Ask Yourself

How Dirty is Free?

Fast and Free seem to be the new sheik business model : 

 

Google = Fast and free

YouSendIt.com = Fast and Free

FreeConferanceCall.com = Fast and Free

Zoho = Fast and Free

Pandora = Fast and Free

SethGodin.com = Fast and Free

Facebook = Fast and Free

The list goes on…

 

Check out this great list of fast and free services provided by Inc Magazine. Now-a-days even the free services are fighting for attention! In the 80’s I don’t think many businesses would have agreed with this “free” philosophy. Remember when you could buy the Encyclopedia in grocery stores? They tried to lure you into buying the whole set by selling you the volume of “A” for 99 cents. I bet Britannica would have never thought their competition was going to a free service.

 

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I am in the process of develop several new projects, all of which will have free services attached to them. So…I posed the question: If the future model of business is “Free”, how will it work economically for businesses?

 

In my studies to understand why free is so popular for businesses right now I found the following fantabulous analogy and here it is:

 

The Bikini Concept Introduced by marketing writer Sean D'Souza.

 

By giving away 90%, the user is willing to “pay” to see the last 10%.

 

I know…I hear you saying “How chauvinistic Mr. Sudarski!”, (That was my family name before we got off the boat). 

 

It is the last 10% that is of monetary worth to the consumer. How far are you willing to give your audience, customer, or client? What last 10% can be unrevealed that has so much value that “they” will do anything to get the last part? Isn’t that what the Broadway performances at the the Tony’s and the Thanksgiving Day parade are all about on a small level? BroadwaySpace.com has started to offer their audience base free access to the stars. Will live entertainment continue to have a free models like this in the future?

 

Have you done anything FREE and gained business from doing so? Will you do it again?

 

Do Choregoraphers Have Software?

 Playwrights have software to make their life easier.

Lighting designers have software make their life easier.

Set Designers have software make their life easier.

General Managers have software to make their life easier.

Almost every creative and administrative department in live entertainment has some sort of computer software supplement to enhance their productivity and abilities. What about choreographers?

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Check out this 30 second video explaining the new ChoreoPro software for Choreographers and Stage Managers:

The product is not released yet, but I have been told it will come out shortly. In the meantime you can request a trial version ChoreoPro through their web site.

I enjoy when someone takes something that already exists (In this case dance) and figures out how to make it better through technology.

Who can this help?

Dance Competition World = Some studio directors have to create anywhere from 25-50 group dances a season. With this tool, the directors can start imputing information as they are inspired and not have to rely on chicken scratch note pads to translate their thoughts.

Pre-Broadway = In the course of a Broadway show’s development phase dancers are made, cut, changed, and re-configured to work with scenery or a change in story line. With a software like this the Assistant Choreographer, Dance Captain, or Stage Manager will be able to update the module so no one has to ask, “What did we do yesterday?”.

After Opening = Have a long running show that has a casting change, or one of your ensemble dancers ate too much sushi? Your Dance Captain, Stage manager, and dancers can use this tool to cut rehearsal time down and improve accuracy.

Event Planners = If you are a production company that caters to the high-end event market, you will have to show your client in advance what the sets, lighting, and costumes will look like. You even have to go as far as showing your client what the napkins, table settings, and mints in the bathroom will be like. In the past you were unable to show them what the movement on the stage was going to be like. Now you can.

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Do you think this product will have merit in the marketplace, do you think something like this exists? Do you think this will make like on the stage easier or more complex?

Leave your comments here!

When Money Doesn't Talk - Partnerships in Entertainment

When I was a mobile DJ I had the honor of providing the sound reinforcement and music for a new bicycle race in NJ. Target, the mega-store, was the main sponsor of the event. The big red bulls eye logo was at the center of all the promotional materials. I thought I was the hottest  thing in town being the DJ of a Target sponsored event.

