Contracts

Well, since things are advancing on numerous fronts, I've decided it was appropriate to redress some of the contract materials. I am updating the Front Money Agreement. To those of you who already have contributed under the Front Money Agreement, have no fear, the terms remain the same. I am expanding the definitions and linking the other pertinent documents more closely and specifically. The reason is that I am speaking to some investors who are talking larger numbers than we have dealt with in the past. This is a good thing and mainly because I am seeking to raise the funds needed to complete the artwork for the remaining books in the series. Clearly, the previous method of gathering the artwork for the illustrations has worked well, but now I am more interested in combining those efforts with animation.

I've come to conclude that moving to animate each of the songs in the show is a very good and productive thing to do. As much as I'd like to see a feature length animated film, it seems very apparent that doing each of the songs will lead into having a body of work, basically all the songs, which can be marketed individually. I guess that it is reasonable to say that is more than 35 songs, given that the total amount of songs is 70. As I've said before, that number includes backdrops, scene transitions and other embellishments.

So clearly, at this point I need to raise some serious bucks, but... I also need to have the Production Management Guidelines in place. Those Guidelines are in the works, because they also involve an Operating Manual for each of the organizations which are part of the Business Plan. Basically four autonomous, yet integrally linked business organizations. I've mentioned that in another post somewhere below and I'm not going to discuss that here, since this is part of the outline available to our investors and is really part of internal operations. At this point I don't think it is appropriate to revel those plans to the general public via the internet. Maybe that will change after I make 20 million, HA!

So, another aspect of this project is producing a "Stop Action" film. I was into doing that in college and my fourth film was stop action, so I am advancing toward gathering the resources to do that version of the film. From my point of view, I can do all that in my own studio. I have all the necessary equipment and experience. The only arenas that I need to advance in this regard are model making and puppetry. I have a puppet shop and have been doing model making as it pertains to my design prototypes. So I don't think it will be much of a stretch. The only real issue is the number of miniature sets that I will need to make. So I guess I am thinking thru the miniature sets in terms of constructing them as if they were in fact full sized sets. I suppose that will serve the full sized stage production well.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am interested in the parade floats as well. Gnome Fest comes into play there as well as the sets for the Little Theatre Productions. I'm not focusing much on those areas right now because the contract end of the Business Plan needs to be in place first.

Anyway, that's an update for now. Gotta get those bucks flowing in if we intend to move forward at a nice pace and hire people. So if you're interested in getting paid to do this, spread the word. I don't plan on quitting at this until I'm dead, which at this rate could be tomorrow!

That's all for now. AG

Gnome Fest

One part of The Gnomes of New Hope is "Gnome Fest". That is a component in the story, but it is also a Festival Production that we are developing as part of our presentation of the Core Materials. This Festival involves Vendor Booths and schedules staging events, all centered around the fantasy cultures of The Gnomes of New Hope, The Elves of Holicong, The Sprites of the Forest, The Strong & Beautiful Twin Brothers, The Elder Gnome and other stories of The Gnomic Tales created by Image of the Mind Studios but also all those other stories and characters created by anyone else who participates in Gnome Fest.

So with that in mind, if you care to be involved in helping to produce Gnome Fest, or care to be involved when the Festival takes shape, do let me know.

Just as a way of conveying some of what Gnome Fest will offer - if you do a search for The Meadow Amphitheater, you will find the stage we used when we were doing Shakespeare in the Park. It is my intention to design the parade float for the Gnomes of New Hope to be able to expand into a remote stage, which will be used for Gnome Fest. It is very likely that Gnome Fest will travel, since the apex of Gnome Fest is a presentation of the Stage Musical and/or the puppet show.

Along those lines, I'd like to say that the core materials are nearing completion and we are beginning to move toward production. Some finance activities are taking place and we are hoping that more resources will become available to us. There are a number of very viable product lines which are advancing and developing nicely. Those subjects cannot be discussed here, for the obvious reason that it is important to keep these activities, and the results of that work secure, and in the hands of our partners, but it is encouraging to see these aspects of the project falling into place. I do reiterate that specific advancement in these arenas need to be taking place out of Image of the Mind Studios at our Southampton location.

