Pinto Sasikumar’s Post

We were burning in development hell. Or, rather, development hell was burning us. - Two years of seeking attachments - Over $25K burnt in that pursuit - I stopped sleeping This was for my FUP to The Videoblogs. We got within a hair of attaching an A-lister that would have brought a $2-3M budget with him. But that didn't happen. And I had two early investors that were seeing money go out the door with no green light to show for it. Here's what won't work in such a situation: - Making excuses - Scapegoating partners - Staying on the wrong path But here's where I think things like mindset, and tenacity, and faith pay off. I struggled with the opposite first, to be sure: - Despair - Underconfidence - Hopelessness and resentment But when you keep at it and shift your approach, good things can happen. In true #startupfilmmaker fashion, we pivoted. I turned my challenges into a new pitch, which was making The Sleepless. It worked, and we made that (smaller) movie. I shared a few days ago that the release of that film didn't go according to plan. What I didn't mention is that more people watched it this year than they did when it came out in 2021. And we fielded a licensing offer recently that would have doubled receipts. Guess what else? That bigger film has moved up to development purgatory after some rewrites. It'll be repped at AFM and beyond this year. Still no greenlight, but I've now made three other features in the intervening time. How long have you been stuck on one project?

Anyone else fall into this trap? Brewd is a new(ish) business, but I’ve run studios before. So I keep obsessing about scaling up - basically getting ahead of myself! I’m definitely spending too much time on things that aren’t immediately relevant. And I’m coming at projects, problems, and challenges (everything really) as if I have a studio already. That’s definitely the goal, but I’m not there yet! I can’t help but want to set things up with that growth in mind. Other founders, I’d love to know how you keep yourself in check. #AgencyOwner #BusinessOwner #BrandingAgency

Our studio has some fantastic development projects on the horror slate, including collaborations with established creators. Smart horror is not only great horror, but also extremely lucrative. After all, who doesn't love a good scare, especially one that can splatter out into something bigger? ... yes, I said splatter. 👻 We are always interested in cooperating with investors who are looking for early entry and wish to work together in shepherding a budding franchise to success. If you're looking for such an opportunity to enter at an early stage, reach out to me or Jefferson Keith Langley for a chat. #horror #ipfranchise #development #investors

Quick Venture Studio Q&A Your questions go in the comments… (My answers follow) P.S. Some great questions were  asked the last time that we did this (I’ve complied some of them in the post below) Loved having these discussions and looking  forward to more venture studio related dialogs Best,  Matthew 

Thor 3 Ragnarok is considered one of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor 4 was a trainwreck. Why such a difference, and what can communicators and business leaders learn from it?   I recently rewatched Thor 3 on Disney+, which was as entertaining as I recalled. Then I watched the deleted scenes. They were lackluster, awkward, or just distracting. It’s obvious why they were left out. Good call, producers.   In contrast, Thor 4 was a weak plot loosely held together by silly gags, bad jokes, and pandering to certain audiences in a confused way. Just unnecessary. Things that should’ve been cut. Scenes that should’ve been deleted.   Here’s the point:   Knowing what NOT to include is just as important as what to include.   This is true for all business communications - whether you’re a startup founder pitching to investors, a corporate executive presenting to the board, a middle manager proposing a new idea internally, or a salesperson giving a product demonstration.   Weak arguments and bad examples will derail the conversation. Questionable claims and exaggerations will cast doubt on all you have to say. People will latch onto that one phrase, one chart, one metric, one bullet point and won’t get over it. They will hammer you over that one thing for the rest of the meeting. Or they will simply tune you out and turn down your proposal.   If you give an example, choose a good one. It should be tangible, credible, and relevant to your audience. Success should be clearly demonstrated and unmistakably attributed to your solution.   If you talk about target markets or value propositions, focus on the top 3, not the next 10. You might think that including edge cases and what-ifs shows versatility. They don’t. They only distract.   If you put anything on a slide, you better know how to explain it. Where does the data come from? How is it defined? It’s astounding how many presenters cannot speak to these basic things.   Leave out the fluff, the hype, and the tangents. Stay focused and tell a compelling story.   Because that’s what heroes do.   #communications #publicspeaking #startups #MCU

