Breaking news
Attention to all of Chalkboard Studios:
I have dug into some local government funding and i have discovered the following after calling in.
It is estimated that the 100 applicants who apply for the small grants, only 10% will recieve it.
The grant is based on product innovation and long term sustainability. This is for upper management to really put their heads in.
For the marketers; the entity will have to prove there is a market for this. Research and estalishing contacts is now a priority. Mark i will probably host a marketers meeting inconjunction with the overall long term business plan which means Omer will be attending. Dates will be decided soon and i expect this to occur within 2 weeks.
The grant is provided that the entity (us) is business ready. (with the compilation of the business plan and final draft of the first issue we will be.)
I was told that small juice bars and all that do not qualify therefore it will be imperative that we distinguish our final product.There is an uncoming information session about this grant and i would like the partners and any chalkboard member who is willing to attend. I believe this will give us the momentum to open up early and well as finance the project for 2006.
Time is running out, the following is from the businessmelbourne website.
Funding round: August 2005.
Venue: 7th July 2005
Melbourne Town Hall
6:00pm
Applications close:
5 pm Friday
5th August 2005
The grant is approximately $50,000. Play time is over.
Any questions in regards to this matter please feel free to ask me.
-Jay, Director.
Welcome Aboard!!!
It is with great pleasure to formerly announce that as of yesterday night Thomas Bonin has joined the team!
Thomas is the writer and artist of the self-published comic "Dicks: A collection of everyday events".
Without a doubt Thomas' experience in this field will provide the team with valuable experience and expertise.
The style of Thomas is distinct, effective and will definatley make a mark in the industry.
Thomas is assigned as an artist, expected to begin work when project 2 starts, I expect everyone to meet Thomas at the next official meeting which will be organised sometimes this week.
Let's all give Thomas a warm and welcome reception guys.
-Jay, Director
Buchan piece of CORN!
Just when you thought it doesn't get any better...
Our firm and guest Pete McMahon just returned from our research trip in Buchan Caves, around 350 kms from Melbourne. Located near the small town of Bruthen the scenery was just exactly what everyone needed. Freedom, Fresh air and Caves.
I would also like to note this was the first time all members of Chalkboard Studios was present!
After months of initial planning we got there restless and exhausted but it didn't stop the guys from running amuck and letting the town know we have arrived.
We got settled and went for midnight walkabouts to explore our settlement for the next two days. Lightsabers and torches were our only light source and the entire encampment was foggy, cold and majestic. The state of mind in the group was relaxed until we realised how small our cabins were.
Claustrophobic would be the best word to describe it.
We rested up and we went to see what we've been planning for this entire time and that is the infamous Caves. We got exactly what we needed from the caves, how they were formed, to the temperatures at night and to top it off about 1 gig worth of images taken generously by Mark, Omer and Monin. Video was done by Vito and I had a chance to burrow Mark's camera for a few shots I thought would be useful to production.
We ended up touring an extra cave which was not on the agenda but this decision proved extremely useful because it had extra formations that wasn't apparent in the first one.
Beside the fact that this was meant to just be a research trip, Brendan found this to be an eye opener and I agree with him. The time we spent there was nothing but bliss beside the fact that we survived off canned soup and bread for the next couple of days and a BBQ which was yummy we also didn't have any cooking oil or butter! Danger! but thanks to the charm of our very own Mark Hollingsworth, this proved to not be a problem.
I got up to my usual antics and Omer and I filmed a "barf" scene with canned soup that looked like barf. Combine this with a camera and we have a movie! We had to take 2 takes luckily we had more crap soup to waste and it turned out exactly to what we wanted; gross, graphic and funny. No special effects was needed except "L337" acting skills.
I had a blast and on the ride home we stopped at Lakes Entrance which did not live to our expectations and Monin and Omer decided to make the best of it with their mock-up Lakes "McPuddle" entrance.
We arrived home safe and sound and I would like to forward my deepest thanks to everyone who came out and just had a good time, it was a blast and I can presume many more "research trips" will be planned for future projects, given that everyone doesn't get sick. Omer was already sick and so was Vito. Mark wore his red flash gordon jump suit and went for a run in the morning and caught a cold. This'll teach ya to be healthy!!!
10 Most memorable moments (In chronological order):
-Pete's 10 minutes piss outside Bruthen (We can still see the steam)
-Acrobatics of Pete and Brendan climbing Mt. Buchanhell. (While holding a beer and a smoke!)
-The Adventures of Flash Gordon and the flu. (He's still sick)
-Everyone walking on Kangaroo shit. (We can still smell it.)
-Mark loves corn scene. (Filmed)
-Jell-O Campbells "Chunky" Soup (Photographed)
-Puke scene. (Filmed, twice!)
