Studio Expansion

 Check out 

Image of the Mind Studios Virtual Studio

A Dragon puppet that was redesigned and reconstructed in the 
IMS Puppet Shop

      I have posted some thoughts about the expansion of IMS and will continue the discussions on that site. Keep in mind that I also have a blog called "IMS Producing Partners", which is a membership site for our investors and vested business partners, requiring permission to view because it contains classified material.

    As it turns out, the opportunity to expand is before me and doing so seems likely. Such an expansion, will be in regard to opening up opportunities to produce the Broadway Musical, Dramatic and Cinema (which includes Episodic Television) versions of "The Gnomes of New Hope" (including The Gnomic Tales), "Nunc Licet", and " Am Alpha & Omega". Of course, these are only three of the numerous other projects that are "on-the-bench". 

   One of the projects in the studio is to set-up the green screen stage 20'w x 16'd, with upstage and wing space that closely matches (the working space of) The Bucks County Playhouse (and other small theatre houses). I have now concluded to add a fifty seat "test audience" gallery. With the expansion opportunity comes two possibilities. Of course these are contingent upon renovations to the building, but my thinking is to install a sound studio, because we will need to be recording a pit orchestra for the gnomes and to record the songs in a studio anyway. I already have an array of  recording equipment and I am running Digital Performer 3 thru 9,  along with Mach 5 and Reason, so that will serve for all mixing and digital orchestrations quite well. We only need the right sound proof environment, which is really a minor aspect of that scenario. I do have an excellent design for the recording studio, which will also serve as a rehearsal space and will basically match the size of the (green screen) stage (less the wing/upstage space. So that is basically in the drafting stage of design/budgeting.

   Another opportunity is to set-up a printing operation to meet the needs of the Illustrated Storybooks and that would give us better and more cost effective on-demand capabilities. The real issue there is that in order to bring the price down, when using a service vendor, the production quantities need to be high. Those high quantities require high outlay. For now we seek on-demand capabilities, which of course, we do have with service vendors, but using outside sources bring a plethora of issue (that can become problems). I do believe installing a printing operation is a key element to being effective. This is not only for the books sold to the public, allowing printing quantities on-demand, but also internal operations requires publishing and distributing scrips and musical scores, not to mention management documents. So that would be a practical expansion of IMS Publishing, a division of Image of the Mind Studios.

   In addition to those opportunities, such an expansion will give us more office space, where we can improve our Production Management, A/V Editing Suite and Photo Stock Library capabilities, set-up the Animation Studio, increase our metal working capabilities with a Prototype Shop and move our Puppetry and Animatronics operation into a new space and kick it up into a higher gear.

   It's a challenge and a risk, but it's worth it. Obviously the cash flow needs to increase. I expect, in one degree, to do that thru licensing. Keep that in mind if you are part of an organization that participates in producing and utilizes Licensing.

   I am certainly interested in speaking with anybody who would like to participate and add talent to what I have described here. But I will add that the people who do come to contribute, need to be self-starters, who want to be committed to Image of the Mind Studios as an operation, with an eye on the long term.  I do not want any "flash in the pan" situations to occur.  That is too distracting and counterproductive. I've seen far too many wifty, non-committal, people who don't know what they want, in my years as a Theatre and Film Artist.  I would be looking to involve dedicated, talented people who do know what they want and how to get it and how to apply that for the benefit of IMS as an organization, not just their own advancement.

IMS is a growth opportunity, not a stepping stone.

The IMS Virtual Studio will serve as the hub for other posts in this regard.

AG 🎭  🎬  🎼  🎤  📷  📺

Publishing from the Top of the Mountain

     That seems like an appropriate title. The endeavor to publish companion editions to the Stage Musical seemed like a good idea. More than that, it falls under the category of essential, in terms of building an audience. But the truth of the matter is that; these editions are stand alone Illustrated Storybooks. 

An early prototype 

of one version.

   I have described this project numerous times in this blog, so I won't do that again. Suffice it to say that publishing this collection of Seven Books, combined with the goal of producing the Stage Musical, is very much like climbing the tallest mountain you can find. Of course, when one starts out on the climb, one is energetic, enthusiastic and the task does not seem to be as daunting as it clearly is in reality. The trap is that after one passes the halfway mark it becomes "six of one and a half a dozen of the other" only one choice ends with success and the other ends with failure. With one choice you have the hope of recovering your investment while the other ends up in a write off. 

   So there really is no choice. One must endure, and endure is the right word for it, because what started out as a joyful expression of creativity has turned out to be a battle of the Will to endure the challenge of reaching the finish line.

    It's sad, really, that such an effort becomes a burden. I know that I cannot allow myself to get distracted from the mission, otherwise the effort will end up sitting there, unfinished and eventually forgotten in the ravages of time.

