I worked alot of Young! Studios stuff  trying to keep balance w/this monsterous Diamond Ruff Project.  I was able to do some follow up w/people interested in the project and secure people to attend the book signing on November 8th.  We’re averaging 5-10 calls a day of people wanting to help out w/the project.  We will have to quickly build a stronger infrastructure to assign the help. We need operational support…to get it we have to raise capital.  I believe when the book comes out very shortly it will change the game for us.  It will give us a solid product to sell; it will allow the average person to support the project by buying the book. It will allow those blessed w/resources to share the book w/others.The book will legitimize us as a viable project that can get results.  Plus the book has the story of Diamond Ruff who has to overcome odds.  I’m banking on the fact people can relate to this story that highlights the power of the human spirit.  The book will also allow us to pay back our book printing investors and build our credibility, which is so important to the success of the project.

On another note Obama’s relentless drive is inspiring us to move forward and continue no matter what.  I was motivated by P.Diddy’s You Tube  Entry “No Line Is Too Long”.  Check it out.  Obama is a smart and charasmatic man.  I believe if the race is fairly ran Obama will be the next President of the United States.  I believe he will win  because he is twice as smart as John McCain, his judgement is on point, but more important than that I believe he is “favored” by God.  To be “favored” is to be unstoppable.  I pray this project is “favored”.  I believe it is. There are signs we see that it is …the signs come to  us everyday in the form of positive people giving of themselves.

The guy Todd came back hungry and wanting to work on the project.  This weekend I will work on his assignments to sell Diamond Ruff.  His longevity with us will be determined on his performance and as Mike says, once he gets in, will he know how to “play his position”…even after we raise him to new heights of success and not get high off his own supply. We’ll see.

This weekend I will begin to develop a week by week workplan for the next 6 month to sell the book.  Within 1 year I’m trying to sell 100,000 copies.  The key to this prediction becoming a reality is to sell the book in bulk through sponsorship and large orders.  We will play on the many human interest stories surrounding this project.

11:39am- I’m working harder than ever to manage my time, stay focused, prioritize and plan better.  Started working on this yesterday.  The key is being focused and consistent.  Today was a busy day, but incredible. 

I started working from home at 6:30am, planning, scheduling my day down hour by hour.  I got in around 9:00am and prepared for The University of Hartford Meeting to recruit students from their BSU Club.  While making copies at Kinkos Mike and I met a guy Todd at who was 22 years old and an entreprenuer-working on several marketing projects.  He overhead our conversation and asked if he could help us sell books and do other sales work.  We gave him a card and said to call us. 

Mike and I arrived at U of H and there were about 50-60 college students waiting.  We brought our new intern Mark w/us-he is a high schooler from The Big Picture High School to help set up for our presentation. Mark interns 2 days a week for us all day.  I opened up giving a brief overview of the Diamond Ruff Project and the direction we are going in and what our needs are.  Mike gave them a breakdown of the celebrities on board / his hustle philosophy and I wrapped it up w/questions.  Some students raised their hand and asked about time frames of production.  A couple said they worked on my Guinness World Record comic strip in ‘97 when they were kids-damn I felt old.  But nonetheless they expressed they wanted to be down and do something historic  w/me again.  After the presentation we got about 15 interns who signed up to be apart of the project.  The president of the club said she could set a book signing up for us in November and turn us on to the sister club at Trinity to recruit students and do a book signing.  As soon as we got back Ebony shot off emails trying to set up dates w/them to set up their internships.  I believe you strike when emotions are high. 

Todd the young guy from Kinkos came by and offerered more assistance. He said he could  set us up w/a book signing in November 21st that he was apart of at Eastern CT State U . He’s hungry and got a good professional look.  I like that.  I told him we’ve got our hopes up w/alot of people, and their performance grind was weak.  I told him I  hope he’s not a disappointment in disquise.  He said he wasn’t… time will tell.