Being a geeky 19 year old entrepreneur, I  wanted to know how much mooo-la did the big red have to shell out to be a top billing sponsor. I excitedly went to the guy who hired me, and asked him. Anticipating to hear about a huge sum of  money revealed to me I was disappointed to hear the truth. I was told, “….We didn’t get paid anything….They gave us permission…It makes us look bigger and more reliable…”

I was heart broken at the time, I was hoping to learn about a get-rich-quick plan., Quickly I got over my heart break as I started to work on more of my own projects.

 * * *

Partnerships are a valuable way of building a brand. It is hard to put a price tag on the value driven by an association with a reputable organization. There are many win/win possibilities out there. In trade, in eblast swaps, in awareness opportunities, in product placements…You get it.

I am proud to announce my most recently won partnership. This partnership is a one hand washes the other payment system. We promote them, they promote us, we have their clients eyes, they have my industries heart.

Ladies and Gentlemen, today at 1:30 PM Eastern Time, StarQuest International will be formally announcing our alliance with the Broadway show Burn The Floor.

Look at (the bottom) of their Partners page…Ok…Ok... We have a small square in the bottom of the window, but hey.. This is one of many big steps to align our dance competition with other large entertainment and arts based organizations. And look at the other organizations we are paired up with as a partner!

We have been able to foster several opportunities with Burn The Floor, and I am excited to see what else we can do with them (While they are on Broadway, and once they start touring).

* * *

Look at your projects, ask yourself…”Self…What organizations can I build a partnership with?”. Now-a-days not many organizations are willing to write a check to you, but they are looking to build their brands to new markets.

What non-cash partnerships have you built? Have they brought you success, grief, nothing? Comment below or email me.

Not Mr. Wizard! - Marketing to the Youth of America

In gearing up for the 2010 Dance Competition at StarQuest International, I have plans to start utilizing social networking more. In my research to better understand what is the most appropriate, law-abiding,  ethical way of marketing to the teen/tween market I ran into some interesting facts about advertising on television.

 

During children’s television programming the FCC has placed safeguards on advertisements to protect the youthful observers who has not yet necessarily figured out that advertisers are out to manipulate you.

 

I found the following FCC guidelines extraordinary:

 

1)    There must be a transition between the program and the advertisements. The purpose of this is to separate the show’s influence from the product itself. This is why you hear “After these messages…” &  “Now a brief word from our sponsor..” (I never knew why they said those things. It has become such a part of my childhood that I never questioned it).

2)    Host selling during children’s programming is not allowed. Meaning you won’t see Mr. Wizard selling you a science kit in a commercial during his own show. (Wait.. Is that show even on the air still? I always wanted to be one of the kids on that show! If the show ever has a comeback I want on it!)

3)    Products being sold in the advertisement cannot be part of the program content. Meaning, You won’t see Golden Grahams as part of the storyline in SpongeBob if they are an advertiser. (I don’t think the Sponge would like the cereal anyway…To soggy)

4)    There must be a “Tombstone Shot” – The product must be in a shot all by itself with out the extra toys and accoutrement that can be purchased separately.

 

These fantastic facts brought are from the Future of Children Web Site. Want more about marketing to children. Read the entire document Children and Electronic Media.

 

This all being said, there is not a whole heck of a lot of regulation that can be put on advertisers since speaking to the public is part of the first amendment. Which brings us full circle to online content. How can online content be monitored and regulated? How can you regulate a website if it is set up in another country? Ahhh.. The future will bring many new policies I’m sure.

More on that as I journey down this road.

Smash Shack - Always a new way to Entertain!

The wikipedia definition of entertainment is: "... an activity designed to give people pleasure or relaxation. An audience may participate in the entertainment passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games."

As someone who is into the development of entertainment I always keep my radar tuned into innovative and new ideas. Some of my colleagues are interested in producing only plays, others only musicals. Me? I like anything that brings a burst of inspiration into someones day. Especially if it is through the medium of entertainment.

