Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Released Friday, 25th April 2025
Good episode? Give it some love!
Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Building Your Brand: She gives ten tips on developing your business for long term success.

Friday, 25th April 2025
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:05

Welcome to the show.

0:06

I am Rashaan McDonald, the host of Money

0:08

Making Conversations Masterclass, where

0:11

we encourage people to stop reading other people's

0:13

success stories and start planning their

0:15

own. Listen up as I interview

0:18

entrepreneurs from around the country, talk

0:20

to celebrities and ask them how

0:22

they are running their companies, and speak with

0:24

nod profits who are making a difference in

0:26

their local communities. Now, sit back

0:28

and listen as we unlock the secrets to

0:30

their success.

0:31

On Money Making Conversations Masterclass.

0:36

All right, this is Rashaan McDonald. We're

0:38

here another show. Just

0:40

so happy. You know, in the midyear,

0:42

when you sit down, you start trying to figure out what

0:45

I'm gonna do on the second half is called planning, called

0:47

preparation, And that's why I do this show

0:49

to bring people on that can set the

0:51

stage or trigger information

0:54

that you need to hear, or engage

0:57

you into a position that I didn't know that I

0:59

need to get I act together. I need to start preparing

1:01

for twenty twenty five. Can you believe that,

1:04

Yes, you should start preparing for twenty twenty five

1:06

if you're projecting a growth

1:08

in your business, if you're projecting an

1:10

opportunity to generate revenue in your business.

1:13

You have to be thinking about twenty twenty five.

1:15

Yes, I'm Rashan McDonald. I host this

1:18

weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass

1:20

show. The interviews and information

1:22

that this show provides really it's

1:24

for everyone. It's time to stop reading other

1:26

people's success stories and start living your own.

1:29

If you want to be a guest on my show, listen up.

1:31

Please visit Moneymakingconversation

1:34

dot com. That's Moneymaking Conversation

1:36

dot com and click the b A guest button.

1:39

That's right. It'll ask you for information and

1:42

guess what, I am the only person that reads that information.

1:45

I take it upon myself to book everybody

1:47

on this show because I want to get a sense of the

1:49

value you can bring as far as content to

1:52

this show. That is really I'm

1:54

so excited. So many people are just walking up to me.

1:56

So many people are telling me that they

1:58

are being interviewed on the show, and people are going

2:00

to look at their products, go to their

2:03

places of business and being recognized

2:06

by being interviewed on Money Making Conversation Masterclass.

2:09

Get well, let's get this show rolling.

2:11

My guest has an eagle eye when

2:13

it comes to reviewing bad contracts.

2:15

Don't sign a contract that can ruin your dream.

2:18

And she is a trademark registering and expert.

2:21

She has successfully integrated the demanding

2:23

roles of wife, mother, TV

2:25

and film producer, writer, actress,

2:27

playwright, and Arthur Please welcome

2:29

to the Money Making Conversation Masterclass America's

2:32

favorite entertainment attorney, Jayleen

2:35

Mack.

2:35

How you doing, Jayleen?

2:37

Hey, hey, hey, wow

2:41

for having me back.

2:43

Look at you.

2:44

I'm just happy you just came back from a

2:46

con film festival.

2:49

I was at CAD, I

2:51

was at the ABFF, I

2:54

was at Essence.

2:57

So you being on my show is that a step

2:59

down?

3:00

Because you just said can you said the Black

3:02

Film Festival at Miami. You said

3:05

the Essence, the world's largest congoveration,

3:08

a gathering of black women and black

3:10

people, or nearly a half million people

3:12

go down to that event annually. That

3:14

when they retired and said bye

3:16

bye the Frankie, Beverly and Mays

3:19

at their final show. So now you own

3:21

money Making Conversation Massacres. Thank you very

3:24

much for your time. Thank you very much for your time.

3:26

Well, I really want to say thank you for having

3:28

little old me on your big

3:30

old platform.

3:31

There you go.

