Creating Power: Disrupting Traditional Film Financing Models and Building Community

The most dangerous myth in entertainment is the lone genius. We sit down with LA creators Byron Manuel and Rich Morrow to show how community, discipline, and smarter money beat that myth—and how filmmakers can keep far more of their work.

Byron and Rich trace their path from athletics to the arts, sharing how structure, coaching, and resilience translated to sets where permits fall through, lights die, and life happens mid‑shoot. Then we lift the hood on traditional film financing: investor capital, recoupment, and the 50-50 profit split that often leaves artists dividing a thin slice. We compare that to a small‑business approach—clean books, recurring revenue, bank lending—and walk through why paying single‑digit interest can be wildly better than giving away lifelong equity.

This conversation is equal parts playbook and pep talk. We cover practical steps to set up a production company, document profits, and become lendable; how to stack funding with debt, incentives, and pre‑sales; and why day rates, while tempting, trade away ownership. We also get real about mental health, the power of a trusted partner, and the belief that art can save lives. Community isn’t a buzzword here; it’s the engine that makes films possible and keeps creators in the fight when the nos pile up.

Looking ahead, Byron and Rich are building an ecosystem: a new podcast to teach the business of creativity, films that reflect millennial stories and amplify underheard voices, and a collaborative studio model that says we don’t wait, we create. If you’re a filmmaker, actor, or storyteller who wants control, this is your blueprint for financing, ownership, and impact.

Watch Swoon on YouTube, The Black Network, Samsung TV, and Roku. Follow Visionary Vue on YouTube and Instagram, and connect with Keith on LinkedIn at KeithKohler1. Loved the episode? Subscribe, share it with a creative friend, and leave a review to help more artists find the path to ownership.

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithkohler1/

Transcript

Welcome And Entertainment Pivot

Keith Kohler 0:04

Hi everyone, it's Keith Koulder here, your financing man, and welcome, welcome to episode six of How I Financed It. How I financed it today is focusing on something a bit different than what we've done in the past. The first four episodes were covering the consumer sector, five, I introduced the technology sector, and now with episode six, I'm coming home to something I really love. And really coming home because I grew up in Los Angeles. Our guests are from there, and I'm coming back to the entertainment industry, which is the household I grew up in and where I also worked for several years of my life in television. So this feels like home today. And really excited to bring two guests who are charting their own course in the entertainment industry as producers, writers, directors, actors, you name it, they're doing it in creating art and particularly film. So really excited to have them here today. As a reminder, what I'm here to do for you is help you get the right financing at the right time. That's the transaction side of me. And also help you with the management of your business finances. Taking that money and making sure you apply it in a way that makes sense for you to help grow your business. That's the transformation side of me. So transaction plus transformation equals financing man. So once again, I'm really excited about today's episode because who knows where it's going to go? It's a new sector and a new type of ground that I'm bound to cover in an industry I really love. So my invited guests today are Byron Manuel and Rich Morrill. Can't wait to see where this goes. Please help me welcome them to the stage. So welcome, Rich. Welcome Byron. Glad to have you on the How I Financed It stage. Thank you for being here.

Byron Manuel 1:58

Hey, glad to be here. Thank you.

Origin Stories And Partnership

Keith Kohler 2:00

Yeah, so I'm excited to really talk with you both today because, again, as I mentioned at the introduction, coming back to the entertainment industry is that's what I grew up in. And then, of course, you both being in Southern California, that's my home market and where I grew up. So can't wait to dive into this discussion. And really the way I start out on how I financed it is I'd love for you to share a bit about your individual origin stories of how you got into the entertainment industry, what has been lighting you up, and then also after your both of your individual introductions, to talk about how you came together to collaborate on projects moving forward. Because everything that you're doing from production to acting to writing, I know our audience wants to hear about it.

Byron Manuel 2:45

Yeah, I'll jump in, man. So I mean a little bit about me. I'm a writer, producer, director, content creator, entrepreneur, all the things. You might be on mute, Rich. I'm not sure. Okay, I think he'll jump back in. But yeah, my journey has been uh a little bit all over the place, man. Started out as an athlete, uh, transitioned from athlete to music. Uh I used to work at uh used to work in music as a as as management, as talent, um, figuring out that journey, pivoted over to TV and film, started writing uh TV, movies, uh sketches, anything that I could. Uh started content creating, producing, directing, editing, and then all the things to get to be what I am now as a fully rounded filmmaker, content creator, a creative, an artist, and all those things. Um, out in Los Angeles. And at this point, you know, we've we're just building our company day by day. Um, me and Rich ended up meeting at a time where I was looking to make a project. Uh, he was referred to me through a friend, he came out, and instantly we were like best friends since since that day. So much in alignment on you know, where we see the future of this business going, you know, our hunger and ambition, uh at the time being uh limited in opportunities. So us figuring out ways to create our own opportunities. And then, you know, the more that we got to discuss with each other our future goals and future plans, it just seemed like the right time to create a partnership and figure out, you know, if together we can be better. And that's essentially what we've been doing for the last couple of years is just bringing our ideas to life by any means necessary, um, creating everything that we desire that we want to create, and figuring out how to financially be able to stay stable in life. We live in California, so the price goes up every single day at the cost of living. Um, so you know, figuring out survival here and being able to live in our passions and you know our goals and stuff like that. So, you know, that kind of brings us up today. Uh, you back. I feel like we can hear you now, Rich.

Rich Morrow 5:15

Yeah, I'm back. All right.

Byron Manuel 5:16

Okay, cool.

Rich Morrow 5:18

You know how production can go.

Keith Kohler 5:22

This episode illustrates more than anywhere the importance of production and the importance of rolling with takes and retakes and sound.

Byron Manuel 5:32

I feel good about that. Let me get a second one.

Keith Kohler 5:35

Actually, if we have too much if we have too much stability 20-30 minutes in, you'll have to interrupt me and say, Byron, I think we should just re-repeat what you did. It's only it would only make more of a realistic movie setting, as if we're actually I'm kind of like to think I'm a star on your stage, Byron. Oh my goodness, that's funny. In addition to you all being a guest on how I financed it because and then just rolling with the punches, that's the easy nature of the business that you're in, right?

Production Chaos And Resilience

Byron Manuel 6:04

Absolutely. It's never it's never a perfect situation, and there's going to be complications and everything. And it's really just about how you handle it. You know, for us as filmmakers, it's really about handling adversity of like 80% of the job. How do you handle the no? How do you handle the power going out? How do you handle the permit not being there, the person called out? You're dealing with, you know, people, so there's people problems and everything. You know, we were we were doing one film where the one of the leads star of our film ended a relationship with his significant other for, you know, they have been together for years. And, you know, they break up three or four days in the shooting, and now he's dealing with life, character, goals, dreams all at one time in a fury of still having to stay locked in the character and presenting the best uh uh acting performance that he can at a for opportunity that at the time was one of the biggest that he that that he got. So, you know, rolling with the punches is the nature of our business for sure.

