PLAYDIGM Entertainment Licensing & Branding

It may seem hard to keep focused on your goals when reality gets in the way.  You know the little (or big) things that lead you to do something else, than what you love to do or should be doing – be it work or personal priorities.  Necessary things like doctor appointments or unexpected paperwork or a call from that important talent manager or agent.  The kind of things that take you away from what you want or love to do.

Allocating time in the form of appointments or by blocking off a portion of each day for yourself, you will realize very quickly how much extra time you will have to deal with the things you want to do or should be doing.   For many years I ensured that Monday mornings and Friday afternoons were for me to catch up on outstanding work related matters (especially Monday).  While Friday afternoons allowed me to take the day off early (instant long weekend) or take a client for a late lunch or deal with a family matter or heaven forbid – work overtime.

You would be surprised how productive engaging with clients on some Friday afternoons can help with networking, solidifying business relationships, closing deals, plus is a great way to get to know the people you work with outside of an office environment.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am a self motivated productive worker and believe in getting things done.  Many times I have put in 16 hours days and worked entire long weekends, without sleep, to prepare everything for a trade show or create a contract or an entertainment project deadline that the client decided was a rush-rush and needed to be moved ahead of schdule.  Standard procedure in this industry.

If you don’t have written goals for your personal life, then get some on paper.  You do this for business, so why wouldn’t it make sense to do it for yourself.  Focus on what you love to do.  Can’t find the time to play the piano and record the song you created that is in your head – do it!  Want to learn something new – learn it.  You need to figure out the things you love to do that you would do, even if you were not paid to do it.  There is more to this life than money.  Happiness has a value.

However, time is more valuable than anything.  We all have only one life to live on this planet (usually under 100 years). Time you can’t save but it is most important how you spend it.  Believe me, you don’t want to be in your seventies thinking, I wish I would have done this… or done that. I have yet to meet someone who says on their ninety-ninth birthday, “Boy I wish I could have put in more hours at the office.”

Block out time for important things now and take small steps to achieve the goals you have made.  You can do it!

Stay Focused and remember – the harder you work at your goals, the easier it will be to attain them.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

Usually when you send out query letters asking a studio, producer or company to look at your screenplay, novel, album or product; these major corporations or individuals will respond with a request to sign their ‘Submission Agreement’.

Normally these Submission Agreements have a few clauses that can make your spider-sense tingle.

For Example:

Since they may be developing a product similar to the one you are thinking of submitting, they have to protect themselves and their investment in the projects they are currently working on. In their Submission Agreement there will be a clause that states that you will not seek legal action or sue them should they develop a similar product or project as the one you have created.

If you are not comfortable with this, don’t submit anything. However, that leaves you with the daunting task of developing your project on your own.

My agent and other entertainment professionals I know, tell me that it is very rare for someone or a company in this business to steal ideas/products from creators. I’ve been told, it is much easier for a producer, studio or company to just purchase your submitted idea, than risk a potential future law suit.

I am only aware of two such situations where a submitted project was developed without prior agreement or involvement of the originator of the concept (read Fatal Subtraction – The Inside Story of Art Buchwald versus Paramount by O’Donnell & McDougal) and another writer who got nothing when a teleplay he submitted got developed into a television series.

Read the book Fatal Subtraction just for the sneak peek into the way Paramount runs their business with creative accounting and the legal story of how ‘Coming to America’ starring Eddie Murphy got made.

In the second situation, the writer’s agent at the time (who submitted the television episode) called one day and told him she had just watched a new television series that was very close to the original teleplay he had submitted to another show.

Later it was learned, that the writer’s teleplay was short listed but then rejected because it took the lead characters in a different direction than the show runner wanted to go. However, one producer of that show developed the writer’s script for a totally new television program for which six episodes were created and broadcast. Yes, this new show was altered from the original idea, but the main plot points were visible enough that his agent knew it was his concept. She recommended to not sue the producer and network because the writer could end up being black-listed by the industry. She emphasized how small the entertainment business was but also told him that if the new series was a hit, that suing might be an option. The new show faded away after only six episodes aired and everything has since been forgotten.

So when you sign and send in a Submission Release Agreement with your product, you are believing everything will be on the up-and-up, but they call it a Submission for a reason.