3:32

Well, you know it's time to get down the business

3:34

of you of just personally.

3:36

They always tell you I have a.

3:37

Relationship with individuals who

3:39

I bring on the show. From a standpoint of

3:41

my relationship with entertainment attorney

3:43

Jayleen Mack, she has personally handled

3:46

all of my trademarks that

3:49

I've done throughout my managing

3:51

of Stve Harvey and other clients and business.

3:53

Associates I've had.

3:55

That relationship has been over at least twenty years,

3:57

wouldn't you say, Jayleen.

3:59

Yes, when

4:02

did you open up

4:04

hip hop? No?

4:05

No, no, I'm talking talking about I'm talking about legally

4:07

hip hop.

4:08

Was thirty two years. That's thirty two years.

4:10

That's thirty two years.

4:11

I'm talking about when you finally got out of college,

4:14

you know, put that plaque up. I'm being a I'm

4:16

a lawyer officially, all

4:18

that good stuff. Then we started coming to me with

4:20

Sean, give me a shot, give me a shot,

4:22

I can do this, I can do this. And I gave

4:24

you your shot, and we've been I've

4:26

been turning you for registrations for

4:28

my trademarks. And how important is

4:30

it just to do it right when it comes to trademark

4:33

and protecting your brand.

4:35

Yeah, but just to correct you, I started

4:37

doing legal work for you back then

4:40

when you had hip hop. I'm

4:42

just trying to take you back. That's how old you are, not

4:44

me.

4:45

Oh okay, thank you, thank you very much. That's

4:47

absolutely because because like I said, the

4:49

look everybody a little history on me. In nineteen

4:52

ninety two, I had a comedy club called very

4:54

popular comic club in Houston, Texas called the Hip

4:56

Hop Comedy Stop. Everybody played

4:58

that club and even the Beyonce

5:00

and Destiny's Child performed at that

5:02

club. In fact, I brought them on stage one

5:04

of the very first performances with that club.

5:07

But it was a who's who of.

5:09

Comedy entertainment that came through there

5:11

as well as celebrities you know from you

5:13

know, the Willie D's Scarface.

5:16

Everybody who's who who in the Houston market

5:18

as well as a tour through town

5:21

dropped into that comedy club. And that's why

5:23

I met Jayleen and her friends.

5:25

They really were very instrumental

5:27

in making my club a success and keeping

5:29

the doors open, as they say, keep the lights on.

5:32

And that relationship that's about a relationship. You know,

5:34

you developed something you don't know what is

5:36

going to mean five years or

5:38

ten years from now. And now we're on this show

5:40

today talking about a career that

5:43

is basically international when it comes from your for

5:45

your legal service, Could you tell some of the people that you

5:48

represent now or contractually

5:50

or can you say that on my show?

5:53

Well, I represent a lot of in

5:57

the general scheme of things, actors,

6:00

producers, writers, directors,

6:03

authors, playwrights,

6:06

uh, film producers, television

6:08

producers as

6:11

far as some clients that I've represented

6:13

that don't mind me saying, obviously,

6:16

I've done legal work for you

6:20

Greg Carter, who's a filmmaker. I've

6:22

done work for Kim Barell,

6:26

Steve Harvey. Uh,

6:29

just really tons of people, even athletes.

6:33

Now, when you when I called to Day

6:35

about setting up what this show is going to be about,

6:38

and you said, Rashan, I really want to talk about

6:40

the lure.

6:41

Of the bad deal.

6:43

How people are will scam you, even

6:46

from an entrepreneurial standpoint, even from a film

6:48

production standpoint, into how

6:51

when you say the lure of the bad deal,

6:53

explain them all these exactly what that

6:55

is and how they can be trapped by.

6:58

So, if you are a writer

7:02

and you have a script and

7:04

you've been shopping for either

7:07

a producer or

7:09

a financier, or

7:13

you're a producer who has a script

7:16

and you've been shopping with a financier

7:18

for some money.

