In my time running Leechon, I’ve learned it’s absolutely necessary to know where every penny is coming from and where every penny is being spent. With that knowledge you operate your business appropriately.

COUNTING MONEY

One of the major responsibilities of a business is to make money for it’s stakeholders. That is the bottom line. It only makes sense you keep an eye on it regularly and measure it’s progress.

When keeping track of money you really have to pay attention to two things. (1) Accounts Receivable – money that is coming in into the business or is at least owed. (2) Accounts Payable – money that is going out. Basically the bills and invoices you have to pay.

A great habit to develop is to sit down every month and generate a monthly financial report.

A habit you should protect yourself from – I learned this the hard way – is waiting until the end of the year to see how your money is moving. You won’t like what you see. You’ll see fiscal mistakes that could have been prevented if only you stopped to see your progress and financial activities.

Work this habit of sitting down every month habit and seeing what direction you business’s life force is flowing.

You’ll learn you can consistently communicate hard numbers and progress to those who are invested in you and your project or those whom you’d like to invest in you.

It’ll allow you to make calculated budgets and plans for spending for the growth of the business and you can use it to forecast what situations you’ll run into in the near future.

MAKING MONEY

In January I made a blog post about 35 Ways To Grow The Business In 2010. A little over two months later looking back at that list I realized only a handful of them can be put into action immediately or within the next couple months. However, before any action could be taken, that overwhelming mind map of projects had to be cut down.

I canned everything that wasn’t directly bringing in revenue and started moving forward with those that do. The following is just some of the things that are already in motion or are soon to be:

1 -
Leechon Producership. This is an effort towards multiplying myself. The more leaders you train, the more potential you have to reach out to others exponentially. InshaAllah the idea is that inevitably will help the company’s bottom line while also creating some jobs. Part of the effort to raise some funds for the project will involve conducting paid workshops/events within the communities of the interns.

2 -
Islamic Kids Show. You may already be familiar with Abdullah the puppet. If you’re not, then click the puppet above or go here: facebook.com/abdullahkidshow. This project is simply a market test to decide whether or not we’re going to turn this into a full fledged venture.

3 -
Client Work. As part of client work, the focus won’t just be applied to producing videos, but developing marketing and business strategies where the client can use video increase sales and exposure online and offline. I’ve been doing this already, but never emphasized this. An addition to this is offering branding and PR services through my wife’s company MinbarMedia.

4 -
Expanding MessageMastery.com. I’m currently in the process of  relaunching “Secrets of Video Production” course. Developing the marketing plan right now as well as working toward building a continuity program. The objective is to expand the current members’ community and build passive ongoing revenue for the company.

5 -
Independent Feature Film on AlMaghrib Institute. The objective is to start seeking investors and taking pre-sales by Summer time. Currently in development stages. Should have a title by end of the week inshaAllah. Here’s a thread that explains a little bit more about it: http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=39623

Vote for the best title here:
http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=39691

Imagine having $20 million dollars to make the movie you want to make with total control. That’s kind of what happened with director Spike Lee and producer Jon Kilik.

In the past I’ve blogged about meeting Batman producer Mike Uslan and Walden Media’s post production vice president Jonas Thaler at Montclair State University’s Film Forum. Earlier this week at the Film Forum I meet Jon Kilik who has been the producer on 13 of Spike Lee’s films (see his IMDb profile).

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WHAT WAS HE BEFORE MALCOLM X?

His story starts off as an individual born and raised in New Jersey. He went to college in Berlington, Vermont, where he met a film professor. After taking a few classes he discovered there was a career in it for him.

After college he started as a production assistant on commercials, doing crowd control, getting coffee for people, etc – anything to be on the set.

He went on to entry level gigs, working on films by Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet to pay the rent, then on his free time he’d work on his own projects.

The whole idea was to to start somewhere. Everyone starts somewhere. He started as an assistant to an assistant and worked his way up. So did individuals like Spike Lee.

He worked the ladder to get into higher level stuff and worked his way up. 30 years later here he was talking to a group of aspiring young individuals like myself.

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LESSONS FROM HIS 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

It’s all about good writing and and script. -
This is where you tell your story. Scenes that define character NEED to work and come through. If it’s not on the page, its not on the stage.

After script, focus on the two keys:
1 – How to MAKE it
2 – How to FINANCE it -
You have to think about technicalities of how you’ll execute your plan of getting the job done on time. When you set a date that you’re going to shoot on June 30th, doesn’t matter what comes through or doesn’t come through, you MUST begin shooting June 30th. No execuses.

When you’re trying to get the money to fund the making of it, understand that your stakeholder are interested in one thing, they want to make their money back. They’re interested in profit. Hollywood likes formulas that work and they’re very weary of experimental projects. A film may win awards, but it is necessary that the film make money.

personal note:

Films like “The Message” and “The Lion in the Desert” are well known among the Muslim populas. However, you’ll notice no other films were made for Muslims in the same manner by that director because the very films were commercial flops. The investors lost millions of dollars in making them.