If you are a good writer-creator, you will have many products/concepts to submit and with luck one will hit. Sure the major company or producer will reap the lion’s share of the profits but if your project is developed, it should make you enough money to create other products/concepts for future submissions. Or maybe even earn you enough funds to develop your own projects and become the lion.

The best advice is to only deal with known entities in the industry you are in. Ask others you know in the industry for a recommendation on who to submit your project/product to.

Have a lawyer talk to their legal counsel to ensure everything is copasetic.

Many authors/creators submit their work hundreds of times before getting any interest. So remember, persistence is omnipotent!

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

My agent tells me that Submission Release Forms are standard. My lawyer explains that if I want to submit a screenplay or product to a company that requires submitters to sign one, I have to sign one or don’t submit anything.

The major producers, studios, toy companies, comic companies, book publishers all use them and their position is – ‘we don’t accept submissions unless the Submission Release Form is signed and accompanies your package’.

Even I had to require anyone who wanted to submit a product to our public company to sign a release form first. All because of the liability that may come from accepting a submission that could be similar to something the company may already be working on. The Submission Release Form lets companies review your script or product with no worries about being sued by the submitter (if they produce a product similar to yours).

Back in the early 1990′s, our game company was designing a dinosaur board game. We received a better product from a paleontologist, who signed our submission release form. During negotiations with this scientist, another person came in the door without an appointment. Even though our receptionist told this door-crasher we do not accept submissions without the proper release documentation previously signed, he proceeded to show her his dinosaur game to her. This guy then refused to sign our company’s release form, so we could not review his game.

When we explained what happened to our legal counsel, they instructed us not only to stop negotiating with the paleontologist, but to not bother manufacturing the dinosaur game we had been designing in-house. We were told that any money we put into developing any dinosaur game could be jeopardized if this unsolicited dinosaur game guy sued us.

We were disappointed since ‘Jurassic Park’ came out a year or so later and we could have had a dinosaur game on the shelf at the beginning of that brand’s success. Back then, anything with a dinosaur on it was popular. However, it was not worth the risk to spend a hundred grand to develop our original dinosaur game plus even more marketing money, when we could be dragged into court for what this unknown inventor did.

In general Submission Release Forms there are two main points to think about before signing.

1) This is a full release of liability for the company you are submitting to. That means they are contractually getting you to waive your right to sue them if they take your product/script and produce it or something similar.

2) Usually they will recommend that you send only copies of your product, because they will not return anything you send. So do not send originals or anything you want to see again. Most of these companies are huge and sometimes items get lost in their maze, so only send what you can afford to never see again.

There is some good news.

The likelihood of a major company stealing your idea is minimal. It is cheaper and easier for them to just purchase the rights to your product, than to risk a future possible lawsuit, which may or may not tie up production or force a payment to you for a percentage of their profits.

Also, you don’t hear much about this but anyone can sue anybody for any GOOD reason. The key is to have a lawyer who can convince a judge that your case is valid and should be heard – even though you signed away the right to sue. If the company you submitted to blatantly rips you off and is making piles of money, then you must decide to seek justice or not.

Some words of warning.

The entertainment industry is smaller than you think. If you sue, you may get black-listed and shunned by the entire industry, so only sue at your own risk and if your lawyer says they can win (which they usually will never say). Seek legal counsel before submitting and suing.

It all comes down to ‘how bad do you want to see your product made’? If you don’t have the money to produce your product yourself, then submitting it to companies that can is the other option.

Taking risks is part of life and always remember, you can write a new screenplay or invent another product, or sign a Submission Release Form. These are the choices of doing business. Good luck with your decision making process.
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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

What will be the next collectible craze?

That is the magic question every licensing and branding executive asks themselves. Research unveils that no one really knows what entertainment property or product the public will choose to watch/buy ‘repeatedly’ and collect everything associated with that brand. This is the holy grail of licensing and branding.

Why do some people collect running shoes, while others collect comics, or salt & pepper shakers, sport team jerseys and pretty much any type of merchandise their hearts desire. The source of a successful brand is a cross between individual personal taste and mass appeal, with a magic touch of hype.

Can advertising jump start a fad or fuel the collecting craze? Many marketing executives say ‘yes’. Ask any Ad agency that hocks products to the public and they will tell you that with the right mix of media it definitely will influences the interest and decision buying of the public. With enough money and repetition, they can design messages that will help brand a product or license. Quality mind-share.