Keith Kohler 7:13

Yeah, I really witnessed that. And um, from my personal world of growing up in this environment of entertainment, and then when I did work in television, although I wasn't on the production side, I got to witness a little bit of that, and I can see certainly how long how long it takes and the patience and the resiliency and the instant problem solving skills that you all need to have. And Rich, over to you. Tell us a little bit more about what your personal journey first and then jumping into collaborating with Byron these days.

Rich Morrow 7:43

Man, personal journey. Um, I originally grew up in the Midwest, Cleveland, Ohio, to be exact. Um, always had an interest in things that were entertainment, all things entertainment, uh, but really grew up an athlete. So being an athlete, it was uh really the lens that I learned a lot of my life lessons through. I uh started off bowling for world-class bowler, which surprises a lot of people when they hear it, but also taught me a lot of life lessons because um being a minority in that sport actually really allowed me to have to face challenges that I didn't realize later on in life would be something that I would continue to have to face. Um we've talked about it even in the things that we've been doing, but um uh growing into myself as a teenager, um developing passions for other sports like basketball and football really kind of catapulted me into the next chapter of my life where I got to really find out who I was and the things that I was really interested in. Um ended up choosing to go with basketball, played at Florida Atlantic University, got to live out the Division I basketball dream, which was awesome because there was nothing I wanted more at the time. Um, and to be able to feeling of being able to bring a dream to reality ultimately ended up being exactly what my industry that I'm in entails. Everything that we do revolves around us bringing our visions to reality. And it's a really cool medium to be in because I think that one, it's probably one of the most fulfilling feelings in the world. I can really compare the feeling of having something in your mind for so long and then being able to see it in the metaphysical and you know reality, but also seeing the impact that it has not just on yourself but on the other people around you and people that you don't even know. And the cool thing about I feel like um my journey is that I'm able to use everything that I've been through for what I do now, and regardless of if it was the plan when I went through them when I was growing up, you know, in my 20s, whatever, all of it is extremely valuable for now. And um as Byron mentioned, um we connected because I was on my own personal journey um as an actor, um, had begun producing a little bit before we really connected. But uh my vision always from the very beginning was to be able to create opportunities not just for myself, but for other people that were in the same position as me that really cared about bringing dreams to reality as much as I do, but also seeing other people be able to do that for themselves as well. So, as you know, nothing that big of a dream really comes cheap. Um, you know, a lot of these things uh took sacrifices, and you know, whether it be time, whether it be financially, whether it be emotionally, spiritually, there was something that you you had to give in order to be able to uh make that a reality. And for me, it's always been about people that share the same passion and vision. And when me and Byron were able to actually connect and really work together, we realized there's very few people that we've come across that have shared the same passion and vision. And it's so much easier. They say if you want to go far, you know, take someone with you, ask go alone. And um, I've always wanted to go far. Um, I've always wanted to bring people with me. I've always wanted to have that community that I feel represents all that I feel in my heart is really the purpose of me being here. And um, being able to tell stories, I I don't necessarily look at it like a job. Um, I don't look at it like something that you know I have to do. I look at it as something that I have the privilege to be able to do. And God gave me a gift to be able to do so. So um we connected and you know, once we build this studio that was gonna allow people to have those same dreams become reality. So many aspects of production, there's so many aspects of producing, there's so many different things you can produce that it's just it's just one of those things that keeps on giving. And you know, I just love what I do, man. And connecting with people like you are things that are a byproduct of it that you would never expect, right?

Keith Kohler 12:18

Or how do we wind up in the same room at this moment as this part of our journey, you know?

Community Over The Myth Of The One

Rich Morrow 12:24

And absolutely, and I'm not sure how many people probably would even believe how we met, but even the way we met, um, you got to think if I'm not pursuing the career that I'm pursuing, I'm not out there trying to make ends meet by even driving Uber, which is how we met. And, you know, it's it's one of those things where you realize that everything happens for a reason, but also, like I said prior, everything has played a factor in what's happening right now. So it's all been a part of the plan. And it's cool to see people in an industry where nobody takes the same route to get to where they are. We may end up on the same road, but everybody traveled a different route to get there. And I think that that's one of the coolest things about what we get to do and coming across people that really you you just could never even imagine what roads they took to get on the same street that you've gotten on. But the respect mutually is almost always there because we know that it took a lot more than just making a right turn to get on that street.

Keith Kohler 13:26

You know, I really want to, I love what you say, and I'm happy to say, like like a good movie, Byron just entered from stage left. He's back with us, and I'm excited because this is the first episode of How I Financed It on the Road, because Byron is providing the mobile entertainment as we go, and I love it. Um, this is multitask. That's what I'm saying. This isn't the direction I thought it would take, and yet we're going with it. Like it's a own little how I financed it reality show. Byron, when you also my apologies, my my my daughter last minute set this thing up for me to do. I'm loving it. Rich had his soliloquy moment, which was kind of a monologue-ish quality to it. I it had a bit of Shakespearean elements to it. So I'm with it. And what I love, Rich, about what you said, and Byron, this is also to come back to you because I think it's you can riff on it as well. Two things I want to bring up. Um the preparation as an athlete. You were a multi-sport athlete, Byron, you too. When you think about what athletics prepared you for, right? Um, I'm not going to put words in your mouth, but among the things I've seen for sure with the athletes I've worked with is, um, and this is what I needed to learn because I wasn't good at it. Athletes are incredibly good at structure, right? Is hey, I have this is the task I need to do, and this is the sequence I need to follow, and this this is the coaching I need to receive, and I'm willing to put the work in. I wasn't intuitively good at that, but athletes are, and I think that's a key aspect of why athletes often becoming highly successful in business, because they can handle that, and you know how to win, you know how to lose, and you know how to do everything in between, and you've experienced it all. No one has a perfect 100 and oh record in anything, and so yeah, yeah, in filmmaking when you're rolling with the punches, the permit, the actor, you know, and I wonder.

Rich Morrow 15:25

Yeah, I mean, 100 and oh is almost the opposite of what the record is when you're in work. You might start off owing a hundred and still believe that you're gonna win the series.

Keith Kohler 15:35

Well, and that's true because you might get a hundred, yeah. I mean, in the creative arts, right? You know, the pitching, just like pitching for a business that produces a product or a technology, you might get a hundred no's before that yes of the investor or even the talent that you want to pursue, the the crew, the location, all those things. You you it's a lot more no than yes.

