Rob and I are in the edit booth right now finishing things up. It's weird finishing up a film while surfing the web reading the news about it. It's been an odd week.
We'll have an article by Ann Zimmerman in the Wall Street Journal on Monday or Tuesday.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
My Distributor Part 2
According to the AP:
Wal-Mart said that it has no plans to sell DVDs of the positive film on Wal-Mart in its stores, but they can be purchased on http://www.whywalmartworks.com.
Guess that settles that!
Wal-Mart said that it has no plans to sell DVDs of the positive film on Wal-Mart in its stores, but they can be purchased on http://www.whywalmartworks.com.
Guess that settles that!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
My distributor
From the blogosphere "To counter Greenwald's offensive, Wal-Mart is distributing a video by Ron Galloway that says nice things about them. Though he claims no financial assistance from Wal-Mart, I have learned that Wal-Mart hooked up the director with a local Fayetteville distributor, Hannover House, who sell most all their product to W-M."
Whatever. And my response:
It's Ron Galloway, from "Why Wal-Mart Works." Sorry, Wal-Mart didn't hook me up with Hannover House. If you do a D&B you will find they are one of the only financially stable video distributors left. They also pay through a "lockbox" at a bank whereby the bank collects all monies and pays all parties (me, the replicators, art designers) before the distributor. My wife informs me I need to make my money back on this film, but soon. I tend to listen, because she is a surgeon and knows how to handle a knife.
Wal-Mart is also Dreamworks' biggest customer, and Universals', and Image Entertainment', etc.
Whatever. And my response:
It's Ron Galloway, from "Why Wal-Mart Works." Sorry, Wal-Mart didn't hook me up with Hannover House. If you do a D&B you will find they are one of the only financially stable video distributors left. They also pay through a "lockbox" at a bank whereby the bank collects all monies and pays all parties (me, the replicators, art designers) before the distributor. My wife informs me I need to make my money back on this film, but soon. I tend to listen, because she is a surgeon and knows how to handle a knife.
Wal-Mart is also Dreamworks' biggest customer, and Universals', and Image Entertainment', etc.
Who Is Paying For My Film?
I get asked that a lot. My budget is $85,000 and it's not like two brothers can't piece that together from savings and credit cards.
But still people think Wal-Mart paid for it. Which begs the question:
Would the world's largest corporation pay for a film they haven't even seen?
I hope not.
But still people think Wal-Mart paid for it. Which begs the question:
Would the world's largest corporation pay for a film they haven't even seen?
I hope not.
More Fun TV
I will appear with Robert Greenwald on CNBC Monday (the 31st) around 1:40, and then again that night with him on Showbiz Today on CNN sometime between 7 and 8.
One of the volunteers arranging his screenings called today, said they hated Wal-Mart, and then asked if I was interested in doing a screening of my film. I said yes, and if any more call, I'll say yes too.
He could not have been nicer, by the way.
Tons of newspapers called today. Losing my voice again. Better get it back by Monday.
One of the volunteers arranging his screenings called today, said they hated Wal-Mart, and then asked if I was interested in doing a screening of my film. I said yes, and if any more call, I'll say yes too.
He could not have been nicer, by the way.
Tons of newspapers called today. Losing my voice again. Better get it back by Monday.
It has begun.....
I was a guest on CNBC's "On The Money" at 7pm last night. It was my first live TV show, and it was very weird. They had me sitting in a room by myself with a camera staring at my like the HAL 9000 from 2001. Then you hear people in your ear.
The composer for WWW told me when you are sitting down, if you're nervous, straighten out your legs and it will provoke a calming physiological response. He was right.
All in all it was fun. I called my opponent on the panel from Walmartwatch and congratulated her.
Good Reuters article on the film here.
The composer for WWW told me when you are sitting down, if you're nervous, straighten out your legs and it will provoke a calming physiological response. He was right.
All in all it was fun. I called my opponent on the panel from Walmartwatch and congratulated her.
Good Reuters article on the film here.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Stock Footage
One reason our cost on the film is relatively low is that we used a small amount of stock footage, which these days runs around $75 per second.
So ten minutes of b-roll stock footage would cost us $45,000.
Nice work if you can get it.
So ten minutes of b-roll stock footage would cost us $45,000.
Nice work if you can get it.
ROI on WWW
I am not a political guy. Politics is a business, and it's a business I have no interest in.
I do like successful investments, however. The final budget, including publicity for this film, will be around $85,000 before Robert and I can pay ourselves. BTW, that is 6.5% of the budget for the other film.
At my royalty rate, that means I need to sell about 25,000 copies to breakeven. I feel that my distributor will hit that target, especially given this level of publicity.