Remember the buying frenzy of Cabbage Patch Kids (TM), Tickle Me Elmo (TM) or Pirates of the Caribbean (TM) related merchandise. I have never seen so many pirates as I have the past few Halloweens, all proclaiming they are ‘Jack Sparrow (TM).’ A good example of influencing the public interest and spreading the “I want to be associated with this” word of mouth popularity.

Sports teams spend a lot of cash to design new logos for their team jerseys, not just because they want their players to look cool while playing their sport but so that fans will gobble up their licensed merchandise. Marketing budgets ensure that these logos are prominent throughout the arenas and their team propaganda is disseminated via radio, television and print mediums to saturate their market territory and spread the word that wearing their team cap or jersey is the cool thing to do. Image is first and foremost to a collector.

Image and emotional attachment to a brand starts with the color palette chosen, the look or style of the logo of the team or entertainment property name. No one wants to look goofy when they don a team’s cap, or wave a banner in an arena or wear an item that does not invoke a feeling of being cool. That is why some team logos sell more than others.

Image and personal interest may drive the initial commitment in a brand but it does not make the licensed products collectible. Why do consumers purchase one brand over another (even if they are pretty much identical)? Quality.

Everybody wants to be popular. Nobody wants to be associated with wussies and wimps. So one of the keys to help your license is by getting celebrities and/or sports figures that are: a) already known and very popular but also have; b) the emotional image you want your brand to be associated with; and c) the magic touch of quality items that help the public decide to collect all things related to your brand. Lets address all of the above.

a) Which stars/celebrities or sports figures would be good for your brand? When Hip Hop clothing companies wanted to gain awareness for their fashion line, some paid Rappers to wear their clothes so followers of these stars would buy the items to look and be like their heroes. Depending on the street credibility of the star, determined the level of success of these products. Quality and popularity of the stars count.

b) You would not want something ‘not cool’ or give the wrong emotion to be associated with your brand. For example: if your license is a strong male superhero – allowing a Bra or Tampon company to use the name and likeness of your character would prove to be a wrong choice. It would be more appropriate to license companies and products that portray an image similar to the one your superhero already has. Products like certain sunglasses, energy drinks, sleek/fast vehicles and boy type toys. The kind of things that followers of similar brands already purchase.

For example: If your market audience is children from the age of 10 to 15, you would not try and market diapers or firearms to them. It is better to attract companies with products that are already selling their wares to the consumer group you want to entice.

c) Quality is the way you increase the collect-ability of your products? If the author of a novel signs his or her book they have written, readers believe the value of that item has increased because there are only a few with the writer’s signature on it. The fewer signed, the better for collectors.

If a hockey player signs a stick he used in a Stanley Cup final game it has a perceived increase in value over a stick he used in a regular season game. If this player autographs the stick, everyone would agree that the value has gone up, even more value is dependent on the popularity of that player. Perceived quality.

The more team mate signatures on that stick, the better the public will think this item is worth. That is why baseballs, footballs and hockey sticks signed by the whole sports team gain major attention and huge sales prices at auctions. Try and get all those people to sign something after the game is over or the season ends. Rarity enhances quality.

When we were exhibiting at the San Diego Comic-con, comic buyers would purchase my Galactic Gladiators comic books, posters, caps, mugs and original framed artwork. The savvy collectors would ask for signatures by the artist and creator because of the rarity of their autographs on these items together increased the value for each signed product. Even if the true monetary value increase is marginal, the perceived value rose due to the belief of the the fan in the brand.

I overheard one artist comment while autographing his graphic novel, “Put this in a safe place because if I am ever hit by a bus, it will be priceless.” The reason is that he will not be able to sign any more products if he is deceased and thereby the few products out there with his signature on them would dramatically increase their value in the public market. The media attention that is sure to follow the death of an artist/creator would increase interest from the public for everything he/she created. Media influences popularity and value of brands.

There are almost 7 billion people on our planet and if there is only one-of-a-kind made or only one signed copy out of thousands printed, then this would establish increased branding value.

Collectibles can be such a valuable tool in marketing and public relations. As a creator of content and product you should create collectibles by autographing a certain number for special followers of your brand. These few products will stand out from the other unsigned ones and provide the collector something to tell their friends about, which could lead to word of mouth advertising. The best form of free marketing.

