![Month Steps for First Six Months
1 Acquire Personnel and Equipment, all employees sign NDA. Construct Facial capture helmet.
2
Begin work on software development,
Establish stages for delivery.
Stage 1 Delivery – Functional Analysis & Tech Resource Review
[SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (SRS) WILL BE PREPARED]
3
Stage 2 Delivery – Technical Specification for Capture Module, Programming
– Core Functionality, Import/Play-Export.
4
Stage 3 Delivery - Unit Flow Testing (End A to End B)
Testing Various Models & Variations
(CREATE TEST PLAN, RUN TESTS)
5 Stage 4 Delivery – Review by Head Technician & Potential Modifications
Documentation, Doc-Review by Head Technician.
6 Final Prototype Delivery - FINAL PACKAGING & DELIVERY, WINDOWS EDITION.
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- 2. John M. Curtin CFO Ghost Tribe VFX Address: TBD Tel.: 1(562)9078444 Email: [email protected] Managing Partner: Zebediah Y. Desoto CONFIDENTIAL No offering is made or intended by this document. Any offering of interests in Ghost Tribe VFX will be made only in compliance with Federal and State securities laws. This document includes confidential and proprietary information of and regarding Ghost Tribe VFX. This document is provided for informational purposes only. You may not use this document except for informational purposes, and you may not reproduce this document in whole or in part, or divulge any of its contents without the prior written consent of Ghost Tribe VFX. By accepting this document, you agree to be bound by these restrictions and limitations. 2
- 3. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary II. Company Overview III. Industry Analysis Market Overview Relevant Market Size IV. Customer Analysis 3
- 4. Target Customers Customer Needs V. Competitive Analysis Direct Competitors Indirect Competitors Competitive Advantages VI. Marketing Plan Products, Services & Pricing Promotions Plan Distribution Plan VII. Operations Plan Key Operational Processes Milestones VIII. Management Team Management Team Members Management Team Gaps IX. Financial Plan Revenue Model Financial Highlights Funding Requirements/Use of Funds Exit Strategy X. Appendix 4
- 5. I. Executive Summary Making the Impossible, Possible Ghost Tribe VFX is your onestop solution for all your photoreal facial capture needs. When faced with the demanding economic and logistical production challenges of film, television, and video games, to something as simple as online dating; Ghost Tribe VFX steps in. The entertainment industry has had a long history of making use of digitally animated humans (The Matrix, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Avatar…). The use of computer generated (CG) characters has been common practice for basic stunt and crowd simulation sequences for quite some time. But what about the human face? Being able to capture the soul of a performance and have that translate through a digital representation has always been the coveted goal of the entertainment industry. 5
- 6. Time and time again, there have been attempts made with varying levels of results. Some successful, some not, but all coming at a high cost of man power and wages. For a little over 5 minutes of face time, Jeff Bridges younger, digital self in Tron took almost 2 years to animate. If you are reading this, we will assume you watched the Ghost1 demo. That was captured raw, with no clean up, and processed in less than one day. Changing Reality One Pixel at a Time ✓ Imagine a world where a dangerous stunt is performed to perfection by an actor who was never even on set; a world where an actor (even posthumously) can be subject to photorealistic manipulations at the push of a button. Turn back the hands of time, or push them forward, all at the productions will. ✓ Imagine going online to your favorite chat room; you would like to video blog, but you do not quite feel you are looking your best. Instead of preening, you select your own avatar, and away you go. Today you are a model; tomorrow you are a Clone Trooper from Star Wars. Your reality is now a choice YOU make with a push of a button. ✓ From the gritty photorealism of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, to the stylized look of Zack Snider’s 300, Ghost Tribe VFX can meet and exceed all your artistic expectations. ✓ All too often footage is destroyed and actors’ scheduling constraints hamper production efforts. With Ghost Tribe VFX, an actor’s digital avatar can be stored for use throughout the production guaranteeing insurance of production. ✓ During editing, often times the production team will find themselves at an artistic impasse: a shot was missed, footage was out of focus, or the actor’s performance was less than perfect. With Ghost Tribe VFX, these common production concerns can easily be remedied. Business Overview Ghost Tribe VFX is a full service Visual Effects (VFX) house that specializes in photoreal 3D animated Computer Generated (CG) facial capture software to both consumers and prosumers. 6
- 7. Success Factors Ghost Tribe VFX is uniquely qualified to succeed due to the following reasons: ● Products and/or Services: Our products and/or services are superior to our competitors because Ghost Tribe VFX represents the most efficient, markerless facial capture and animation software. Ghost Tribe VFX accurately captures the likeness and dynamic performance of a human face with all its infinite subtleties at a fraction of the cost and time. ● Human Resources: Our management team has unique experience in the industry including Zebediah De Soto. Director, Innovator, and Visual Effects authority, De Soto spent his early years honing his skills as a director and graphic artist at Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) Films. In a relatively short period of time, De Soto established himself as a technological wunderkind in the digital effects arena, building a solid reputation as a writer and director, in addition to creating high quality, professional grade digital effects on a shoestring budget. 7
- 8. ● Operational Systems: We have developed systems that enable us to provide high quality products/services at a lower cost. These systems include Ghost1, our prosumer software, as well as our simplified consumer version of the software. Furthermore, Ghost Tribe VFX will supply plugins compatible with existing software such as Maya, Softimage, Cinema4D making Ghost Tribe VFX capable of expanding our operational systems high quality product to market beyond direct software sales. Integration through existing software expands clientele by providing Ghost1’s expanded capabilities to graphic artists, production houses, etc. while maintaining ease of use for clients through familiarity, and gaining market share as the software of the future. ● Intellectual Property (IP): We have Intellectual Property that gives us an advantage over our competitors. Our IP includes hardware and software which we protect under the laws of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, as well as through contractual provisions including our patent titled “Means and Methods of Acquisition and Animation”. ● Marketing: We have unique marketing skill sets that enable us to attract new customers at a low cost. These skill sets include an experience sales staff in George Passakos and Jeremy Poirier in addition to our management team. Specifically, Zebediah De Soto, John Curtin, and George Passakos have established business relationships with industry professionals providing essential contacts for potential clients. Furthermore, our management team will secure a marketing presence over multiple media platforms through established partnerships and company success. ● Successes achieved to date: We have already accomplished the following which positions us for future success. Ghost Tribe VFX has selffinanced development of Ghost1 which secured partnerships with Dread Central as well as Luke Lieberman and Scott Freeman. Partnered through Dread Central (distribution) and Ghost Tribe Entertainment and Ghost Tribe Gaming (production), Ghost Tribe VFX is THE visual effects company hired for all effects including our firstperson shooter video game (name of title) as well as a Project Greenlight type venture for horror films scheduled to be released on DVD. Financial Plan Below is an overview of Ghost Tribe VFX financial plan: 8