Rich Morrow 16:00

Absolutely. And like you, I I like I love what you said because something that I think I've realized the further along in my career that I've gotten is that nobody really teaches anybody how to lose.

Keith Kohler 16:11

No.

Rich Morrow 16:12

Um, you know, like it's almost like learning how to argue. Like, that's not something that you you are taught growing up, and I feel like it's one of the undervalued things that people don't realize. Like professional baseball players, as an example. You if you're successful 30% of the time as a professional baseball player, you're gonna make hundreds of millions of dollars. That means 70% of the time, yeah, and you're possibly a hall of flamer. 30% of the time. That means 70% of the time you're not succeeding at what your goal is, yet they're still gonna pay you $100 million because that's still better than the majority of the people out there's you know, capabilities.

Keith Kohler 16:48

And they show up 160 times a year to have the same success ratio.

Rich Morrow 16:54

That's just game days, that's not talking about all the days of practice, training and everything else. So you're only seeing 70% of the failures, but really, in reality, when you're training, you're you're failing just as much. I mean, that's the only way you learn. And um, I don't think that failure necessarily is the best word to use, but you're getting tested, it's like lifting weights, you got to break down those muscles in order for them to get stronger, and um, you know, being able to exercise that muscle and entertainment and our craft. I mean, I'm an actor, so I think I get that muscle overwork sometimes because I constantly have to put myself on the chopping block and run the risk of you know having to learn a lesson that I may not necessarily want to have to learn in that moment. And it's something that you just have to get used to. And the more you get used to it, the more and the stronger that you get, I feel, throughout the entire process, where now you know they don't feel like losses, like I said. Now you're you're constantly weathering storms and you're starting to become a stronger person for life and what it really actually takes to be successful, as opposed to the idea of what that is.

Keith Kohler 18:07

Perfect. Byron, I'm gonna come over to you. One of the things that Rich mentioned, in addition to that sequence about athletics and how it's influenced where he is now, is he talked broadly about the sense of community and that you together, Byron and Rich, share a strong sense of passion and vision and community. And I'm wondering if you can just provide some brief comments on what really community means to you in this world of entertainment, which we know is so much more on the media about individual celebrities. And yeah, it's just so weird. And so, Byron, over to you on that.

Byron Manuel 18:43

Yeah, I think that um, you know, I think it's uh to just be a little frank, I think it's uh a little bit of BS, you know, the ideology of the one to me has always been a concept I never really understood, well, especially in sports, you know, even you know, majority of the teams that I was on, I was one of the better uh athletes or best athlete, usually captain in those type of positions. I've never won any game by myself ever. So if the team wasn't good, it didn't really matter how well I performed, we didn't win. So community for me is essentially everything, especially culturally. You know, my the background of my people is really uh a people that have been put together in community. It takes a village mentality, you know, everybody's a part of it, everybody's affected, and that's a little bit how I grew up too. You know, I I grew up um humble beginnings, uh traditional hardships that a lot of people um in this country grew up through. And I remember just being in my friend groups of like uh if one person had a bag of chips, we all split the chips, you know. If if somebody had yeah, one person had a bottle of water, we all split the split the water. So that to me has been the foundation. Sports solidified that 100% community, and then when I got into the arts, I realized it was honestly the same thing. There's there's no film you've ever put on, and you looked at it, and there was one credit on there from the person. Like that's that's never happened in life.

Keith Kohler 20:25

So that's so beautiful and so perfectly that's the perfect metaphor. There's not just a credit at the end of the film.

Rich Morrow 20:33

You would literally have seen a one of a monologue that was direct, shot, edited, and performed.

Byron Manuel 20:40

It's tough to just get to the one. So when we get in this civilization of people hyper, hyper influencing the fact that like there's the one or there's one. I know plenty of people just as talented as me and more people more talented, you know. That's got nothing to do with my art or their art or how I perform or opportunities, you know, none of those things really matter. So, community to me, especially in the arts, is essentially everything because a lot of the times, you know, it boils down to like money if you can get something made. But if you just collective collectively put everybody in a position to do their specialty, then it takes no money or very little, you know. And then so I just look at it like that. But community is like it's the basis of everything we do, which is another thing that Rich and I connected on.

How Film Financing Traditionally Works

Keith Kohler 21:32

Yeah, Byron, you said it perfectly, and thank you for that perfect transition and foreshadowing. You talk about the money, right? And how traditionally, when you think broadly about your time together and looking at the traditional models of how creative arts get made, whether it's film or television or whatever medium it winds up being, right? And in your case, we can let's focus on film because that's um what you're mostly all about and where you're gonna keep going. Can you share with our audience, our viewers and our listeners, how what's the traditional model has been in getting money in order to produce a film?

Byron Manuel 22:12

Yeah, usually uh, you know, for one, there's a thousand different ways to do it, but uh among the norms is uh some sort of investor, whether that's you know, a studio that's putting up the money, maybe the studio is sourcing the money from overseas. Uh, so they have the money and then they put the money up. But at the basis of it, it it's an entity or a person or a group of people that collectively put up an amount of money. And then as the artist, as the creatives, they pass the money to me, my team, our company. We go make a thing and then we split profits afterwards.

Keith Kohler 22:53

Yeah. And is there a traditional model or a traditional style split that or deal terms that people come up with?

Byron Manuel 23:00

Usually, usually, um, in my experience, which I can only speak from from what I've seen, from what I understand, from what's been told to me, is it's almost like a 50-50, right? So imagine like you've got a project that costs a million dollars to make. Me and Rich are doing a movie, we need a million dollars. Will we go to Company X? And Company X is like, I've got the million dollars. What do I get out of the deal? Generally, they would get 50% of the the project, the profit split.

Rich Morrow 23:30

Profit split.

Byron Manuel 23:31

Yeah, so they would get 50, the creatives would get the other 50, and then we would break down our splits among our team in whatever fashion, and then the money would take the other half. So let's imagine you you get a million dollars, you make a movie, you put it out, the movie makes five million dollars. Uh, you essentially eventually you essentially give the million dollars back first. So now you're down to four million. There's some sort of interest on that as well, like maybe let's say 20. So then they would get you know another million dollars. Yeah, exactly. They would get another million dollars on top of that. Now we're down to three. Now we would split that three million in half, 50-50. The creatives would get a million and a half, then uh the money would get another million and a half. So, you know, ultimately in that entire scenario, the money would have walked away with like 3.5, we would have walked away with 1.5, and then we would have split our 1.5 amongst our producers, writers, directors, anybody above the line who would have had some sort of equity or maybe a major star that was attached, um, or something like that. So that that that's pretty close to the the most traditional way that it works.

