As you can see, Millionaire Who Went to Jannah is LIVE. I’ve got some special news for you.
For everyone who buys from me, I’m giving away over $100 dollars in bonuses.
BONUS #1
Access to Secrets of Video Production via MessageMastery.com
It launched at $197.00. Today it’s $97.00. But with the Millionaire who went to Jannah, its yours free.
BONUS #2
Exclusive documentary movie with Muhammad Alshareef, the man behind it all. The following is just a screen capture from the movie – trailer coming soon!
It’s basically our story of spending time in Vancouver, Canada – one of the most beautiful places on earth. This documentary is a not a public YouTube release. See the man himself, when he’s not teaching!
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Not only will you get the benefit of learning how to master your money, but you’ll also be able to use video and marketing tools as taught in Message Mastery to promote your business. At the same time, the movie above lays down some real important principals when it comes to getting what you want to achieve. as well as an insight to who Muhammad Alshareef is.
All of the above for $247
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]]>Last week I got back from my trip to Los Angeles and it’s been really busy since.
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WHY DOES MY VOICE SEEM WEIRD?
For starters, you may notice that some of the audio sounds sort of weird – like cheap dubbing in the videos. The reason of that is because I ended up doing ADR – Automated Dialogue Replacement or Additional Dialogue Recording – for some segments.
The wind was crazy up there and it totally drowned out my voice from the mic, even though I had the wind resistant padding on it.
I figured after seeing the tour of ToddAO and Warner Bros. post production studios I wanted to give ADR a try. I’ll tell you that without ProTools it’s messy business.
If it’s not automated and you’ll have a bit of difficulty getting into the same mood and emotion to sync the audio and video together.
A pain in the butt really.
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MY PLAN TO A SUCCESSFUL STUDIO PRODUCER
My plan is to simply exhaust all routes until I get to where I want to go. The way I see it, its going to take a lot of hard work and sweat.
What better fuel for that than passion?
One of the routes I’m in the process of initiating is starting an internship. Basically take in and train focused and dedicated individuals on producing content with Leechon.
I was hoping to launch this initiative in October, but client demands, seminars, classes, and being married it taking its toll.
My objective is to launch this internship initiative before the end of the year, no execuses.
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SOME PHOTOS YOU MIGHT ENJOY FROM THE TRIP
View from the hotel I stayed at
In our attempt to find a Chase bank, our GPS led us to Disneyland with fireworks!
Griffith Park Observatory from the observation deck
Griffith Park Observatory - I think Charlies Angels was filmed here
Parked on Mulhollard Drive
Santa Monica Beach
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]]>It’s been an eventful weekend. This Friday, my wife and I flew out to Los Angeles.
While she hung out at the Bayyinah Tajweed classes taught by Wisam Shareef, I attended a low-budget film financing seminar conducted by Suzanne Lyons, an independent producer.
I met Suzanne in April when she spoke at Film Specific’s Going Global Bootcamp. It was there I learned out about this particular workshop that I attended.
Outside of all the technical factors of financing and getting investors, a few points I took away from the class,
- Be selfless and inspiring - To be a successful producer, you have to be more than just a leader. You need to do more than just influence those around. Be able to put yourself aside and genuinely care for all of those you’re working with. Your very being must inspire excitement and enthusiasm for the work at hand. If you can’t do that, don’t be a producer.
- Make your movie for less – If your budget is $200,000, cut it down to $180,000 and get ready to work your butt off. – You’re better off than the people trying to sell their films today. It’ll take you about two years before your feature is done. By then the market will have picked up again – hopefully.
- Be unique in your movie – Don’t be a Slumdog Millionaire, Paranormal Activity, or Blair Witch. Be your own thing that the market wants to enjoy. Be the one to be copycatted.
- If you have a niche audience, truly consider developing your own distribution channels and systems.
One of the guest speakers – a sales agent – used an interesting analogy when talking about taking on the entertainment industry.
It’s like an Olympic race.
Are you getting up early every morning to run around the block while others sleep? Are you training yourself to be the best in your neighborhood, town, city, state and region?
Are you working to be the best in your country? Are you working hard to represent your people?
If in the end you make it into the Olympics will you really win the gold medal? That Oscar?
That is the reality of the business
Not everyone wins the Oscar, but many people have careers. Some just race. Others become trainers and mentors, but very few get the gold.
Out of 100 ideas there are 100 scripts. Out of 100 scripts only 10 movies get made, but there is usually one success.
My thoughts to all this: Dream bigger dreams, work smart and leave the results to Allah.
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Next up,
My meeting with some of Hollywood professionals.