7:19

To get your movie made.

7:22

Sometimes you'll come across people who

7:25

are not in the industry who

7:28

want to be in the industry, or

7:30

they claim to be in the industry, but

7:33

their credentials are not quite up to par, and.

7:37

So they may represent.

7:38

That they have access

7:41

to money or endless

7:43

amounts of money, and

7:45

they entice that to have a

7:47

conversation, right, And

7:50

sometimes it's about really

7:52

the association of a

7:55

project that might

7:57

put them on the map as opposed to the other

8:00

around. And I

8:02

say that because I've seen

8:04

money people or alleged

8:07

money people offer

8:09

funding and it'll be you

8:12

know, it could be hundreds of thousands

8:15

or millions of dollars.

8:17

But the more you dig, the

8:20

more you realize they can't show proof

8:22

of funds, or

8:24

the more you dig you find out

8:28

this person isn't legitimate because

8:32

this business is big, but it's small at the

8:34

same time. So if

8:36

you ask enough question, or

8:39

if you dig and you see that the

8:41

person you're dealing with doesn't have a digital

8:43

footprint. Right, you

8:45

can't go to IMDb, you can't go

8:47

to LinkedIn to find anything.

8:50

Nothing out there.

8:51

Right, you might look up

8:53

the name and the face doesn't match, or

8:57

their credentials herely are

8:59

similar to some executive

9:02

right at Netflix or whatever. I've

9:04

seen all of that happen. But

9:07

my point of identifying, just in a

9:09

general sense of people

9:12

with a bad lure.

9:14

That ve vet

9:18

due diligence is everything. I've

9:22

seen it all.

9:22

You know when you do that, And I've been fortune

9:25

unfortunate and fortunate to see the

9:27

good and the bad of that. And it all comes

9:29

down to people excitement. They they

9:32

always always tell people, don't get

9:34

in this business with the lottery

9:36

mentality, meaning that moment that that somebody's

9:39

offered you is going to be the one, the

9:41

one that makes you a star, the one that

9:43

gives you a hit movie, the one that's gonna

9:45

make you rich. Is when you have that

9:47

lottery mentality, is when

9:49

you fall victim to these type of scams

9:52

on a regular basis. Because somebody

9:54

can pull up in a in

9:56

a in a rolls ross that could be rented.

9:59

They can they can walk you to a building

10:02

until you they're gonna shoot the movie here. May

10:04

not even have a relationship with that building. But

10:07

because you and the rose Wars, they've

10:09

they've taken you to a nice restaurant and

10:12

now all of a sudden, now you now they're

10:14

gonna tell you they need a deposit. They're

10:16

gonna need a deposit from

10:19

you. Now, Okay, they sold,

10:21

they're supposed to supply the funding that, but

10:23

they're asking you for a deposit, so

10:26

they're gonna put it in.

10:27

They say xcro Escrow.

10:29

That Scrow's a dangerous turn because if you don't

10:31

have control of that signature on

10:33

the escraw account, then gets what they're

10:35

gonna control the money. And so it's

10:38

really important that in this business. And I'm

10:40

bringing an expert like attorney

10:42

Jayleen mack On here to let you know that

10:45

I can say that, but she can verify

10:47

that correct early.

10:49

Absolutely. I'm gonna tell you what I've seen as the latest

10:52

trend. Uh.

10:54

Some company represents

10:56

themselves as a production company with

10:59

relatedationships to all the networks,

11:02

and they'll say that their

11:05

contact at ABC

11:07

Company wants

11:09

to buy a

11:11

particular script from

11:14

some producer. There's

11:16

already a dollar amount. The

11:19

script hasn't been received by

11:22

that executive nor read.

11:24

But there's already an offer on the table, and

11:28

the middle company, the production

11:31

company, is telling

11:34

this producer with the script

11:37

that you need to sign this contract

11:41

attached us

11:43

and.

11:47

We'll be able to close this deal for your

11:52

right.

