Over the last couple of years I have become a big fan of Dragon’s Den and The UK Apprentice. For the uninitiated these are British TV shows that in different ways, mentor budding entrepreneurs.

There is much to be had from both shows in the way of advice, ideas and plain olds common sense in getting a business up and running, and more importantly, keeping it going – at a profit. And they don’t rely on promoting big business either, but small one or two person shows that have an idea, product or service that could really make it, but needs that little kick in the right direction and a cash influx to get it off the ground.

It is amazing watching people come on Dragons Den especially and seeing how little they know or understand. Last night for example, a young woman came on asking for an injection to help her expand her Hair Extension salons. When asked obvious questions about costs, turnover, profit and so on, she had absolutely no idea. When one of the Dragons asked her for an idea of the state of the Balance Sheet, she asked what that even was!

Probably the two main things that are drilled into those seeking help (and this stands equally for those watching the show), the two biggest factors to success are keeping an eye on costs at every second of every day, and maintaining cash flow.
Which leads me on to the main point of this piece.

I consider one of the biggest stumbling blocks to those who try and keep going in publishing is the lack of the latter. Despite how close a handle you keep on it, the main issue is those corporates and agencies that simply dictate terms. You can put 14 days or 30 days on your invoices as large as you like, in blood if you want, but they will continue to pay when they damn well feel like it. Up to 90 days and more in some cases.

I am sure there is a gene that manifests itself in accounting people that for some reason manages to warp their mind into thinking that the company’s money is THEIR money and their job is to protect it at all costs from leaving the premises under any circumstance.

This same gene also allows the imagination to run riot, inventing ways to explain why an invoice cannot be paid. My current favourite is that “no-one is here for 2 weeks to sign a cheque”. So the entire business grounds to a halt does it? And just as there is a place where odd socks go to die, so there is another full of lost invoices.

Of course, not all companies are like this; the trouble is, it just needs one in your portfolio of clients and the whole cash flow thing is thrown to pot, and as time goes on, it manifests itself into a larger and larger problem until something has to give.

To all those companies that understand the trials and tribulations of small business and help as much as possible, thank you. To the rest, give us a break! You were small once too!

One thing that I haven’t touched on very much in the process of filmmaking production is the art and practice of putting together a script.

I personally use a product called Final Draft to create scripts as this is especially designed for the purpose of scriptwriting (www.finaldraft.com) and this also the world’s highest selling scripting product, but at USD$249 its not cheap.

Other options available include Celtix (http://studio.celtix.com, Fivesporockets, BPC Screenplay, Movie Magic and Trelby. Some of these are free or at best with nominal fees associated, but wait a minute, if you have Microsoft Word, why not spend a little time to learn about the Outlining and Styles functionality and “roll your own”?

If you need to figure out how scriptwriting software works, a good way is to download the demo version of Final Draft and get a feel for it. As a bonus they’ll also send you a bunch of case studies on scriptwriting.

Everyone seems to have a story to tell, so why not give it a go?

And then of course shoot it!

I went out wood chopping today. Nothing too exciting about that in this neck of the woods where the temperature gets down to 0 degrees at night, even in September. The fact I had sprained my ankle yesterday slipping on some of WA’s infamous pea gravel and had it heavily strapped made it interesting, along with a recurrence of a torn tendon in my elbow, but it was either that or freeze to death.

More exciting though was that I was using the opportunity to road test the new Sony HXR-NX70P.

This little camera, slightly larger than the average consumer camcorder is just the duck’s nuts! It has all the toys a pro needs and demands such as external mic, onboard XLR inputs, shoots AVCHD to 96GB of internal memory and also accepts SD and Memory Stick cards, sports a wide 26mm Sony G lens and has the famed Exmor R engine.

What’s more, it is dust and rain proof with all ports and buttons sealed.

The focus ring can be set for zoom, focus or iris and the menu system and controls layout are a beauty to behold.

All this for AUD$3299.

Oh and the pictures it shoots are brilliant.

With Canon getting into the “baby pro” market, and now Sony following suit and no doubt Panasonic sharpening its T-Squares and drawing boards, this category is about to get very hot methinks. Bring it on!

(More technical info can be found at Auscam Online).

At the moment, I am on the Gold Coast attending a conference of Flacks, Hacks and IT vendors. This happens twice a year and allows us to get to know each other, swap ideas and of course let our hair down on occasion.

Last night, at the "gala dinner' the entertainment was provided by a hypnotist, and of course, audience members were involved. Thankfully, nothing really stupid was suggested, such as stripping off, simulated sex or other bad taste ideas, but nonetheless, those that did "succumb", might be cringing a little after / if they see videotape of the event.

And this is the crux of this blog today; the hypnotist, the main performer, had a dedicated video camera operator, and told us all shows are recorded in entirety - and he keeps them.

Now, I understand this is most likely in case of litigation in the future - say someone falls off the stage or tries to suggest (ha!) they have been mentally damaged. But what about the privacy issues? No one signed a piece of paper - including those in the crowd, and we were told about this AFTER the show had started and filming had become.

Now I have no personal qualms about this, but as a documentary maker, if I film a scene and people can be identified, I am bound to get a disclaimer from those people.

Should the same apply to performers?

The events of last week in Victoria have had a million words written about them. Probably twenty million. And it goes without saying that sympathy, shock, horror and even awe has been outpouring from the nation and the world.

In The Australian newspaper’s “Media” liftout today, there was a piece about the brickbats and bouquets of the various TV presenters ferried down to the area to cover the disaster live to camera. (Whether it was indeed live all of the time is a moot point). There were reports of SBS’ presenters working from a motel room with no power to Lisa Wilkinson being choppered down every morning and chauffer driven back every night. Where’s Naomi Robson when you need her? At least she only had a campervan.

But not one mention seems to have been made about the men and women at the coal face. The camera operators, sound people, electricians and so on. These guys and gals were constantly under the pump to get the images and sound out. No make up rooms, air conditioning or a glass of champers afterward for them.

Also have a think on the stills photographers. Some amazing pictures came out portraying the horror of it all. A good friend of mine does this stuff, and we tend to forget the things they see that we don’t. Or want to.

Remember that edition of Frontline where the video guy kept shooting instead of going to the aid of someone getting a severe kicking? I’d like to think I could do that job, but quietly don’t really believe I can. All the people I know who do however, have a lifetime of Prozac ahead of them.