Once again I encourage inquiry by interested parties. An email will eventuality get answered, those of you who have my phone number can call and be sure to leave a message if you don't get thru, those of you who know where the studio is, stop by to talk. I am not going to post any further information here, because any further communication by parties I do not know will need to take place thru an agency. A few of the majors know where to find me. Sorry, but I can't make it any easier than that, I'm pretty busy. That's all. Thanks for watching what's going on. AG

Other thoughts

Conversations about the magnitude of this project have led me to decide that focusing on the Production Work Schedule is probably the most productive thing to do right now, in terms of Production Management. So with that in mind I will be identifying the progression of activities and setting criteria for prioritization. This will inevitably lead us into the budget structure followed by the Production Breakdown. So generally, those Production Management activities will be advancing. In terms of the Garden Gnomes, I'm most interested in getting busy sculpting more of the collection, so I am setting up that department in the studio. Well, those are some thoughts that haunted me last night. That's all for now. AG

Current Focus of Attention

As an effort to create the Digital Libretto I have been integrating the Score and MP3s of the music. I've put the Lead Sheets, Score and MIDI Orchestral Versions of the music into the Libretto and I will be shifting to do the same to the e-Storybook as well. It is a phenomenal advancement in the presentation materials. All of these materials are available for review to Industry Professionals and Investors with the submission of a Restrictive Covenant Agreement.

Also, the Garden Gnome project is picking up speed because, frankly, I put the Constable Warren Garden Gnome in my Atrium and I am very excited about that. So we are also discussing creating a Garden Gnome Cyclorama of each scene. This would be an outdoor walk thru Garden Presentation and I do expect that will lead into the Animatronic project and also the Gnome Fest Project. Both of these efforts are connected to the Little Theatre and Festival presentations. So I am working more in those directions, while remembering that publishing and distributing the seven book set is key to the overall success of the project in the retail markets. Some further work on the details of producing the Parade Float has also taken place as well, as the set components for that arena will cross over into the Little Theatre.

I would reiterate that the magnitude of this project is most definitely best suited for a large organization capable of implementing numerous complex markets simultaneously and with that in mind, I am limiting my efforts to the development activities of those numerous markets rather than making any attempts to implement presentation or distribution. As I have said, preservation of the overall value is key and I remain open to discussion on the subject. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am interested if filling the Board of Executive Producer positions for the Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. This requires a buy-in of the 1M shares per board Position at $1 per share. Discussions on this project indicate that the utilmate market could easily rise to 1B.

That being said I will continue to work off of Front Money at the capped rate of 300% distributed in accordance with the distribution of profits identified in the LP Agreement. I could almost maintain the Front Money Agreement into production funds because the potential of return is so high with this project. But even so, the FM remains capped at 250K for the time being. My current effort ois to raise the 50K needed to complete the illustrations for the storybook and begin moving into animation. I maintain these objevtives as I have for a number of years. So if you are interested in participating, you will need to let me know. As I have also stated, all activities will continue to be based from my Southampton Studio location. Nothing much new here but things are advancing nicely and we remain dedicated to all the objectives which have already been stated.

That's all for now. AG

Latest Posting

Check the Image of the Mind Studios Blog at imagemindag.blogspot.com

Business Plan

As it stands now, I am preparing the Business Plan, with Samples of the Libretto, Illustrated Storybook, Merchandising Items and Music as a Digital Presentation document. Most of the materials are ready for review and they will be available to Industry Professionals with a Restrictive Covenant Agreement. I am preparing The Gnome Gnog materials for licensing for the Adult version as a brewed beverage and the non-alcoholic version to be marketed "alongside" the hot chocolate products in supermarkets, etc. That product line will be licensed and all the Illustrations and Music will be part of that Licensing Package. Interested parties should inquire, but I remind everyone that all activities will be taking place out of my studio in Southampton, so you will have to come to me. I am unwilling to jump through any hoops, I'm too old for all that! And I have too much work to be running around looking for opportunities that never manifest, you know how that goes.