11:52

And they never put and never are

11:56

all three parties in one room, if

11:58

that makes any sense to you.

12:00

Absolutely, you keep talking

12:02

to the same person and they keep talking to the other person

12:04

that you never see.

12:06

That you never see.

12:07

And the way the contract reads,

12:10

you have to assign copyright

12:13

to that script to that production company,

12:18

which.

12:18

Means they now have rights to your project.

12:20

Here that clearly now what you don't

12:23

ever want to do is give away rights

12:25

to your project, and so when you try

12:27

to get the rights back, you don't have rights

12:29

anymore. So your dream project,

12:31

your dream idea, you know

12:34

your I've been working on this thing for

12:36

fifteen, ten years. Five years idea

12:38

came to me a miracle of God, moment told

12:40

me to write this book. It's

12:42

gone because you've signed away your rights. And

12:44

I'm gonna tell you something. You can't get it back. You

12:47

cannot get it back. Those

12:49

deals that they have you sign an iron

12:52

clad and that's why she's telling

12:54

you. When I say she, I'm talking to attorney Jayleen

12:56

Mack is telling you that do

12:59

your research. Don't get so excited that

13:01

this is the moment of moments. Don't ignore

13:03

other people telling you, hey, are

13:06

you moving too fast? What do you know about this person?

13:09

Listen to people who have common

13:11

sense that will lead

13:14

you from making a bad mistake, and that which

13:16

leads what you say into bad contracts. And you

13:18

see a lot, unfortunately, you see a lot of bad contracts

13:21

in your life when it comes to entertainers.

13:23

Why is that, Well,

13:28

some people just don't put the money aside,

13:31

you know, put a budget aside to hire a lawyer.

13:35

And it's because, well, you know,

13:37

I've googled some information on

13:39

Google, or I saw a

13:41

template on the internet.

13:44

And I feel like I know it nothing. I don't

13:46

need a lawyer to take a look at this deal.

13:49

That's one approach, right.

13:52

I've seen also cases where

13:54

they hire the wrong lawyer to

13:57

redew the deal.

14:02

And can you telling me somebody

14:05

who is a corporate lawyer over here

14:07

trying to do an entertainment contract, or

14:09

somebody who's a patent lawyer trying

14:11

to do a contract for a movie a contract

14:14

for a television or talent contract,

14:16

and so all your cousins

14:19

who got this good rate is gonna

14:21

go, do you a solid and do this.

14:24

But what got me was you saying rashan. Their

14:26

people go online, they

14:29

will download the contract as a template.

14:31

They google to contract for actors,

14:34

a contract for writers,

14:36

a contract for TV or fan producers,

14:39

and they say that's their contract.

14:42

Right right.

14:44

The thing with templates, it

14:46

might be a good starting point, but

14:49

it's not necessarily where you're in, right, So

14:53

you have to know how to navigate the language.

14:56

You have to know what's missing, You

14:58

have to know what's there, whether

15:00

or not that's applicable to your situation.

15:04

And the best best thing to do if

15:07

you are not a season producer

15:11

with the experience that maybe over time

15:13

you've seen enough good

15:16

contracts because you've had representation,

15:18

right, and maybe you're using the same

15:21

template and so and

15:23

and and pretty much everything's the

15:25

same except maybe

15:27

the compensation and the and

15:30

the actors. You might

15:32

be able to make some changes and get away with it.

15:35

But rarely is any contract.

15:38

A repeat deal right

15:41

to the t.

15:43

So, in my opinion, even if you feel like,

15:45

well, I can draft the initial

15:47

contract and I feel like it

15:49

looks pretty good.

15:51

I would still.

15:52

Hire my lawyer to lay last eyes

15:54

on it, right, that's

15:57

the best thing to do.

