Donna4Film's Mastery Journey

This course allowed me to now be able to pinpoint all of the nuisances needed to create a solid foundation for my brand Donna4film Productions LLC. My expectations have been exceeded. I expected to learn how to create the basics however I didn't expect the type of research need. Understanding the "why" behind the research was the most valuable lesson for me. Fortunately, I have owned several businesses that failed; I learned a tremendous amount of "do's & don'ts in business. Business Plans are necessary for the success of any type of business. I never had a business plan in my past ventures; however, I'm excited to build one for the successful my future of my brand. This class is allowing me to build the foundation of my business brick by brick. SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities & threats) analysis along with research on competition for comparisons is just some of the key elements needed to build a strong business plan.

Budgeting is a subject I am familiar with, however, I never did as much preliminary research prior to starting my business. Analysis of the monthly marketing budget was another concept that I will master because of this course. I understood the need to market monthly but using your marketing dollars wisely is key. If the marketing isn’t impacting your demographic you are wasting your money and time. Understanding whom you are trying to attract and finding their common places like Facebook groups or blogs focus groups are necessary steps for effective marketing.

Greater Ebenezer on High is an upcoming feature film being produced in September 2017 by Donna4film Productions LLC. I choose to discuss this upcoming feature film because it dares to confront some of the taboo subjects in the African American Culture. As the writer/director of this project, it was important for me to be able to discuss these sensitive elements as well as define the power behind them. The African American Church became the cornerstone of the Negro Culture once Slavery was abolished and throughout the Jim Crow era of American History. The church was not only the religious headquarters but also the social and political epicenter of African American communities. Regardless of religion the Church or the Mosque was centerpiece from which the African American Culture thrived in the late 1890’s through the 1960’s. The leaders of the Negro Culture were primarily pastors or religious leaders such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X or they had the backing of large churches. The main demographic of the film “Greater Ebenezer on High” are African Americans 18-65.

The story is about Pastor Richard Allen Bartholomew (Pastor Bart), a young light-skinned pastor from a small town in North Carolina that has a haphazard encounter with the Bishop of the Southeastern conference that changed his life forever. This story incorporates the issue of a color system that still plagues the African American race to this day. Slavery has left the African American Culture in disarray, during slavery the lighter your skin the better your treatment on the plantation. The lighter you are meant you were closer to Caucasian, which usually meant your hair was straighter, your nose was not as broad and your lips were thinner; this equated to beautiful and the opposite was considered ugly. I created Pastor Bart as a light-skinned man to increase his air of privileged and the antagonist Deacon Clive as a dark-skinned man to increase the tension between the characters.

           The Bishop he helped at a church conference appointed Pastor Bart to a mega church in Brooklyn, NY. Although on paper Pastor Bart has all the credentials to do the job of the retiring pastor he has no experience with a congregation of 60,000 members in a city as big as New York City. It was important as the writer of this film to make the challenges of Pastor Bart larger than life. The reoccurring theme of this film is how to rely on faith in God; I am constantly testing the faith of the characters or showing the consequences of losing faith. As a Christian myself, I have struggled with the idea of stepping out on faith or as Grandma would say “letting go and letting God”. This is a human struggle for anyone that “Believes” in a greater Being and it was important to tap into that human struggle to bring the viewer to a relatable place.

           Greater Ebenezer on High addresses community relations and the mega church’s responsibilities. It address’s the misuse of funds and political influences possible when dealing with a large congregation in big city politics. The female population is somewhere around 8 to 1 in the average African American church so the issue of dating and womanizing in the church is also addressed.

           The biggest issue that I addressed in this story was combating the myth that the pastor is “superhuman”. As I child I attended Catholic school although I am not Catholic and I went to a historic African American Methodist church the themes were similar when it came to the church leaders; they were deified. The church community looks at our Popes, Bishops, Pastors and Clergy as more than human. If you are a believer, you believe these leaders are called by God to become leaders, but we also overlook they are human. When a church official commits a crime it is often overlooked or covered up because it is sacrilegious. The Catholic Church and the abuse of young boys is a prime example of this theory. In the African American Culture when someone asks you “what church do you go to?” the answer is always followed up by the name of the Pastor as if the two are inseparable. The Pastor of the African American Church lives an all inclusive life of style with free room and board, a nice car, quality meals and is the celebrity of the community. In “Greater Ebenezer on High” I choose to highlight the temptations that pastors face and I allow my pastor to succumb to his sins. Imagining your pastor sniffing cocaine and engaging in risky behavior with prostitutes is the type of fiction that will get me excommunicated from the church. However, I took it to the next level and introduced a secret society of pastors that engage in this behavior while managing some of the largest churches in the city. The film was written to change the thinking of the viewers; the most important takeaway is “your church leaders are human”.

           This film is realistic in its approach to the issues Pastor Bart faces. As a member of the congregation it is “understood” that you are just a sinner, however, we view the Pastor as the go-to person to help us over our temptations. This film answers the question “what does the pastor do when he faces temptation?” our assumption is that he has divine powers that make it easier; this is far from the truth. This film makes the viewer confront truths in our beliefs and behaviors.

           Greater Ebenezer on High shows the trials and the triumphs of Pastor Bart as a man, a husband, a father and a Spiritual leader. Society has a way of glorifying our Clergy and this film allows us to re-evaluate our thinking and respect them for their actual achievements and failures. One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. Greater Ebenezer on High challenges its viewers to re-visit their ideology as it relates to “men of the cloth”, understanding the true struggles of these men should give us compassion for their lives without exalting them as God.

 The Bible (King James Version). (n.d.).

 Boone, C. (2017, January 15). Men who sued Eddie Long for sexual misconduct address bishop’s death. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from http://www.ajc.com/news/local/men-who-sued-eddie-long-for-sexual-misconduct-address-bishop-death/A1E6CzW4Ehd1RkJsVsKGsM/

 10 commandments. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://www.reference.com/world.../ten-commandments-kjv-bible-560bfde6c99c0a08

 Davis, D. D. (Director). (2015, March 30). Greater Ebenezer on High [Video file]. Retrieved January 20, 2017.

My original goals for this course were to learn all that I could about independent film distribution and aggregators. The introduction of streaming to the Entertainment Industry has opened up huge opportunities.  The use of multiple digital mediums helped to create a huge demand for instant content worldwide. Companies like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime are only a few brands that crave instant content, the addition of gaming systems offering stations and smart televisions are equally hungry.

I am an independent filmmaker with an urban flair to my projects. I understand my niche and my demographic and they are not high on the list of projects that Big Hollywood Studios slate for production. My ultimate goal is to find distribution companies that could assist in the financing and distribution of projects. A company that makes the connections between the various mediums of online streaming a one-stop shop is a great tool for an independent artist. Offering tracking tools and services to increase sales and marketing, or licensing and manufacturing helps to reduce the steps necessary for an independent artist to get their projects streamed or sold.

This class exceeded all expectations I had based on the description of the curriculum. I wanted to empower a creative team that I would use as the foundation of my business. I now have the tools to understand personalities this allows me to match tasks to the team members based on their strengths. I also learned techniques for conflict resolution and team building to maintain healthy relationships amongst the team members. the information I learn will be helpful in all of my relationships personal and professional. Understand who you are working with allows you to increase productivity. It is important to listen and keep communication open within the team; this creates a sense of pride and ownership of the project. These lessons will help everyone that follows maintain healthier relationships and increase communication and understanding of humankind.