We're working on financing, and I am still working-off-of Front Money, so If you want a good deal on a return, send some coins my way. I'm working to develop the "Garden Gnome Product Line and I feel like that is a very good arena to pursue. There are numerous product lines, as I have discussed elsewhere, and I am willing to shift my attention anywhere that will result in cash flow (of course that is contingent upon maintain the overall modus operandi of protecting the product as a whole). That being said, I am also looking for sculptors who can develop out figurine product lines, if you are capable of that and interested, let me know. Realistically, the bulk of my efforts are on scoring the music, which is an unbelievably massive amount of work, which truthfully calls for fundraising, which unfortunately interferes with the process. It's a real catch 22!

So, We're still alive and moving forward, mostly it's just me, until I raise the money needed to pay people. Truth be told I can work three to five times as fast as I did when I was trying to manage other peoples creative productivity! For now the essential work needed required my undivided attention, so managing other peoples work is distracting from the more significant Creative Decisions which need to be made and confirmed. So I move forward with scoring and preparing the release materials, a job that is most effective when it is done by one person, without the distraction of aligning different opinions about how to best proceed. When I raise enough money (somewhere around 100K) then I'll be able to get a few other folks onto projects which need to be done. Until then I chug along as best I can.

Part of the Business Plan is to sell off Board Positions in "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture" There are nine million shares divided across the Board, of which I am the Chairman. So there are one million shares per Board position. Membership on the board requires a buy-in at $1 per share. The clincher is that the shares remain property of the Joint Venture with a clause for recoupement of the buy-in, until the stock-split, After the split the board members can own the stock they buy, but until then the Joint Venture owns the stock. So I will be looking to fill eight board positions. There are two other organizations, a management company and a production company involved as well, but that is all described in the business plan. All of this allows for a buy-out, up until the Board positions are filled, after which the organizational structure must be adhered to. So if you are an organization or individual with other ideas, I suggest you speak up before the contracts are locked in.

That's all for now. As always I welcome inquiry. AG

Latest Activity

I'm busy scoring the music. It's a massive amount of work. 70 songs of different lengths many of which have multiple voice parts and are orchestrated for as much as 24 pieces in a pit orchestra. Much of the music was composed and arranged under the presumption that the melody lines were intact, but I discovered that that was not the case, so I need to rebuild the melody lines for a lyrical delivery. The songs which were arranged previously, if the melody line was split up in the arrangement, will become instrumental versions. SO I am rebuilding the songs for the lyrical versions and I am creating the SATB versions along with lead sheets and the conductor's score. This is a huge amount of work, so I an honkered down working on that and not so much working on other production activities. I stopped working on the puppetry and sculpting garden Gnomes because of the efforts required with the music. The publishing activities have also been put on hold, with the exception of some efforts to raise the working capital to continue with Illustrations. Basically I need to raise 50K to get the artist back on the job. The business plan is very much assembled along with the basic Industry Review Package, although I stopped working on the contract materials in lieu of the music scoring work which MUST be finished. I am expecting to seek to have the song "You're the One" played by a notable orchestra to gain credibility. At this moment I forget what the next step is, but I have a great game plan in that regard. My work most recently is to build a MIDI orchestra which can be used in the studio with the green screen stage. My plan is to wire the stage as a sound stage to work in conjunction with the programming which I am now setting up. It is a variation on the system which we were using, one which will be a great advancement and applicable to numerous arenas which we are pursuing. That's all for now. AG