15:58

I'm talking to America's favorite in entertainment

16:00

attorney, Jayle Mack. When we get back after

16:02

this break, I'm going to ask her

16:05

top ten tips on how to develop

16:07

your business. Top ten tips

16:10

on how to develop your business. Don't

16:12

go into where you listen to money Making Conversations

16:14

Masterclass and I am speaking with America's

16:16

favorite entertainment attorney, Jaylee

16:19

Mack.

16:19

Be right back.

16:20

Please don't go anywhere. We'll

16:22

be right back with more money Making Conversations

16:25

Masterclass. Welcome

16:33

back to the Money Making Conversations Masterclass

16:35

hosted by Rashaan MacDonald. Money

16:37

Making Conversations Masterclass

16:40

continues online at Moneymakingconversations

16:42

dot com and follow money Making Conversations

16:45

Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and

16:47

Instagram.

16:49

She's an actor, wife, mother,

16:52

television and film producer, playwriting

16:54

after I had

16:57

were fortunate of knowing her over thirty two years

16:59

watching to grow as as as

17:01

a student at Texas

17:04

University get a law degree,

17:06

and I also trusted her for advice

17:08

as far as my trademarks. But we

17:11

want to offer some of the same advice to you

17:13

as a listener, tips

17:15

on how to develop your business. I have I

17:17

have ten ideas that you ten ten

17:20

things you sent over to me. So I'm gonna start

17:22

with number one with you attorney

17:24

Mac, and then you give me a comments.

17:26

Is that fine?

17:27

Sure?

17:28

Okay? Cool?

17:29

Starting with number one, you said, identify

17:31

your project, please explain,

17:35

so.

17:35

I can tell you we're specifically talking

17:38

about film and television as

17:40

far as the entertainment industry, but really

17:44

this applies to music and other

17:47

areas of entertainment. But it also

17:49

applies for any.

17:50

Entrepreneur we're talking about.

17:52

So even if you're, you know,

17:54

selling candles, a lot of this will be beneficial

17:57

to you.

17:59

So it comes to projects.

18:01

Obviously, in the film world, you

18:03

want to identify are you

18:06

shooting a movie, a feature

18:08

film, or a short. Will

18:10

this be a scripted project or unscripted.

18:14

In the television world, for instance, is

18:17

it a documentary?

18:18

You just want to identify.

18:20

What is it that I'm trying to do, because

18:23

that's going to go into how you develop

18:25

that concept. If you're

18:27

a hire writer, if you're going to write it

18:29

yourself, this is going to

18:31

lead to how much money I need. So

18:34

the first thing is to identify what it is you're trying

18:36

to do.

18:37

And that's really really important as if

18:39

you're an entrepreneur because of the fact

18:41

that I have a company and I

18:43

have a lot of people with a lot of products.

18:45

I have a lot of people different.

18:47

Different small business bis visions,

18:50

but they don't know what the point of view of the

18:52

vision of the point of view of the business,

18:54

and so identify your project. Number

18:57

two is make sure you have a plan.

19:01

Yes, like across

19:03

the board in any business, it

19:06

is best to have a business plan.

19:09

Even if you are financing

19:12

your endeavor personally, you

19:15

still want to have a roadmap and

19:18

that's what the business plan will do for you, and

19:21

particularly people in film

19:24

and television that are independent

19:26

producers, you also want to

19:28

have.

19:29

A finance plan.

19:31

So not just a business plan to give you the roadmap

19:35

of how to get your project done,

19:37

but a finance plan will help you identify

19:41

where the money comes from, when

19:44

it comes in, how it's

19:46

going to be applied, how

19:48

are you going to get your project done

19:51

from the development and concept

19:54

through sale and distribution of it.

19:57

And again that helps with any entrepreneur.

20:00

I have to agree with that on so many

20:02

levels. I get so mad at people.

20:05

I see the word mad people coming. I got

20:07

this idea. First of all, ideas not registered.

20:10

It's just an idea. It's not flushed out, you

20:12

know, as the character developments and

20:14

the projects not flushed out. I don't

20:16

know how many characters you got.