When I was in San Diego last week (Now one of my favorite US cities), I was eating at a diner that had one of those card racks in the lobby. You know, the type that has details on all the local attractions like zoos, shows, go carts, etc. Buried in the heaps of "to do" I found a neat little place that I wanted to share with readers of TrendErtainment. Here it is:

Sarah's Smash Shack

They even have a mobile unit. Imagine a Bar-Mitzvah with a bunch of 13 year old girls breaking glass. I tried to go myself but they were closed by the time I had some play time.

Any other interested forms of "Entertainment" you have come across lately?

Be the Weather

My friend Marisa Escolar once asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I answered, “I want to be the weather.”

The weather is an experience that people share. It is what people talk about with each other everyday. It affects people’s lives and the way they feel.

I want the entertainment I create to be like the weather (hopefully good weather). I want my project to alter a person’s experience in life.  I want a group of people to share a common bond together. Then I want people to go talk about it because they want to share that common bond.

As you develop and market your next property ask yourself, “How can I be the weather?”.

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*Stay tuned for the top 10 list of how to be the weather.

Twittering the Birth of a New Company

You can now find me on Twitter under the name MICedar.

Lots of incredible things in the works for 2009. I would love to have you join me for the ride.

Why did I join twitter other than the fact that it’s a fun toy for my iGoogle page and blackberry?:

1) It is a really neat way to archive the creation of Future Generations Entertainment.
2) Another way to market my services as an Entertainment Professional.
3)) I can see what other people in entertainment and business are doing.
4) Hands on experience of how I can incorporate Web 2.0. into my new projects.

Want to learn more about how Twitter can assist your business: A great blog posting on the benefits of Twitter here.

Do any of you have a Twitter account. Feel free to list it in the comments section below!

I’LL SHOW YOU MINE IF YOU SHOW ME YOURS (I am talking about Goals!)

Happy New Year TrendErtainment Subscribers!
Let’s ring in the New Year together….

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While Riding to Hebrew School:

As a tween, I listened with my dad to Anthony Robins and Brian Tracy cassette tapes on car rides. I got to hear all about N.L.P and Goal Setting on my way to school, the N.J. malls, and Hebrew School.  (Side note: my father is a subscriber to this blog and an inspirational teacher to thousands of young musicians.)

The tapes conditioned me to set goals and make mission statements. According to Anthony Robbins, this was “what you were supposed to do to have a successful life”. As a kid, you believe what you are told. So… Due to the brain washings, I associated pain with not setting goals. Every year, I would set my goals. The repetition did help: by the time I was 13, I had my own business, and by the time I was a senior in high school, I had a fully operational and profitable corporation.

What I Learned When I was 12 Years Old:

Goal setting can be as simple as writing down your top 3 things you want to achieve, or as complex as a full 10-year plan for life. Regardless to how you go about committing to your goals, the mere act of getting them down on paper and (possibly) sharing it with others brings a huge element of reality to your aspirations. To go really in-depth Google: goal setting here.

Just Do It:

I encourage you all to set a minimum of three big goals (RIGHT NOW!) that you would like to attain in your entertainment/arts career this year. I further challenge you to share them with the other readers of the TrendErtainment blog by listing them in the comments section below.
(Dad, I want you to participate in this exercise too!)

For those of you who don’t want to spend too much time on this TrendErtainment exercise, here is a basic set of instructions for simple goal setting:

1)    Pick up a pad of paper or pen (or open a new document on your computer).
2)    Write down the top three things you want to achieve in the next 365 days.
3)    Share these three thing or more in this blog
4)    Put your goals somewhere safe and review monthly (Give yourselves an evaluation on how your doing).

It is my GOAL to have a minimum of three readers list their entertainment goals in the comments section below. Perhaps another reader in this blog can help you attain your goal!
Go ahead, what do you have to lose?

I will even follow up with you every other month through the year to see how your progress is doing.

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours:

My Top Entertainment Goals for 2009:

- Set up a new L.L.C. – “Future Generations Entertainment”.

- Further advance my producer chops by: completing the Commercial Theatre Institute 14 Week Workshop, attend industry social events, read books and blogs, attend festivals, and learn from industry role models.

- Develop a new project called “The Best” with these guys (execute the first phase of “The Best” by the summer).

