Interview with CJ Francis on Negotiating

The person I chose to interview is CJ Francis. CJ Francis is a producer, audio engineer, and hip-hop artist is grew up in Lawrenceville, GA, which is in the outskirts of Atlanta, GA. CJ always had a passion for music ever since he was a little kid growing up. CJ has made over 100 beats and songs that he has sold to other people. In this interview I learn how CJ negotiates when it comes to selling his beats, performing, or selling his music. The will post three interview questions and answers that I had between CJ Francis.

One of the questions I asked CJ Francis is how do he focuses on interest and not positions when selling his beats? CJ responded he focuses on the interest and not position by already knowing what he wants to get out the deal. He stated that it is important to know what you want to get out the deal because when you do not, then the negotiation process will not go well.

The second question I asked CJ Francis was how do he handles positional bargaining tactics? CJ responded by saying he knows what he wants out the deal. Before making a deal he thinks about all the hard work and dedication he has put into his work. So when he is positional bargaining, he knows his worth whether it is selling his beats or his music.

The third and final question I asked CJ Francis was do he ever feel like there was a time he didn’t’ meet is objective criteria? CJ responded by saying yes a lot of times when he first got in to the business and started out negotiating. Negotiations are something that you just do not master over night. CJ stated by him not meeting his objective criteria, it taught him a lot and he learned not to make them mistakes again.

Creating a Music Video Budget

When it comes to creating a Music video budget it is important to make sure that you factor everything you need in. The things that you will need to calculate in the budget are crew and equipment rental. You will also need to calculate how many days the music video is going to last. It is important to write everything you need down first and then start coming up with the numbers of how much you are going to need. Another thing you would need to take in affect is if you are going to fund the whole thing or if you will get an investor to fund the project.

The first then you will need to figure out in your budget is how many days you are going to shoot the music video and the amount and what equipment you are going to need for the video shoot. Once you find all the information out, you would need to start looking out companies and places to rent the equipment and how much they are renting the equipment for. Do not always go with the first company you see to rent equipment from. Always have different back up companies because you never know if you can get the equipment for cheaper at a different company. After you have come up with prices and the total cost that is when you would add everything up and times it for how many days you will shoot for.

The second thing you will need to figure out is the crew members you will need and how much you are going to pay them for they days that you are shooting the video. After you have figured the amount of crew members that you will need, you will calculate everything up and times it for how many days that you will shoot the music video as well. After you have all the numbers for the equipment and crew that is when you will add everything up and get the total numbers for your budget.

 http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/10/how-to-plan-a-video-budget/

Tips to Becoming a Successful Video Freelancer

For this blog post I decided to write about: Tips to Becoming a Successful Video Freelancer. I chose this topic because Video Freelancing is one of the things I do and is passionate about. The things that I will discuss in this blog for becoming a successful video freelancer is: Be prepared, be very detailing in work, and communication. There are other tips that should be followed but I am going to discuss three of the main tips that are considered very important to me.

The first tip to becoming a successful video freelancer is being prepared. Make sure you know everything you are going to discuss when meeting with a client. When meeting with clients for the first time, always make sure you have everything you need meaning, pen and paper to take notes. Clients like it when you are taking a note that shows them that you are listening to what they have to say and you are serious about working.

The second tip to becoming a successful video freelancer is making sure you have detailed work. On your second visit with meeting the client, you should have a detailed shot list, budget, and treatment to show the client. That lets the client know that you are prepared and serious about what you do. Another good thing to do is email the detailed work to the client ahead of time so when you and the client meet again, the client can go over what he/she doesn’t like and needs to be changed.

The third and final tip to becoming a successful video freelancer is communication.  Make sure you constantly stay in communication with your clients about every little thing. Clients like it when you let them know every little detail about their project. Make sure you always let the client know when you are done with a task, because that let them know that everything is still on track.

In conclusion, the three tips to becoming a successful video freelancer that I discussed are be prepared, be very detailing in work, and communication. 

Different Types of Content Theft

The professional association that I am interested in is the Motion Picture Association of America.  The association talks about films, but majority of the information I can still use in my industry, which is music production. One of the topics that I will discuss that I can use in my industry is type of content Theft. Content theft happens everyday whether it is music, videos, or movies.  It is important to know the different types of content thefts.

The first type of content theft that I can use in my industry is peer-to-peer theft.  It is when people can exchange digital files through the Internet. People have the ability to transfer files from one computer to another. That is very important in my industry, because people can easily download the videos that I produce and be able to share from computer to computer. People would be able to make illegal copies and be able to give to people for free instead of paying to download the video.

The second type of content theft that relates within my industry is streaming theft.  Streaming theft is when a person a view video’s that is unauthorized to view. That means if I upload a video to the Internet, and some how the video gets downloaded to a illegal website, then someone can go on that website and be able to see the video that I posted.  It is important to watch out for these illegal sites, because they can look legal when they are really not.

The third and last type of content theft that I can use in my industry is optical disc theft. Optical disc theft, is when someone can download video’s to a disc and sale them. Another term used for this is “bootlegging”. Bootlegging is known all around the world. Everyday video’s are copied to a DVD and resold to people.

In conclusion, it is important to protect your work. These are common types of content thefts that are seen everyday in video production. I can use this research to help protect the videos that I produce and put of for people to see.http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/types-of-content-theft 

Rick Guidotti: From Stigma to supermodel

My next blog post and topic is going to be on speaker that I am going to discuss is Rick Guidotti: From Stigma to supermodel. In this blog post Rick Guidotti discusses how he is photography from New York City and how he worked for famous magazine companies.  The speaker inspired audience-showing photos and discussing how beauty is everywhere not just in the magazines with models. He showed how kids with albinism and other conditions are beautiful. He helped kids overcome adversity by photographing them and making them feel good about their selves.  He changed kids lives by letting them tell their story and showing them how beautiful they really are. He built trust by making kids feel good about them selves. Rick made kids feel comfortable around him and he let them know that not everyone is judging them by there appearance. By doing that the word started getting out and a lot of parents wanted Rick to come and take photographs of their children.  It is important to let kids know that they are beautiful and they should not be judged based on how they look; they should be accepted for who they are. Rick showed knowledge by showing photographs and having a story for each photograph he showed. I really find it inspiring that he worked with these kids and letting them know that they are just as beautiful as the average person. I also loved the fact that he spent a lot of time in Africa. One of the special events that Rick Guidotti was apart of was invited to speak to a lot of kids in San Antonio Texas. When he entered the room he was surrounded by laughter and kids who had all kinds of different things that was wrong with him. Rick was also invited to work on an exhibition.http://www.ted.com/talks/rick_guidotti_from_stigma_to_supermodel.html