- 9. The financial inputs used are based on existing consumer and prosumer versions of 3D facial animation software products. While Ghost Tribe VFX represents the most superior software in terms of cost effectiveness and time efficiency, the most modest of figures have been used to create the financial scenarios herein. Below is an overview of our expected financial performance over the next five years. To achieve these projections, we need to raise $3,000,000 in financing. Figure 1: Annual Financial Summary 9
- 10. With $3,000,000 as the initial investment, assumptions forecast that the consumer and prosumer version of Ghost Tribe VFX can be completed the quickest and most efficiently, sending the software to market in completion, and at the highest possible quality. Circumstances withstanding, the potential difference in budgeting for location costs, managers, legal fees, and contingency are of interest to Ghost Tribe VFX in order to operate in a more advantageous locale and with a distinguished staff, as well as provide for uncertainty and a comprehensive betatesting period. Additionally, the requisite hardware budgeted for sustains effective creation, testing, and quick review of each phase of development. All of this will create the preeminent image and reputation for the software essential upon initial release. II. Company Overview Ghost Tribe VFX is the culmination of 7 years of development by Zebediah De Soto (Founder). During his tenure as a visual effects artist, De Soto began using his own processes and software in order to achieve the high quality results he desired, unattainable with existing market systems. Beginning with body motion capture, De Soto shifted his development focus to facial capture as he realized the need in the VFX market. Ghost Tribe VFX strategic direction is to capitalize on our advancement in the facial capture market. Below is a snapshot of Ghost Tribe VFX since its inception: ● Date of formation: TBD ● Legal structure: Limited Liability Corporation 10
- 11. ● Office location(s): TBD ● Business stage: Ghost Tribe VFX is in the seed funding stage of development with expectations to quickly enter early market development due to existing partnerships through our film production company Ghost Tribe Entertainment. ● Prior funding rounds were received (amount/date): To date, Ghost Tribe VFX has been selffinanced. ● Products and services were launched (names/dates): Ghost1/TBD ● Key partnerships were executed (names/dates): Dread Central 11
- 12. III. Industry Analysis Below is an overview of the VFX industry: Both the film and video game markets are billion dollar industries exhibiting consistent growth over an extended period of time and supporting multiple businesses over multiple segments. Hollywood studios are demanding more and more visual effects to make blockbuster films, “from the robots in Transformers to the tiger in Life of Pi, no longer is the box office driven just by movie stars or directors” (Source: LA Times). The services of VFX houses are in high demand from the video game industry, as they are looking to create more realistic, movielike images in response to consumer demand. Specifically, two of the most prominent VFX houses to declare bankruptcy (Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues) have moved into 12
- 13. the video game sector as they prepare to restructure after bankruptcy. Moreover, Giant Studios, which operates virtual production studios and is known for its performance capture work on such movies as Avatar and The Adventures of Tintin, is thriving in this market declaring that as much as 50% of their business over the last 4 years is derived from video games. Furthermore, the numbers speak to the strength of both markets moving forward. In 2012 alone, the video games industry grossed $14.8 billion in revenue and the film industry grossed $10.8 billion in revenue. From 2003 through 2012, the film industry grew 17.4% while video games have grown by 111% over this same time frame. Even looking at the top selling video game of all time, which was just released in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V spent $265 million in development of their game and surpassed $1 billion in sales in the first 3 days. Negative Trends: Previous providers have been forced to exit the market as various business models fail to adapt to two issues: Globalization and Industry Dynamics. These are the two main factors adversely affecting the VFX industry in which any future business model must address. (Source: Visual Effects Society). Globalization: Proximity to production is no longer an issue with advanced communication technology. Therefore, companies are able to expand into global markets taking advantage of one (or more) of these factors including: cheap labor, easier regulations, government subsidies, health insurance, lower costs to entry, and tax incentives. Industry Dynamics: Both the film and video game industry are dominated by a small number of major production houses (clients), dominating the majority of effects production. Putting downward pressure on VFX houses, limited clientele makes it difficult to: maintain or expand revenue streams due to the “fixed fee” model, as well as maintain consistent workload pipelines, creating volatility. Fixed Fee: With the limited number of clients, typically competitors have espoused the model of undercutting market prices in order to secure bids with major studios; the goal of which is to profit from repeat business. Beholden to client needs, this “fixed fee” structure limits revenue with a set price for creating a product, void of how many months or years it takes, or the number of changes required by the creator/director. Consequently, success results in a significantly expanding workload and increased expenses without recourse for additional revenue. Lacking longterm contacts, this shortterm revenue stream does not provide VFX houses a model for sustained growth or stability. Volatility: 13
- 14. With the limited number of clients, the amount of work available at any particular time for effects companies is highly unpredictable. Marketing and distribution costs are high, and prime release dates are few. The strategy to delay as long as possible in order to accurately predict consumer behavior, and/or take into account the “cost of money” on their investment, there are limited opportunities to get an audience on a big weekend. Therefore, clients rely on small number of large projects. Summary: Seeking stability and the spurred by the entrepreneurial spirit, VFX professionals enter the market intending to compete at a high level, however, the typical VFX startup company’s management staff lacks a strong business acumen and awareness of these industry standards; therefore, unable to maintain success given previously discussed adverse conditions. Their shortsighted approach impacts the entire production pipeline and revenue stream, creating 14
