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.