When licensing your brand’s logo and character(s) name and likeness onto products, ensure they are quality products. I have seen several major brands allow their license to be placed on crappy products or products that just don’t fit the image or perceived concept of the brand. Don’t do this, as it is a sure way to destroy a brand which would require time and retooling/relaunching efforts that are very expensive and preventable by licensing only onto good quality items.

Never underestimate the value of collectors and their need to keep a complete set of whatever it is they are collecting. Do what you can to make your brand a collectors dream. That is what makes collections and those that collect, so rare and valuable.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

Stephen Colbert ran for President of the United States of America in the Marvel Comics Universe. Even though he won the popular vote, he lost the electoral vote to President-Elect Barrack Obama.

During one of his comedy shows last week, Colbert held up a Spiderman comic with a picture of himself on the cover. He proudly signed the cover to the audience’s delight. Then with a stroke of genius, he had the Marvel artist who penciled the book come out and sign the cover too. All with the knowledge that Barrack Obama collects Spiderman and Conan comics.

Stephen Colbert placed this now ‘one-of-a-kind’ Collectible Spiderman comic on a shelf for all to see, with the hope that Obama will come onto his show, in exchange for receiving this comic book. I know the value of this comic will bring the soon-to-be President of the USA to a one-on-one with Colbert. Not only because of the comic book’s rarity (only one out of tens of thousands of copies printed) but for the media attention that is sure to follow should Barrack appear on his show.

Any appearance by Obama on the Colbert Report would spark mega-mainstream media coverage (nationally and internationally) with a viral marketing campaign via word of mouth and that is a good thing for the President-elect, for the Colbert Report, Comedy Central network and for the Comic Industry (Marvel especially). A win-win-win-win scenario. Well done Mr. Colbert.

Collectibles can be such a valuable tool in marketing and public relations. As a creator of content and product you should create collectibles by autographing some (not too many though). These few products will stand out from the other unsigned ones and bring a higher sales price. If you come up with a good publicity stunt or idea, maybe even some media coverage.

Never underestimate the value of collectors and their need to keep a complete set of whatever it is they are collecting. That is what makes collections and those that collect so rare and valuable.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

What are Action Book Ends?

Book ends hold books on a shelf together and are rooted at each side with something solid and secure.

Action is a portion of a story that draws the reader to the material and can enhance and develop characters if done right. Each tome between the Book Ends of Action are like chapters of a novel or scenes in a movie. Usually action between the Book Ends of Action, will not compete with these two action sequences.

Therefore, Action Book Ends are how good writers start their stories with a bang and then finish their stories with even bigger climactic action sequences.

Warning Spoiler Alert:

In IRONMAN, the protagonist Tony Stark is in Afghanistan riding in the Fun-Humvee until explosions and action cause him to be captured by terrorists. This introduces the main character in a great way and we see the type of person he is by the way he reacts to the situation he finds himself in. Reacting to action.

At the end of the movie, Ironman is fighting WAR MACHINE, which is a bigger, more powerful and deadlier armored type robot suit. This climactic end sequence is crammed with more action than the opening sequence (which is the standard in action films). The story reveals even more character of both the protagonist, love interest and the antagonist. That is until the story is wrapped up in the resolution scenes and the lights come up in the theater.

Even though this important Marvel character’s life is in jeopardy, (inside we all know they would never kill him off), but you just never know until the film is over. This tension is heightened by action that may harm the protagonist.

Is this brand too valuable to terminate it’s lead character? Other characters have died (Superman, Captain America, etc) which may surprise their followers at the time but due to the effort and money allocated to building such brands, it doesn’t make financial sense to stop the continued brand development process. Plus, we all know characters can be brought back from the dead at any time the creators/writers desire.

Conflict develops character. So use the Action Book Ends to spice up your stories and attract audiences. Your writing career and entertainment project depends on it.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

When I ask creators of entertainment product, "Who is your
target audience?"  Most would reply with consumers of a certain range,
say, 'children 4 to 12' or 'Males 14 and above'. 

I respond with, "Yes, that is your final public target audience
objective to have your product reach, but the REAL initial audience
are buyers of products like yours. Because if you can't convince
them to take your product, the public audience will never be
introduced to your entertainment project."

So, if the true audience for your projects or screenplays are the
producers, studio executives and their other advisers they surround
themselves with. You must ensure that they enjoy the story, packaging
and come to an agreement that the public viewing audience will enjoy
the entertainment product too.