- 15. a demand for large amounts of work to be produced in a very short time or over the budgets timeline. Once delivered, facilities go through dry spells before projects are green lit for the next audience season, concluding in less than ideal results (exit). Ghost Tribe VFX management team is aware of the industry standards, and has developed a revenue model that will allow Ghost Tribe VFX to regularly maintain a pipeline of production and consistency of revenue. Through the licensing of our prosumer software (Ghost1), and/or Ghost Tribe VFX being contracted on a perproject basis (fixed fee), and/or the sale of consumer software; Ghost Tribe VFX separates itself from its competitors by forming a multifaceted revenue stream supported by Ghost Tribe Entertainment, not as a standalone VFX house, each of which supports the success of the other through brand recognition based on individual levels of success. Market Overview Ghost Tribe VFX is currently partnered with a market research team working to establish uptodate, detailed market analysis for you review. The market in which Ghost Tribe VFX is operating can be characterized by the following. Relevant Market Size (Prosumer Software) Given the global nature as well as the constant entry and exit of the entertainment and VFX industry, Ghost Tribe VFX’s relevant market size calculations are derived as follows. Focusing on the top 76 established VFX companies, 30 video game developers, and 6 major film production studios; Ghost Tribe VFX recognizes the market may contain as many as 2,000+ companies, however, Ghost Tribe VFX maintains the stance that the top firms secure the vast majority of the VFX business, contracts, and sales. Therefore, our relevant market size is the annual revenue that Ghost Tribe VFX could attain if we owned 100% market share. Our relevant market size is calculated as follows: 1. Number of customers who might be interested in purchasing our products and/or services each year: 112 2. Amount these customers might be willing to spend, on an annual basis, on our products and/or services: $200,000 3. Our relevant market size: $22,400,000 15
- 16. These numbers represent the most conservative of estimates at this time. Even still, as the analysis shows, our relevant market is large enough for our company to enjoy considerable success. IV. Customer Analysis Below is a description of who our target customers are, and their core needs: Target Customers 16
- 17. Due to the global nature of the industry as well as the constant entry and exit of industry professionals, making target customer locations mobile, Ghost Tribe VFX will maintain a fluid target strategy for existing and future customers. Below is a profile of our target customers: ● Occupation: Freelance Graphic Artists, Production Studios, VFX Houses, and VFX Producers. ● Business size: Specific size of target businesses will range from individual freelance graphic artists to well established, large VFX production houses. Customer Needs Below is a profile of the needs that our target customers have: Ghost Tribe VFX has several customer segments (graphic artists, production houses, VFX producers, etc.), therefore, priority in customer needs are individual to their uses. Several of these needs are stratified below: ● Convenience/Ease of use: Graphic Artists are accustomed to difficult integration between multiple programs. Ghost Tribe VFX’s ability to provide a facial capture system, in which graphic artists can conveniently streamline production, eliminating difficult integration, is not only desired, but regarded as long past due. ● Price: Price is the variable in which all other customer needs are relative to. Able to meet or exceed the needs of our clients at a lower price than existing market options, Ghost Tribe VFX stands to establish itself as an industry leader creating a loyal following. ● Quality: The Rosetta Stone of facial capture technology is the ability to produce the highest quality of photoreal 3D images. Ghost Tribe VFX’s software, Ghost1, is the newest technology manufactured exceeding all other current market competitors and industry standards. ● Reliability: Industry standards require Ghost Tribe VFX initially release a facial capture software system in which most glitches are worked out prior to hitting the market. Therefore, beta testing executed prior to release is vital to ensure all programming issues are addressed prior to initial market review. Additionally, Ghost Tribe VFX customer service department will provide individual troubleshooting should unforeseen issues arise. ● Speed: In an industry where capitalizing on specific release dates is paramount, being able to adhere to a strict time constraint is invaluable. Ghost Tribe VFX’s ability to complete complicated production at a fraction of the time and maintain a high quality of service elevates us above all other industry standards. 17
- 18. ● Value: Ghost Tribe VFX imparts value to its customers as the industry leader in high quality facial capture production at a fraction of the cost and time as compared to all other products on the market. In addition to the primary individual needs being met, further value is derived from an efficiency stand point on a corporate/project/team basis. Specifically, ease of use and speed empower management to allocate resources as needed to address various ad hoc responsibilities increasing work environments effectiveness and time management. V. Competitive Analysis Below is an overview of Ghost Tribe VFX competition: 18
- 19. Multiple firms have entered the facial capture/motion market servicing a wide variety of needs including individual, corporate, government, and professional entities. Intended to meet client needs through high quality, professional grade systems, they attempt to capture multiple segments of the market by offering both hardware and software products in a variety packages, the benefits of which are disbursed by pricepoint. Direct Competitors Direct competitors to Ghost Tribe VFX include, but are not limited to: Direct Competitor #1: Autodesk ● Products/Services Offered: 3DS Max, Maya, and Softimage ● Price Points: 3DS Max $3,495 (Free student/learning edition), Maya $3,495 (Free student/learning edition), Softimage $2,995 (Free learning edition) ● Revenues: $2.21 billion (2012) ● Location(s): Multinational headquartered in 111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA ● Customer Segments/Geographies Served: Architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries ● Competitor’s Key Strengths: 3DS Max does for the game industry what Maya does for film and visual effects. 3DS Max is typically a first choice for game development houses, and you will rarely see architectural visualization firms using anything else. 3DS Max makes up for any shortcomings with state of the art modeling and texturing tools. Maya is the industry leading package for 3D animation, and boasts a comprehensive animation, dynamic, modeling, and rigging toolset. The software is paired with Mental Ray for photorealistic rendering, and can be customized and extended through the use of third party plugins developed in Python based MEL (Maya Embedded Language). Maya is the top choice in the visual effects and film industry, and would be hard pressed to find a better solution for character animation. Softimage boasts an impressive visual effects and game development toolset, and seamless integration with Autodesk’s other software. Softimage’s greatest strengths are excellent facial rigging and animation tools, and scalable dynamics solution called ICE (Integrated Creative Environment). 19
- 20. Because of both 3DS Max and Maya’s popularity, market saturation provides Autodesk clientele barriers to exit. ● Competitor’s Key Weaknesses: 3DS Max’s animation toolset might not be as robust as Maya, and although Mental Ray is bundled with 3DS Max, many Max users (especially in the architectural visualization industry) render with VRay because of its material and lighting tools. Direct Competitor #2: Luxology (The Foundry recently acquired in 2012) ● Products/services offered: Modo ● Price points: $995 (30 day evaluation kit $25) ● Revenues (# units sold/dollars generated): $24,294,000 (The Foundry 2012) ● Location(s): Multinational corporation headquartered in 5 Golden Square London, U.K. ● Customer segments/geographies served: Visual effects software with its origins in plugin development ● Competitor’s key strengths: Modo is a full development suite, unique in the fact that it includes integrated sculpting and texture painting tools. Due to Luxology’s unprecedented emphasis on usability, Modo initially built its reputation as one of the fastest modeling toolsets in the industry. Since then, Luxology has continued improving Modo’s rendering and animation modules, making the software an ideal lowcost solution for product design, commercial advertising, and architectural visualization. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: If you are considering more robust CG involvement in your scene, you will need to either do more in postproduction or consider another software option. Modo is part of the solution, not the total solution. 20
