Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Pioneers in Indie Entertainment Direct to Fan - an Education in Patience and Perseverance

"Determination can get you there, but patience and perseverance will make you golden." ~ Gigi de Lugo / Tropic Heat Studios


A piece of Tropic Heat Studios' history : Circa 2012 
PIONEERING in the new Artist Economy, & coining the term "Fan Royalty".
The Process : Integrating several platforms and customizing the scope of interactions between Artist, Album, Distribution, Fans, Social Media, VOD and Royalty Revenues. A wild mash-up painstakingly pieced together that needed to work seamlessly, elegantly, logically, with not too overwhelming of a learning curve for the fans. Time Frame : "About 2 years of slow burn, and 9 solid months of full-on race to the finish line." (Gigi de Lugo)
The First One : Tropic Heat Studios' founder, Gigi de Lugo, co-creates this first-to-launch 'fan royalty' puzzle of a prototype to showcase Roy Wooten's Black Mozart Ensemble's project. The following videos were recorded in October of 2012, after a 4 year journey & depicts the final pieces being put into place for an October 13, 2012 launch on Roy's birthday." Roy was making an announcement at his Oct 13th concert in Chattanooga - this would be the beginning, making this public. The curtain was going up (figuratively) , and ready or not - a spotlight was hitting our creation center stage. Suffice to say - arriving victorious was a challenge of gladiator proportions!" (Gigi de Lugo)

Behind the Scenes Videos:  Video was shot to capture and document this adventure, like two (mad) scientists in a lab, inventing a formula. During the course of several years, Roy would stop by between his out of town touring gigs, studio / rehearsal work, or call to have phone meetings. Gigi worked out the formula to combine the vision with the available technologies and platforms she had identified as best in class. Keep in mind this is now 2012. Back in 2011, an emerging company, Distrify, based in Scotland,  invited a number of filmmakers to be part of their Beta testing before taking their toolset public. (Good article here from April 2011 - by The Film Collaborative)  At that time, Gigi had narrowed down 3 new VOD (Video On Demand) platforms/toolsets that were all still in Beta.  After testing each one (which required dozens of hours + conversations with each platform's key people) Distrify proved the clear winner she chose to place her bet on. Distrify founder, Peter Gerard, communicated directly via email responding to ideas or suggestions submitted by Beta testers. "That was a truly exciting experience for me, being able to suggest customizations & see other ones emerging that would help create the kind of platform I had been dreaming of for years. Distrify would empower Indie feature filmmakers and also music artists & fans like never before!" (Gigi de Lugo)
(YouTube video Description  below)
Uploaded on Jan 14, 2015
http://www.TropicHeatStudios.com
October 2012 - Gigi de Lugo, Founder of Tropic Heat Studios - with Roy Wooten ( 5 Time Grammy Winner / Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, The Black Mozart Ensemble) in meetings about our project for the Black Mozart Album Release - Gigi will be launching via Distrify platform that she was a BETA tester for during Distrify's development. Gigi has been seeking out the most progressive platforms and software to allow her the tools that will pioneer a new path in Indie Music & Film distribution -- Gigi calls it "Fan Royalty" distribution programs.  Since 2009, Gigi and Roy have been discussing their mutual determination to integrate a more progressive business model in the the entertainment industry. This video represents the culmination of 4 years in the making - PRESS RELEASE here : http://www.prlog.org/11999025-5-time-grammy-winner-composer-filmmaker-roy-futureman-wooten-announces-new-release-black-mozart.html#bc=ffffff&tc=000000&lc=c00000&mc=606060
BLOG-WEBSITE by Tropic Heat Studios - Incorporates all of the above and begins showing Fans how to redeem their mp3 drop cards and also how to JOIN THE FAN ROYALTY PROGRAM for this project : http://blackmozartensemble.blogspot.com/2012/10/happy-birthday-futureman.html

VIDEO Playlist -  unedited, straight from the camera.
Part 1, Final meeting - completing tasks for Oct 13th launch (my well behaved granddaughter takes it all in stride)
Part 2, Final meeting -completing tasks for Oct 13th launch
Phone audio - Roy is about to go on stage in Chattanooga - final approval of joint press release, then all systems are a "GO for Launch".
MP3 Drop Cards are delivered just in time! Roy took the inventory with him to the Chattanooga concert.




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