This is true too for products that need to get a buyer to purchase
your product and put it on a shelf so that consumers have the chance
to see and buy it.  Sales representatives, wholesalers, distributors
and others in the chain of marketing.

When you come up with an idea, get opinions on it from the closest
person you know to the immediate buying audience (production crew,
agents, lower management at companies you would love to have read,
review and buy your product).  If they like it, they may hand it off
to someone they know in a better position to get it made.

I personally know of a writer who hands out his screenplays to who
ever will read them and on occasion, after several years, sometimes
someone in the industry becomes interested. Then it is revealed later
that a friend of a friend gave the script to someone else who liked
it and passed it to an assistant producer who handed it to a director
they knew, until finally it was optioned by a producer.  

In the end the story and writing quality drove the product towards
its REAL audience/market - someone who can make the entertainment
product.  So make sure you are writing for these readers.  

This selling draft will need to be directed to producers not the
viewing audience. The screenplay directed to the final target audience
the viewers, will be written from the original version that was sold.
Many rewrites will be done to ensure the end viewers will enjoy the
show.

So look at your entertainment vehicle (script/product) as two parts.
One draft is for selling the script to industry professionals and the
second is for the target public audience.  Kind of a two phase
approach.

Impress the buyers first is the key.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been there… Two in the morning, waking up from a dead sleep because a great idea popped into your head. You debate if you should go back to the dream or climb out of bed and write the idea down.

This has happened so many times to me that I have purchased a micro-recorder so I don’t have to get up at all. I just reach over while still laying there, flip the switch on and explain to the machine, the idea or product in as much detail as I can recall.

For example: In the summer of 1984 I had just completed a three hour karate class, got home and had a couple beers while watching The Tonight Show. Johnny Carson was interviewing two of the designers of Trivial Pursuit (Horn – Abbott). One of them said, :”There will never be another game as successful as ours because all subject matter has been covered in game form.”

I stood up and said to the television, “There are no martial art board games.” After the show ended, I went to sleep and dreamed that I was playing a martial arts board game with friends of mine. I awoke the next day and explained this dream and game to my immediate family and friends. Everyone liked the idea so I started working on a prototype.

Now everyone has played a board game or two in their lifetime, so they know the basic components that are part of one. I started to draw the board first, each playing space just as I recalled seeing them in my dream. Then the painstaking tasks of drawing the pictures for the Opponent Cards, the text layout for the Urgent and Ying Yang Cards, until I finally had a rough prototype to play test.

Boy did we (my friends and family) ever play test the hell out of that game. We played it hundreds of times, which allowed us to tweak it here and there, making it the product you see today on shelves around the world and available online. However, it was missing one very important thing…

The title of the game in my dream was – THE ORIGINAL BRUCE LEE MARTIAL ARTS GAME. I had no idea how to get permission to use Bruce Lee’s name and likeness, there was also the famous photo of him from ‘ENTER THE DRAGON’ (with his right hand outstretched and the other holding a Nunchuku). This was on the box in my dream and even though everyone (including me) thought there was almost no chance to license Bruce Lee, I at least would try.

So after a telephone call to Black Belt magazine and a call to the legal counsel of the Bruce Lee estate, I was asked to send them a prototype for review.

The one I had made was not worthy to show anyone other than those helping me test the game. Since this was before photoshop and good computers (the Coleco Adam ruled the world then), I was forced to paste up an image from the ‘Enter the Dragon’ poster as the box top, then scratch each letter from a stencil one at a time for the game’s title above.

Then I did this repeatedly for all four sides (in slightly smaller stencil font size) and the back of the box, which also had another photo of Bruce Lee. Then I paid for a professional photographer to photograph this flat artwork-collage. Once it was developed and blown up I cut the two pictures out so that I could fold both the top and bottom into a book style box shape. This looked better than expected and was full color. No color copiers back then.

After hand cutting out the three decks of cards, the Ying Yang cards were circular and more of a challenge, I inserted each deck inside the box. I added a bag of black bingo chips (each chip represents ten hours of training necessary to learn different types of martial arts to gain higher belt levels).

The board took the longest time because of the painstaking slow task to glue the typed (on an electric typewriter) words of each game space and the inner spaces where players move their tokens upon. I have real respect for the old typeset guys who had to do all-night paste-up sessions.