- 21. Direct Competitor #3: Maxon ● Products/services offered: Cinema 4D ● Price points: $995 Prime License $3,695 Studio License (Free evaluative license) ● Revenues (# units sold/dollars generated): $12,000,000 ● Location(s): Multinational headquartered in MaxPlanckStr. 20, Friedrichsdorf, Germany 21
- 22. ● Customer segments/geographies served: Product Visualizations for (advertising and illustration, fantasy and science fiction, general art, medical, and vehicle) as well as Visual Effects for (architecture, broadcast graphics, character, engineering, film and video games). ● Competitor’s key strengths: On the surface, Cinema4D is a relatively standard production suite. It does everything you want it to do – animation, modeling, rendering, texturing are all handled well, and although Cinema4D is not as forward thinking as Houdini or as popular as 3DS Max, consider the value. Maxon’s stroke of genius with Cinema4D has been the inclusion of the Body Paint 3D module (which retails for over $800 dollars on its own). Having multichannel texture painting directly integrated into your 3D suite is invaluable, and something you certainly will not find in the Autodesk suites. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Body Paint might have The Foundry’s Mari emerging as a competitor, but it is still an industry standard texturing application. Direct Competitor #4: NewTek ● Products/services offered: LightWave ● Price points: $895 (30 day free trial, $195 student edition) ● Revenues (# units sold/dollars generated): N/A ● Location(s): Multinational corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas ● Customer segments/geographies served: Visual effects software specializing in commercial advertising, film, and television. Also included are: architecture, designers, engineers, and game artists. ● Competitor’s key strengths: LightWave is an industry leading animation, modeling, and rendering package. Compared to Autodesk’s presence in the film and video game industry, LightWave is popular among freelance artists and on smaller productions where pricy licenses are impractical. LightWave’s greatest strength is its versatility. LightWave’s integrated toolset makes it easier to be a 3D generalist. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Industry professionals have made comment regarding various improvements that need to be address including, but not limited to: layout, lighting, scene editing, third party support, and toolkit enhancement. 22
- 23. Direct Competitor #5: Open Source ● Products/Services Offered: Blender ● Price Points: Free ● Revenues: N/A ● Location(s): N/A ● Customer Segments/Geographies Served: Visual effects software for 3D animation 23
- 24. ● Competitor’s Key Strengths: The only piece of software on this list that is completely free, Blender might also possess the most extensive feature set. In addition to modeling, texturing, and animation tolls, Blender has an integrated game development environment and a built in sculpting application. Blender’s status as an open source project has meant that development on the software has been almost constant and there is not a single aspect of the graphics pipeline that Blender cannot incorporate. ● Competitor’s Key Weaknesses: At best the interface could be described as “quirky”, and Blender does lack the polish of other highend packages. Direct Competitor #6: Side Effects Software ● Products/services offered: Houdini ● Price points: $1,995 (Basic) $6,695 (Master). Free noncommercial license ● Revenues (# units sold/dollars generated): N/A ● Location(s): 123 Front Street W Toronto, ON M5J 2M2 Canada ● Customer segments/geographies served: Visual effects software for film, television and video games ● Competitor’s key strengths: Houdini is the only major 3D suite designed around a wholly procedural development environment. The architecture lends itself well to particle and fluid dynamics simulations, and the software has been very popular in visual effects houses where rapid prototyping is essential. Procedural instructions, known as nodes, are easily reusable, and can be ported to other scenes or projects and adapted as necessary. Houdini’s procedural system is capable of solutions that simply cannot be achieved in other 3D software suites. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Houdini’s major weakness is its unintuitive animation tools. Additionally, Houdini’s uniqueness can also work to its detriment – do not expect many of your Houdini skills to carry over into other packages, and carries a hefty price tag. Other competitors include Faceshift, Faceware, Maximo, MetaMotion, and Reallusions. Of this list, Reallusion's existence as a producer of consumer software in the facial capture market makes it strictly a segmented competitor, not holistic as a “onestopshop” service in the facial capture/motion market. Furthermore, only Faceshift provided a written price quote for a full length project (1 year). The pricing sheet is as follows: recommend 10 licenses for the tracking system (10*$4,495=$44,950) and 10 floating licenses for the rest of the software (10*$14,995=$149,950) totaling $194,900 without buying hardware. Hardware costs around $8,000 for 3 headgear (GoPro) sets totaling $218,900. 24
- 25. Indirect Competitors Large VFX houses possess the potential as an indirect competitor given their experience and expertise in body motion capture in addition to other VFX knowledge (animation, modeling, rendering, etc.). Furthermore, multiple firms specialize in facial recognition, which given their capabilities, could target the facial capture/motion market. While firms existing in these ecosystems may provide indirect competition, the probability they will invade the facial capture/motion market is minimal. All attempts to date currently lack our competitive advantage in cost effectiveness, quality, and time efficiency in providing facial capture/motion. Indirect competitors to Ghost Tribe VFX include, but not limited to: Indirect Competitor #1: Digital Domain 25
- 26. ● Products/Services Offered: Production, Visual Effects, Performance Capture ● Price Points: N/A ● Revenues: $20$50 million ● Location(s): Multiple locations headquartered at 300 Rose Avenue Venice, CA 90291 ● Customer segments/geographies served: Advertising, Film, Gaming, and Music Videos ● Competitor’s key strengths: Previous award winning recognition in creating digital imagery for feature films. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Facing public perception problems, Digital Domain’s reorganization may open new business channels correcting the volatility issue, however, their new business strategy does not address the fundamental negative industry trend that drove them into bankruptcy: the fixed fee model. Indirect Competitor #2: Giant Studios ● Products/Services Offered: Performance Capture and Virtual Production ● Price Points: N/A ● Revenues: $5$10 million ● Location(s): 3555 Hayden Avenue Culver City, CA 90232 ● Customer Segments/Geographies Served: Film and Gaming ● Competitor’s Key Strengths: Established industry leader in motion capture and visual effects, Giant Studios primarily benefits from repeat projects through existing business contacts, and industry recognition. They also possess a large, stateoftheart warehouse style and “To Go” studios for large scale production. ● Competitor’s Key Weaknesses: Despite their 15+ years in visual effects, Giant Studios has yet to translate their success in motion capture to real time 3D facial capture. Considering Giant Studios desire to enter the market, yet have not to date, the inability to diversify content may limit future success. 26