Orchestral Scoring

For the past few weeks I have been concentrating solely on the musical score. It has been necessary to rebuild the Melody Lines as a whole, but specifically for (what I consider to be) the best song in the show. Don't get me wrong, there are numerous good songs in this batch of 70 songs, but "You're The One" just stands out with a number of amazing riffs and it tells a good portion of the story, if only by inferences. So I have been focused on rebuilding the Melody Line, adding new phrases (which were never properly interpreted into music) and creating a lead sheet for the song. I am now moving into the Conductor's score and I am excited to see that finished. I am enthused by the idea that I am refining the process and format so that the remaining scoring work will be much easier to bring about correctly. Once the score is sufficiently completed, the only work that needs to be done are the illustrations for the remaining volumes of the Storybook. Once that is all done the core product will be complete and other matters pertaining to production can be focused on. Overall, Musically, I am focused on making sure that we have Lead Sheets and piano reductions for all the music. The Orchestral Arrangements are for the most part finished, but the scoring for all the music needs to be finished. I have draft print-outs for many songs, but I sm concentrating on refining a few of the best songs with a usable score. After that I will be seeking to have one or more songs performed by a world-class orchestra. Of course I will also be pursuing distribution of the business plan and furtherance of the puppetry goals. We are preparing to record another song and the vocal artist is learning the lyrics. I will probably review the orchestrations for that song after I am finished with the one I m working on now. The difference between the two songs is that "The Song of Wisdom" is a solo and "You're The One" is a choral number that is spread out across a number of characters with an array of counterpoints. Orchestration for both of these songs is quite excellent, so my mission will be to make sure we have a usable score. I am faced with a flaw in Digital Performer's Quickscribe. My expectation is that an upgrade to the most recent version will solve that transcription problem, since I had numerous in depth conversations with MOTU over that problem and they wanted me to have the new program. Unfortunately for me I am still using a PPC Mac, so I need to upgrade all my equipment. That's all for now. AG

Latest activity

Well, for quite some time I had been preparing the Business Plan. The major part of that is finished and available for review to industry professionals who may like to invest or be involved to a greater degree. I prefer business associations to take place out of my studio location in Southampton for various reasons, not the least of which is that production activity will be primarily taking place from that location. Obviously, engagement with studio operations in Hollywood, New York or London will need to take other factors into account, but the magnitude of this project on an international scale is such that I feel completely justified in expecting any discussions or negotiations to take place in my studio. I have spent over twenty-five years developing this project, have set up production facilities to meet the needs of the production, and intend to proceed with matters from my location, without regard to expectations or demands that I capitulate by jumping through hoops that are simply outside of my immediate capabilities. Basically that means that I simply want to stay put and continue to work on the project from my location. Now I know that may sound a bit belligerent, but frankly I am very tired and still have a great deal of work to do, which translates into continuing to work from my location to produce results, while inviting others to join me and availing themselves of what we have already built. If it is very apparent that this project needs to move into another organizational structure, I have made accommodations for that in the business plan. I have been engaged in the construction of puppets, with a mind toward animatronics and I am moving forward with preparing the two staging areas for use in both animation and set construction for a product which will fit into The Bucks County Playhouse. With all that in mind my focus is also toward the parade float, but for now finishing off the music scoring and preparing to record a number of songs is the priority. We are getting ready to record "The Stone of Wisdom" one of the epic tales told by The Master Gnome. So basically, I am nearly overwhelmed, but moving forward anyway. We've discussed moving forward with the Illustration work and I am seeking to raise 50K in order to pay the artist for the remaining work for the Seven Book Series. In the mean while I am getting ready to start casting the puppet heads and then move forward with the mechanics of building a puppet that will be activated by a MIDI signal. Those puppets will be used both in the theme park environment and the parade float, so continuing in that direction is productive. That's all for now. AG

Limited Edition Collectible Series

I am releasing the Gnomes of New Hope, an introduction as a Limited Edition Series at four locations in Bucks County. More details will be forth coming but I already received orders to reserve copies of the book. Each location will have no more than 100 books for this release, so if you want to assure that you get a numbered copy of the Premiere release let me know and I will reserve a copy for you. Pricing is higher than you would expect, because this release is designed to fund the continuing work on illustrating the remaining books. That's all for now, just to touch base. AG