20:18

Who's the lead?

20:19

Have you developed a relationship with a star,

20:21

who's to start the project? It's just a great

20:23

idea to get mad. It's a

20:26

great idea. Okay, I'm

20:28

not saying it's not great idea. I'm just telling you help

20:30

me out because right now it's an idea.

20:32

I can't build on your dream

20:35

if I don't understand it. What's your plan? And

20:37

that's also people do that with business. They

20:39

want to I got some biscuits. They're the best

20:41

biscuits in the world. Okay, how you gonna

20:44

how you're gonna manufacture these biscuits? If if

20:46

a thousand people walk through that door today, how

20:48

are you gonna manage what you're gonna do? How many

20:50

employees are you're gonna have?

20:52

You know?

20:52

I know that for a fact out of the comedy club Comedy

20:55

clubs started with just my relatives manning

20:57

the doors. They used to do it for free,

21:00

right then all of a sudden, I started making a little

21:02

money. Then they wanted checks. I didn't budget to

21:05

pay my relatives.

21:07

I didn't budget for that. I didn't have a plan and play

21:09

it. I just wanted to tell jokes, invite

21:12

people in for ten dollars,

21:14

which eventually I realized that the state wanted

21:16

they tax money, so I would It wasn't getting

21:18

ten dollars. I didn't have a plan. So

21:21

when she talks about both ways,

21:24

she can talk about the entertainment industry, but

21:26

it all comes back to business business

21:28

now. Number three is former team

21:30

girl. I got something to say after you

21:32

talk about this form aighteen. That's

21:35

number three. Number one was identify your

21:37

project. Number two make sure you have a plan. Number

21:39

three form a team.

21:43

So so important. I just made

21:45

this comment at

21:49

the essence best talking to the audience. If

21:52

you're a producer, you don't

21:55

have to be the smartest

21:58

producer.

21:58

You don't have to know everything.

22:02

Every experience is going to be

22:04

something you learn from.

22:06

But if you.

22:09

Are putting together a team, make

22:11

sure you build a team that

22:14

makes you the best

22:16

producer you can be. Right, so you

22:18

surround yourself with talent. You

22:21

surround yourself with people who.

22:23

Know more than you.

22:24

Right, you also surround yourself

22:26

with people who are not yes people, because

22:30

you need to know the pitfalls, you need to know

22:32

the pros and cons, and

22:34

you need people around you.

22:36

They help you.

22:36

Make the best business decisions you

22:39

can make, keeping in mind the

22:41

best interest for your projects. And

22:43

not only that, not just your projects, but

22:46

you have investors to pay back. So

22:49

it's super important that you surround yourself

22:52

with other good producers, with

22:54

a good lawyer, a good accountant,

22:58

a good pr team find

23:02

the best scenario when it comes to a financier

23:05

that makes sense for your project. If you're going to

23:07

get money from other places, and

23:10

I can go on, but the key is

23:12

put together a good seam, you.

23:16

Better believe it.

23:16

I didn't have an accountant, I didn't have an

23:19

HR person. I told my

23:21

wife we pulled money out of retirement

23:23

at the time, savings

23:26

didn't have a budget attacked. Let me not jump

23:28

the gun because I'm about to say budget and that's

23:30

number four. Prepare a

23:32

budget. So I don't want to slide into

23:35

that too much without you comment on it.

23:37

Because if you're going to form a team. You

23:39

gotta prepare a budget. Talk to

23:41

you about that.

23:42

Attorneyment absolutely, so

23:46

if you know what it is you're

23:48

trying to do, right, Let's say you're trying to make a

23:50

movie or douce a product

23:52

or project, you

23:55

obviously have to have somebody who's

23:57

good.