If you want people with money to support your film. Have their best interest in mind as well. After all its their money you’re playing with. Its a trust upon you that you spend it in the best possible manner to bring about maximum returns. The rest is up to Allah-swt.

When opportunity comes, you MUST deliver -
Every opportunity that comes you way, you have to prove yourself. If you succeed, its no gurrantee that the next one will be the same way, but if you don’t deliver, don’t expect there to be trust between you and your supporters anymore.

Fail forward -
In the event that your idea get’s rejected – and it WILL get rejected – you have two choices. ONE, you quit right then and there and be sure of mediocrity for the rest of your life. Or TWO, you figure out a way to tell your story (script).

Jon Kilik, a producer with over 20 years of experience is still having a hard time getting financing for his film and getting that green light to enter production. It’s not going to be much different for you, so don’t fret. Be prepared to work hard and keep your eye on the prize.

Develop people skills and build relationships NOW -
As a producer you need to be able to effectively work with people. You can’t be a technical junkie.

No one will deny that Tiger Woods is the world’s most impressive golf player. When he’s on the field, he’s in the zone. He shuts out the world and puts all his focus on that white little ball propped up on that tee. However, you can see from recent events that he just doesn’t know how to deal with people.

As a producer, you cannot shut the world off. You must make connections, build relationships and continuously build your leadership ability. Understand that as a producer you’re a liaison between the people who make the film and the people who finance it. You need to be able to understand and speak the language of both sides.

The people who make the film speak the language of art. The people who finance, market and distribute the film speak the language of business. You, the producer need to understand and speak both.

Get started TODAY -
There’s are really three simple ways to get started as a producer.

1 –
Internships and assistant-ships – Studios are big on this. Even independent producers. They’re always looking for free help. Colleges are also willing to give credit for time spent as this. It will help if you identify which specific department you’re interested in.

Are you into the corporate suit type of jobs like finance, law, marketing. Or the technical on set type of jobs like director, cinematography, camera man, sound, editor, etc? The more you can define for yourself the easier it will be for you to get started.

2 -
Work for free. Find out where the shoots are happening, show up and volunteer yourself and your time. Sooner or later they’ll get you in touch with the right people.

3 -
Become a producer. Put together your own team and grow with them. You’ll have to have a day job to pay for your up keep. Dedicate your free time to work with talent, network and train yourself.

Relationships between directors and producers begin well before they get on set. Start nurturing those relationships today.

There’s only a few days left until the deadline. If you haven’t applied yet, then apply today.

As I stated in the video, as Muslims we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and it’s not a one-man job. It’s for this reason I’m launching the internship.

My goal is to personally train SEVEN producers who have a solid understanding of the foundations of marketing, media, financing and are able to successfully produce professional films in a systematic manner.

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I’ve received a number of questions regarding the internship and I hop this post will answer those questions:

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• QUESTION: I’m interesting in learning graphic design/after effects/[enter technical skill]. Will this internship allow me to do that?

• ANSWER: No it wont. This internship is development and training in areas of being a PRODUCER. Think of it as a project manager. As a producer you’ll be focusing on your ability to connect with people, leadership, storytelling, self development and organization, understanding business and sales, hiring people, financing.

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• QUESTION: Is this an on-site internship? If not, how exactly will it work?

• ANSWER: No, it’s not an on-side internship. Assignments, meetings, followups and accountability will be done virtually via MessageMastery.com and phone calls. There will be some instances where I’ll personally be there on site are your location inshaAllah for specific training.

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• QUESTION: Is this a paid internship?

• ANSWER: No. What you’ll be getting out of this internship is knowledge, experience and relationships with contacts to help you more forward in your professional life. In the event, the intern successfully graduates from the program – that individual will have the opportunity to work with me professionally and benefit financially.

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• QUESTION: How long is this internship for?

• ANSWER: It’s expected to last until the June.

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• QUESTION: How much time do I need to commit?

• ANSWER: That really depends on you. How much time can you commit? Assignments and tasks have deadlines. If you spend an average of two hours a day to fulfill what you need to complete – you should be able to meet the minimum requirements of assignments and tasks.

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LAYOUT OF THE INTERNSHIP

The internship is in three phases.

• PHASE 01 - is all about establishing the foundations of a producer. Foundations in marketing, relationship building, social media, personal development and  leadership. A lot of this will be me walking you through processes and getting yourself settled in.

• PHASE 02 – is where your development as a leader and connector will take off. In this phase I’ll be doing some live in person training with the intern.

• PHASE 03 - is the major portion of the internship in terms of time. Time will be spent on the graduations assignment which is to finance and produce short film on a budget slightly under $10,000.

As I stated earlier, interns that successfully graduate from this program will inshaAllah have a real opportunity to work with me professionally while also earning money.

The benefits that you as an intern will gain is the increased ability to influence people, professionally work twoards benefitting Islam, connect with people that will help you grow professionally and Islamically and gain the pleasure of Allah-swt along the way.