5/17 Update

Well, the Big People book is done! The Gnome-sized book is Done! The Gnomes-in-a Gnutshell is done! Unfortunately, the art-work is NOT done and we need to move forward in that regard. I've just cast the Garden Gnome sculpture of Constable Warren in cement and it looks GREAT! So I am preparing a Collector's Edition Release to fund the further work on art for the remaining volumes. I do not expect to release the project to the public until we have all the art-work finished and the layouts for the full seven book set is finished. Other items are also under way, including the work on puppetry for the book tour and other theatrics relative to that. I'll try to post what I can, but the truth is that I'd rather put the money spent on internet service into the product development. Believe it or not, the internet has not been the most productive use of funds! If you want to know more, and you are an Industry Professional or sales/distribution professional, contact me directly so we can get the show on the road. I'm busy building puppets and worrying about other "in studio" details. That's all for now. AG

Most Recent Activity

The Gnome-sized Edition of the Storybook has been perfected and the production line methods have been confirmed. I estimate that under optimal circumstances we could produce as many as 500 books per day. I've moved over to perfecting the Big Peoples Book, which is a full size book. Assembly line methods for manufacturing the books is still being perfected, so quantities and pricing are not yet perfected or established. This is almost ready. But all books will be released as signed and numbered Limited Editions. The purpose for this is to raise the capital needed to complete the Artwork for Volume Three. These Limited Edition books will only be offered as a gift to investors who are contributing to our production costs. In addition to other elements which need further refinement before the books can be released to the public, we need to advance with our puppetry, so that when the books are released we will have a promotional presentation to go with the release of the Storybooks. Book one of the Seven Book collection is an Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope and this book will be released first as a primer to the entire series. Timing for all of this is not yet determined, because it is important that we have the remaining six books ready to release in a timely manner. I have not determined if I will be pitching this to the industry prior to the release of the book, as I am waiting to see if anyone wants to jump in before we initiate a marketing push. The first part of The Business Plan has been released to Broker, so something may come of that, but more work is needed to be done on that before it is ready to be distributed more widely. But any way you look at it, once we engage in the business plan more actively, we will be committed to following through. Out of time, that's all for now. AG

A Quick Update

I don't have much opportunity to post these days but here is the latest news. Production line activities are advancing. I am working on perfection the assembly procedures and constructing fixtures for assembling the books. Other aspects of the studio operations are taking place, so much so that I am focusing on setting up the sales office so that brokers and sales people can come in to review the materials and agreements to engage in distribution activities. My concentration is to refine operations in house, and that includes our work on the sound stage and film/video activities. I am particularly interested in stop-action animation and I am also considering what we need to do to begin constructing miniatures for that purpose. In regard to releasing the books to the public, it has become clear that both the Gnome-sized and Big-People editions need to be released at the same time. That means that I will need to complete both point-of purchase displays and I intend to have two versions of each, to accommodate different sized shelf space which might be available. In this regard we also need to have the ability to accommodate some of the companion products (such as the music and audio book CDs). One important issue which needs to be resolved is that of DRM, without the proper approach to DRM we cannot release the e-Storybook, so until we are in a position to address that issue, the focus of attention will be on other production activities. Again there is the work on puppetry and other product lines which needs attention and without a conclusion on some of these items, release to the public cannot happen. That being said, the work inside of the studio on refining the sound stage, scene shop and art department.Book One will be released and the income from sales will fund the further illustrations required to complete the other volumes. It would be correct to say that we have enough art, which has been applied to Books One thru Four, after that we are running short and need to finish that work (as mentioned elsewhere. I'll be back later for now I'm posting this.

