How Ryan Closed A $32K Deal - Master Filmmaker Review

What's going on, guys? I'm here with one of our clients, Ryan, who just closed a 32k deal. What's going on, Ryan? How are you, man?

How you doing, Eric?

I'm doing well, man. For anybody who doesn't know you, do you mind just giving us a little bit kind of backstory on yourself, how you get started and kind of what you do?

Okay, so my name's Ryan Hayes. I've been a kind of film electrician for as long as I can remember, since I started working. The term is gaffer, if you know what that means. I do, but so I've been doing that. I've worked kind of in and outside of the union with IATSI for on and off for a couple years now. So that's what I do. And this year, I kind of made the transition to starting my business and kind of selling what I do more professionally in that atmosphere.

What made you kind of want to make that change from kind of just gaffing to more so being a business owner?

I, um. Well, originally, I actually never really wanted to be a business owner. I thought it was gonna be. People told me when I graduated college and stuff, they're like, I'll start a business. You can make so much more money. And I was like, well, it's more work. And when I was doing freelance stuff, I kind of came to the realization that, yes, doing. Starting my own business would be more work, but freelancing is infinitely harder.

In what way, though?

It's just. It's. It's just a huge time commitment when you're kind of nose deep in freelancing.

I know.

It's. It's always just, you know, finishing a job, and then you hop on job boards, like, indeed. Or for films. We have, like, Mandy, we have Production Hub, even Facebook. And it's just always.

You're in groups. You're like, hey, need a gaffer? Because I DP'd for, like, four or five years freelance, like, before I started mine. So, like, I definitely get that grind. It's like, yeah.

And so it's just a constant struggle of finishing the job that you started a couple of days ago to get on the next job, you know, hoping that you can make rent or, you know, have enough money to do something that you want to do with your friends and stuff. So it's like, yes, I'm working harder as a business owner, but I am. I have more leverage. Yeah, I have more leverage. And I'm finding now that I am gaining more financial freedom. Yep. Yeah.

I mean, that was why I transitioned to doing deer and films is because I was like, I saw the DPs on set on someone.

Like when I would.

I started as a PA and so like as a PA, I saw like the DPs on set. They're like 70 years old, 50, 60 years old, and they're like still doing this. I'm like, dude, I couldn't, I couldn't imagine doing 12 hour days at 60, 70 years old. Like we have a family. You want to like settle down and like relax. It's like, it's rough. It's a lot of work. You know, those days are not easy either, as I'm sure you know.

No, it's not. But I mean, I would say I differ a little bit from you on that is because I feel like with my business, I'm trying to get to that point. I want to make films and I want to be creative. I don't know if I want to go Hollywood, but I want to that kind of person, you know. I don't want to make corporate films, of course, you know, but not because.

You have working for money. It's because you want to make what you want to make at the end of the day.

Exactly. So I'm working, I'm working towards that right now. And I'm hoping next year I can start my first production. That's kind of the goal.

Got to have the money from the boring stuff to make the fun stuff.

Exactly.

You know?

You know, eventually transition from the boring stuff to the fun stuff. Yep.

I love it. And what was kind of the biggest problem you had prior to joining the program? What was kind of one of the biggest bottlenecks for you?

I. I would say it was just kind of like the, the uncertainty of what to do. I've never owned a business before. I don't know how to run a business. And I definitely don't want to pour a bunch of money into something that is going to end up being the wrong thing to do. I think just from talking to. And I've met a lot of really great people, but I think the smartest thing that I've heard this year telling people that it's like, yeah, I just started my llc. It was sell the parts that don't work. Work.

Yep.

You know, and so that was, that's kind of the aspect that I've really been moving forward with. Right. It's like I, I originally started, I was like, I'm going to do full service production. And it's like, well, Wait, I'm a gaffer. I've always been a gaffer. I've never done full service production. So I'm going to sell this aspect. I'm going to sell myself at a higher rate, and I'm going to make films as cinematic as possible using my skills, you know, because it's not just pointing a camera at something. My skills is building the picture using lights and rags and flags and all kinds of stuff. You just sell that at a higher rate and that's what you kind of go with. And you use kind of your expertise to piggyback and stepping stone off of 100%.

Absolutely. And like, obviously you've been in the program for a little while. Is there anything that we've went through with you that's been particularly helpful as far as like closing larger deals and kind of like reframing the mindset from the business side?

I feel like when it comes to like the advertising stuff, that was just something that I was just no clue on. And working with you guys on that and learning how to like properly make like a VSO and like hitting your niche and things like that has probably been the most helpful for me personally. Dude.

And the 32k deal, what kind of business was it? Or was it a business or what kind of deal was.

It was actually a film. It was a guy, A guy shooting a film down south from where I live. And he came on and he originally wanted to pay me equity. For those of you who don't know, equity would be. You get a percentage of the revenue when it hits syndication, head streaming or things like that. And I told him I was interested, but I need to think about the payment because here's the thing with equity, you get paid a year and a half from now when the stuff is done. And there's no guarantee because there's. You don't know if someone's actually going to watch it. You know, this isn't a blockbuster. Yeah, but, you know, I got on the phone with him and I. It was kind of like. Like an artist, like chiseling marble. You know, you just got to keep chipping away at it and say, you know, and you kind of use the real story to sell it. You know, it's like, listen, man, those are due every week for most people. You know, it's like, I can't work for you for 30 days for free and get paid a year from now. You know, it's like, I got. I got rent, I got a car payment. You know, I got groceries and I.

Got it's like valuing yourself at a higher level and being like, you know, this is what I need. Yeah.

And so we kind of came to the conclusion. He was like, yeah, you know what? You're right. You know, I want to do things right. I don't want to do things cheap. And, you know, and that just includes the quality of work. And so after a lot of back and forth, we finally settled on a deal. I was like, what's your kind of bottom dollar? And we kind of came to about $1,500 a day for production.

Yeah, no, absolutely. So it's just more so like, valuing yourself and really saying, hey, here's what I'm willing to come in for, and here's what I'm willing to do, it sounds like. And I guess, like, one last question. I guess if anybody's maybe on the fence, obviously you've gone through the program. You're still implementing other parts of it, but, like, if anybody's maybe on the fence about booking a call, speaking with us, and talking to us about potentially joining the program, I guess, knowing what, you know now, what advice would you give them knowing that?

Well, I would say it's important to understand going in that it's like, it's not a magic pill. You know, you kind of, you know, you still have to put in the work and you still have to put in the money. I would say that's the main thing. I would say, you know, just get on that call and just talk to them and see if it's right for you. You know, for some people, it isn't. For some people, it is.

But, yeah, you have to be serious. You have to put in the work. It's not a magic pill. It's like, you know, going to a gym or hiring a personal trainer or somebody like that, it's like they're going to help you, but you have to meet them in the middle and get to where you want to be and put in the effort at the end of the day, which is huge. But, dude, I'm excited to see where you go from here, and I'm excited for you to close more deals and we'll do another one of these. And I appreciate your time, Ryan.

Yeah, absolutely. Eric, thank you so much. Yes, sir.