23:57

At putting budgets together, who can

23:59

identify the needs

24:02

and services and how much

24:04

things cost and the best

24:06

route to take

24:09

to get these things done,

24:11

to put a budget together. So

24:15

it's not a matter of saying, well, I want to shoot

24:17

a movie and I

24:20

think a thousand dollars is enough, right,

24:23

you know, obviously you want somebody experience

24:25

in what things cost, and that

24:29

is a line producer in the film

24:31

business that will do

24:33

that for you, because it's

24:35

important to know if your movie

24:37

has special effects, is

24:39

it has special video effects?

24:42

Are there cars being blown up? Or

24:45

is there a car chase? Are there fight

24:47

seems to be choreographed? Everything

24:50

has a cost. Hotels,

24:53

locations, feeding

24:56

people, you got crew,

24:58

actors, et ceter All those

25:00

things have to be identified in

25:03

a budget and if you've never done

25:05

it before, don't take a stab

25:07

at it. Hire

25:10

the right.

25:10

People to do the job.

25:12

Absolutely, you know, it's really funny

25:14

people when you start talking about budget and people

25:16

the right teammate. You know, if

25:18

you open a

25:20

Mexican restaurant and you hire somebody

25:23

the cook, he knows I do soul food. You

25:26

know you got to have the right people doing the right thing. You're

25:28

opening the bakery and that person all

25:30

they know how to do is cook pies.

25:32

You know, That's it. They can't do nothing else

25:35

at your baker. But they told you they know how

25:37

to bake. It's that resume going to the right

25:39

place. I know we're going to run short on time, but

25:41

I want to get to a couple of things I think they need

25:43

to have.

25:44

No.

25:45

We talked about number one, identify your project.

25:47

Number two is make sure you have a plan. Number

25:50

three is former team. Number four

25:52

we just talked about the prepare budget. Number

25:54

five is form a business entity.

25:57

What are you doing there? Number six

25:59

is get a EI in number

26:01

for your business. Number seven,

26:04

open a business account,

26:06

not your personal account, your business

26:08

account. Number eight. Protect your

26:10

assets. Number nine the

26:13

floors yours contracts.

26:16

Yes, yes, yes, we know.

26:18

Everything should be reduced to writing.

26:22

It should represent what

26:24

you negotiated. Obviously,

26:27

you want to protect

26:30

your intellectual

26:32

property, your interest

26:34

in ownership. Every

26:37

aspect of the four walls of the agreement

26:40

should be considered. And

26:42

once again I would not rely

26:44

on myself.

26:45

To prepare a contract.

26:47

I would go to the experts, such as

26:49

a lawyer that is experienced

26:52

in your area. And I will say this, even

26:56

if you have an entertainment related

26:58

matter, not all.

27:01

Entertainment attorneys are equal.

27:04

And if you're a film producer, not

27:07

all entertainment attorneys no film

27:09

and television production, which

27:12

is a whole other language. So again,

27:14

make sure you get a lawyer who's very experienced

27:18

in what it is you're trying to accomplish.

27:22

Now, the last one, you

27:24

got your business open, you got your movie

27:28

marketing. You know, people think

27:30

they can just open their door, tell

27:32

everybody they got great food, and people just gonna line

27:34

up and show up. People think they got

27:36

a great movie project. They're gonna

27:38

let everybody know it in the theater and

27:42

we ready to go.

27:43

Okay.

27:44

So I really think it's really, really, really

27:46

important that people understand

27:48

what's going on here when you're starting to put

27:50

together these assets. When you go down this

27:53

top ten list, marketing is

27:55

the key, and it can create so much

27:57

drama. If you don't understand what's going on

28:00

because you didn't know what your brand was, you

28:02

know what your point. You didn't identify your project.

28:04

You have a plan, you to have a team

28:06

around. You didn't prepare a budget, budget did

28:08

include marketing. You never have a business

28:11

entity, you never got a business number. You

28:13

still operating out of your personal checking

28:15

account. You didn't protect your assets.

28:17

I want to say, I want to allow you to comment

28:19

on that, and I say allowed, But I think you should

28:22

talk. We should tell people how do you protect

28:24

your assets?

28:26

Sure?