- 27. Indirect Competitor #3: Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) ● Products/Services Offered: Animation, Computer Generated Imagery, Film Production, and Visual Effects ● Price Points: N/A ● Revenues: Estimates are $500,000 $1,000,000. Considering it is a subsidiary of Lucas Film, exact revenue is difficult to determine. ● Location(s): One Letterman Drive San Francisco, CA 94129 ● Customer segments/geographies served: Film ● Competitor’s key strengths: ILM, the deity for special effects, possesses industry leader and brand recognition status, providing them with resources beyond the typical VFX company through Lucas Films. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Even with the long tenured success of ILM, their primary success is on special effects type of visual creation business, not photo real 3D facial capture imagery. ILM has promoted they have created such a facial capture system since early in 2013, but have yet to announce a release date. Indirect Competitor #4: Rhythm and Hues ● Products/services offered: Animation and Visual Effects ● Price points: N/A ● Revenues: $21,400,000 ● Location(s): 2100 E Grand Avenue #A El Segundo, CA 90245 ● Customer segments/geographies served: Commercials, Television, Film, and Production Management ● Competitor’s key strengths: Previous award winning recognition in creating digital imagery for feature films. 27
- 28. ● Competitor’s key weaknesses: Much like Digital Domain, Rhythm and Hues is facing public perception problems. Reorganization may open new business channels correcting the volatility issue, however, does their new business strategy address the fundamental negative industry trend that drove them into bankruptcy: the fixed fee model. Indirect Competitor #5: Zoic Studios ● Products/Services Offered: First unit production, visual effects supervision, concept and creative direction, editorial, motion graphics, inengine game cinematics, full CG animation, post production, project management, and production design ● Price Points: N/A ● Revenues: $10$20 million ● Location(s): 3582 Eastham Drive Culver City, CA 90232 ● Customer Segments/Geographies Served: Commercials, Film, Television, and Video Games ● Competitor’s Key Strengths: Zoic’s visual effects company offers services ranging from first unit production services, visual effects supervision, concept and creative direction, editorial, motion graphics, inengine game cinematics, full CG animation, postproduction, project management, and production design capabilities for the entertainment industry. Their propriety virtual production pipeline called ZEUS (Zoic Environmental Unification System) is a previsualization process that supposedly combines the benefits of realtime compositing with an integrated editorial and CG pipeline. ● Competitor’s Key Weaknesses: Regardless of Zoic’s CG animation and ingame engine cinematics through ZEUS, their process is still less efficient and cost effect to our system, as they still rely on large production teams which translates to increased cost. 28
- 29. Indirect Markets Indirect markets for Ghost Tribe VFX include, but are not limited to the facial recognition and plastic surgery industries. Below is an overview of each indirect market: The facial recognition market shows strong growth. Its current usage includes refining search engine searches based on facial images, photo tagging applications, customer demographics of retail shoppers, gathering intelligence on buying and traffic pattern in retail stores, identify missing persons, identifying individuals in riots, recognizing emotions from facial expressions to study consumer behavior, and many gaming applications. Due to firms needs regarding consumer behavior and security, facial recognition is slowly proving itself as a potent technology for authentication and identification, and is predicted to become as common as finger print technology today. The technology is no longer limited to its traditional application of facial detection. 29
- 30. Over the next 6 years, face recognition is expected to become highly pervasive across the consumer behavior and security ecosystem as the industry has started realizing the importance of face recognition. Facial Recognition market competitors include, but are not limited to: ● 3M, Animetrics Inc., Avalon Biometrics S.L., Cognitec Systems Gmbh, Cross Match Technologies, Daon Inc., Digital Persona, Digital Signal Corp., Keylemon, Merkatum Corp., Nec Corp., Neurotechnology, Nextgen Id Inc., Nviso Sa, Oki Electric Industry, RCG Holdings, Safran Group, Xid Technologies, Zk Software In addition to the facial recognition industry as a potential indirect target market, the plastic surgery industry’s (among other medical procedures) use of CG imagery through virtual cosmetic consultations is pervasive, and shows perpetual growth despite the recession. Current usage spans several specializations from cosmetic (enhancement, rejuvenation, and renewal) to reconstruction (accident, deformity, and injury). The ability for firms to provide 30
- 31. clients with photo real, preoperation simulation alleviates anxiety as well as supports clear communication between doctor and patient. Therefore, the use of computer generated surgical results via 3D software, is an innovative addition, and becoming an industry standard as part of any consultation. Plastic Surgery market competitors include, but are not limited to: ● AlterImage, Crisalix, FaceTouchup, NexTech, Vectra XT 3D, Virtual Plastic Surgery Software Competitive Advantages Due to our advancements in facial capture, Ghost Tribe VFX maintains its ability to perform tasks cheaper, faster, and at a higher quality than the leading competitors. Coupling our competitive advantage with our existing projects and partnerships, Ghost Tribe VFX can extract larger profits even in the current market price models (i.e. fixed fee) and become an industry leader, gaining market share. Early projects through our standing partnerships serve two 31
- 32. purposes. First, growth in marketing to new clients through achievement, and second, generate revenue to fund daytoday operations, development, future projects, and reserve funds. Ghost Tribe VFX is positioned to outperform competitors for the following reasons: ● Products and/or Services: Our Products and/or Services are superior to our competitors because Ghost Tribe VFX represents the most efficient, markerless facial capture and animation software. Ghost Tribe VFX accurately captures the likeness and dynamic performance of a human face with all its infinite subtleties at a fraction of the cost and time. ● Human Resources: Our management team has unique experience in the industry including Zebediah De Soto. Director, Innovator, and Visual Effects authority, De Soto spent his early years honing his skills as a director and graphic artist at Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) Films. In a relatively short period of time, De Soto established himself as a technological wunderkind in the digital effects arena, building a solid reputation as a writer and director, in addition to creating high quality, professional grade digital effects on a shoestring budget. ● Operational Systems: We have developed systems that enable us to provide high quality products/services at a lower cost. These systems include Operational Systems: We have developed systems that enable us to provide high quality products/services at a lower cost. These systems include Ghost1, our prosumer software, as well as our simplified consumer version of the software. Furthermore, Ghost Tribe VFX will supply plugins compatible with existing software such as Maya, Softimage, Cinema4D making Ghost Tribe VFX capable of expanding our operational systems high quality product to market beyond direct software sales. Integration through existing software expands clientele by providing Ghost1’s expanded capabilities to graphic artists, production houses, etc. while maintaining ease of use for clients through familiarity, and gaining market share as the software of the future. ● Our IP includes Intellectual Property (IP): We have Intellectual Property giving us an advantage over our competitors. Our IP includes hardware and software which we protect under the laws of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, as well as through contractual provisions including our patent titled “Means and Methods of Acquisition and Animation”. ● Marketing: We have unique marketing skill sets that enable us to attract new customers at a low cost. These skill sets include an experience sales staff in George Passakos and Jeremy Poirier, in addition to our management team. Specifically, Zebediah De Soto, John Curtin, and George Passakos have established business relationships with industry professionals providing essential contacts for potential clients. Furthermore, our management team will secure a marketing presence over multiple media platforms through established partnerships and company success. ● Successes achieved to date: We have already accomplished the following which positions us for future success. Ghost Tribe VFX has selffinanced development of Ghost1 which secured partnerships with Dread Central as well as Luke Lieberman and Scott Freeman. Partnered through Dread Central (distribution) and Ghost Tribe Entertainment and Ghost Tribe Gaming (production), Ghost Tribe VFX is THE visual effects 32