   I'm feeling this way because, as I near the end of the collection, publishing it only as an Industry Review document, I see how much I have yet to do. The artwork that was installed into the pages of the books are clearly unfinished, although they looked just fine, having been placed there with the intent that they were finished.

   But now, after refining the layout with certain embellishments to the artwork,  returning to the previous work, to add those embellishments, it is clear that there is still much to be done to that artwork to make it acceptable. It brings about the epitome of frustration. But one must go on. I am nearing the end of this stage, which will bring about the numerous registrations that are required to place the product lines into the hands of professionals and investors, but also posture the finished products for the marketplace.

   The other day, we were watching Disney's "Tangled". What a wonderful film that is. I don't quite imagine "The Gnomes of New Hope" in that light, but it might be nice.

  So, onward and upward, to reach the summit. It's not far away now. But I think I need to set up camp, rest awhile and regain my strength for the last leg of this massive endeavor.

AG 🎭🙏

Thoughts on Theatrical Production

 Currently producing 
The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
through

    From the time I began writing The Gnomes of New Hope, the intention was to produce as much as possible through Image of the Mind Studios. The writing process, which is really a development process, incorporates numerous aspects, which are known as The Ancillary Markets. In large part, these markets are revealed as the development process advances. Some of those ideas are within the realm of possibility, in terms of creating or fabricating the prototype materials,  others are not practical to develop, due to the amount of resources that are required. It's not so much that resources are not available, rather, the existing resources need to be assigned to where they will be the most effective.

   So it is that, numerous prototype materials are in various stages of completion. It has become essential that the published products be completed to the degree that they can be placed into the consumer marketplace. This has to take priority over all other production, because those products develop the audience for the show. However, in the meanwhile, a focus of attention is (and has been) to refine and develop the available work space into the tool it needs to be to, implement production at assorted "Regional Theatre" levels.

   Having served as a Technical Director on many productions, including serving in that capacity for The New Hope Arts Commission for nine years, as well as two years in the New Hope/Solebury School District, and also in other schools from time to time. I  spend years doing freelance set, lighting, production work and acting with well over 350 productions under my belt (before I stopped counting), I am well aware of what it takes to do the job.

   What I didn't count on is how extensive this Illustrated Storybook would come to be and how complex a proper layout for the publishing would become. The real dilemma comes when one realizes that the cost of publishing and distributing the material absolutely disallows mistakes in the text, artwork and the layout. For any, even the smallest, error will stand out and degrade the public's perception of the product, thus impairing your markets across-the-board. I have endured the fine-toothed-comb of refinement and the utter distress of loosing your work to failing computers, many times.

    It seems as though I am actually nearing the end of this overwhelmingly taxing mission to complete the publishing of a Seven Book Companion Edition to the Stage Musical.  You can read about my foibles in various posts herein. I suggest you use the blog archive to the left to locate other posts. Admittedly, we are still faced with a great deal of work to complete the artwork, but the publishing layout refinements, corrections to the material and the final redesign of the layout is nearing completion. However, the work is sufficiently completed that I can publish the Industry Review Package, which comprises all of the material necessary to pitch the project to Producing Partners and Investors.

    Even so, the Musical Score still needs to be addressed, as the scoring is incomplete, even though the songs are written, with only somewhere around ten numbers needing to be arranged. Time signature and Key signature need to be added, as well as Divisi and individual sheet music in parts for the Orchestra need to be refined and in some cases created. A lot of work, to be sure.

   Once the Three Volume Set of the Industry Review is published, assorted registrations will take place, and then the material can be pitched and I can focus on the music, all the while continuing to refine the Image of the Mind Studios production space at 1325 Industrial Boulevard in Southampton, Pennsylvania.  

   You may read herein about some of the other activities that are in need of attention, particularly animation and puppetry, but more on that later as we progress into those arenas.

  So, in the face of all this, be it known that I will be seeking hands-on Producing Partners and ultimately I will be looking to develop at least one Board of Directors to implement The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture which is part of the Business Plan. Another Part involves IMS Management, Inc., and yet still another involves The Gnomes of New Hope Productions. These are the primary Production Management components of this project, but they also stand as a prototype for other productions. 

   I have to say that ultimately I will be selling Image of the Mind Studios, as I am approaching that time in life where that will need to take place, sad as it sounds to say. With that in mind, I will be developing a game plan for that as well.

   So there you have it. I welcome legitimate investors and Producing Partners in this endeavor. 

Just send me an email; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com to talk about matters.

AG

Moving Forward

 

It looks messy, but this is my workstation. Four computers, each with a different function.

     The work of preparing the Seven Book Collection is far more complex than I expected. But I am moving forward none-the-less.  We had been advancing with the artwork by creating the sketches, which are the first stage for creating the finished panels. I know Jency has been frustrated with being limited to sketches, but I need to have all the sketches finished before we move into the more refined line drawings and watercolors. Even after the watercolors are done I still need to scan and process those paintings to conform to the layout requirements. I have the procedures all down, but implementing it is time consuming, in a far greater degree than I expected.