I bought some small army men, to be able to use the Japanese guy holding the sword. I needed six as the Bruce Lee board game can be played with that many players. With a hot Exacto-knife, I cut one foot away from it’s base and with heat, molded the leg into a kicking position. Lost a few soldiers with this pyrotechnique. Then painted all six tokens different colors. After adding a ten sided die, and hand typed rules sheet, my prototype was complete.

Take into consideration that I actually made three of these complete prototypes at the same time. One for submission to Mrs. Lee and the Bruce Lee estate (which they kept). One for play testing and kicking around (full color version) and the third one I used to take photographs of for brochures and promotional use – like showing potential investors and buyers of games.

Of course, these days I hire artists, graphic designers, mechanics, machinists and a host of other professionals to produce any new prototypes. Which is what I always recommend my clients to do as well. The more professional looking the prototype, the easier to gain interest from buyers and investors. You can’t do everything yourself and in this case, you shouldn’t. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

Of course, before you put your time and money into building prototypes, you should consider if the product you are thinking of creating can be produced at a profitable price. If your estimated sales price, minus costs to produce and market, deem your venture worthwhile, then go ahead to the next stage. Also before publishing or producing your product, do your best to ensure there is a market for it.

Printers and Engineers and other design companies can help you create a functioning prototype to ensure proof-of-concept and may even be able to provide cost breakdowns and production facilities for such products.

Just make sure you trust those that you tell or show your idea/product to before you actually reveal it. Confidentiality Agreements are recommended and should be signed to protect you and your great product.

Good luck with turning your dream into reality!

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – e-book will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com and for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.

J. K. Rowling created and wrote the first Harry Potter book less than 15 years ago. It is rumoured that the second richest woman on the planet earned only 10 percent of all the money made from her stories. This percentage is for an established author. Take into consideration that means 90 percent went to the book publishers, the film companies, taxes, accountants, lawyers, etc…

Still, wouldn’t you like to create a revenue stream that earns even 10 percent of what she received? Or what Stan Lee gets annually or (pick any successful entertainment product/franchise).

The key to standing out from the pack is to have an original idea and a diverse group of products based on that concept. Nothing beats originality, especially if it is a good story with great characters that is easy to promote to the target market.

For example: When I was designing the first prototype for my martial arts board game, I knew the chance of success was limited. The toy industry was about ten billion dollars a year in the USA and the funds I was raising ended up being just under $200,000 Canadian for this board game (back in the day when Canadian currency was 65 cents against the American dollar). The odds of success were against me, plus I had never done anything like this before.

This meant that it would be next to impossible to manufacture the first print run and have enough funds to advertise and penetrate the toy and martial arts markets. The key was to attach a BIG NAME CELEBRITY or LEGEND to the game. Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee. Well Bruce Lee had been dead since the seventies and this was 1984. I still believe today he was the best choice at the time.

My mother always said, “If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.” So I telephoned Black Belt magazine, which I was a reader of and they directed me to Adrian Marshall, the attorney to the Bruce Lee Estate at the time, who invited me to forward to Mrs. Linda Lee, Brandon, Shannon and the Bruce Lee Estate a copy of my game prototype.

After months of preparing and waiting for a response, it came back in the form of a one page letter that explained that upon their receipt of an advance payment I would have the legal right and endorsement to use the name and likeness of BRUCE LEE worldwide. I sent the payment and immediately retained artists to complete the layout of the game.

This would be the last time a licensing deal was so easy and not a thick contract. I will be discussing licensing contracts in future posts.

INSTANT RECOGNITION

By licensing Bruce Lee, I saved millions in advertising dollars because (at that time) everyone still knew who he was and he is still a legend today. His recognition factor helped launch the product faster than not having a famous name involved. If I would have called the game Grandmaster, Kung Fu or Black Belt, something generic, it would of required a huge amount of advertising money to gain mind share (consumer awareness) with no guarantee of success.

I managed to negotiate this licensing deal with no lawyers on my end because I could not afford one at the time. I didn’t know it at the time but years later lawyers would pay me to speak to them about how I did all this without legal counsel (but that is for another day.

Once production was completed and THE ORIGINAL BRUCE LEE MARTIAL ARTS GAME was produced, I marketed it into 75 countries around the world. You too could take your idea from the Mind to the Market.

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Orders for the FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET – ebook will be available in 2009. Preorder now by contacting Info@Playdigm.com for further information. (c) Tuey All Rights Reserved.