- 33. company hired for all effects including our firstperson shooter video game (name of title) as well as a Project Greenlight type venture for horror films scheduled to be released on DVD. VI. Marketing Plan Our marketing plan, included below, details our products and/or services, pricing and promotions plans: 33
- 34. Products, Services & Pricing Product/Service #1 Name: Ghost1 Consumer Software ● Product/Service description/features: Professionally equipped facial capture software suite ● Product/Service benefits: Provide clients with the most efficient, markerless facial capture and animation software ● Product/Service price: Consumer Software $2,000 ● Product/Service expected purchase frequency/quantity: 5 units per month with an annualized growth rate of 100% ● Product/Service strengths: Ghost1 accurately captures the likeness and dynamic performance of a human face with all its infinite subtleties at a fraction of the cost and time Product/Service #2 Name: Ghost1 Consumer Plugin ● Product/Service description/features: Professionally equipped facial capture software suite ● Product/Service benefits: Compatibility to other existing facial capture software (i.e. 3DS Max, Cinema4D, Maya, MotionBuilder, etc.) allows customers to use our superior facial capture software with the convenience of product familiarity; easing future customers into using our product exclusively at an attractive intro price ● Product/Service price: Consumer Plugin $1,000 ● Product/Service expected purchase frequency/quantity: 2 units per month with an annualized growth rate of 100% ● Product/Service strengths: Ghost1 accurately captures the likeness and dynamic performance of a human face with all its infinite subtleties at a fraction of the cost and time Product/Service #3 Name: Ghost1 Prosumer Software 34
- 35. ● Product/Service description/features: Professional license for facial capture software ● Product/Service benefits: Allows clients to utilize our premiere facial capture technology as they need and on site ● Product/Service price: Prosumer Software $200,000 ● Product/Service expected purchase frequency/quantity: 1 per year with an annualized growth rate of 20% ● Product/Service strengths: Ghost1 accurately captures the likeness and dynamic performance of a human face with all its infinite subtleties at a fraction of the cost and time 35
- 36. Promotions Plan Ghost Tribe VFX will use the following tactics to attract new customers: Media Relations Campaigns ● Blogs, Podcasts, etc: The use of various types of media (emerging, traditional, social, etc.) will increase Ghost Tribe VFX’s brand name recognition in addition to visibility, furthering business development and establish notoriety. Currently, Ghost Tribe has been acknowledged on Pop Trigger, a YouTube channel with 69,000+ subscribers translating into over 6,000 views in the first week regarding our contest hosted by Vanessa Gomez. 36
- 37. ● Press Releases/PR: All media dissemination and relations will be handled by the PR firm we partner with moving forward. Examples include, but are not limited to: catalogs, print ads (newspaper, magazine, and journal), industry newsletters, and online marketing. Promotional Activities ● Contests: Ghost Tribe VFX is using amateur submission contests effectively promoting three objectives. First, product usages and exposure in the CG community worldwide, second, increase content and third, recruiting potential future talent. Our contest is partnered with Dread Central, the leading horror website with over (fill in number) subscribers and averaging (fill in number) of visitors per day. ● Email Marketing: Ghost Tribe VFX will use customer and visitor email submissions to maintain contact, promote future product releases, successes, special offers, and upcoming events. ● Event Marketing: The ability to connect Ghost Tribe VFX to the CG community at large, as well as bring existing users together at live events is important, as it provides a forum to unite advocates in person. The social aspect of event marketing can be an effective tool personalizing a connection between Ghost Tribe VFX and its following, launching new products, ● Word of Mouth / Viral Marketing: Ghost Tribe VFX’s ability to make it the industry leading facial capture software is a reputation that will be impossible to contain. The “buzz” created around our products and services, via individual promotion, is inevitable and will be a key component to building, establishing, and maintaining our standing within the CG arena. CrossFunctional Ventures ● Networking/Partnerships: As an industry professional, De Soto has established business contacts intended for future product development, project acquisition and/or collaboration. De Soto, as well as the Ghost Tribe VFX staff, will join industry VFX associations fostering connections with various trade professionals along with creating mutually beneficial partnerships. ● Telemarketing: The sales team will utilize all avenues available to best serve all clients. As a medium of customer service, Ghost Tribe VFX’s sales team will use telemarketing to establish connections with new clients as well as promote name recognition to existing clients through direct contact. Distribution Plan Customers can buy from us via the following methods: 37
- 38. ● Company website: Clients will purchase the software via Ghost Tribe VFX website (fill in the web address). Ghost Tribe VFX website will be the primary distribution throughout our existence and our only form of distribution during early stage development. ● Partners: Ghost Tribe VFX will use key partnerships to advance distribution through cross promotion, thereby directing clients to our website for software purchase and instant download. ● Retail location: Potential retail locations may be addressed in future strategic business objectives; however, current distribution will be driven through Ghost Tribe VFX website. VII. Operations Plan 38
