Wealth Actually

I spoke with director, William Wedig, who is starting to make a dent in the world of movies. Having done work for brands such as PBS, MTV, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine and Time Magazine, his work has been shown on broadcast and cable television, in AMC and Clearview theaters, on Times Square billboards and in festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival. In 2012, William began his television-directing career. 145 shoot days, 550 script pages and 5,000 shots later, William completed directing 26 episodes of the half-hour action-comedy kids show, Team Toon, set for release winter 2013 on Cartoon Network. Utilizing a mixed-format presentation, the show fuses live-action with animation to allow for the adventures of four friends whose imaginations tend to blur the line between reality and cartoon. Part Scooby-Doo-style mystery, part monster madness action, Team Toon was a technically challenging show as well as a lengthy and action-packed production. Most recently, William co-directed and edited the show Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011. Starring Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk, Hillary Rhoda and 14 other supermodels, the show is available on the Playstation Network and DVD. In 2011, Wedig’s feature film, Forged, was released theatrically. Forged won Best Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the Outstanding Film Award at the Providence Latin American Film Festival, and screened in the Los Angles Latino International Film. The film stars Manny Perez and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale. Variety’s Ronnie Scheib said that the film’s powerful ending build kinetically and that lead-actor Manny Perez is frighteningly convincing as a man ruled by desperation. For more, visit www.ForgedMovie.com. He also post-supervised Josh Crook’s La Soga, which is opened at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival and was released in theaters in August of 2010 through 7th Floor. In the fall of 2008, he completed editing on a one hour documentary for This Old House and PBS,The Life a House Built: The 25th Anniversary of the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project. The film details the experiences of volunteers and homeowners working to rebuild the Gulf Coast in connection with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2008. William began his career with his thesis film from the School of Visual Arts, entitled Rise of the Dead. The film was released through Lions Gate Entertainment in November of 2007. The film has been described as a “smart and original take on an equally old genre” (Fangoria) and William’s directing as “a breath of fresh air” (C.H.U.D.). William was also post-production supervisor on Salvage, a horror-thriller, which premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The foreign distribution deal included a theatrical release and Echo Bridge Entertainment handled domestic distribution. He graduated with a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and lives in Brooklyn. We covered a lot of ground in this one! William’s background- where are you from and how did you get to NY, How did you get bitten by the filmmaking bug? Take us through what you have worked on . . . When do you know you have a project you are interested in directing? Are you writing it? How do you read a screenplay and know if it’s good? If it’s for you? How do you interact with the writers, producers, talent? What makes a good partnership? How would you describe your working style? When did you know you were good? And could make a go of this? How do you keep the business angle from overwhelming the creative process? When do you compromise v. digging your heels in? Impact of the Editing background- how does that help? Surfing and SI Swimsuit work- what did you learn from those experiences? Use of light, how do you make people or landscapes look good, how do you drive a story? Animation- what makes that difficult or interesting? How do you interact with the artists and voice talent- is it harder or easier than live action? Team Toon- working with kids- easier or harder than normal actors? Horror- what were your influences in this genre?- what makes working in this space challenging? What makes a William Wedig film? What features always stand out? Who would you like to work with? Actors, other types of films? https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

I recently spoke with Scott Johnston about his transition from banking to entrepreneurism and two of his technology projects. WAYIN is Scott’s venture co-founded with Scott McNealey. They help major companies aggregate and understand the date generated by consumers and their social media presence. That data can then be used by the company to better focus their marketing efforts and sell more efficiently. LiquidSky is Scott’s venture that seeks to more efficiently allocate the world’s computing power. The company employs a subscription model and delivers computing and processing speeds on an “as-needed” basis. Liquidsky hopes to help people, businesses, universities and governments accomplish their computing goals without making huge equipment investments that could quickly become obsolete. Scott and I have known each other for years having interacted in the political arena and on the golf course. In this episode we cover . . . The transition from Wall Street to technology entrepreneurism The genesis of Wayin- how does one take an idea and turn it into a business? What problems does Wayin solve for marketers and advertisers? Can Wayin apply to other arenas like politics? How did Scott find the idea for LiquidSky? How did he develop the talent to turn this idea from a twinkle in the eye to a viable business that could solve “Billion Person Problems?” What is the impact of the video gamer? How big is that market? What is the impact of their influence on media production? What are some tips and issues for investors to note if they are interested in investing or being involved in young companies? Scott also collects his thoughts in his “Naked Dollar” Blog Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Michael Monaghan, Co-Founder and CEO of Beartooth What an exciting thing to watch the launch of a business. It represents the beginning of a new, scary and wonderful challenge. It also culminates years of innovation, planning, preparation and hard work.  Today, Beartooth launches officially for the public. It is the brainchild of Michael Monaghan, a friend I have known for years. An idea borne out Michael’s experiences both as a financier at Goldman Sachs and as a devout skier and outdoorsman, Beartooth builds on the promise of handheld phone use off the typical cellular grid. It is a tech company based in Bozeman, Montana! I spoke to Michael recently on his experience starting the business, the challenges of being an entrepreneur and probed to hear his thought process on a variety of new business issues. Below are some of the points that we covered: An introduction into what the Beartooth radio does [How Beartooth Works]: What does Beartooth do? “Beartooth is a small device that works with an existing smartphone to communicate when you have no service. You can talk, text, use maps, and share location to Beartooth users within range when you have no cellular service. Beartooth also works as a backup battery for your smartphone. Whether you are skiing fresh powder in the backcountry or dancing at Coachella, you can now reliably stay in contact with your group in ways that were previously unavailable. Beartooth allows for peer-to-peer communication between the devices, completely bypassing the Wi-Fi and cellular network.” What problems does Beartooth solve? Where did you get the idea and develop the product/meet your co-founder? How do you go from a Goldman Sachs background to an entrepreneur? What is it like raising money? What is it like having the responsibility of having employees? How do you find and interact with investors? How do you surround yourself with expertise? When bombarded with advice- how do you pick who you listen to? What is it like dealing with the government and how did you learn about the various approval processes involved with a media product? What is it like living and working in Bozeman? What are the pluses and challenges of Bozeman?  How does Bozeman impact the attraction of talent/capital? Beartooth sounds like it applies to rural and adventure settings- what are the uses for technology in urban environments? What are the benefits of having “redundant” VHF/UHF benefits? What are some of the technical features involved? What are the applications to industry, leisure, military? What are the real life experiences that could be enhanced with Beartooth? Festivals, skiing, hiking, lake, ocean, golf courses, vineyards? Are there any potential information security benefits? (texts that don’t go through a plan/stored through iCloud? I.e. Device to device texting?) Are there any battery life improvements that Beartooth adds? How do you go about your marketing strategy? What are your marketing ideas? What segments are you working on? Mass retail application? To learn more about Beartooth, check out their website here: BEARTOOTH.COM And check out more about their story below . . . Beartooth profiled in OUTSIDE Beartooth covered by TECHCRUNCH https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