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]]>This blog post is simply the story behind the production of the Ilm Summit videos.
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The following message is an excerpt from an email I received recently from SaqibSaab on the image of AlMaghrib to the masses.
The IlmSummit videos. MashaAllah the experience of the ‘ilm and the summit was beautifully portrayed and I was glued to updates that came almost everyday, jazaAllah khair to the players involved.
At the same time, a lot of the image of AlMaghrib offering an incredibly high caliber retreat was put side by side with some “fun” scenes to show the great time everyone had.
I laughed and enjoyed them personally, but a brother once wrote to me:
I don’t think AlMaghrib adopts cheap tactics, overall they are slick with their stuff but sometimes things get out of hand.
The only thing I disagree strongly with AlMaghrib is the videos, and I don’t just mean the beat-boxing.
I really think some of the Ilm Summit videos will do a disservice to AlMaghrib. That is supposed to be the intense 2 week academic seminar. It just bugs me when the cheesy experience is sold instead of marketing.
It’s so weird to see Yaser Birjas talking about qawaid al fiqhiyyah in one video and then cookie monster and dinosaurs in another. Or see Wisam doing an AWESOME recitation, for it to fade out and into a groggy brother being woken up by 3 people.
If you’re wondering what this message is all about, you probably haven’t seen the videos.
You can view all the Ilm Summit videos via the index thread on the AlMaghrib Forums.
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TO THE ANONYMOUS PERSON who sent the email to SaqibSaab:
I respectfully disagree with you.
The videos were produced to tell the story of the students at Ilm Summit and what they experienced. Fundamentally it is part of marketing that these stories be told. However, the purpose of the video’s wasn’t to directly sell AlMaghrib or Ilm Summit.
The videos communicated exactly what was meant to be communicated, which is the atmosphere and environment of Ilm Summit. Not only on the side of brotherhood and sisterhood but also the academic side of things.
By far, everyone I’ve spoken with and my wife has spoken with who’s attended Ilm Summit 2009 agree that the videos communicate accurately what was seen and felt by the students.
You’ll notice that first week of videos contain a mix of the academic and the fun while the second week of Ilm Summit videos are much more academically inclined.
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The purpose behind me going to Ilm Summit 2009 was two fold:
- Gather footage that can be used in an AlMaghrib promo documentary laying forth the academic nature of the institute.
- Produce short “GemReels” for every day of Ilm Summit 2009 that tell the story of the people attending and also show the academic nature of the retreat.
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WHO’S IDEA WAS IT ANYWAY?
The idea of producing a daily video came about as a discussion between some of AlMaghrib’s HQ people and myself at AlMaghrib’s Ilmweek that took place in Toronto in May 2009.
We figured the idea is great especially since no other Islamic organization has really pulled off daily video blogging in an effective manner. The idea certainly gave me butterflies since I personally never produced so many videos back to back.
I’ve always wanted to do something like this ever since I saw Kevin Sites do it back in 2006 with Yahoo’s “Kevin Sites in the Hotzone.” — I just never realized how much work was in store for me.
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WHAT WENT INTO PUTTING THESE VIDEOS OUT?
One of the lessons I’ve learned from past projects is — In order to meet deadlines you need to set a time limit for how much footage you’re going to gather.
I set a time limit of maximum two hrs of footage to edit every day into less than five minutes. A 24-hour turn around time sounded reasonable considering my current skill level and experience – until I got down to editing.
Sleep literally went out the window. I remember having slept only four or five times in the 16 days I was there, and it was only out of exhaustion that I slept. My body would simply shut down.
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CHALLENGES THAT MADE ME YEARN FOR SLEEP
In an event where there is going to be filming, the attendees are usually notified.
During registration they’re suppose to be given release forms to fill out or at least have a sign saying “filming in progress” or something.
It’s been done past events that I’ve filmed at, but for some reason it wasn’t done at Ilm Summit.
For the first five days or so I was able to keep to my 24-hour turn around time schedule.
People were being cooperative and others were quite enthusiastic to be in front of the camera.
However it only took one sister’s complaint for me to receive an “executive order” to re-edit or completely take done some of the videos.
This basically led to a meeting with the heads of Ilm Summit where we decided on the policy of what to film, how things had been going thus far and how we wish to move forward.
Yasir Qadhi made it a point to announce the fact that there is filming and I’m not that hard to miss. Therefor if anyone doesn’t wish to be caught on camera they should stay behind my “contraption” and at the same time I would be making the best effort to keep certain people out of specific shots.
One of the other issues we addressed in the meeting was that not enough of the academic nature of Ilm Summit is being put out there.