Rich Morrow 24:44

I'm curious to know when you hear that, Keith. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that right now?

Keith Kohler 24:50

Yeah, and um thank you, Rich. And that I wanted you to jump in with that because I was about to ask you both the question. What do you think about that? Like, do you feel I was gonna ask because you probably saw my face reaction, didn't you, Rich?

Rich Morrow 25:07

You're like, wait, so wait, wait, only one well, yeah.

Keith Kohler 25:10

I I was like, I was waiting for the punchline, and Byron, when you delivered 1.5, I was like, that isn't fair. I was like, because again, in as you're saying this, I'm comparing it to the consumer world, my hand raising venture capital money, whatever. And it's it's very different, as you know. Yeah, and I'm comparing it to the tech world as well.

Rich Morrow 25:37

Sometimes again, it's straight equity, but it's gonna be a continuous consumer product or continuous that continuously is producing revenue, right?

Keith Kohler 25:48

You know, individual discrete projects versus again, you're gonna be Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg someday and have output deals with one or other somewhere else, right? Yeah, but in as much time as that comes, it's a project by project approach. And yes, I'm glad I've never gone through this with you before because I was unpleasantly surprised.

Byron Manuel 26:12

And it's interesting because well, for one, fair is relative, so yes, when you compare it to other businesses, it's a very sharky-esque type of money grab from whoever. Um, the the what we've been taught in Force Fed is that I'm taking all the risk as the person putting up the money, so I should have the biggest reward off of this thing that who's to say it's gonna make any money. You could make it and it make nothing, which is true, you know. So there's there's no guarantee in it. However, there's a lot of ways you can pat it to where you can work to get to the guarantee as much as possible. Um, and then you can also see how money rules the creative because once you've got $10 million and you're only making projects for a million, you can continue to monopolize that. And then you can become a studio, you can become the distribution yourself, you can become all these other things that start dwindling down the percentage from the creative over time, anyway. It's it's it's comparable to how vicious the music industry can be at times as well when it comes to product. But TV and film is definitely its own beast in the aspect of the monopoly on it, and the because you got to think like that's that that's a great that's a great split for us to walk away with 1.5 off of this scenario. Because the other scenario is that the money could have also just hired us to make the thing in which we would have walked away with day rates and just fees, even less that would have maybe 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 we could walk away with from a scenario like that, as opposed to the millions. So you can see how even then it gets even more vicious, you know, depending on how much control that money money actually even has.

Why Ownership Beats Day Rates

Rich Morrow 28:05

Which is the reason why, as opposed to just being a writer, just being a director, just being an actor, we realized the other side of the curtain allows so much more freedom and power.

Keith Kohler 28:17

Yeah. Um, I'm really glad that you asked me that question, Rich. That was perfect because again, my I was comparing it to the worlds I know.

Rich Morrow 28:27

For sure.

Keith Kohler 28:28

And that that process and that way of looking at money and who gets what. And yet you made the important point, and thank you for the reframe, which is it's better than being a fee-for-service guy. I'm still making a much bigger thing by being the production company, and and that becomes the that becomes like the sad reality that a lot of us get into.

Byron Manuel 28:51

Because uh I was on a podcast with a friend of mine, Jay Hogan, who's like a legendary writer. Throughout he's probably got like a 30-year-plus career, and he was talking about how sweet it used to be for being that guy who just gets paid with no equity and none of those things, and how lucrative of a business it felt like even though they knew that they were getting pretty much screwed on every single deal that they did, it was still enough, it was still more money than the average Joe, and now you get caught up in the glitz and glam.

Keith Kohler 29:26

And then this is not Jay saying this, does it if we lose Byron Rich, take it up?

Rich Morrow 29:36

Yeah, I think I know where he's going. I'm gonna see if he comes back back in here.

Keith Kohler 29:41

Yeah, but just commenting. Yeah, I I'm really appreciating this. Oh, Byron's back, great. Byron last like 30 seconds, so yeah, I was just finishing that up, but I mean, I think you guys got the gist of it.

Rich Morrow 29:56

I did yeah, because you get caught up in all the things that come with it and And supporting your life on that, and it also being still completely pretty much in someone else's hands, regardless of how you know comfortable or consistent it may be for a period of time. There's always that possibility of them being able to just pull the rug out from under you.

Keith Kohler 30:16

Yeah. And I think an interesting thing is, I don't know if this is even a thing. Yes, financing risk is easy to measure. Uh, we can all do that. But I think you as artists are taking big risks because you're taking risks with fresh ideas.

Rich Morrow 30:33

With art.

Keith Kohler 30:33

Yeah, art is will people love it? Will they not love it? Will they pigeonhole you, right? You know, no, no actor rich wants to be just a one person or a one archetype person, right? That is always going to be in the same role again and again. Byron, you the same. Like you, you as an artist, yeah, you can have a reputation for a certain type of film, but I'm sure you want the possibility to branch on and say, no, I want to do a this type of comedy or I want to do this type of drama or something, right? And so I do believe there's artistic risk. I can't define it. You all could better than I could, but um, it's just such an interesting play for me. And now um when you think about yes, that traditional model can work. And yet we had the privilege to work on Byron something where we took an alternative route and and see how that could work with financing. And um again, by way of introduction to our audience, I got to work with Byron and Rich about getting traditional bank financing as a way to finance some of their projects or at least contribute to a portion of that financing moving forward. And I'm excited to do what I can because having grown up in a creative household and in the entertainment industry, I've always wanted to have a little bit of my mark. And so there can be new ways to do this, right? Because um, again, with Byron and Rich growing their production company and making films and making profit. And again, I'm gonna get into finance for a minute, just putting it on showing their profit on tax returns, we can do it a different way than an investor model, or in addition to.