- 39. Our Operations Plan details: 1) The key daytoday processes that our business performs to serve our customers 2) The key business milestones that our company expects to accomplish as we grow Key Operational Processes The key daytoday processes that our business performs to serve our customers are as follows: ● Accounting/Payroll: This area is designated as a need in our management section. Currently, all accounting and payroll responsibilities will be handled by John Curtin as part of his duties as the Finance Manager. Further specifications as to his duties as the accounting specialist are detailed in the Finance section of the Key Operational Processes. As his salary is derived as the Finance Manager, costs will be minimized until which time Ghost Tribe VFX hires a fulltime employee to take over. ● Administration: Administrative duties, including office management, will primarily be handled by Jeremy Poirier as part of his daytoday operations role such as answering phones, opening and closing, scheduling meetings, etc. As his salary is derived as the Inside Sales Manager, costs will be minimized until which time Ghost Tribe VFX hires a fulltime employee to take over. ● Customer Service: This area is designated as a need in our management gap section. Currently, all customer service responsibilities will be handled by Jeremy Poirier as part of his daytoday operations. Given the frontline nature of the position, daily and weekly reports will be comprised in order to keep key management appraised to all issues raised by customers. As his salary is derived as the Inside Sales Manager, costs will be minimized until which time Ghost Tribe VFX hires a fulltime employee to take over. ● Finance: Our finance department is headed by John Curtin as the Finance Manager. Daytoday operations will consist of budget management and reporting on financial transactions, for review by the management team, in addition to creating and monitoring expense accounts, spending reports, and wages for different departments. As his salary is derived as a VFX Producer, costs incurred will be minimized until which time Ghost Tribe VFX hires a fulltime employee to take over (total cost $72,000 annually). ● Human Resources: This area is designated as a need in our management section. Currently, all human resource responsibilities will be handled by Jeremy Poirier as part of his daytoday operations. Key areas will include: introduce and train employees on company culture mission/goals, and standards, positional elements/requirements, keep management staff updated and well versed in all employee matters, and maintain 39
- 40. professional work environment. As his salary is derived as the Inside Sales Manager, costs will be minimized until which time Ghost Tribe VFX hires a fulltime employee to take over. ● Legal: This area is designated as a need in our management gap section. Currently, this area is handled by our attorney Rob Raider of (fill in law firm), the cost of which is illustrated in our financials and will continue as such until Ghost Tribe VFX hires a inside fulltime legal team (total cost $50,000 annually). ● Marketing: This area is designated as a need in our management gap section. Primary marketing will be executed through the sales team, however, key responsibilities for future employees to focus on include: maintain and expand Ghost Tribe VFX presence through all related marketing mediums (digital, print, social, etc.). Initial marketing strategy and the execution effectiveness reports will maintain communication between marketing staff and key management. As the sales team, George Passakos and Jeremy Poirier will manage all marketing responsibilities until Ghost Tribe VFX is able to employ a fulltime marketing professional. Costs will be minimized as salaries are derived as Sales Managers. ● Manufacturing and Product Development: As the Head Technician, Zebediah De Soto will work in tandem with Damian Smith (Administrative Technician) regarding developing and manufacturing both the consumer and prosumer software. Ghost Tribe VFX initial manufacturing costs will be limited to software creation, as both versions of the software will be released in a downloadable format. Considering Ghost Tribe VFX initial purchases will be limited to capital expenditures and the required monthly maintenance originally budgeted for, the ability to depreciate these items preserves the assumption that there is no mandatory storage of hardware materials or additional manufacturing for the software to be released; therefore, inventory and manufacturing costs will be minimal. As each phase of development is completed, a report on progress will be given and an analysis of quality will be made. This accountability will keep the project moving quickly, tightly, and with centralized management. Product development will be focused around De Soto and Smith, and their team of programmers and technicians. Initial resources required will include 3 people (De Soto, Damian Smith, and programmer TBD) as well as all capital expenditures detailed in the financials (total cost $264,000 annually). ● Purchasing: All purchasing will be performed on an ad hoc basis by management staff. As the Finance Manager, John Curtin will be responsible for maintaining accurate accounting practices. Ghost Tribe VFX initial purchases will be limited to capital expenditures and the required monthly maintenance originally budgeted for. As Curtin’s salary is derived as the Finance Manager, all costs will be minimized (total cost $78,000 annually). ● Sales: Initially, the sales department will have 2 divisions and will have 2 primary responsibilities. The divisions will be broken up into inside and outside sales headed up by Jeremy Poirier and George Passakos respectively. Each division will be used as our primary source of marketing and promotions, in addition to acquiring clients for service. The sales team will be provide weekly and monthly reports maintaining consistency in communication with key management members as well as present data used to advance, alter, and/or execute strategic policy. Costs incurred are detailed in the marketing section of the financials (total costs $220,000 annually). 40
- 41. Milestones All completion dates for each milestone is conditional on receiving financing. The key business milestones that Ghost Tribe VFX expects to accomplish in the first year include the following: I. To Be Completed By: TBD ● Accomplishment #1: Secure Financing for Ghost Tribe VFX ● Accomplishment #2: Website Launch 41
- 42. II. To Be Completed By: 2 months after receiving financing ● Accomplishment #1: Secure Brick and Mortar Location ● Accomplishment #2: Consumer/Prosumer Software Development III. To Be Completed By: 6 months after receiving financing ● Accomplishment #1: Secure partnership with preexisting VFX company(s) ● Accomplishment #2: Secure partnership with preexisting game engine developer(s) IV. To Be Completed By: 8 months after receiving financing ● Accomplishment #1: Develop plugin for Maya ● Accomplishment #2: Develop plugin for MotionBuilder ● Accomplishment #3: Develop plugin for Cinema4D V. To Be Completed By: 10 months after receiving financing ● Accomplishment #1: Develop plugin for 3DS Max ● Accomplishment #2: Develop plugin for Softimage ● Accomplishment #3: Develop plugin for Lightwave ● Accomplishment #4: Develop plugin for XSI In addition to all milestones listed above, Ghost Tribe VFX will pursue production deals for film, gaming, internet, and television as additional objectives throughout all phases of accomplishments. 42
- 43. VIII. Management Team Our management team has the experience and expertise to successfully execute on our business plan. Each member of the management team will also serve as board members. Management Team Members Zebediah De Soto ● Title: Founder/Head Technician/Management Team Lead 43
- 44. ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Director of Product Development, Management Team Lead ● Past positions, successes and/or unique qualities: De Soto has worked in the VFX industry as a producer for the last 8+ years. De Soto is a selftaught facial capture software expert mastering a multitude of skills (animator, character and game designer, editor, inker and penciler, modeler, rigger, rotoscoper, camera and object tracker, etc.) over all the industry’s major facial capture software (3DS Max, Adobe After Effects, Cinema4D, Daz Studio, Maya, MotionBuilder, Unity 3D, ZBrush, etc.). De Soto quickly established himself as a visual effects authority, creating high quality, professionalgrade digital effects on a shoestring budget. Building a solid reputation as a director and writer, De Soto made his feature film, directorial debut with Night of the Living Dead: Origins. George Passakos ● Title: Producer/Sales Manager ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Outside Sales, Project Acquisition ● Past positions, successes and/or unique qualities: As a member of the Ghost Tribe VFX management team, Passakos’ entertainment industry knowledge in addition to his years in corporate sales, embodies the combination of experience and talent quintessential for our sales manager. Having worked as a producer on Night of the Living Dead: Origins, Passakos and De Soto have a strong working relationship which resulted in the successful sale of their first feature film. Teamed up once again, Passakos will provide sound leadership as Ghost Tribe VFX moves forward given his multifaceted talents as an industry professional and sales expert. John Curtin ● Title: Financial Manager/VFX Producer ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Accounting, Finance, VFX Production ● Past positions, successes and/or unique qualities: Working alongside De Soto, Curtin began his VFX producing career working on “Upon My Honor” and “I Want to Love a Human Being”. Previously, Curtin also worked in the finance industry as Account Controller, Bookkeeper, and Business Manager. Having also worked as a Fund Manager for John Curtin Investments, Curtin’s ability to seamlessly work between multiple divisions (accounting and production) makes him an invaluable asset to the Ghost Tribe VFX management team. ● Educational background: B.A. Accounting and Business Administration; Biola University 44