John Williams, Principal of the Williams Law Group and President of IncNow.com I sat down with my colleague and fellow Emory Law graduate, John Williams, to talk about the differences and challenges of driving both a law firm and an online incorporation business. We spoke about trends in the legal industry and peered into our respective crystal balls about the direction of Delaware corporate law and the opportunities and issues that entrepreneurs face. What percentage of the day is spent lawyering and what percentage is spent running Incnow? What is does your law practice look like? Delaware Corporate law; we hear about other jurisdictions -what is still advantageous about incorporating in Delaware? Corp v. LLC v. Partnership- what steps should people go through in deciding which entity to use? If I’m from New York or any other state, why would I have my business entity incorporated in Delaware? Talk about the formation of your business Incnow- what need does your your business fulfill? Having a law firm to deal with nuance associated with Incnow makes a lot of sense . . . Does that component get used a lot? Technological hurdles? Staffing hurdles? Compliance issues? Challenges of running law firm v. start-up business? Benefits and challenges of being located in Delaware? Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg using LLC instead of a foundation for his charitable arm? Will we see that more? http://charitylawyerblog.com/2015/12/15/llcs-as-philanthropic-vehicles/ In addition to traditional S and C Corps, What about B-Corps also known as Public Benefit Corps that are chartered to have a broader purpose beyond shareholders- emerging trend or fad? Increased scrutiny of entities and shell companies; increased banking laws and Treasury scrutinizing property purchases – what are you seeing in your business? What appears to be on the horizon on this front? (See some of my commentary on the subject from a past article here-Anonymity and Real Estate) Delaware has always had a competent and efficient judiciary which is one of the attractions for many companies locating their corporate situs there . . .What else is Delaware doing to innovate? https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

In the latest Podcast, I speak with Steve Wilamowsky about the development and current state of bankruptcy law. Steve Wilamowsky is a partner in Chapman and Cutler’s Litigation, Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group. For over twenty years, clients have relied on Steve to guide them through complex corporate reorganizations, distressed asset transactions, and bankruptcy-related litigation. We track his road into legal practice, go into detail about the landscape of bankruptcy law and muse about its future. You can read more about Steve’s background here. Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

EPISODE 2: Crime Novelist, TERRENCE MCCAULEY Crime Novelist, Terrence McCauley Meet Terrence P. McCauley. He is a part of a new breed of crime fiction writers. This up-and-comer is one to watch. His acclaimed new thriller SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL will be published by Polis Books in July 2015. Sympathy for the Devil (New from Polis Books) Polis is also republishing Terrence’s first two award-winning crime novels set in 1930 New York City – PROHIBITION and SLOW BURN. In 2008, Terrence won the TruTV ‘Search for the Next Great Crime Writer’ contest. In 2014, he won three New Pulp Awards for Best Short Story, Best Novel and Best Author. Terrence has had short stories featured in Thuglit, Shotgun Honey, Spinetingler Magazine, Atomic Noir and Big Pulp among other places. A proud native of The Bronx, NY, he is currently working on his next work of fiction. (Topics:  Writing process, influences, favorite three books, favorite three movies) https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/

Welcome to the first episode of the Frazer Rice Podcast (Trust me . . . I’m working on getting a snappier title!). Expect to see more interviews with artists, entrepreneurs, commentators and tastemakers from New York and beyond. Today we have an interview with Jayne Merkel, contributing editor for the Architectural Record and author of the monograph Eero Saarinen. We discuss the evolution of New York City’s skyline and downtown redevelopment, trends for the future and our favorite neighborhoods and buildings. Among the highlights . . . Manhattan’s newest and most controversial residential tower- 432 Park Avenue An afternoon photo of one of NYC’s “Old Faithfuls”- the Flatiron Building A night photo of the Union Square Pavilion with the Zeckendorf Towers in the background THE NEXT PODCAST WILL FEATURE CRIME NOVELIST, TERRENCE MACCAULEY, WHO WILL TALK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK, “SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL”. https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/