- Develop a social networking form to compliment “The Best” and “The Aspiration Project”.

- Develop one original theatrical show with a workshop before the end of the year (To open in 2010).

- Update michaelcedar.com and trendertainment.com to have a stronger image and content.

- Grow TrendErtainment.com to a minimum of 100+ subscribers by attracting a community of passionate entertainment folk like you and me. (So.. If you are new to the blog, sign up for a FREE subscription through RSS or Email)

- Attend a minimum of 1 theatrical show per week.

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Now... Show me yours !

(A prize to the best set of goals)

Carpe-Diem !

Role Models - Building the List

I like role models….No, I am not talking about the recent movie.

One of greatest lesson I learned in business was the importance of Role Models. Unfortunately I did not learn this lesson until many years after I was in business.  I spent lots of time building my party entertainment company and let pride hinder my ability to excel. I was surrounded by DJs, party planners, and vendors yet never sought any of them out for advise or to see how they ran their companies.  I invested a lot of time reinventing wheels that other have already created. It is hard for me to imagine how my first company would have been different if I weren’t so stubborn.

I am very excited to say that that stubbornness has been suppressed greatly. After I left the Bar-Mitzvah and Wedding scene I became much more proactive in my search to learn from others. I enjoy learning from the fortune (and misfortune) of my fellow peers.

I look forward to adding some additional role models to my list. Last week I received my acceptance to the C.T.I. 14 Week Producers Workshop. I am very excited to speak with some of the best in the entertainment business while saturating my brain with others who share the same passion as myself.  I look forward to bringing the knowledge I gain at the workshops with the readers of the TrendErtainment Blog.

If there is anything specific any of you would like me to cover let me know in the comments section below.

Question of the moment: What one person can you contact right now to have as a role model for something that you want to do, but have been putting off ? (Doesn’t have to be show-biz related). Ok... Now send that person an e-mail, make a phone call, or write a letter to that person RIGHT NOW !

SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS - Who is with me ?

For a wedding gift I bought my wife the complete Oxford English Dictionary (All 20 Volumes - Romantic, I know). Its fantastic! At your finger tips you have the opportunity to see where words came from and how they evolved. How cool right ?

I have a thing for knowing where things/people came from. From shows, to presidents, to smart-phones. A pattern that I have often seen is that successful people often come from the mentorship of other successful people. Makes sense doesn’t it ? If you wanted to be the best eye doctor in the world, would you want to study with the best optician or just your average joe? Likewise, if you wanted to develop, produce, and execute the best shows in the world, would you go to someone who churns out horrendous flop after flop, or would you want to work with those who clearly know how to be the best ?

Clearly, everyone has their own definition of “success” and what is “the best”. It’s up to each of us to strive to be our best and to find others who mirror our ideal conditions (And hopefully surround ourselves by those people).

And please, don’t get me wrong… Failure often breeds success too, but in an entirely different way. I have had my fair share of crash and burns, but I use the pain and experience to make sure I never do it again…

I have applied to the CTI 14 week workshop. I want to learn from the best. I am a fan of mentorship. I like being mentored and mentoring others. Why reinvent the wheel or make a new one when others have already walked the path before us? I want to listen to other professionals, I want to hear what mistakes they have made and what drives their best choices.

Which brings me to one more thing: Everything I mentioned above is why this blog exists. On my journey in the entertainment world I want to share what I find (both positive and negative) in hopes that my efforts assist others in succeeding as well. What is the purpose of “all this” if no legacy is left behind at the end of the day?  If you know others who are striving to be the best in the development, production, and management of entertainment please send them here . The is power in numbers and I hope to surround myself with others who are passionate to be their best (And that we all get to learn something from one another).

Cheers !

MIC

It's a Kidz Bop World - Tween Entertainment

Razor and Tie has managed to create a music empire based around the tween market. In 2001 they debuted their series Kidz Bop. Even in this era of slow CD sales they still have managed to sell over 10 million albums. In March they introduced  Kidz Bop 13 which premiered on the billboard charts as #4 for sales.