The “academic nature” of “What Is Your Story: Ilm Summit Day 08″ and the latter videos was a direct result of that meeting:
From this point forward I was constantly playing catch up, however the videos that came forth were given more exposure for the academic nature of Ilm Summit 2009.
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Next post will be address some personal reflections I’ve had as well as what’s to come next with the Ilm Summit and AlMaghrib stuff.
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]]>I want to see YOU at Ilm Fest 2009 This Weekend
You may or may not heard about the buzz about Ilm Fest 2009.
Whether it be that Baba Ali is going to be there, or the topics being covered are very contemporary, or you’ll have the opportunity to meet a lot of the AlMaghrib instructors, or the fact that you’ll be chilling with some cool cats like Haytham, Ammar, Amir, Adib and for the sisters Egyptian Gumbo – just know that now you’ll have one more reason to be at Ilm Fest:
I’m hunting for talent.
Of course it’s not the ONLY reason I’m going, but it’s certainly ONE.
One of the strategic objectives I’ve set for this last quarter – expect a post on quarter 4 goals soon - is to totally systematize the production of video and content for social media and offline marketing within the active AlMaghrib community.
My hopes are to seek out about five people from Qabeelat Nurayn who are dedicated to learning not only the craft of producing video, but also the vision of what AlMaghrib has to offer to the world.
The idea is to train the individuals in the processes of producing specific types of content and the processes of distributing them out there for maximum impact. – Think of it as the beginnings of a decentralized studio system inshaAllah.
First step is to get the right people on the bus. – If you feel you’re a super star and want to be on the team, hit me up at Ilm Fest. I’ll be actively checking my twitter >> @khanb1
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I’m probabaly sitting on a plane at this point in time waiting for it to take off so I can be on my way to Houston, TX for this years Ilm Summit 2009.
First of all -
I’ll be doing daily video blogging from Ilm Summit. Basically everyday put out a short video featureing some of our very own AlMaghrib instructors, faculty, students, and more. More Smack Talk. More Fun. More Class. More Character. More Gems. More Inspiration over all that hopefully will make you go “WOW!”
If you want to keep yourself updated on the daily videos I suggest you seek out the following social media outlets and subscribe to the ones that work best for you:
- Leechon YouTube Channel
- GemReel.com – That’s where I’ll be posting the videos everyday inshaAllah.
- AlMaghrib’s Twitter
I’ve got a sneak peak pic of the schedule for Ilm Summit 2009 – just to tease you with what you’re missing 
Second -
I’m planning on taking PLENTY of pictures. If you’re a Facebook Junkie or a Twitter Addict – you’re more than welcome to get your fix with me 
Third -
Look forward to a short documentary on the happenings of Ilm Summit – to be released soon
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Some marked their calendars to save up and prepare themselves for the release of major May blockbusters like Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, and Disney-Pixar’s Up.
Some saved up and prepared themselves to attend the first ever Ilm Week hosted by QMajd, Toronto’s student body of AlMaghrib Institute.
I had the audicity and excitement of doing both.
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:: What’s the point?
Do you wish to learn more about me, the characters I meet or something else?
It might be a good idea to discuss the story of Yusuf and compare that to the foundational elements of these major May blockbusters and apply the lessons to apply to our projects, but then I figured – most people prob don’t even fully know or appreciate the story of Yusuf-may peace be upon him in the Quran.
Sad reality is that many Muslims – especially youth – haven’t taken the time to connect with the Qur’an or any of the characters that Allah has presented to us in it.
It’s not really their fault. People just haven’t relayed who these awesome characters are.
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:: What connects us to people and characters?
This is a question that I’ve been asking myself for a while. What REALLY connects us individuals to people? Whether or not they’re fictitios, what makes us love them or hate them?
I saw Disney-Pixar’s UP yesterday with my little sisters. It’s about following one’s dreams, acheiving goals and keeping promises. I laughed and – almost – cried in that movie. I know there were others in the theater who did shed a tear.
It’s no wonder that Pixar’s consistantly releases hits. Their characters totally connect with the audience.
When we watch movies, TV shows, webisodes, vlogs – are we connecting with the story, eye-candy, or the character(s)?
I’m convinced that subconsciencely as human beings our goal is to connect with the character. When it comes to people, whether or not they’re real we want to love or hate, but never tolerate.
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:: What does this have to do with you and I?
Whether were in busines, education, dawah, or entertainment – in order for us to effectively communicate our message we need to develop our characters.
Lay out not only the character in relationship to the story we’re telling but revealing and developing them as the story progresses.
Ask yourself questions like:
- What are the character’s basic human needs, wants, desires, and aspirations?