I've spoken to 500+ Venture Studio Owners Here's the #1 thing that I learned from this experience If you take a step back… A studio, is a company that builds other companies  by playing an entrepreneur, operator, and investor role. And based on that definition,  there is nothing in there that limits the studio to… - The type of capital it uses  - The kind of businesses it builds  - The size of opportunity it aims for  - ETC… So, the studio can be operated by 1 person who leverages external service providers  and profits from distributions Or, It can start as an agency  which will later fund the studio's operations (More in-depth examples in the graphic below) So, to sum it all up… The # 1 thing learned after speaking  to 500+ Venture Studio Owners Is that there are a lot more versions and variants  of Venture Studios than most people imagine. And that there are no limits to how you  choose to build your Venture Studio. P.S. If you're in the studio space (or are looking to be) Follow me (Matthew Burris) for more venture studio  case studies, statistics, and personal takes

🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com In space they can’t hear you scream but on Earth they can and I am YELLING Alien is one of the timeless films, a movie just as lived-in and horrifying today as it was when it premiered in 1979. Ridley Scott’s seminal horror film has gone on to be many other things since becoming a full-blown franchise, from the landmark sci-fi action of the James Cameron-directed sequel to the slasher shlock of the rightfully maligned Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. The franchise’s best moments, however, are steeped in pure paranoid horror, and the highly-anticipated Alien: Romulus looks like it wants to bring us right back there. Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez’s take on Alien is set between Alien and Aliens, and said to follow “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” The moody new trailer looks like it’s starting from square one, making facehuggers — baby aliens! not even full grown! — the primary terror here, with only a brief flash of an actual Xenomorph. In other words, Alvarez may have actually nailed it. Alien: Romulus opens in theaters on Aug. 16. ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #GameNews #GameIndustry #VideoGameDevelopment #BuildingBetterGames #Blender

Almost every founder-led team I've encountered is unconsciously building two separate businesses: Either - - each founder is building a subtly different business or - the founders are building the same business, but its not the one they think The energy this tension extracts is often equal to the energy put into moving the whole thing forward. Drama is the tax on misalignment. And here's the tragedy: no one is wrong, no one is lazy, no one is an asshole - we're just playing different games. The unlock that happens when we can finally name this difference and start to do something about it is nothing short of a miracle. #founder #creativefounder

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞: “How will I fund my next #film?” is a question every filmmaker wrestles with daily. But the better question is: 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚍𝚎-𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 #𝙸𝙿? With insights from top voices like Tyler M. Reid, Jon Gosier, Ian Q Grant, Mike Blutstein, Daniel Maze, Emma Louise Smith, and Daren Smith, it feels almost redundant to add to the conversation, given their expertise. (𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.) Still, here’s a high-level overview of 𝟗 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 I've gathered from these pros: 1. Treat your film as a real business. (Tyler) 2. Craft a pitch deck that speaks volumes; make your first slide as compelling as the first 10 pages of your script. (Tyler) 3. Start marketing early to build a pre-developed #audience, as Wesley Wang did with his short film on YouTube and TikTok. 4. Learn the language of #filmfinance: things like completion bonds, pre-sales, and CAMAs. (Jon) 5. Only create a proof of concept if you have a tight, impactful 5–8-minute sequence to showcase your hook. (Mike) 6. Don’t approach representation without preparation; attach a #producer to your script first, per Tyler's advice. 7. Have a #distribution strategy in place. Daren Smith offers great tips on researching cinemas open to indie films in your genre; it shows investors you’re thinking ahead. 8. Remember, all roads lead to Rome; consider all funding avenues: crowdfunding, crowdinvesting, equity, debt & gap financing, P&A lending, co-financing, grants, pre-sales, negative pickup deals, and sponsorships. (Daren) 9. Finally, prepare your production and distribution process for web3. Gen-Z will dominate in five years; understand their expectations. If you already are open to the possibilities web3 will bring you, follow ROYALNIFTY to stay tuned. Building that MVP now! (Tristan 😁) *Artwork created with Midjourney

🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com In space they can’t hear you scream but on Earth they can and I am YELLING Alien is one of the timeless films, a movie just as lived-in and horrifying today as it was when it premiered in 1979. Ridley Scott’s seminal horror film has gone on to be many other things since becoming a full-blown franchise, from the landmark sci-fi action of the James Cameron-directed sequel to the slasher shlock of the rightfully maligned Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. The franchise’s best moments, however, are steeped in pure paranoid horror, and the highly-anticipated Alien: Romulus looks like it wants to bring us right back there. Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez’s take on Alien is set between Alien and Aliens, and said to follow “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” The moody new trailer looks like it’s starting from square one, making facehuggers — baby aliens! not even full grown! — the primary terror here, with only a brief flash of an actual Xenomorph. In other words, Alvarez may have actually nailed it. Alien: Romulus opens in theaters on Aug. 16.⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #IndieGameDev #GamingUpdates #Blender #VideoGameDevelopment #GameIndustryUpdates