PROJECTS ...AND THEN THERE'S PROJECTS
I'm what's called a Hollywood Insider.
Have you ever launched a $150-250Mil major film or a $1Bil film fund? :) It's a creative juggernaut of such magnitude you can't conceive of it unless you're immersed in it... as it rolls over you :)
This is the main "why" of why investors and bankers have the worst time in Hollywood.
I have to laugh to keep from crying, because you cannot think SOLELY in terms of money. Of course you should be able to project a good profit. If you have no standard of which to measure against, then you are thinking ...and therefore will pick delusional people to partner with. Pretty simple. Pick a pro it'll save you time. ;)
Anyone who's ever studied around the world knows you cannot learn until you first realize you don't know.
On the inside; you can make a call and have the latest Brad and Jolie film that needs financing.
Understand, it's a habit for most in Hollywood to keep an eye on things going on with others, so there's a tendency to know what all the big "camps" are doing, but they really only get cozy with each other when there's been trust shown on both sides...this is why most will never get on the inside.
This is above the level of agent and Studio strife generally - the world of the actual producer and talented.
Most have to go through the gauntlet...the front door. lol And it's not pretty believe me. What you're getting as an investor or producer coming through the standard route into Hollywood...well this is why you see bad movies released.
At 15 I picked up the guitar and a year later I was playing Eddie Van Halen...a year after that I was voted the #1 guitarist in Portland - and I've learned that usually it's those that understand art and what it all means at the highest levels - they're the ones who make good art; that which communicates at a high quality level.
I threw this site together for my friends and close associates.
TO KNOW
Observing the things that are obvious. This is looking the other person in the eye and seeing that he's on board - and not just in a materialistic sense or desperation.
A person who has many of something can finally waste the excess that takes up their extra attention.
Generally, materialism is usually the hidden influence, the real "why" that the investor is having a hard time finding good projects in the first place. It's his personality attracting certain projects. The types of people who are attracted to which types of projects, that is the crux of the situation you're looking at. Knowing who you are dealing with. People don't realize what they're looking for is home-run relationships not projects...one comes with the other.
Having the experience to deal with most situations, and doing it well, gives you the ability to know, and certainty - this is senior to all else. Just like I don't deal with anxious or greedy people. No reason to.
If you think you know when you walk into our world, and you've never made film... You are dealing with art now, not money. Money is just admiration, and a communication vehicle.
Art deals with the motion of this universe, and it's quality.
Some people do things for admiration from others, like the "look at what particles I own in this universe" types of the world - I'm only interested in those that create the particle and know the value of the spirit of play that's involved in playing a fun game in life. Of course you have to have a purpose to even play a game.
Create dreams, be alive.