Out of the Box Suggestions to build Equity

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

I could use serious suggestions to come up with ways to build equity to my TV series some of you are familiar that I am working on to get financing.

It starts with source material that has a pre-existing fan base. Otherwise, a name that stands out in the industry is signed on as an Executive Producer.

Example, Rodney Roddenberry does not have his Dad's resume as an executive producer. But, he wants to turn his Dad's TV movie into a TV series. So, he signed on Ron Howard as a co-producer.

My rep is afraid if we sign on a name, they will want to steal the production. The industry established TV science fiction writer I know is too much of a gentleman for that. He is just too busy to help because his plate is full with TV network scripts.

Babylon 5 signed on Harlan Ellison as their story editor to add equity.

Because we are making a series on AI, robotics, The Singularly, cyborgs, and space travel, I am thinking we can reach out to corporate sponsors of real AI development in Japan like Honda Corp for help because our series will examine more AI applications than anyone else before us.

Japan is more open in the development than the USA in their AI and robotics development. Thus, I would choose Japan over the USA for a venture like this.

Can anyone help with useful suggestions?
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
I have worked with scientists and engineers with my day job. So, getting them is easy for me.

My rep has someone working on getting a celebrity actor interested in our production we may see if we can also use as a spokesperson too. This actor, however, is well known on science fiction TV series we have a complex character to play.
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Easy-peasy lemon squeezy. Why are you asking for help on here then?

My question to you is why a company like Honda or, for that matter, ANY robotic technology company anywhere ever, would want to give money to a production that features no real science, is made for a tiny fraction of the price of one of their 30 second adverts and which has production quality that is hardly going to make their product look appealing (not to mention the fact that they people they're selling these products to are hardly the sort of people watching indie sci-fi on YouTube)?

Rather than pursuing this self-aggrandising line of enquiry, why not go back to basics? You're a smalltime beginner filmmaker, so why not look for sponsorship from local businesses and people who might not get the chance to showcase their products in a film? You live in New York, so there's no shortage of small businesses that might be interested in working with you and that's likely to be a far more fruitful line of enquiry than dashing off emails to the customer services of some Japanese mega corporation.
 
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Nick, that is a good suggestion as well.

There is a uniqueness to the AI and robotics industry unlike any other where everyone from universities and industries are still trying to work out how to present to the public what is ahead.

In the next generation, home robots will be as common as today's home computers.

How do you prepare the generation afterwards that machines will do things better than humans?
 
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How do you prepare the generation afterwards that machines will do things better than humans?
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Unions ;)

What will be the moral and religious implications of AI beings made by humans to take human life?

Thou shall not kill.

Should a machine be made with the same values?
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Sounds like Asimov. Wasn't this all done in I Robot?
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
Thou shall not kill.

Should a machine be made with the same values?
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Isaac Asimov covered that almost 70 years ago with his Three Laws of Robotics:


1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.



True, you are talking about Artificial Intelligence, but the principle holds. However, in later novels he put forth the Zeroth Law of Robotics - A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. It now becomes permissible for a robot to harm a human being to protect humanity as a whole.


Oh, one more detail... If you want to get into the semantic and translation debate, the true translation of "Thou shall not kill" is really "Thou shall do no murder." You can kill someone in war, self defense or defense of the innocent, but not deliberately murder someone.
 
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There are already machines that do things a lot better than humans.
Did you ever watch a welding-robot work? ;-)

All these questions you ask are interesting for your story, because it gives you a frame of consequences to work with. This will help keeping the logic in the story and it will trigger part of the drama.
But when you think it's interesting for high-tech corporations, because they need to 'prepare and educate humanity about the future', you might be on the wrong track.
Nevertheless you can always try that.

Maybe you should look what partners you need on the styling department?
 
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Yes. I would like to partner up with a line producer with international production experience for budgeting the series with various country configurations and multiple country experience for budgets.

My rep is planning to ask a studio owner in Iceland if they want to co-produce the series with us.
 
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Well, most of us have the same issue, and I've spoken to Louise Levison about this, so here's my take.

If you're making a low-budget movie, then this is how I'm trying to do it - emphasis on trying. First of all, I have my own business, but I try to increase the volume, which means, in effect, working nights and weekends. I am also willing to work on contract for my colleagues for extra cash. The other thing also is to try and get into higher value-added work, which pays better and has better clients. I know of a janitor who worked at three jobs - one in the day, one at night, and one on the weekends - and he also scrimped on his living expenses, so he can get a country cottage and a yacht, which he goes every long weekend. I'm not sure I would want to do that, but I want my SF series, so I'm doing something similar to what he is doing.

In the end, you have to work hard and save hard to get your capital. There's really no way around it.

But, if you're making a big-budget movie, you will NEVER be able to scrimp enough to do it. You will have to find some way to convince a venture capitalist or bank to loan you the tens of millions, and how you do that, I have no idea.
 
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