-Jumping for joy at the gates of Buchan Caves (Photographed)
-Monin and Omer's puddle of joy. (Photographed)
-Jay and Brendan's play (recorded)
Special thanks to Carole, the park manager and Keith the tour guide for giving us a warm and welcome reception.
Now since we're back to reality unfortunately guys it's BACK TO WORK YA BLUDGERS!!!
Hehe. Just Kidding... about the reality part ;)
-Jay, Director
CAVES, CORN, + CANNED SOUP
we just got back home a couple of hours ago, and it feels like the weekend didn't happen, that it was almost a dream.
and in some ways, it kind of was. as mentioned earlier, the members of chalkboard studios (and good friend pete mcmahon) went to do some field work and research at the buchan caves, about 350kms out of melbourne.
the main reason for traveling so far was to get references for the artists, as well give the writers inspiration and first-hand experience in a cave setting. and i can confidently say that we all gained a tremendous amount of information and appreciation for caves and their formations. this in turn, i believe, will allow us to create a comic/graphic novel that really stands out.
while we were there we did a whole heap of things, but i think for the blog, the most important thing is that we will definitely be going through the script again and re-write some parts to accommodate our newly acquired information about caves, how they're formed, and the just general terrain encased in them.
i would like to thank all members of chalkboard studios that attended this weekend. not only we were able to get a lot of stuff for the comic, we also had heaps of fun - and for that, i am ever so thankful. our firm's cohesion is on built on not only professionalism and respect, but friendship and trust. everyone's input over the weekend has been invaluable.
also, i'd like to thank pete mcmahon for coming along for the ride. even though you're not part of the firm, you're always welcome. seriously, even though he wasn't there for the 'business' side of things, he paid attention and contributed at all times. it was great having you along dude!
and finally, thanks to the guys who ran the buchan caves and tours. carol at the front office, and good ol' keith grennwood, out bloody legend of a tour guide.
that's it from me for now, again - thanks guys for all your work. but rest up - production is soon to begin!
-LOki, writer, project manager
TO BUCHAN WE GO!
we're off to do some exlporing.
we'll be back on sunday and hopefully still have enough energy to post something when we do.
but until then,
-LOki
Writer's crunch period.
We've made pretty good progress i think.
Production is starting very soon and i'm getting exciting and anxous at the same time.
The research / field trip is in 3 days and that's definately going to be something to look forward to.
All is well in the studios of Chalkboard.
-Jay, Writer
We're in business.
Literally.
Tonight was a monumental event for the firm. This is day 1 out the planned 4 day crunch period for the writers. Vito is very ill from the fever (get well soon mate :) and mark was so tired he had to go home but still i think we managed to achieve a lot.
First and foremost i would like to officially welcome
Omer Gokmen.
Omer is now manager of production and will handle all our business to do with printing and publication. Omer just graduated from Monash and majors in marketing and management. My long time friend, confidant and now business partner.
I'm convinced that this will add so much more value to the firm with his knowledge and expertise and help us make the right decisions for the firm.
Funny because i met Omer back in first year uni and we shared a lot of discussions about our future in terms of business and we sort of knew one day we'd be doing something together or related and it's strange because i expected this down the track.
Welcome aboard, and thank you for all those great years whether our lives were good or not so good.
Also, we have failed to mention we have officially chosen a title for our firm and that is *drum roll*
CHALKBOARD STUDIOS
Finally the last announcement is that
we're officially registered as a business!!!
Australian Business RegistryTo find us! type in "Chalkboard Studios"
We are excited to now present that we are actively looking for a studio apartment as well as releasing a press release promo sometime in the next couple of months.
Things have started to look more solid and i hope we can truly make the best out of these holidays so stay tuned.
-Jay, Director
Meeting 6
Hi everyone,
We're back!!!
It's been almost a month since our last meeting and i hope everyone has had a good break.
I hope everyone is nicely relaxed, chilled, cruisin'...
because you in for a suprise.. A REAL PAINFUL SUPRISE! (Just kidding)
Crunchtime is coming and unless you're the production manager or head visual you can bet it's gonna be a real killer :P
Well yesterday's meeting was held at Cookie bar, and it felt as thought i haven't been there fore 6 months. I saw Jase the bartender and as always he was super about providing us with the best service as possible.
Thanks heaps to Thoma Bonin for coming along yersterday given the short notice; Thomas is an outstanding writer and artist of the comic "DICKS: A series of everyday events" and we pretty much spoke about our history, and other comic related tid bits.
Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Tom in the future. Thanks again for dropping in.
Let's get down to business, literally.
I pretty much covered capital budget and the partnership structure, if there is any question regarding these topic please feel free to approach me.
