Hollywood Money Traps- A book release that will shake up the Industry

Who Pays When Films Fail

And when a film doesn't sell, and many don't, especially in these days, the filmmaker is devastated about the art. And we never ask ourselves, what about the people behind them? What about the people that finance those dreams of the filmmakers and the artists? So I keep thinking about the mom and pop who max out their credit cards, the friends who mortgage their homes, friends who wire money because somebody they love believes in a dream. Welcome to the Heart of Show Business. I am your host, Alexia Melocchi. I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society. Emotion and entertainment are closely tied together. My guests and I want to give you insider access to how the film, television, and music industry works. We will cover dreams come true, the roadless travel, journey beginnings, and a lot of insight and inspiration in between. I am a successful film and television entrepreneur who came to America as a teenager to pursue my show business dreams. Are you ready for some unfiltered real talk with entertainment visionaries from all over the world? Then let's roll sound and action. So about around February of this year, I was keeping vigil at a hospital for a parent who was going through life saving surgery. I had sleepless nights. I was worrying about the fragility of life, my parent life. So the things that normally fill my days, like producing, podcasting, social media, consulting, all of that went quiet. And I found myself with a space that I didn't really ask for. I spent 35 years inside the global entertainment industry as a producer, a distributor, a manager, a consultant, a sales agent, a financier. And I've sat on both sides of the table, on every angle there is. And it took a crisis, a personal one, to finally make me say what I had been watching for decades. And that's what this episode is about. It's interesting because in this difficult moment, I started seeing things more clearly. I was in the midst of my new series of my podcast. Some of you know about my past guests who have been amazing. But I was also in the midst of having to navigate letting go of many work hours in order to look after the health of my parent. And for the first time, I started seeing a lot of things more clearly, especially who your real allies are in life and in business. So there was a lot of flattery that came through for my parent, who's also my business partner. And she's written a book, which is a best-selling book. And I was asking to show, to just have people show some love and buy her book that would have cheered her on, right? And uh there it was. All of a sudden, the people who needed something from myself or my business partner or company, once they got it, they were gone. And there was a particular kind of loneliness that I felt. But here is the thing: I found the parallels in Hollywood and in the business. I've realized that I have been watching the exact same dynamic play out in my professional world for that. I've been in 35 years. You know, the filmmaker who comes and shows up the passion and a vision and a very specific kind of charm, who needs something, who needs your name, your contacts, your money, your credibility. And they once they have it, they become completely absorbed in their own story and in their own failure and in their own next move. And I want to say nobody's necessarily lying when they do that. The passion is real, the dream is real, the sparkle is real. But the sparkle is not a business plan. And flattery is not a contract. And when a film doesn't sell, and many don't, especially in these days, the filmmaker is devastated about the art. And we never ask ourselves, what about the people behind them? What about the people that finance those dreams of the filmmakers and the artists? So I kept thinking about the mom and pop who max out their credit cards, the friends who mortgage their homes, friends who wire money because somebody they love believes in a dream. And those people don't get a post-mortem. They just don't. And so they don't get a therapy session about their creative vision. They just lose. And nobody wrote a book for them until now. So I want to talk about my book. My book is called That Just Was written in a vomit blur of me, sleepless nights, stress, and anxiety. That's when creativity comes in, right? And I just started voice memoing my thoughts about everything that I witnessed all these years in the business and specific instances where horror stories happen and turn out to be horror stories. And I started witnessing my life and my career as an entrepreneur in Hollywood and beyond, and what I've witnessed across nearly three and a half decades. Rookie mistakes and nobody corrected because everybody wanted the money, massive overestimations of what a film would earn, underestimations of what it would cost to make a movie, distribution deals that sounded lucrative and then were not. So none of this is a secret. We've read about it, we've seen it sometimes in articles, in the news, we've seen it in social media postings, but it's never been assembled in one piece and in one place for a person who needs it most. The person that is about to say yes to a pitch in plain language by someone who has been on every side of the table being yours truly. Where is the money? Where is the money? But nobody has even written the book for the person being asked to give it. How do you keep it? How do you protect it? How do you know if the person across the table really understands what they're asking for? And I really wanted to clarify this as you get ready to get more details about my book, Hollywood Money Traps, what every investor needs to know. This book is not anti-Hollywood. It is not anti-artist. It is for the artist and for the people backing the artist. I have championed storytellers my entire career and I will keep doing it. But I realized that I also needed to champion the people behind them, the benefactors, those who made those stories possible. They deserve the same information that the insiders have. And that's the whole book. So as I was sitting at home with my life upside down, again, sleepless, worried, I did what every creative does. I stopped and I got quiet. And then I got creative. How can I serve even more? Not less, more this time around. I spend my career championing storytellers. So what if I turn that same energy towards the people who champion them? I wanted to write the field guide that every investor deserved to have before they signed anything, before they wired that money. So that's the book. That's my book. It's not a scandalous book, it's not a takedown. It's more of a field guide written from the inside for the people on the outside, by someone who has lived every inch of both words. So my breakdown, my friends and my listeners, became my breakthrough. And just like in Jerry Maguire, when he had to talk about the state of the sports industry and ask for a more transparent way of handling athletes and for brands and sponsors and everybody coming together in that very lucrative business, which is a sports business, is the same thing for the movie business. So my breakdown became my breakthrough because I think this book might become yours. Whether you're an investor, a dreamer, someone who's already lost money and never quite understood why, I wrote it. And I know that this book, May Raffle Some Feathers, may unsettle some of my own peers, even peers that worked alongside myself and my partner or some of my clients for decades, maybe even artists that I genuinely respect and believe in. But I just wanted to know that this is not a blame fest. The money needs the art. The art needs the money. That relationship has always been the engine of this industry, and it will always be. I think I covered it all. And I think you will know once you read it, you'll know exactly what to look for when someone asks you to back their dream. There is an investor checklist at the end. And also there is a little love letter because again, there's also investors who have taken artist for a ride and then their dream crumbled. So I'm covering everything. And let's not forget that just like in anything that we want to succeed, it's teamwork, it takes a village. And I'm here to make sure that everyone in the village is finally speaking the same language. I'm Alexia Melocchi, your host, the Heart of Show Business. I see you next time. And I hope you pick up the book, you read it, you share it, you review it, and you will enjoy it most of all. And you will get inspired to continue to back the dreamers, but with a little common sense this time. Thank you very much for listening. Alexei Melocchi, over and out. Ciao. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of The Heart of Show Business. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite podcast player. If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us, you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusiness.com.