Rich Morrow 32:30

We are our own small business. Um, your brand, who you are, the talent that you have, regardless of if you're just a writer, director, actor, whatever, you are your own business that relies on you to be able to run. And when I sat and thought about it and realized the relationship that we have, and you would continuously tell me about these different situations that helping small business owners with, it just it just made sense one day. Like, man, maybe I should ask him. I think me and Byron were just on the phone. And I was like, man, I think I got somebody that that we should talk to about what we're facing right now, because I think that I think that he may be able to help us in this part, and thank God I did, because uh, for one, I mean it's it's helped tremendously. I know Byron can attest to that, but two, um it's been something that, like you said, opened up a door that showed us that there's more ways that this can be done than our peers have ever probably really focused on much. And in today's day and age, where so many more people than ever, um, I think the power of being able to control your destiny much more is way more attractive than ever. Like he said, there was a time where it was very lucrative, and you were making more than the average Joe by just being hired in these situations. Now you got advertisement, you got streaming, you got you're getting money from getting screwed on another deal from somebody else. So therefore, they probably you know are cutting deals that aren't really going to be beneficial to anybody at this point other than them because they got to look out for themselves. They got someone else they're on the look for. And you know, it just by the time it gets down to us, you're literally scraping crumbs of the big pie and as if the whole pie is only getting the on that pie, you're not even getting the time. But you realize, like, wow, there's a whole piece of here, and they've just been giving me, you know, pieces of the pepperonis. Um, you realize that wow, without us, there is no pie. Yet we're the only ones getting the smallest pieces of it. And I think that taking our power back is what this really has been about. Being able to educate other people on the fact that they have the ability to take their power back because they are creatives, because they take the risk putting their art on the line and putting it out in the world, and then the return should be valuable. You should be rewarded for taking that risk because you gotta think about what we do as creatives in that space. We influence the masses. A lot of the things that people are doing on a regular basis are based off of what they're consuming, and who is producing that.

Keith Kohler 35:19

Yeah, that's really good. And you know, part as I it's funny, Rich, as you were talking and Byron, you as well. Um I'm gonna go way off script. My dad's energy showed up. My dad was a jazz musician and an artist. And when he ran his public relations business and when he grew it, you know, this was long ago. Um I wish I had the today me were to go back in time to that.

Rich Morrow 35:51

Yeah, highlighting 2020 for sure.

Banking Models For Creatives

Keith Kohler 35:54

Yeah, when my dad was growing his business, and that I could have helped him with that knowledge and would know about it, because to your to exactly what the both of you are saying, had he had financing available, it could have changed the trajectory of a lot of different things. And that's a whole other topic for another one. But um, you know, part of working with you that I enjoy is there's a little bit of healing of my relationship with him, which wasn't always perfect, but it's why I really do care very deeply about supporting art and artists, not just because my chosen art is music and I get to have an expression outlet for that at in a church choir. It's more like I'm uh where where we all are very aligned, although we do it in different ways, is one of my objectives, and one of the reasons I'm here doing this with you right now is storytelling. Is I want to tell the stories, your stories in this form and in this way. And um, so that was my little soliloquy on that. I hope you didn't mind me doing that for a minute.

Byron Manuel 36:58

Um, I think no, that it's really interesting though, too, just to put a put a button on that is that you know, because of that thing you went through and your passion for for helping people, it's given us an incredible opportunity to be able to do what we want to do from the for the rest of our lives. Rich and I were just talking not even that long ago about like, you know, if we would have picked up this knowledge at like 18, 19, that's right, you know, it would be it would be how powerful, like life-changing, like it would it it would shape the world differently. If creatives understood that the power that they don't have to wait to create, that they can just go and get money, help, support from the small business standpoint, like every other business in this this country does, and to get that boost or that leverage and the ownership. When you look at the splits, yeah, and the the example I gave earlier, it's a terrible deal when you look at the opportunity that you can have with the relationship with a bank or or or a loan or you know, the government government funding. You know, you're you're talking about in the scenario I gave them walking away with like 65-70 of the pie when if you did the same deal with the bank, they would walk away with 10%. That's a lifetime of money, 50% more money in your pocket for your team is life changing on the first project. It's more money than anybody's ever seen on one project. It would net it would nearly take five times the amount of content to earn that five million dollars to even get that cut. That's a lot to make.

Keith Kohler 38:58

Yeah, and now learning that for the first time with you today, it really motivates me a lot more because then I know it's a snowball effect, right? The more you can do, the more you two can do what you told me you want to do was not just build your own careers, but build community and build the careers of others.

Rich Morrow 39:15

Whether it's an ecosystem, that's the word we like to use.

Keith Kohler 39:19

Isn't it true? Whether it's facing the camera or behind the camera or anything that's that's associated with the creative process and producing art. So here we are, and we know we're gonna do more. Byron, Rich, what's next? Like what are what are the collaborations that excite you and and films or other things that you're making for what you're what you're working on, what you're working on, and what you hope to achieve sometime soon.

Rich Morrow 39:44

Man, we have a handful of things that we have on the docket. Um, a lot of it is around being able to one, of course, tell our stories. We feel that there's an entire generation, our generation, we're in our 30s, we're millennials, we were kind of the last generation that we like to say got to play outside and didn't you know get born into technology, but watch technology evolve over our childhood. And um, we want to tell those stories, but we also want to be the voices of the you know underheard. And we're starting a podcast uh for that. I think that that's gonna be the platform that allows us to really speak candidly on these things. Um, a lot of times when you get to on maybe someone else's podcast, it's around a topic that they've curated. We get to really, you know, manufacture these topics to be things that we know really need to be addressed, such as the things we're speaking about right now. Um, we also have movies, shows, uh, documentaries educate people on different aspects of whether it be our culture, whether it be stories that have never been told, that deserve to be told, that nobody else is going to tell unless we do. Um, you know, we're all about empowering the people that um have been powerless in these situations because the art is valuable, the messages are valuable, the things that it does for people changes and shifts entire generations. And I don't think there's been enough people that have had the freedom to actually take that power as much as they could. And us being on the front lines of that, I think is a very, very powerful position to be in. We were just speaking with um a pretty well-known actor earlier today, and you know, he really made it clear to us that there's not really anybody more powerful than us in the situation. This is such a great time. You know, I mentioned that it was unfortunate that times have there's so many things that are out there that don't speak to the empowerment of us as people, but what a blessing it is to be in the position we're in now for what we know we about that. Um, you know, technology is the most advanced it's ever been, you know, people are more accessible than they've ever been. Um, ownership is more accessible than it's ever been. There was a time where me and Byrman wouldn't even be allowed to do this. You know what I mean? So the fact that we do have the opportunities and are educating ourselves really is the blessing in it all. So, what's for us in the future really is around evolving and showing others and educating others the things that we're learning along the way, but also documenting that so that people can truly understand behind the scenes what it really takes to become your own boss, to become successful and not be at the you know under the thumb of an entity that doesn't care about you, you know, to be able to understand that there's more than traditional routes to get things done. That's what's next for us. And collaboration with as many people like us as possible, building that community and ecosystem.

Keith Kohler 42:58

Yeah, I just wanted to let that ring in the room a bit. Absolutely, man.

Byron Manuel 43:01

I think that was um, I think that was amazing, Rich. I mean, I'm I'm I'm on the same page. I also know we um started a little late too. So a few um want to take another five to 15 minutes.