Then Rob and I pay off the VISA bills and home equity lines, and our wives let us move back into our houses.
I do like successful investments, however. The final budget, including publicity for this film, will be around $85,000 before Robert and I can pay ourselves. BTW, that is 6.5% of the budget for the other film.
At my royalty rate, that means I need to sell about 25,000 copies to breakeven. I feel that my distributor will hit that target, especially given this level of publicity.
Then Rob and I pay off the VISA bills and home equity lines, and our wives let us move back into our houses.
Better Busy Than Not
Well today should be interesting....
The press release for "Why Wal-Mart Works" hit Business Wire today, and I am booked on CNBC tonight sometime from 7 to 8.
My voice, however, is gone from talking to reporters.
The press release for "Why Wal-Mart Works" hit Business Wire today, and I am booked on CNBC tonight sometime from 7 to 8.
My voice, however, is gone from talking to reporters.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Jim Rogers from WWW
As teased, here is part of our talk with famous author and adventurer Jim Rogers...
"Nobody is forcing anybody to go to Wal-Mart as far as I know. I grew up in a small little town everybody goes to Wal-Mart from miles around but it’s not as thought Wal-Mart’s out there with machine guns saying you got to come to Wal-Mart, people are driving from miles around because they get better prices, better quality, and better service. It’s like anybody else when they come to town, if they give a better product, people are going to buy it.
You know a hundred years ago people screamed all over Europe that products were coming from America. They railed at people who bought American products, but American products were cheaper, and better, and so people bought them. People are always going to buy products where they can get the best price. Fifty years ago it was Japan, that people railed about. Said those products come from Japan and its cheap. Well that’s the point. You want to buy good quality products that are cheap and if you can figure out where they are going to come from in advance, you should do it."
"Nobody is forcing anybody to go to Wal-Mart as far as I know. I grew up in a small little town everybody goes to Wal-Mart from miles around but it’s not as thought Wal-Mart’s out there with machine guns saying you got to come to Wal-Mart, people are driving from miles around because they get better prices, better quality, and better service. It’s like anybody else when they come to town, if they give a better product, people are going to buy it.
You know a hundred years ago people screamed all over Europe that products were coming from America. They railed at people who bought American products, but American products were cheaper, and better, and so people bought them. People are always going to buy products where they can get the best price. Fifty years ago it was Japan, that people railed about. Said those products come from Japan and its cheap. Well that’s the point. You want to buy good quality products that are cheap and if you can figure out where they are going to come from in advance, you should do it."
Michael Cannon Interview
Michael Cannon, the senior health policy analyst from the Cato Institute, had an interesting story in his interview for "Why Wal-Mart Works."
Something really interesting happened in Santa Fe, when Wal-Mart wanted to open a second store there. The city counsel split down the middle about whether to allow Wal-Mart to open another store, and the mayor had to break that tie. Now put aside for a moment whether it’s a good idea that entrepreneurs should need the government’s permission to open and new store and try to offer people cheaper products. If you look at that city counsel vote, you notice something interesting. Every city counsel member with a Hispanic surname voted to allow Wal-Mart. Among those with non-Hispanic or more Anglo surnames most of them voted against allowing Wal-Mart. Now that may not mean anything, but it may mean that people who are closer to low income workers who know a little more what its like to have to struggle to put the food on the table, are very appreciative of Wal-Mart, and that others who are opposing Wal-Mart have lost touch with that segment of society.
Something really interesting happened in Santa Fe, when Wal-Mart wanted to open a second store there. The city counsel split down the middle about whether to allow Wal-Mart to open another store, and the mayor had to break that tie. Now put aside for a moment whether it’s a good idea that entrepreneurs should need the government’s permission to open and new store and try to offer people cheaper products. If you look at that city counsel vote, you notice something interesting. Every city counsel member with a Hispanic surname voted to allow Wal-Mart. Among those with non-Hispanic or more Anglo surnames most of them voted against allowing Wal-Mart. Now that may not mean anything, but it may mean that people who are closer to low income workers who know a little more what its like to have to struggle to put the food on the table, are very appreciative of Wal-Mart, and that others who are opposing Wal-Mart have lost touch with that segment of society.
Filming in Boone, NC
Robert and I shot in Boone, NC today. We're almost done shooting, which is probably good since we are due to deliver the master in 10 days. The leaves were changing in Boone and the people were thoughtful regarding Wal-Mart. Filmed in 24p on a DVCPRO 50 camera in 16:9. Gonna look good.
We're interviewing a very famous blogger tomorrow. More to come.....
We're interviewing a very famous blogger tomorrow. More to come.....
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