28:27

So, obviously you have intellectual

28:29

property, so you

28:31

may have a copyright that you need to protect,

28:35

a trademark.

28:37

In some instances, someone might have a patent. Doesn't

28:39

necessarily apply here.

28:42

As far as your scripts are concerned, you

28:45

can register them with the United

28:47

States Copyright Office, or

28:49

you can deposit them with the Writers Guild

28:51

of America East or

28:53

West. You want to do

28:56

everything you can to obviously protect

28:59

your in is other things

29:01

to consider or non disclosure

29:04

agreements? Right, what

29:06

do you

29:06

mean.

29:09

Non disclosure agreement NDA? What does that

29:11

mean?

29:12

Yes?

29:12

And NDA A non disclosed dispose

29:14

your agreement and that

29:17

deals with confidentialityy

29:20

uh, between you and another

29:22

party as to business,

29:26

you.

29:26

Know, discussions that you have

29:29

between the.

29:29

Two of you, You may want to protect

29:31

some of the content that comes out

29:33

of that. That could be your client

29:36

list, that could be some trade

29:38

secrets. Uh, anything

29:40

that you wouldn't want the general.

29:42

Public to know. You know ideas,

29:45

right, you would want to NDA.

29:48

Now, I'll tell you a NDA is

29:50

a deterrent, but

29:53

it is not iron class. And

29:55

the reason why I say that a lot

29:57

of people will exchange in DA.

30:00

You know, sign my the NDA, I'll sign yours.

30:03

It could be mutual, that's great, but

30:06

it doesn't really speak to pillow talk, right.

30:10

And the only reason you would know somebody breached

30:13

in n DA is if you

30:15

hear about it or you hear it from a third party.

30:18

So it doesn't do away with what I call pillow

30:21

talk, you know the whispers, right,

30:25

And that that's always concerning

30:27

for me. And so I always like clients

30:29

to know that.

30:30

NDA is a deturning factor.

30:33

But it's but it's not fool proof.

30:36

Wow, this has been great information

30:39

our world of wrong and appreciate you for coming

30:41

on my show. Uh, got any upcoming events

30:43

that you want to tell everybody about? Anybody about those?

30:45

You just wrapped up essence, just finished

30:47

the ABA. Any upcoming project

30:49

you want to fill us in before we close out the interview

30:52

of speaking to Attorney Jayleen Mack.

30:55

Well, I do want to people want people to

30:57

know. If they want to get

30:59

more information on our top

31:02

ten tips that I just discussed, it

31:04

can go to my book The Business of Stage, Screen

31:07

and the in Between and

31:09

it's a practical guide

31:12

for performers, playwrights, filmmakers

31:15

and any entrepreneur.

31:18

Cool.

31:18

Well, I think, well,

31:20

friend, thank you for coming on the show. Thank

31:22

you for giving more wisdom to say.

31:26

I do not lie when I say America's

31:28

favorite entertainment attorney Jaylen

31:31

Mack based out of Houston, Texas, but she's worldwide.

31:33

She's worldwide from Dubai to New

31:35

York, to Houston to Mexico.

31:38

She's there doing her job and changing

31:40

the game. More important to keeping people out

31:42

of bad contracts and maybe becing people

31:44

aware of that there are scams out there.

31:46

Just because it sounds like a good deal.

31:48

Does not mean they are. It is ill

31:50

is a good deal. I talked to you soon, Attorney

31:52

Mac.

31:53

Thank you.

31:54

This has been another edition of Money Making

31:56

Conversation Masterclass. Posted by me

31:59

Rashaun McDonald, Thank you to our guests

32:01

on the show today and thank you for

32:03

listening to audience now. If you want to listen to

32:05

any episode I want to be a guest on the show,

32:08

visit Moneymakingconversations dot

32:10

com. Our social media handle is money

32:12

Making Conversation. Join us next week

32:14

and remember to always leave with your gifts.

32:17

Keep winning.

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features