busy working on the real animations. AG

Hello again

Well, I've been off-line for almost two years with only an occasional touching base. The reason does not matter, but the advantage has been that I could focus totally on the work of refining the studio space and producing the prototype materials for "The Gnomes of New Hope". Many things have happened, which I need to report on and I hope to be doing that in the future. Suffice it to say that the books and product lines are on the brink of being released to the public and the Business Plan is almost ready to release to Industry Professionals. Any way you look at it, I intend to remain in the studio working on these materials, designing the shows, building sets and such. I expect partners or participants to come to me. I will make what effort I can but, I have too much to do to go out on the road. If you care to participate in any degree, you will have to make yourself known to me by contacting me via mail or visiting the shop. So basically all activities are focused on Bucks County PA and all construction will be taking place in Southampton. Anyone with another workable plan for distributing this on an international scale will need to make a proposal, as the work required of me at this point has me completely occupied with an unbelievably huge number of production matters. That's all for now. AG

4/3/16 Update

Well, I have not been very attentive to this blog for awhile. My focus of attention has been the work of setting up the studio, sound stage, art and sales departments. Work is continuing, albeit slowly, on the puppetry for The Gnomes of New Hope. Other projects are also underway, but generally the work of refining the studio operations has been a priority. As you may see from looking at The Gnomes of New Hope blog, IMS Publishing and time studies for the assembly line have also been a priority. The Business Plan for the overall operation is pretty far along and some of those aspects have been mentioned here. I am taking the position that all activities will be taking place out of the Southampton facility, so anyone interested in sales or production, as mentioned herein will need to be visiting the studio to advance that cause. I do not expect to be hitting the road with this anytime soon and the focus of making any presentations will be strictly limited to Bucks county Pennsylvania, Bryn Athyn, PA and Mercer County, NJ. Philadelphia and Allentown will follow after a successful presentation as mentioned. In the meanwhile I will be focusing on cinema and television working with puppetry and stop action animation out of our studio. Classic animation may also be taking place. Continued development of numerous product lines is ongoing and those items will be licensed, again out of our Southampton Studio known as Studio 1325. Any interest in those items will need to be initiated by the interested party at our location. I will not be soliciting these materials any where other than here on the internet because my time and energy is in such complete demand for the items that are underway, that I simply cannot leave the studio for anything other than activities which are taking place here and in the general vicinity. This may change with sufficient funding to allow more freedom in that regard, which of course, I am opened to. I am sorry that I cannot post more often, or provide more detailed reports but, I am quite busy with the matters at hand, which demand my attention, including rebuilding equipment and setting up both a metal and wood-working fabricating operation. I invite your inquiry and recommend hard copy mailed to Image of the Mind Studios 1325 Industrial Boulevard, Southampton Pa 18966. At this time I am avoiding email for various reasons. If you have my phone number, give me a call. AG

Business Plan

The layout for the Business plan includes "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture" formed on the basis of a Governing Board of Executive Producers. The project has been valued at fourteen million shares, half of which is to be assigned to the Joint Venture for funding the operation. Each of the seven board members must be vested. The second organization is IMS Management Incorporated, which will be funded by The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. Within IMS Mgmt Inc will be "The Gnomes of New Hope Productions" which will be entirely managed by IMS Mgmt Inc. All rights to the project will be resident with The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, with the management being entirely resident with IMS Mgmt Inc. All rights to every market, including all ancillary markets will be present in "The Gnomes of New Hope Productions" but term licensing will exist. There will be stock issues and possible Limited Partnership Agreements. Current funding is implemented using Front Money and this will continue until the Joint venture is fully vested with all board members. There will be an expected stock split because the buy-in is for the rights only and not operating funds. If you are a potential participant, make inquiry via a hard copy letter sent to the studio address- Image of the Mind Studios, 1325 Industrial Boulevard, Southampton, Pennsylvania 18966 materials will be made available. AG