The CDs contain popular cover songs with kids singing in the background, chorus, and sometimes leads.  Razor and Tie made something remarkable to its demographic and the market rewarded them for doing so.

As their popularity grew, they create an online community (My-space-esq) that is safe for kids and empowers them to use their creativity. (Where else have we seen interactive web-companions for popular tween shows?)

Next comes their re-mount of Kidz Bop Live, an interactive, concert event using the pop music from their albums. It will be affordable for the family to attend and modern enough for a mom and dad to also enjoy.

What is admirable about the Kidz Bop Live property is that they are not trying to be Disney and they are not trying to be Nickelodeon. They are being their own product.

Want to see more? In addition to their website links above, you can check out more video footage on their YouTube site here.

With the introduction of other  productions like High School the Musical, it is clear that the face of children’s entertainment is changing.

City Streets - The Next Frontier?

Recently one TrendErtainment entry touched on street performers and their placement in public space. Now lets take a look at how one visionary company has pushed the space trend in a new direction

In 2004, Counts Media introduced the Yellow Arrow.

Watch A video about Yellow Arrow here

Check out the Yellow Arrow Web Site here

Are the streets going to grow to become the next frontier? Will concepts like yellow arrow influence a new breed of interactive art and entertainment?

Literally Out-Of-The-Box / Buskers & Street Performers

  I was told by a teacher once that in order to have "theatre" all you need are the following:

1)    Space (Doesn’t even need seats or walls)
2)    Performer (Doesn’t even need to be human)
3)    An audience (Hopefully a captive one)

This being said –

-If an actor is in a space performing without an audience, is it theatre?
-If a street performer is in the park and has an audience of tourists, is it theatre?
-If the I puts folding chairs in Times Square and sang “Give My Regards to Broadway” in several genres is it considered an off-Broadway show?

These questions inspired me to look up information about street performers. Below are  few interesting bullet points that I discovered:

-    Street Performers can be found as early as the 1700s in New York City.
-    In 1935 during the depression, Mayor LaGuardia banned buskers because many people were trying to generate income via entertaining causing chaos in the streets.
-    In 1970 Mayor Lindsey lifted the ban after it was found to be unconstitutional.
-    It is legal to perform on Subway platforms but not in the subway car.
-    Amplification may be used if you have a permit.
-    Street Performers may not legally sell promotional items without a permit.
-   Street Performers may ask for donations but not force payment.

Take a look at this list of artists that started as street performers: Cirque Soleil, Stomp, Blue Man Group , Eddie Cantor, George Burns, Iving Berlin, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Violent Fems, and many others.

Advertisers are making attempts to place their products in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. What unexplored opportunities are there which can be inspired by the busker tradition? Is there a way, we can use unexpected space to produce commercial theatre or promote it (If it is indeed even theatre)?

Other resources on street performers:

Buskers Advocates
Wikipedia
New York Times

“What’s Next” – Out of the Box Pattern Searching.

I appreciate my friends. They are certainly a quirky bunch. They all have an obsession with “what’s next”. 

My friend Mark is in the party planning business and is always looking for what will replace the DJ. Charlie reviews the nelson ratings as part of his routine so he can recommend development to TV corporations.  Sarah and her partner Delyn are on the lookout for the new patterns in religious observations so they can help communities grow. My wife Karen, as a writer and editor is always on the look out for new trends in communication and how they will influence us as a society.

“What’s next” speaks every language and crosses into to every aspect of the world. “What’s next” is crucial to survival. He who protests “what’s next”, eventually dies.

Type "What's next" into Google. See what it yields.

Call me crazy, but every so often I enjoy skimming industry-based job classifieds. Not for a job, but to listen to the patterns emerging. Classifieds are filled with caves of insight. Before a project is announced you will often find organizations hiring to develop a show. You will see who is building bigger staffs, and what type of positions seem to be wanted by everyone in the industry. Job descriptions give away information about other companies values. Often you will find a company you never heard of today and they are huge tomorrow.