Mark, thanks for bringing forward the idea of a 'packaged' press release. I will contact you very soon and discuss this matter hoepfully by next week.
As you all know, i've been trying to get this firm registered in order to start the website. This has taken longer than expected and i apologise to the rest of the firm. This will be rectified by this week. I'm currently in the process of drafting up the business plan and finalising the capital budget. Speaking of the capital budget, i'd like to give a big thanks to Mark who provided an idea that could literally save us thousands. Excellent work.
I've shown Mark the distribution points we have and i noted there was about 2000 Australia wide (which included commercial and non commercial book stores) and if we could get into say 20 of them including 1 major bookshop i think we can be set.
All is optimistic and i suspect this will be harder than expected because of the nature of the industry.
talking back to comics, crunch day is set at 20th of June (Monday) until the 22nd. (Wednesday)
From these days i hope to expect the initial draft to be completed. I know its a big ask and looks impossible but i think as long as we plan it right and everyone pulls their weight we should be able to finish the majority of it.
Everyone the trip is taking place this Friday the 24th. Can everyone confirm this date and provide us with a time as we need to departure ASAP to set up.
Additional thanks goes to Monin for his work in his role as project manager. I understand it's not easy to get everyone fired up after a break and especially hosting your first meeting right after one.
So anyway after the trip (which ends on the 26th June, Sunday) Monin has to work and i will resume a temporary role of project leader for everyone during the day.
My mummy has cleared a room in our house that we can use, so it's happening!
-Jay, Director
MEETING SIX || welcome back
after a month-long intermission, meetings reconvened at Cookie.
we mentioned earlier that jase and i had gone out looking at what was available in the aussie comic scene, and one that caught out attention was "Dicks", by
thomas bonin. jase had contaced him via e-mail and he came for a brief moment to our meeting. jase did most of the talking, so i'll leave it to him to elaborate, but from i gathered thomas seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. thanks for coming thomas!
the meeting covered both the managerial (admin) side of things, as well as production. during the intermission, jase, mark and myself had gone through some business stuff, working out budgets etc. so when we started production, we'd be ready.
again, jase is in charge of that aspect of the firm and i'll let him explain the details if he wants to.
on to the pre/production side, we discussed the following:
WEEKLY SCHEDULESinitially we had started off with monthly outlooks, seeing what we would have done every 30 days or so. however, now that things are a lot more clearer the group that a weekly outlook would be much more productive and efficient.
ALLOCATION OF TASKSsince we now have a clearer idea of what we're doing, the allocation of tasks was possible. each memeber, both in teh writing and the art department is now able to work on something that will all be brought together later as we near production.
CHARACTER FINALISATIONagain characters were discussed, and it was voiced that we needed to really finalise them. i think we do have a final list of main characters, though the supporting cast and misc. background kinda people are still hazy. but i think we'll only need 10 mins to arrive at a decisive conclusion.
SCRIPT/STORYthis mainly concerned the writers; we worked out "crunch time" where we'd get together for a few days in a row and write our asses off, trying to get as much done as we can. here also, the story can be solidified and the artists will have a very clear indication of what is expected of them.
CAVE TOUR/CAMPas mentioned earlier, the cave tours will be from 24 - 26 june. we don't know where we're headed just yet, but will have a location by mid next week.
that's about it from me. things are moving smoothly now and that's a very comfy thing. again, welcome back guys and good to see we're already back in action.
-LOki, writer, project manager.
CAVE TOUR + CAMPING TRIP
...since i'm taking a break from study, i'll quickly post about the cave tour/camping trip thing.
at the moment, the best dates are between JUNE 24 - JUNE 27.. that's FRIDAY - MONDAY.
of course we won't have to go for that entire time; for instance we can go to the place (yet to be determined) on saturday day and comeback sunday night, or whichever dates suit the most of us.
after my last exam which is late next week i'll be looking into 4WD tracks that have camping grounds and HOPEFULLY have some explorable (non death-trap) caves to get reference shots and stuff.
the main purpose of this trip is to get reference shots for the artists of caves, the wilderness, and just landscapes in general. also, i think it would help the writers a lot if we were able to actually get out there and get first hand experience of being in the wildnerness, exhausting ourselves etc.
furthermore, i think it'd just be a nice getaway after exams and stuff - just so we can relax and take a bit of a breather.
more details will be posted as the date gets closer, but for now just let me know ASAP if these dates are cool.
back to studying....
-LOki
"DON'T WORRY, WE'VE ONLY JUST STARTED" - DAVE
First of four teaser posters. The othes will be released every couple of months just to get people interested. -Jay & LOki; Director, Vice-President