Mike made a connection w/his long time friend Charles “Chucky” Brown. He is the current coach of the NBA Laker ’s minor league team.  He also played 13 years in the NBA and holds an NBA Championship ring when he played w/the Houston Rockets.  Mike asked him to introduce us to NBA players for sponsorship in bulk book sales and investments in the movie.  He said if we go out to LA he’ll turn us on to his contacts.  I told Mike we’ll be out there soon. We have to hurry and budget out the film, so we can put the investment packages and financial systems together.  Our deadline is December 1st.

I taught my Thursday Cartoon and animation class at 5:30pm to 7:30pm class today.  It was great we had new students all from West Hartford and it gave me an opportunity to  tell their parents about the project.  We have to tell our story to everyone we know and eventually the right person/people will come along to help us and speed up the project.

Later on at 8:00pm, Mike and I had a conference call w/award-winning hip hop artist/model Gloria Velez.  She was real cool and down to earth.  She said she wanted to help out on the project and contribute to the Diamond Ruff song and get a part in the movie as she wants to expand her acting career.  She was really feeling the social networking being done by youth in our program. 

I spoke w my business client and mentor Jacob Miles -President of Grapevinestar Entertainment of Texas(a world-wide Licensing and Branding Company ).  He agreed to help us get a national buzz for the project.  He will link the project up with his global social networks and platforms.  He said in the near future he will turn us on to some financial contacts.  He said he wanted to help out as a producer on the project when I was ready.

Today was a very good day.  Tommorrow our meeting w/BET was postponed to next week. The Director has to fly out of town.  This is good though it gives us more time to plan for the meeting and allow me to catch up on some administrative work at Young! Studios that was being neglected.  Trying to get on top of my game.

I was able to get alot done, by being focused and prioritizing work.  The November 8th/Diamond Ruff Book Signing Press Release was electronically sent out by us to the media, even hitting up The Associated Press and the National Newspaper Publishers Association Wire. Both services have been beneficial to me in the past-especially to attract nat’l attention. Tommorrow I will call my contacts at each service. Sometimes you can get more love from the national media  than you can the local media. Maybe because they see your work less and you are more novel to them.  Checked w/the printer today. We are pretty much on schedule for the book printing.

It is my goal to have alot of people out for this book signing.  To do so I have to personally stay involved with my administrative team for maximum success. After self-examination on why a few recent events fell through.  I realized I delegated but didn’t stay on top of it.  This won’t happen again.  I want at least 100 people to show up for this event. I must work on my time management.  I know a couple who runs a successful national business.  They have very little staff.  But they prioritize well and are great w/planning, time management and don’t let too many things distract them.

Tommorrow Mike and I go to the University of Hartford to do a presentation to recruit college students to assist us. Also we have a conference call w/Gloria Velez.  I also spoke w/Jacob, Prez of Grapevinestar Entertaiment.  They are a branding company w/offices worldwide.  He will begin to help us w/our Diamond Ruff national outreach and branding.   He reperesents some of my properties and he is also a client of Young! Studios.  Another conference call is set up w/him tommorrow evening. We have limited staff. It is now time I call on our national partners with administrative prowess to get the national buzz going about the project.

We had a good club Member meeting. I will send out minutes to members. We are considering making the meetings once a month and doing a live video stream so members can log in and participate.  The project overall is moving along nicely.  We are moving at a fast rate.  At this pace you do miss little things and details sometime do get lost.  Even in this blog you will see typos and some grammatical errors.   Some people will cringe.  But my belief is when you are doing something and you have lofty goals and limited resources, you move forward and don’t get held down by little details.  The problem woould (like “would” is mispelled ) be if I didn’t know something wasn’t perfect. Moving too slow to perfect something can cause a standstill.  You can always go back and fix.  I say build the best you can w/the resources you have. I believe the concept of a project and the creator’s track record is most important.  When Jay Z, Master P and guys like that came out their stuff/packaging wasn’t totally polished, but the content and their skills were right.  They had a track record of success and the companys bought into their content and their skill.  I mean you can have the slickest packaging and the artist work and content stink, and you go nowhere. The people in power understand the struggle of an emerging artist. They know money can fix the presentation. I believe that.  A Barry Gordy saw an unpolished Michael Jackson. But Joe Jackson (the father) had to get them out there the best he could w/limited money or he could have stayed in Gary, Indiana for years fixing typos and making sure he saved up enough money for the best costumes.