Vision, Ecosystem, And What’s Next

Keith Kohler 43:13

I mean, we're we're still around here or five perfect because um and you know when you think about that vision, right, broadly you can grab on to that forms of that traditional financing model, right? We can continue to do a bit of what we've done, which is the bank model. Uh, because as you said, and I think that's a very important point, and again, hopefully we'll have our um artists and creatives viewing this, and I'm sure they will, because we'll we'll create that audience and we'll make it available to them. For us to do our contribution and reminding them that yes, you are artists and creators, we're never gonna take that away from you, and yet you are all you are also a business, and to the degree we can support you in setting up the structures, the say every single thing related to you putting on paper and that giving you freedom and therefore access to capital, whatever that could be, so that you're not restricted to only one way of doing things. Yeah, that's what I hope my contribution will be with you both because you both get it. Yeah, get it as artists, as businessmen, and I'll add community builders to that.

Rich Morrow 44:35

And I think that one of the cool things that you just I don't mean to cut you off, but um, I think that one of the blessings in this is that a lot of times you have to meet people where they are in order to really touch them, and how you communicate that is extremely important. A lot of times it's not the message that is the problem, it's the way it's delivered, it's the way that somebody is capable of receiving it. Um, there's plenty of times that I feel like I've been given something message or advice or information that can help me that I didn't receive well because of the way that it was presented to me or even who was presenting it to me that I've had to grow through. But the cool thing is, you know, being producers and being curators of art, but also masters of communication, is understanding how to be able to do that and meet people where they are without getting lost in translation. Um, in other words, making it cool, making it digestible. Um, a lot of this stuff we were just speaking about, like I said, with another well-known actor, hearing somebody that's at his status in life and has accomplished all that he has, he talked about how the last three years he's had to completely rewire the way that he operates in order to learn how to run his own business. And it's not something that's natural, naturally coming to people that are artists because you're so focused on being an artist that, like you said, you don't understand exactly how much of a business you truly are until you take the time to actually hone in on that. And when you hone in on that, there's things in business, just like you learn so much about the art to be able to have it come naturally and be effortless looking that you have to learn, and it's almost like going back to school and you got you're gonna be needing to be learned for you to actually be able to dominate that space in the same way that you've done anything else. You can't just pick up a tennis racket and think that you're gonna be able to play Wimbledon in a year, you know, like a lot of things take time to be learned. So the challenge in that is to be able to figure out how to curve that timeline, but also be able to do things in a way that are gonna make people excited about it by understanding the power. Because I think anybody could get excited about this if they understood what we're talking about, especially if you're a creative ownership, taking back your power, creating things you actually want to create, collaborating with your friends and people you actually care about, seeing them win, passing the information along for them to do the same thing, and watching the effect that that has on the rest of the world because everybody's finally opened their eyes. I can't see anything that could be more liberating in this space. Um, and it's it's opened up to us by way of so many different things going on, not just in our industry, but the entire world. I mean, advertising's changed almost everything about the world. Um, there's more mediums to actually present these things into that didn't exist um, you know, probably when you were, you know, a child as well. Where now we look at these things and it's like it's almost overwhelming because there's so much that can be done, but like you said, additional roots of doing it pigeonhole everyone into a space where now they're all fighting, you know, for these little crumbs instead of it being a bunch of different people that a lot that have their own ecosystems that can collaborate in a way that small businesses do.

Keith Kohler 48:12

Yeah, all of that, Rich and Byron, right on cue. I mean, come on, how does this happen? Byron, you're you're just playing. I know you are, I know you're playing with us because you come right back on after Rich has his mic drop moments and finishes this his kind of monologue of delivering wisdom, and then you show back right up again, just to continue the conversation. So thank you all for what I was gonna say. Yeah, thank you for for stepping into the directing role that you are and directing and producing the show. Thank you. Control more of their own future, have more of the ability of of having a hundred percent of something, right?

Rich Morrow 49:12

Yeah.

Keith Kohler 49:13

And I think that's again, we're we're all interested in that same thing. I'm used to that in the core industries I've known best, mainly consumer services, traditional industries that have been high consumers of uh traditional financing models. Yeah, and now to do this as we've talked about in the creative space, um, we're all signing up for that. Because what we're leading to is amazing storytelling, right? And more stories getting out there that, like you said, Rich, as you said a gen many generations ago, many people weren't even allowed to even tell a story. And now I think the goal is with more distribution platforms, with more access to the end users, the consumers, whatever you want to call them, the viewers, the audience, yeah. Um we can be the conduit to more. I don't even know how to say it at this point. You you both say it better than I can.

Rich Morrow 50:16

That's our job.

Keith Kohler 50:18

Thank you very much. Um, I could sure use some actors and producers to help me with that. Um, I knew two, two really good ones. I think they're right here on the screen.

Rich Morrow 50:27

I might know a couple.

Artists As Businesses

Keith Kohler 50:29

Yeah, so um, you know, as we conclude our time together, um, I have two questions I'm asking everybody on this podcast, and I want to offer them up to the both of you individually. Um, the first one is what are you most proud of? And I'm gonna ask you to focus that on your collaboration together since that time, not not from your beginnings in the entertainment industry, but in the rich and Byron world, what are you most proud of?

Rich Morrow 51:00

I'll let Byron go first.

Byron Manuel 51:05

Yeah, I think for me, man, I'm I'm I'm most proud of just the recognition of being able to own something and have something. You know, I'm I'm very proud of the fact that I've been resilient enough to keep going and figure out how to succeed in a place that had very limiting opportunities for me to do so. Um, and I'm also just very proud that I've found a way to be to take care of my family and responsibilities as a man and create a path. And I've I've been able to, in my career, work and choose with who I want as of the last like four to five years, and that's very like empowering and thrilling and things like that. So, you know, I'm I'm proud of those things. And then lastly, I'll say I'm I'm just proud that I have the opportunity to show people that there are other ways to do it, like essentially being a blueprint. Like I love being a blueprint for um those to come after me, you know, and everything that I'm that everything that I'm doing serves as a model that other people will be able to do as well.

