Doug Stanley, client and friend, just sold another show.

His reality series, Hell and High Water, is a river rafting experience with high adventure and unbelievable characters. Doug used to be a river guide before he started producing TV shows.

We are so excited for him. I’ve seen the footage from this series and it’s awesome. He’s now heading into post.

Way to go Doug!

Doug Stanley and Mark Simon on a 3D Stereoscopic shoot they produced at Universal Studios.

Yep, Our independent judges (4 studio executives who were commissioned by NATPE to independently judge the 1st round entries) reviewed all the entries to out Hollywood Player Pitch Contest.

25 remained standing. Those 25 are being notified by tomorrow that they will be pitching in our semifinals next week in Beverly Hills at PitchCon.

Here’s more good news. 7 of our clients made it in the top 25! And remember, we didn’t see any entries and the judges have no idea who our clients are. Isn’t that great? Almost 1/3 of the semi-finalists worked with us to put their materials together.

We are so proud of everyone! We’ll announce their names once everyone has been contacted.

We look forward to seeing all of you at PitchCon next week. ( You ARE going, aren’t you?)

Man, am I happy to write this note! We just closed the deal to have stand-up comic and internationally known cartoonist (Bizarro) Dan Piraro act as our host for the Hollywood Player Pitch Contest at PitchCon, which we are producing with NATPE.

Our semi-finals and finals are next week on May 9th. Dan will be our host for the live finals event. Dan’s got quite a sharp wit, so who knows what will happen on stage between the pitches! One thing I do know, it will be funny!

If you are going to PitchCon, you need to be there. If you aren’t going to PitchCon, why not? It’s not too late to register for the great speakers and pitch opportunities. Go to PitchCon.org and register!

Hollywood Reporter ran an article today about PitchCon. It talked about how the showrunner for Pretty Little Liars is going to be the keynote speaker.

What we didn’t know was that we were going to be mentioned in the article. That always makes for a happy day!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/producer-oliver-goldstick-keynote-pitchcon-448446

That’s right. Today is your last day to enter our Hollywood Player Pitch Contest.

Great prizes. Low cost. Keep control. Get noticed. More pitches to execs.

But you have to enter now.

http://pitchcon.org/schedule/hollywood-player-pitch-contest.html

Live chat streaming on YouTube with me and Tony Ross starts at 9 EST.

We’ll be talking about being a professional artist and animator.

Tony is producing this event and there is no fee to join in.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFUfr53OV34&feature=youtu.be

I just read a really interesting article about how much money the contestants on Dancing With The Stars (Star? Really? That’s a bit of a stretch) make. It’s more than you may think.

They get a hefty down payment to join the cast and a weekly fee. Their fee goes up as they stay on the show longer.

Signing and being on the first 2 episodes nets them $125,000, according to the article. Then their weekly fee goes from $10,000 per week up to $50,000 per week.

Almost makes me want to build a career, get forgotten by Hollywood and make a comeback pretending to dance just to get this gig.

Check it out: http://articles2.mamaslatinas.com/entertainment/154123/dancing_with_the_stars_salaries?quick_picks=1

The deadline for our Hollywood Player Pitch Contest is only 6 days away! We have amazing prizes for tons of people.

Meetings with top agencies, networks, studios, camera package and more.

Don’t miss this event. Plus, by entering even more execs get to see your concept. 25 semifinalists pitch to 4 more execs. 4 finalists pitch to not only yet another 4 execs, but hundreds of other people in the audience.

We can tell you first hand how great this opportunity is. We’ve won and been in the finals in a few pitch contests. We’ve had execs from the audience come up to us after a pitch with interest in our show. This is your chance and it’s coming soon.

#hollywoodplayer

Hi Mark.
I was part of last night’s webinar webcast and I wish to thank both you and Max for a really exceptional learning experience. You both obviously know your stuff and you know how to impart that knowledge in a way that’s in-depth, entertaining, and memorable. That’s a pretty rare gift. I came to know of the webinar via LinkedIn and I’m very pleased that I did.

Thanks again for an excellent evening, Mark. I learned an awful lot and more importantly, I learned how much I don’t know. That’s the part I find most intriguing. I wish you and your wife, Jeanne continued success.

All The Best
Marty Byk