     I'm in the throws of reorganizing numerous aspects of the studio, including setting up another art workstation in the back offices and changing the function of the front offices. I'm in the process of owning the entire 20K sq ft building and will be setting up various aspects of the Gnomes of New Hope in the front buildings, including renovating and adding office space as needed. For instance, I will be moving the Animatronics and Puppetry up to Building One along with setting up a machine shop to do the prototype work for that and for exploring other work in robotics. The machine shop will be a reduced version of RCKletzing Inc.; the company that my grandfather started and that my father built up. I will be reducing it down to the size that I need for IMS and focusing strictly on limited production for IMS purposes and prototype work for clients. I cannot compete with shops that offer production, so I am loosing all the CNC equipment. I'll discuss this further on the Image of the Mind Studios blog.

   In regard to the expansion just mentioned; I have for some time been desirous of constructing The Theatrical Development Centre.  Well, being that I am pushing 70, I'm seeing the likelihood of constructing a remote studio compound as becoming increasingly slim (based solely on my declining physical abilities and concerns about dying before I can finish it) but I expect to continue to work toward that goal, none-the-less. I have concluded that; since I am about to own the building at 1325 Industrial Boulevard in Southampton, it is best that I implement the TDC at this location. Interestingly, I conceived that even with a facility "in town" there is no reason why the other remote studio compound could not also happen. So, again, I'll discuss this on the other blog. I only wanted to add that as things are developing, I expect to install a sound studio in Building Two. We will need this anyway to record the music for The Gnomes of New Hope.  Since I am installing a stage in Building Four, and I have a developing Scene Shop in Building Three, I am making the staging area in the scene shop match the size of the stage in Building Four, and will make the sound studio match the size of the stage also. Conveniently (or planned) the stage in Building Four matched the size of the Parade Float we are going to build, but also, that stage is approximately the size of the space in an orchestra pit and a little theatre space. So the sound stage will accommodate our pit orchestra for the music of The Gnomes.  I might mention that the Parade Float will also serve as a mobile stage and be able to match the Meadow Amphitheatre that I built in Tamanend Park.

    You might wonder why we might need to record the orchestra music, since we have pretty good renditions using MIDI?  The funny thing is that: when we were discussing having The Bryn Athyn Orchestra play some of our music, the President of the Board of Director's of Bob Zecher, said "Why would you want to wreck it by having an orchestra play it?" I thought that was funny. But the truth is that one Venue of presentation is an orchestral concert, separate from the Musical Theatre presentation.

   The point being that: the sound studio can also serve as a rehearsal space if the size of it matches the stage. Understand that the size of the stage is a bit smaller than one would like, but there are a number of factors involved here. On factor that comes into play is that I would like to see The Gnomes of New Hope premiere at The Bucks County Playhouse. There are a number of reasons for this, besides the fact that I worked there, that I was the Technical Director for The New Hope Arts Commission for nine years, that it is convenient to my Southampton studio, and that the theatre has been recognized for a almost a century as a premiere Summer Stock and Tryout theatre, it just seems to make sense, since the title is The Gnomes of New Hope. But also, I can emulate the stage of the Bucks County Playhouse in my studio.

   The Playhouse has a turntable. When I worked there it was not functional. I tried to pitch the idea that we get it working again, but at the time, that did not go over well. However, since then there has been a new management group and they got the turn table going again. Yahoo!  So in that regard, the turn table is 25" in diameter. The proscenium is 29". the upstage space from the turntable is no more than 15" and the wings are about the same. Not much room for set storage. So my plan is to play the show on the apron and add a thrust if necessary. The plan is to cut the stage in half as to depth, across the centre line of the turntable. That way the upstage space can be used for set storage and positioning on the turntable. Boom, we have the play set down front on the turn table, with the next scene being staged backstage on the upstage side of the turntable, with a drop or a traveler dividing the two scenes. The beauty here is that I can match that working scenario in my scene shop. My stage space (being matched in size with the other staging and rehearsal areas, will all match the presentation space at the Bucks County Playhouse. The advantage here ia also that numerous other theatres are configured in the same way across the country.

   You might wonder about the state of the theatre in today's social climate. It's true that depending solely on the theatre going audience is no longer possible, but the beauty of the studio setup that I am building, is that it takes the other markets into account. Take for example the puppetry aspect of the show. Not only does the stage in Building Four match all the staging scenarios as to size, but it also can become a green screen for film and video production. I will discuss more of this on the IMS Blog.

  So overall things are moving forward, but I am clearly swamped and other matters are crying for attention, which is why I am anxious to finish the layout aspects of this, get busy on the watercolor degree of the artwork and cut any number of deals that will kick this into a higher gear and I might add, doing so without the onus being on me to make it happen. Frankly I'm getting old and tired, if truth be told. 

Oh well, onward and upward. AG