I remember one of my clients Peter from Advance Fuel, a highly successful businessman was getting on me because I got caught up in making sure the elements were perfect for his animation.  He told me to post it up at the stage it was at …he had a deadline-and we could fix it later.  I listened, he was the millionaire not me.  But I am not saying don’t try to perfect things in a project if you can.  If you don’t…that’s just stupid.  Take folks advice.  It’s a free survey…you know what people are thinking.  Stay away from negative criticism.. Invite positive criticism.  I think you know if someone is positive or negative.  With negative criticism…the critic says do this, do that and they’re not doing the same for themselves and they take no action to help you.  Positive people who criticize you help and direct you to get the support you need to fix the problem or help you get the polish you need. The real “super duper” positive people throw their own money at you to get you where you have to go.  I’ll even take it a step farther …the positive critic is your true friend and your Board of Directors w/a stake in your success.  The negative people are your haters/enemies and they would like to see nothing more than you to fail. Their hate has nothing really to with you.  It’s more being pissed at themselves, because their nasty attitudes have deferred their own dreams and you make them look bad at themselves. You don’t find too many ”negative” highly successful people.  They’re busy doing the damn thing! Until next time peace and love, and true support is action and not just words.

11:45pm- Long day.  Trying to stay on top of the Young! Studios invoices and proposals to pay the bills w/a limited staff.  The day is chaotic w/alot of distractions.  Most of my work is done late or early when no one is around.  Sometimes people just show up and want attention.  It’s hard to tell someone you’ve known for a long time you’re too busy.  They always think you are full of yourself. But I notice, it’s the most successful people who respect your time and call to see your schedule and they know time is money and we have financial obligations.  Janis and I have considered an appointment only sign-where the sign/the system is the bad guy.  In this economy time is precious.

Nonetheless we were able to get a package out to a well-connected  music producer(One of Mike’s contacts).  We are seeking his help to develop music for the project.  Tierney will be sending out the electronic book signing postcards tommorrow.  Some of the hard copies were distributed last week.

Keep hearing reports of how bad the economy is getting.  I never saw it this bad.  We have to continue to make cuts and find new markets.  it’s a difficult time.  But on the bright side gas prices are dropping at an unprecedented rate.  As much as I do car travel I can feel the difference.  We have to watch every penny.

9:50pm.- It was good day a group of Diamond Ruff Club members came in to do a reading of the first draft of the Diamond Ruff Screenplay I wrote.  We started about 2:30pm and went until about 6:00pm., with a short break for bathroom, pizza and soft drinks.  Everyone seemed engaged and the time flew by.  The response from the script was positive.  I asked people to take home scripts and contact me w/suggestions after the reviewed it alone.  This reading help me w/the flow of the story and characters.  I will begin rewriting tommorrow, giving myself a week to finish. This must be done soon so I can take it to a script doctor for polishing and we can put together a true budget for the film.  It was awesome to see the support at the reading.  With committed friends, family  and Diamond Ruff Club members around us like tonght we can’t lose.

3:00pm- Stayed overnight to put overnight package together for BET.  A package must be on Dana’s desk Monday morning.  I got package off.  Janis came in and helped make copies for script reading tommorrow. Mike came in to pick up packages and script.  He’s gonna read for Diamond.

Mike and I are also coming up w/video ideas to let people know about the project.

Paige is sick I will get home before 6:00pm to check on her and spend time.  Later on tonight I will wirite script and do storyboards fro project promotional video ideas.

Very tough day.  I found out a major funder we received funding from before didn’t grant us an award we expected.  Their reason for denial was they are funding more human needs programs (providing food, living essentials, etc), even more so than youth development. In this economy their request have doubled. I really wasn’t expecting this, not at this time. 

Also we didn’t have the response we expected for the comedy show.  It was better to cancel than  proceed and take a lesser financial hit.