- What are their internal and external struggles that they’re contending with?
As the story progresses, what do you want to reveal about them to the audience so that the audience can releate and connect with them?
- What do they LOVE?
- What do they HATE?
- What do they FEAR?
- What makes them ANGERY?
- What moves them forward?
- What makes them SAD?
- What makes them HAPPY?
- What makes them ANXIOUS?
The answers to these questions is what adds depth and realism to any character. If you yourself want to connect with an audience, perhaps you want to think about revealing some aspects of YOUR character to people to connect with them.
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:: What does this have to do with Leechon and the work I’m doing?
Coming out of my comfort zone, really excites me. It’s a chance for growth, experiencing new things, and making new friends.
After releasing my second episode of Browntourage I decided to take the time out and ask YOU what you felt that could be improved. The feedback that you gave on Facebook and Leechon Blog-post was excellent and definetly woth applying, but it was missing something.
As I had been filming for the coming episodes, I wondered what is it about me and others that you want to learn about? It’s for that reason that I posted on “Tweet-booked”,
Flying out to Vancouver mon with Sensei (Muhammad Alshareef). If you could ask him a question, what would it be? Rply n I’ll ask it for you.
I figured people would want to know more about a “character” that I would be featuring in my episode – Muhammad Alshareef in this case – but turns out the questions they asked were of a different nature…
It’s for this reason I shared a “commenty” of sort on Facebook (click the image)
This sort of brings me back to my original question – what is it about the characters on my trip that you wish to learn? What do you want to know about them? Am I the character that you wish to know more about?
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For those who haven’t been following me on twitter or facebook, I’ll be leaving my house to go to Vancouver in less than six hours. I’ll be spending my time with Irtiza and Sensei as well as hoping to meet some awesome people along the way.
Here are some amazing videos of Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies – both of which I plan on seeing.
(note: videos were not produced by Leechon)
Keep an eye open. I’ll be posting up Browntourage “intakes” as the trip progresses inshaAllah.
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]]>I got back from Toronto recently and have spent the last couple days decompressing. Starting a trip off with 24 hrs of no sleep followed by 10 days where one gets less than five hrs of sleep a day takes a toll on you – not to mention the effect it has on your sleeping patterns.
I’ve finally caught up with my sleep and getting ready for another trip which would be this Monday – this time to Vancouver!
Today I managed to put up some “in-takes” of browntourage. Watch and comment!
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Recently on Facebook I posted up a pic to get people’s feedback and responses on ways to improve the Browntourage series. In my opinion a great dialog took place and found four ways to improve the series in the next upcoming episodes.
Before I lay out the points, the reason I’ve started this series is:
I travel a lot. At least once a month I’m flying out to somewhere. There are amazing people in each of these places and I learn a lot of things from them. I also see many beautiful things – stuff that you wouldn’t see unless you left your home.
This series is my way of sharing what I’ve seen and the people I’ve met.
The improvement points are:
- Set naming structure in accordance with the premise of the series. Change “Episode” to “Trip”
- Keep up the coherency of the episodes/trips. Communicate where I’m headed, who I’m with, and why I’m with that person.
- Don’t just include people, but include lot of people who add substance and content to the episode.
- Where visuals failed to communicate what’s going on, use a narrative to structure a story/plot to enhance it and have it be more engaging.
You’re more than welcome to add to these points inshaAlah.
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]]>It’s really interesting the kind of comments that come about when mentioning a social ill in society. The following was tweeted to Facebook at around midnight and in a short amount of time has insighted quite a few comments.
There are more comments than what you see here. You can click on the image.
Now for some Ilm Week updates!
- I found out last night that Sensei (Muhammad Alshareef) isn’t going to be able to make it. Qadr Allah. That puts a wrench in our commercial filming idea.
- Never eat Boston Pizza for dinner (see link for more info) – update – turns out you need to be in my friend on Facebook to see the link. Just hit me up with a friend request
- I forgot to bring one of the camer’s power adapter. Batt is dead. Had it FedExed over from NJ to Toronto. Got held up in customs, then FedEx didn’t release it to the address it was sent because my name was on the TO address and I wasn’t there to retrieve it. Today I have to pick it up from the FedEx center!
The following dialog took place at the end of Sh Waleed’s halaqah:
Keep the engagement short. Two to three days and move on!
No no. I’m in favor of a longer engagement period.
Comon shaykh! That’s not fair! It’s like having a peice of chocolate in front of you and not being able to eat it!
I don’t think you’ll get chocolate. It’ll probably be caramel.
HAYTHAM: (looking at Ammar then looking to Sh Waleed)
I’ll take anything shaykh!