Rich Morrow 52:25

Very well put. Um, for me, man, he put that so well that of course there's a lot of my same sentiments in there, but I would say if I had to choose something that I'm most proud of since partnering and building and going on this journey, I think it's the fact that we've actually moved on the things we've felt. Um, I know what it's like to have certain things built inside, built up inside of you that you care so deeply about, but that getting to the point it's almost crippling. There's a lack of, like Byron said, opportunities to do so. Um I think that it's extremely, like he said, empowering to know that one, we are moving in a direction that's not just for ourselves, but is going to be able to serve so many people that are in the same positions as us. I couldn't even tell you how many people I know that are going through the struggles of just being able to do what they truly want to do with their lives. And when you're doing what we do as creatives, you don't get to the level that we are about this being the main thing in your mind that you truly want to do. If you don't feel like this is truly what you are supposed to be doing with your life and are meant to be doing with your life, chances are where we are. You know what I mean? So to know that we are actually empowering those people, the people that don't have a plan B, the people that have regardless of how hits the fan, there's people that are still gonna be here fighting for that right. And to know that we can give them more avenues to be able to make that possible makes me proud because I want up to be a representative of what's possible, but also like Byron said, being the blueprint allows us to really see the fruits of that labor that we're putting in. So, regardless of how bloody the first you know, go-through it is that we have to go through, the salvation on the other side of it is knowing that not as many people are gonna have to go through nearly as violent of a process, and that to me gives me peace throughout all of the tough days. So I'm proud of that.

Keith Kohler 54:46

That resonates deeply with me, Rich, because again, um, a lot of my motivation of access to capital and is that I don't want um maybe it's a bit presumptuous, I don't want others to touch being bankrupt or being nearly bankrupt like I was. Yeah, or I don't want them to feel the way I felt as a kid growing up in an entrepreneur household where hey, there's no money for this, or and it it didn't always come in saying there's no money for this, it came in other ways, right? Or there we knew that this wasn't a time, and it's funny, my mother still with us at 93 is telling me a lot more of those stories when it we got to the edge and we didn't know it. But you know it, but you don't know how to express that as a child, right? Yeah, and so if you don't mind me picking up on what you're saying, is this whole thing about access to capital, again, yes, managing a business, having control over the process, but you think about it, you might be the ones that save families, you might be the ones who save someone, you know, present prevent the downside from happening, not just in committed suicide over this. That's what I was about, and thank you for saying that. I was about to say that, but you said it is this is life, this is life, and promoting healthy businesses, giving artists the freedom to express, because the worst thing you can do to an artist is take away their freedom to express.

Byron Manuel 56:23

I I think I think that is the worst thing that I felt um emotion to deal with when you uh have felt like you've been born and bred to do something that you're not able or capable to do because you don't have some of the basic means to do it. So, you know, it's definitely it is saving, you know, and that's our belief. You know, we believe that through what we're creating, the opportunity is the blueprint for other people to do the same, which you can do it at 18, 30, what at any age, and you can learn the model. And you know, it does take another element to understand business, but if you're gonna be in this capitalistic society of a country, you better understand how money works, you know, because they're not gonna teach it to you in school or in any other medium. So thankfully, you know, us we've had the capacity to learn how money works, how to shape and move money, and how to use it as a tool that it was designed for. Um, and then through that, you know, our success and creativity has allowed us to stay afloat as we can at this time, and hopefully it just gives us the opportunity to continue to grow for sure.

Rich Morrow 57:39

Something just came up that I've never um maybe I have heard, but art saves lives. Yeah, it really does, it does, whether it be music.

Art, Impact, And Mental Health

Byron Manuel 57:49

Oh, I believe it also changes how you feel and how you think, you know, it shapes the world, it does it does a little bit of everything, good and bad, when you use it the wrong way. So for us to have the superpower to use it in the correct way and and you know, operate like a business, you know. If you're once again, I mean if you're in this country, you you need the shelter of a of a business anyway.

Rich Morrow 58:14

True, yeah.

Keith Kohler 58:17

Art saves lives. I know it did for me. Music is what took me away from a lot of despair and things I wouldn't want to repeat. Um, I found my church choir and that provided actually, which is a better way to say it, I found music ministry, and I knew the power of what music can do for a congregation, for a community, and know that I have not all year round, a great job to do each Sunday. It's not just me performing, it's I have a job, and my job is to amplify the message of the day through music, and that was life-saving and life-changing to me because I think you know, and whatever setting you're creating art, that message, right? That message that you transmit again, you could be the one through your art who saves a life, who changes a life, who radically alters their direction. Absolutely, who inspires, who does all those things. And yes, it can happen in business, and I do that and I believe in it, and yet I think art ultimately we cry more at movies than we do at business finance.

Byron Manuel 59:31

Absolutely that. So that's I mean, that's gotta be some of the foundation why this medium was even really created. Art to inspire, to motivate, to change, to create, to evoke emotion, thought.

Keith Kohler 59:43

Yeah, and you think of civilization's greatest accomplishments.

Byron Manuel 59:47

Yeah.

Keith Kohler 59:47

In Italy, we're shown the art and the culture. Is it do we talk about in history books about the businesses that happened up? No, we're not talking. As much of Ferrari and Italian, well, Italian design we are, but you get it, but it's the art that's the enduring art in it's the art in that design. I mean, it's the highest elements of civilization that we celebrate.

Rich Morrow 1:00:13

It's very rare that a product or shifted the way that someone moved their entire life. A lot of times a movie that they saw, a song they heard, a story that they've been told. It's powerful, man.

Keith Kohler 1:00:30

Yeah, you think about everyone can name their favorite movie or their favorite song, but I don't think they're gonna have top of mind their favorite kitchen appliance. You know. Even though I uh yeah, I do love my coffee maker, but I like my art more. So thank you for allowing me to go with you down this a bit of a winding road and a and different tangents. Um we're coming up on time, but I want to just say one last thing. Um, and that's thank you. Thank you to the both of you for allowing me the opportunity to work with you in an area that I care a lot about and I'll continue to care a lot about. And you know that I'm signed up with you to do all I can to support Rich, Byron, and Rich and Byron and those other amazing artists out there with what financing can do to give them all that they want for themselves. And just a very quick thing because I want to keep my tradition going. What would Rich and Byron today tell Rich and Byron a few years ago when you started collaborating? If you could summarize that briefly and then we'll wind it up, we'll sign off today.

Rich Morrow 1:01:41

I feel like we might have asked each other this a couple of times. Do you want to take the first shot, Rich? Um, if I could tell myself something or ask myself something.

Keith Kohler 1:01:51

If you would kind of transmit, what would what would you say to that younger Rich from just a couple of years ago?

Rich Morrow 1:01:57

I would tell him to focus on best with the least amount of effort and to allow that to be what you feed because truly what we've cared about ultimately from the very beginning is what you end up coming back to. We go all around the world searching for answers when the answers are literally right there, right in front of us. I would I would tell myself to focus right in front of me, and the things that I would like to see changed about how my reality looks right in front of me, instead of trying to take over and change the world first, because I don't think you could change the world without changing the way that you think and helping the people around you first.