Studio operations

I've been busy for the last few months, refining the studio environment and constructing a new business plan, as it pertains to the operations of The Gnomes of New Hope. After having finished the bulk of the creative materials for The Gnomes of New Hope, I am refining the studio environment, so that we can enter more actively into the production process. Part of that is upgrading the building services to restore the building after it served as a rental facility. The previous tenants imposed a great deal of damage to the building, which I need to straighten out. That means rewiring the electrics & lighting, as well as, rebuilding the plumbing systems, at the very least. There are other damages which need to be corrected as well. So this is the focus of attention. In addition to that I am putting a new roof on the 2oK sq ft building. Part of that is in preparation of future solar power installations. So in addition to that work, there is also the work of setting up manufacturing capabilities for the numerous product lines. Since I have a background in manufacturing, this is easy for me, with the exception of having sufficient resources to move forward rapidly with this. Today I came up with a variation of the previous plan for a green screen, which should increase the capabilities in that regard. My plans for wood and metal working shops has changed a bit, so I'm doing some rethinking on the layout. But anyway you look at it, there is a lot to do and focusing on developing the IMS facility is the priority. As I mention in the business plan, IMS is not intending on being a service agency and all the facilities are being structured to service The Gnomes of New Hope and other properties owned by IMS. Check out the Gnomes of New Hope blog for some other thoughts on these subjects. Other areas of attention are equipment repairs and preparations to consolidate supplies and equipment that are currently stored in remote locations. And of course, there are the preparations for releasing "The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure" to the public. Our work on illustrations needs to continue and I an rearranging the art department with the intention of beginning the work required for animations. The molds for Constable Warren are completed and I am about to construct a cradle nest that will allow reproduction of that sculpture on a ongoing basis. We are needing to sculpt the characters in a smaller edition and anticipate producing a collection of those smaller Gnomes. That leads me to mention that we have located a supplier for cloth goods and are preparing to produce a run of dolls with a special twist. I am still intending to move forward with the food products and anticipate making some molds for a few of those items. That includes a mug to go with the Gnome Gnog. So clearly many things are moving forward, mostly those items which pertain to refining the facility and our production capabilities. There is plenty to talk about, but that will have to wait. That's all for now. AG

IMS Publishing

My focus of attention is on setting up IMS Publishing and I am concentrating on the Industry Package of The Gnomes of New Hope this involves setting up a production line for manufacturing the retail products. So that being said, I do not have much time to post here. I am still working on building puppets and setting up the stage facility. Take a look at the Gnome blog. If you would like to discuss this project, I advise you to visit the studio, as I cannot easily pull myself away from the work I have in front of me. I prefer to do business face to face so that's were things stand for the time being. Sorry for being so brief. That's all for now. AG

Audio book update and other subjects

Well, I've been busy preparing the industry package for The Gnomes of New Hope. It all looks great! But what that means is that I have VERY little time to be online. So on occasion I can check in here and make some kind of update. Just so you know that things are progressing, even if you don't see an update here.

The primary activities that are happening are refinement of the materials and projects mentioned here and setting up a production line for making those materials. My focus of attention remains with raising the necessary funds to complete this work, through licensing, options and production partnerships and to acquire the support needed for the facilities.

Use; image.of.the.mind.studios@g mail,  if you can't send a letter or visit the studio. If you know where the studio is, you are welcome to pay a visit to see what we are working on. Eventually I may post a video tour, but I will be providing that to partners on a request basis.

 I'm not able to get away, because I have so much work to do. So if you want to be involved, discussions will need to take place from my location, unless your funding makes it possible for me to come to your location for however long is required.  Sorry about that but I'm swamped. If there is the possibility of moving toward the Joint Venture Agreement, then we will be setting that up through our agents and legal team. In that instance a hard copy letter is best.

I am working toward setting up video conferencing/Skype but that is not up and running yet. Anything along these lines is contingent upon sufficient funds being committed. In that regard, Front Money is the best approach at this point, but with that investment the investor will get the right of first refusal to negotiate terms, with a limited time frame, depending upon the amount of Front Money provided. Options and licensing are also a possibility if Front Money is not desirable, but a 300% return is noting to shake a fist at. But realize that my Front Money is capped at 250k, for the time being.

I will make attempts to keep these posts coming, but other activities are interfering with the ability to do that. Significant funding will rectify those issues. I am looking to license assorted markets, most significantly the Hard Copy Illustrated Storybook, but also the figurines, games and possibly puzzles & other assorted ephemera. Contact me in that regard.

We do intend on producing a rental puppet show, so if you are into that let me know, because I certainly would be looking for a partner in that market. Of course, that market is also tied to television and the concert presentation, but also there may be a feature film option for that arena, as long as it does not encroach on the CG Animation Project. CG Animation is open at this point but once I set up an animation studio I will not be wanting to license that market, unless the numbers are irresistible.

Also I am looking to market Gnome Gnog and am looking to enter into discussions with a food supplier and/or a brewery. Candy items are available for further development, but all of this needs to take place on a national scale.

All these markets are still unencumbered, because I am busy with other pre-production activities, but once I finish that this may not be the case.

We are needing to fund the animation activities and the other  illustration work and need to gather at least 50k for that, so the licensing will need to cover that. Further, I need to gather significant funds to support the studio operations and facilities. Depending on the agreement, that might involve some connection to the future growth of IMS, since I expect that my role in that will probably come to an end within 15 years, because I will be getting on in age. So a corporate restructuring is in the future there.

Also there have been discussions about selling all rights to the Gnomes across the board, so that is on the table, if anyone else is interested in that subjet.

That's all for now. AG

Communications

As I have said on the Gnomes of New Hope blog,
   I expect to be discontinuing the services of Verizon due to a billing dispute.

Henceforth it is advisable to use these contact points;
     email: image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com, imagemindag@aol.com

       mail:  Image of the Mind Studios
                 1325 Industrial Boulevard, Southampton, Pennsylvania 18966

I'm sorry for the inconvenience. AG