Recent Updates

3/13/16 Production line time studies are underway for assembling the published edition of the Gnome-Sized Booklets. The primary focus is to bring production in line with the budget estimations which are required for viable production in-house assembly and wholesale distribution. Other matters of concern are setting up the production line workstations and the sound/green screen stage in building four (particularly for our work with Sing-a-long videos and puppetry). Mechanical design and fabrication is moving into building three, while wood fabrication is moving over to building four, at least until the metal fabrication can be established in building three. Then a set assembly and some degree of fabrication will be set up again in building three. Costuming is moving into building three, while the lighting requirements of the sound stage is under review. The entire studio is being rewired and some work is taking place on plumbing as well. So these items are affecting the production line for publishing. I am still considering the implications of distributing in-house vs. using a broker. For the time being everything is in-house, at least until such time as a third party can guarantee quantity. So any retail outlets will need to speak to me directly to acquire inventory, as all of the sales will be going through our sales office. Anyway you look at it the margin for the broker comes out of the retail margin and not manufacturing. So unless you are willing to share your cut with a broker, you will need to deal directly with IMS Publishing. Also the Point of Purchase display is being refined before any release can occur. I do expect the initial release to happen in Bucks County only and once that has proven successful, then we will move to other possibilities. But I do believe that the initial release will be jointed to a fundraising effort to secure the funding to complete the remianing illustrations for the complete three volume/seven book set. That's all for now. AG 3/6/16 - The Layout for the Gnome-sized edition is in the final stages of refinement.The business plan is also being refined and has reached the stage where the value of the project has been identified at 14 million. I am splitting the shares in half and creating seven board positions. Six of those positions are up for sale to the legitimate and competent persons who will fill those positions. All activities will be taking place in-house. Those board positions are for a share in The Elder Gnome Joint Venture. This organization will be adjacent to IMS Mgmt Inc. which will manage the affairs of The Gnomes of New Hope Productions and The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. Image of the Mind Studios will remain the development arm of the structure and Studio 1325 will be the production facility, with numerous capabilities including Green Screen, Animation and the full range of required crafts. Operations are focused on refining the working environment and setting up a production line for the publishing operation. The details of this scenario are not generally available over the internet and I have basically redirected my focus of attention away from internet activities, as there is much to be done within the studio, which is significantly more important that conveying this information to persons who explore the internet but never act on anything more than that. I have concluded that the very real action is taken by persons who are hands-on and not mere observers. So if you are an actual doer and not a watcher, let me know. I have too much to do than to waste my time in anticipation of expecting watchers to do anything more than exactly that. I need doers to be involved. If you are a doer, let me know. As the saying goes- fish or cut bait. AG

The Gnome-sized Edition

Well, the layout has finally been properly configured to serve for numerous publications. This first edition will be distributed with the Business Package to industry professionals and the sample run will be establishing the production line techniques and helping to determine the end product cost. My anticipation is that the booklets, which consist of approximately one hundred pages in each of the seven books in the three volume set, will sell individually for about $4.95 MSRP with the boxed set selling for $30. The larger sized books would be more, obviously. As it stands now, I need to acquire the IBSN numbers for the entire line of published products, although I don't include the published music in that assessment. So basically, I am in the mode of finalizing the price structure to assure that we actually show a profit. All product will be shipped out of Image of the Mind Studios for inventory and quality control. Battery is dying so, that's all for now. AG

Focus of Attention

While The Gnomes of New Hope is the subject of this Blog, it seems that numerous other matters are in need of attention. The creative materials for the Gnomes is advanced enough that a shift away from production work is appropriate. So with that in mind, the Industry package is continuing to be refined and almost ready for distribution. But what this means is that the further advancement of the project will be completely contingent upon agency representation. This is not so much because we cannot advance with out such representation, because we certainly can move forward in a number of arenas... and we will in due time. But for now, the focus of attention has to be on refining the production facilities and tending to equipment acquisition and repairs. Now this would be because; when it became clear just how viable The Gnomes of New Hope was, the energy had to be focused on refining those materials. Now that the bulk of those materials are sufficiently finished, the attention needs to return to other matters which are effectively getting in the way of practical and rapid advancement. Those matters directly effect the ability to move into production in a proper way, but more than that, attending to those matter will make production much more effective and self-contained. So in order to focus on these matters, the modus operandi is to engage agency representation and thus free up, not only, the creativity when we move into production, but also bring the studio environment into a more balanced and effective sense of order. So you may not see a great deal of pitching going on here on this blog. I have a wide range of other projects that are in various stages of development so there may be some shifting into those other projects if the Gnomes does not advance of it's own accord. Keep an eye out here, I will try to post as it is possible, but since the focus is on the studio more so than on the projects, those posts will likely end up on the IMS Virtual Studio site at www.imagemindag.blogspot.com. Admittedly, I have begun to write an Opera which is based on The Apocalypse so my attention is on that to some degree. AG