- 45. Jeremy Poirier ● Title: Market Analyst/Office Manager/Inside Sales ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Daytoday Operations, Market Research, Inside Sales ● Past positions, successes and/or unique qualities: Poirier’s experience in sales (both inside and outside) qualify him to operate our inside sales division and work in tandem with Passakos (outside sales) as sales managers. Having spearheaded the state and federal filings for Ghost Tribe VFX, Poirier is familiar in matters relating to Human Resources and will initially be our Office Manager leading our daytoday operations. ● Educational background: B.A. Economics; University of California, Davis Damian Smith ● Title: VFX Producer/Administrative Technician ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Product Development, Manufacturing, and Production ● Past positions, successes and/or unique qualities: Smith has worked in the VFX industry for the last 10+ years. Working with large production companies as well as independent businesses, Smith’s project experience ranges from extensive, fullscale productions to television advertisements, and corporate presentations. Specifically, Smith’s expertise in character and model building, hair and feathers, and landscaping and scenery as well as his proficiency with After Effects, Cinema 4D, Modo, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, and SoftImage creates a resume that speaks for itself, and the prime candidate as Ghost Tribe VFX’s Administrative Technician and VFX Producer. 45
- 46. Management Team Gaps ● Title/Role: Accounting/Payroll ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Keep record of daytoday accounting operations as well as advanced corporate accounting needs i.e. company taxes, federal and state compliance and filings, establish holding company and subsidiaries. ● Title/Role: Customer Service ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Troubleshooting, customer retention (consumer sales). ● Title/Role: Human Resources/Training ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Introduce and train employees on company culture mission/goals, and standards, positional elements/requirements, keep management staff updated and well versed in all employee matters, and maintain professional work environment. 46
- 47. ● Title/Role: Legal ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Responsible for all contracts between Ghost Tribe VFX and its employees, Ghost Tribe VFX and clients (regarding licensing, projects, distribution, etc.), keep Ghost Tribe VFX compliant with all federal and state laws. ● Title/Role: Marketing ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Responsible for maintain and expand Ghost Tribe VFX presence through all related marketing mediums (digital, print, social, etc.). ● Title/Role: Secretary of the Board ● Key Functional Areas Covered: Record minutes and prepare documents for internal and public dissemination. 47
- 48. IX. Financial Plan Revenue Model Ghost Tribe VFX generates revenues via the following: ● Sales of products/services are the primary source of revenue. Ghost Tribe VFX will implement a sales team designed to ignite interest to purchase software from both consumers and prosumer. ● Advertising/Referral revenues will come from our key partnerships. Clients will be directed by our partners to our website for product sampling, review, and eventual purchase. 48
- 49. ● Licensing/royalty/fees will be disseminated primarily from large VFX production houses licensing our software on a per project basis. Furthermore, Ghost Tribe VFX will charge a “fixed fee” for any projects directly hired to complete. Financial Highlights Below please find and overview of our financial projections. See the Appendix for our full projected Balance Sheets, Cash Flow Statements and Income Statements 49
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- 53. Funding Requirements/Use of Funds To successfully execute on our business plan, we require $3,000,000 in outside funding. The primary uses of this funding include: ● Marketing: Primary marketing will be executed through the sales team. In order to support the sales staff, funds will primarily be used to incentivize sales team to secure deals, get the product our and infront of potential customers. Additional marketing funds will be used for print advertising. 53
- 54. ● Product Development: Completing software development for sale is the most vital use of funds for Ghost Tribe VFX. Once completed, Ghost Tribe VFX can fill presale orders as well as supply sales staff with a working model for presentations. ● Product Manufacturing: Production of both the consumer and prosumer software will be minimal and executed by our technician staff. As both the consumer and prosumer software is going to be produced in a downloadable version, hard copy manufacturing is not required keeping costs to a minimum. ● Staffing: Staffing Ghost Tribe VFX with a knowledgeable, dedicated workforce will take the largest portion of funds. Maintaining a skill and trained staff will support customer service, product development, and sales. ● Rent: Securing a brick and mortar location will provide a permanent and professional location for staff and all their individual needs. ● Research and Development: Continued research and development is vital to the future success of Ghost Tribe VFX. Funding R&D will allow Ghost Tribe VFX to produce improved iterations of Ghost1, expanding its market share, further entrenching Ghost Tribe VFX as an industry leader. 54
- 55. Exit Strategy We expect that investors will be able to cash out on their investment in Ghost Tribe VFX when we either: 1) reacquire the invested stake from the invested or 2) are acquired. The initial investment will be paid back accordingly: principle plus 10% (total 110% simple interest). We expect to achieve this goal in 3 to 7 years after investment. X. Appendix The following items are included in this Appendix: 55
- 56. 1. Projected Income Statements 2. Projected Balance Sheet 3. Projected Cash Flow Statements 4. Development Stages 56
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- 66. Month Steps for First Six Months 1 Acquire Personnel and Equipment, all employees sign NDA. Construct Facial capture helmet. 2 Begin work on software development, Establish stages for delivery. Stage 1 Delivery – Functional Analysis & Tech Resource Review [SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (SRS) WILL BE PREPARED] 3 Stage 2 Delivery – Technical Specification for Capture Module, Programming – Core Functionality, Import/Play-Export. 4 Stage 3 Delivery - Unit Flow Testing (End A to End B) Testing Various Models & Variations (CREATE TEST PLAN, RUN TESTS) 5 Stage 4 Delivery – Review by Head Technician & Potential Modifications Documentation, Doc-Review by Head Technician. 6 Final Prototype Delivery - FINAL PACKAGING & DELIVERY, WINDOWS EDITION. 66