Being in the know by networking, reading the trades, and making history yourself are dominant ways of keeping up with the times, but every so often you may find something you weren’t expecting by looking out side of the box.

What is your “whats next” obsession? How do you look out side of the box to figure it out?

Invite Your Audience Home

The word nostalgia comes from the Greek words nostos (returning home) and algos (pain and longing). Synonym: homesickness.

Create a form of entertainment that will bring people back and cure homesickness, then you have something.  When we, as producers, can free our audiences from pain while returning them “home”, they will come back for more.

I was recently invited to Connecticut observe a new Beatles tribute show that created safe venue to re-live the past.  It included live performers singing Beatles songs and a multi-media production, including images and video from the same era. 

When the show came to a close, the audience refused to leave.  They were on their feet before numbers ended, stomping their feet, yelling for more. Can you believe that 50-year-old men and women were throwing mini-tantrums? At the end of the show, I witnessed an authentic standing ovation.  The producers were able to tap into the nostalgic emotions of the past without using the real Beatles.

The well-mixed experience of theatrics, multi-media, music, and decent talent gives the audience their dose of nostalgia, and in return the audience recommends the show to their friends.  The final result is so effective that the run for this tribute show has been extended, and is being picked up by other markets.

On Broadway, Mama-Mia and Jersey Boys are examples of well-produced nostalgic remedies.  The shows are heavily laced with music from a specific time period, and the storyline is actually centered on nostalgia.

Invite them “home” and they will stay.

Oh . . . they will also bring their kids.

Who Wants to Be A Paradigm-breaking Hero?

The YouTube clip below has received over 22 Million views over the past several months (not including the hundreds of other feeds that aired this clip or the hits on his web site).

I am not here to preach about the appeal of today’s Reality TV phenomenon.  I am here to show you how an audience likes to participate when defining what's the next trend.

Paul Potts is an ordinary person who did an extraordinary thing, in an environment that did not expect it, and in doing so made himself a hero.

Paul won the overall "Britain's Got Talent"  competition. He now has a international tour, a best selling CD, rumors of a possible movie deal, and who knows what else.

You could have the best pop singer on the stage, but it doesn't matter because the pop-singer-idol trend is predictable and the audience rewarded the underdog, Paul Potts, for stepping out of the box.

Who is going to produce, create, or become our next hero?

We crave heroes, unfortunately many of our heroes today are not the best role models.  It our responsibility to introduce some outstanding heroes, like Paul, that we can look up to.  If we continue to promote baby-popping-teenage-drug-addicted idols, what is that saying about our culture?  The audience above demonstrate that we are ready for a change and with this change comes profit.  We created the trend, we can break it and make new trends that move us forward both in mind and in money.

Are you brave enough to take something ordinary and  make it extraordinary?

He who does this, while listening to our culture's needs (not wants), wins.

Counting the Triple Threat Sheep

If you are as passionate as I am, It is most likely there have been many night you go to bed and just can’t fall asleep because you have so many ideas running through your head.

Recently, one late evening, one of my tap dancing, opera singing, Julliard trained, AEA sheep in my head stopped in the middle of his triple time step, turned to me, lit up a Winston Cigarette and said “Hey, Michael, Buddy…All us sheep are tired of jumping over this here fence, why don’t you use us for something more than the just the chorus drones”.

So, here we are, Blogging, Using the ideas (The sheep) for something useful. To share, To contribute, To get feedback.

It is my intention to bring to you, my musings about the development, creation and trends of the live entertainment industry. Things in our culture are changing. The introduction of modern technology and media has made it a different world for producers, theatre owners, and creatives. We are often so busy with daily operations of our organizations that we don’t always have the time to see what is next. We don’t always see that we are behind. So many of us run our daily operations not realizing the consumer no longer wants what we just invested millions of dollars and hours into.

We think that things are changing today more rapidly than ever, but in all reality, they always change, change is a trend, the only thing constant is change. Together, lets listen and produce our way into the next generation of entertainment.

What trend changes have you concerned as a entertainment professional? Comment or e-mail.