Pride, Lessons, And Staying The Course

Byron Manuel 1:02:45

Yeah, man, I think I would definitely, there's so many things that I would say in the spirit of always saying something different. Um I would definitely tell myself to find the best people to work with, and not just like uh from a creative standpoint, but just genuine people, like good people, find good people because through my roller coaster ride of ups and downs, the only way that I've ever really been able to experience the downs and bounce back from them is through the community that's been around me. You know, the people that I work with constantly that I'm creating with. A lot of those people have become my actual like friends and family, realistically, more than friends. So, you know, you can't build those relationships without having good people around. And then you don't want to. I've also seen some of my friends feed into relationships like that with the wrong people and be taken advantage of. So if you can keep the best people around you from a spiritual, mental motivating uh standpoint, we pour so much into things that you know I need to lean on rich to pour into my cup because every day we feel like it's gonna be the day that changes our lives in a crazy way. Every day we feel like that. Today we feel like the day is gonna change. Tomorrow we feel like it's gonna that addiction is what we think, but also at the same time, every day I'm like, I'm done, I'm done, I'm out. I gotta, I gotta pivot, you know, and to find the balance of that insanity, you need good people around to when you say I quit, they have to be able to laugh with you at it and why, and and to discuss why that's a silly idea. And we just got off this amazing call, or you know, Keith is gonna come through. Like, how's he not gonna come through? Or you know, like we just gotta find that motivation amongst each other to like keep going because, like Rich said, you know, it's it's vicious out here.

Keith Kohler 1:05:01

Just letting all that ring in the room for a minute. Um yeah, Rich Byron, thank you both for being here. And um certainly when I had the vision for how I financed it, I knew that there would come moments like these, which was okay. I have a little structure. Yeah, thank you. I have a little bit of structure associated with what we're doing. And yet I knew the magic would be when guests like you show up, and then we go where it goes, we go where the energy takes us. And what I know and I appreciate about you is you put your heart into it, you put your soul into these comments, you're showing up in service and in contribution. And I really hope that um I know this is a little ego-driven, a little selfish, but I hope I've had six episodes so far. Thank you for being number six. I hope that these episodes will really reach an audience that uh we have some impact on. And it might be the financing, and that's great too. It might just be what you said at the end, Byron, uh, about hey, I'm glad it's so glad I have Rich who lifts me up, and I'm sure Richie would say the same about Byron. And the fact that you're keeping each other in the game, right? Because we know entrepreneurship and and risks and creatives take the highest amount of risks because it's not like you're a product that people consume every day or a technology that they're using every day. The business model is fundamentally different, but I'm glad that you have each other to lift each other up, and you're reminding us all of the power of that because so many founders will tell us whether it's consumer tech creative, you name it, anything else I'm missing, that it can feel lonely sometimes, that the journey can feel tough. And I don't Are you still here, Rich?

Byron Manuel 1:06:59

Yeah, are you there, Bob? Yeah, I can still see you. We lost Keith though. Do you see Keith?

Rich Morrow 1:07:04

Yep, I can hear him. I see him.

Byron Manuel 1:07:06

Oh, okay. Let me be quiet then.

Rich Morrow 1:07:09

Oh, no, no, you technical difficulties.

Keith Kohler 1:07:12

No, this is perfect. And see, I'll I'll end with that. Think about just even putting this together again. How I financed it was on the road. With we can certainly say, with all metaphorical and real real uh conviction, we've covered more mileage and ground in this how I financed it than any other how I financed it so far. So um, again, just closing, thank you both, Rich Byron. Thank you, Byron, again, for doing all you could to be here because you were taking on all the different roles, including dad, which we love to see as well. Crazy, man. Um just like any good film, as you mentioned from the beginning, you roll with the punches, you have the resiliency. Hey, we had our technical, but guess what? We made it work, and I think even through all of that, we we stayed on a path towards doing what we all accomplished to do is impact our audience and our viewers and our listeners. So I'll just give you a last word if you want it for a couple seconds and then we'll sign off.

Byron Manuel 1:08:17

Yeah, I'll just say that uh, you know, one of our new slogans is we don't wait, we create. So if you're you're if you're artists or creative out there and you're looking to get some work done, definitely reach out to any any one of us on this call. We all work together in tandem to make dreams come true. So let us know.

Rich Morrow 1:08:35

And for me, round it on out. Byron said it best, we don't wait, we create. And at the same time, there is there's something to be said about actually following your passions because just because it may seem limiting, because the opportunities may seem scarce, all it takes is one person to believe in you the way that you believe in you, and that one person is somewhere out there, even if it's God to start, follow that and build your own tribe because it's out there. Everybody has a tribe. There's someone out there that built a tribe for something that 99.9% of the world doesn't care about that found success. And I believe that there's that out there for everybody. And like you said, if you want to collaborate, if you want to build that community with us, if you have something or a vision that you want to follow that you feel we can help you with, we're here.

Keith Kohler 1:09:30

Yeah, and I nearly forgot. I'm so sorry. Rich, Byron, tell us where we can find your content, your movies, where are they distributed so we can go all go watch them and all our viewers and audience camps.

Byron Manuel 1:09:42

Yeah, we have a YouTube channel, Visionary View, so you can catch us on there. Um VisionaryView, YouTube, uh, VisionaryView.com, Instagram, and then personally um Byron P manual on all socials.

Rich Morrow 1:09:59

And I am Rich TV216. Uh, we are VisionaryView.

Keith Kohler 1:10:05

I love it. And you all have to go see Swoon. If you don't see Swoon, you are missing out absolutely, absolutely. Because you know, listen to it.

We Don’t Wait, We Create

Byron Manuel 1:10:16

You can see Swoon on uh on Tubi, on in the Black Network, Samsung TV, Roku. Uh it's on a few different streamers, but just go to any one of our links, we'll have it in a bio somewhere.

Keith Kohler 1:10:28

Yes, and everybody out there, once you see it, you'll probably react what I did, which is saying to Byron, I need part two right now. But I can't stand it. I need to know what's next. So by the way, featuring the artistic and acting talents also of Rich Morrow and the directing talents of Byron in Swan. So I'll go see it. So thanks again. Hey, we had over time, and that's the way art works sometimes. Um, we were we were a lot more Franc for Francis Ford Coppola in this, having a long extent.

Rich Morrow 1:11:01

I loved it though, every minute. I appreciate you, Keith. Absolutely.

Byron Manuel 1:11:04

Thank you, Keith.

Keith Kohler 1:11:06

Obviously, we love you as well. Yeah, adios, y'all. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of How I Financed It. I encourage you to reach out to me on LinkedIn at Keith Kohler1, and I look forward to connecting there.