It is a crazy time to produce a movie in this economic climate.  The US economy is effecting global economics.  Honestly it’s kind of scary to do an independent or big studio movie in this time. But I truly believe we can do it.  The resources are still there.  We have to find them by being creative, hardworking, tenacious, and frugal.  We should also remember in the great depression some people thrived.  they were able to find needs.  Through this project we have to find something that people need and package it.  Also, create new partnerships and cut back on our spending, and maybe I’ll find a part-time job at McDonald’s.  Whatever it takes to succeed, I have to do it.  Maybe not McDonald’s but Wal-Mart is looking real good about now!!

Went by my mother’s grave site yesterday-to  be motivated, and seek guidance and help  by  reflecting on her “famous” words of wisdom.  She passed in November 1988.  For the last decade all great things have happen for me in November (being in People Magazine, hearing about the Guinness World Record, the White House, getting my national Christmas special done,etc.).  Consequently I usually launch most of my projects in November- the Diamond Ruff Book kickoff  Party/Tour is Saturday, Novemeber 8th, 2008.

Anyway Mike and I had a great trip to NYC.  I left Hartford, hooked up w/Mike in Waterbury, drove to New Rochelle and took the train in to Manhattan.  First stop ,meeting w/ John at Screen Gems who is the President of his own commercial division.  The Rachel Ray show is shot there. In the beginning of the movie I spoke about getting work subcontracting  w/ Young Studios. … then we began speaking about the Diamond Ruff Project.  Our main intention was to form a relationship w/Screen Gems and have them be the company who helps us shoot Diamond Ruff.  they are big w/a sound stage in North Caroline.  They are equipt w/fil makers and equipment. John took us on a tour of the building we were able walk on the Rachel Ray set.  I even opened the blue refrigerator and saw the camera. It was cool.  We also saw where they cook all that food for audience and guest.  After the tour Mike and I spoke to John about our unique way of approaching this film, creating a nat’l buzz through social networking and platforms, celebrities, our DR Club,youth etc. He was receptive.  In the end he promised to set up a mtg. w/us and the owner of Screen Gems.

Brigette Gloria Velez(rappe, model, dancer, host) manager met us at Screen Gems, and after we met at a restaurant, we told her our story and she said she would get Gloria involved w/the project.  She appreciated the approach we are using-involving the public. Next stop Mike, Gloria and I met w/my old time friend and VP of NewYork.Com.  She has began this week showing Diamond Ruff  You Tube entrieson their world wide website.  She also is going to involve us Young Studios, Diamond Ruff Project and Gloria Velez in a special event they are putting on at Time Square, Decmeber 13th.

After that meeting was over we headed bk. to New Rochelle as Mike and I got on the train there were no seats left, except a corner seat for for.  As we sat down a young lady was texting.  She stopped and Mike asked her who she worked for.  He thought she said BIT, and I said to you say BET? She said yes.  Her name is Dana and she is an executive at BET Sales that puts together packages for their nat’lsales department.  My pitch was I own the rights to the Scruples Christmas special, it’s all done why not have it air on BET this Christmas.  We began talking about the Diamond Ruff Project and then about my animated Scruples Christmas special.  She said she had interest in airing the program after she saw our Scruples Promo material.  It’s always good to be prepared w/everything.  We have a tentative meeting scheduled next Friday at BET.  This may open up alot of doors for The Diamond Ruff Project.  The worse scenerio another high-level influential person ahs heard about the project.  But my instincts say Novemeber is coming up and my mom is working on sumthin!

Mike and I began preparing for NYC trip w/Screen Gems and Brigette, manager of Gloria Velez, New York.com and others. For us to make it we have to be in NYC at least once a week. It’s part of the grind.

Met w/Lois from the University of Hartford Internship Office.  We will make a presentation next Thursday to recruit students.  The meeting was to discuss the role of students.  I expressed our need to build systems and infrastructure.  Lois is the Director and oversees student volunteers/interns. She is real smart, experienced, full of energy and has a passion for helping students become successful. She will be beneficial as we go to the next level of the project.  I’m glad Mike brought this connection to the table.