Episode Transcript
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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.
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