2024 RECAP
Hereweareat theendofthe yearagain.
Astheyeardrawstoaclose, let'slookatStudio2.22 Productionstopstoriesand what2025hasinstoreforus.
We began 2024 with a team of writers, developers, producers, and new Missouri State Tax Incentives.
Completed metaverse office/event space
Hosted the Film Festival in Spatial and introduced the avatar capabilities
Collaborated on our first online course to create extra income stream
Completed 1st Nationwide Campaign launched Operation HOPE
Created the Happy Hoppers
Building our departments...
Comedy
Action/ Thriller
By Jim Clark California
By Cathy Grassi Missouri
By Deborah Watson
By Joshua Balikoowa Uganda
By Jeff Lofton Arkansas
By Charlotte TalleyMissouri
Animation
By Ezther Willard Tennessee inspired by ScootersBranson
Science Fiction
By Deborah Watson and Phillip Landrigan
Documentary
By Jonathan Turner Smith- California
Diana Ninsiima Uganda
By Terry Hirsch Tennessee
By Deborah Watson based on the life of Andrew KohakeKansas
By Deborah Watson
Elmine Etta Camaroon
Deborah Watson
Feedback from some of the team
When I joined Deborah’s film producing Zoom sessions, little did I know that I had enrolled in a character and faith building class. While the meetings were centered upon writing and producing our screenplay ideas, what I received were sessions to boldly strategize and achieve my goals. They were to write believeable characters based upon people I had met, imagined or read about, using a classic film story arc of plot and character development. The confidence to create this vision was brought forth through Deborah’s live, on-camera challenges which helped me to quickly sort through my goals for my characters and state them as best I could. Once stated, it was much easier for my new character’s personality to be defined and their story arc created and joined together with other characters.
Essentially, what I received was the confidence to create, define/test out character and story ideas Failing fast (taking risks) with a story concept or character was encouraged, and I feel all of us in these sessions were able to take risks without fear of judgement.
I highly recommend Deborah Watson as a leader who can mentor others with knowledge, compassion, and skill ~ Terry Hirsch - Being Lance
Studio 2.22 helped me put my story SILVER in perspective and they believed in my story and are helping to form me into a good writer. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself and gave me the confidence I needed. ~ Charlotte Talley - Silver - Is just a state of mind
Deborah Watson and Studio 2.22 Films taught me things about filmmaking that I didn't know. I had no idea what a Proof of Concept was or how to put one together. I only saw myself as a simple writer who got into this industry very late.
I didn't know if this would be anything other than a hobby and a distant dream that could never be fulfilled. Deborah Watson gave me hope that maybe a simple story idea of mine could become a reality. That my characters would have a voice and entertain more people than just me in my imagination. ~ Cathy Grassi - Family Matters
Studio 2 22 Films has given me new hope in what it means to do honest business with professionals. They stand for solid values like integrity and transparency. To find a company in this industry who loves wholeheartedly like Christ did. I see them support their team by offering them an invaluable tools and resources makes working with them so attractive. I respect the work ethic they promote along with living a happy and healthy life that leads to creating a legacy for all who choose to do business with them. ~ Lindsay Akers - ARI Insurance Agency
DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP
Can you imagine being on the team when Netflix began?
What did that even look like?
1997 - Reed Hastings was charged a late fee for a movie rental. He got together with his friend Marc Randolph and created a subscription based DVD-by-mail service. Like all start-ups navigating through the new technology of the “dot com” business, they had to build a sustainable business model- Subscription for services
This duplicatable model has created a scenario that includes “Netflix Originals”. In other words, Netflix had the cash flow to invest in stories that they would have full ownership of the content. A model that companies like Angel Studio’s is now using.
2025 - A new platform, structured similar to Netflix and HBO, is launching from Los Angeles, California. Authentic TV is on the ground floor, similar to where we are, and where Mr. Hastings and Mr. Randolph were in 1997. This time, there’s a partnership to create audience retention in an established subscription based streaming platform that we do not have to be responsible for the management of it. Our job is creating content that keeps people coming back for more.
Our target audience is focused on: People that like football, People that believe in adopting dogs and love animals, people that love a good drama about town government, and equine therapy series that saves lives of hurting people, similar to the Heartland series.
CLUB 2.22
As I’m sure you have seen organizations such as Angel Studios, JC Films, and UnveilTV promote their subscription based clubs to give viewers access to films, we decided to follow the lead to pivot from the social media madness that was happening.
Instead of putting “all the things” on social media for marketing and advertising, we decided to set up this Club system to give people deep discounts on merchandise, be the first to know what is happening behind the scenes, and be the first to secure tickets to premiere events.
After learning the system and creating a website, now is the time to pull together the team in order to create the strongest launch possible. Rates are available for $2.22 a month, $22 a year, or $222 for a lifetime. In order for us to move forward , it is necessary for us to hire:
Web Designer that will include monthly maintenance
Communications Associate
Behind the Scene’s Photographer
Marketing/Advertising Manager
Cyber Security Officer Team Manager
Annual expected cost for the team is $139,100
Goal to pay for cost is 627 Lifetime memberships = $139,194
Goal to pay for cost is 6,323 Annual memberships = $139,106
Goal to pay for cost is 62,658 Monthly memberships = $139,100.76
To start the hiring process, we will need to secure the first 3 months salaries
Totaling $ 34,775.00
Ignition Deck has been a fantastic resource for helping us start up our in-house crowdsourcing campaign. No more paying fee’s to Ifundwomen.com (a liberal organization that only made grants available to minority women businesses or if you paid a fee for the services with no guarantee) or dealing with the social media AI Bots blocking the shares from Kickstarter, Wefunder, or seedandspark.
We could only afford their services to do what we’ve built so far. They can take it to another level to be comparative with Angel Studios because they are also their server. They have taken the initiative to pay licensing fee’s to have access to all the popular social media platforms. To start their services is approximately $12,000.00 and will have additional monthly maintenance fees that they can give us an estimate once we are at that stage. To take this step, we need to hire a Campaign Manager full-time at $37,800.00 a year, and a Marketing and Advertising Manager at the same rate.
Our Fuel the Fire Funding “mascots” are Twiggy and Sparky. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. Debbie Bonzon has created our protype and Seth Kearsley will create 1 minute animations for $10,000.00 per minute. We can use these on the internet as well as at local theaters to advertise. This will help raise brand awareness and bring resources to the campaigns. Studio 2.22 Films retains 10% of total campaign to help pay for these services. Total amount needed for salaries is $97,600.00 a year. That means we need to have campaigns running at a total of $976,000.00 to achieve this goal.
Developed the Broken Colors Franchise
For too long, the Native American voice has been set as supporting roles with few opportunities to our First Nation community. During 2020, we decided to expand their voice beyond “Not Too Far From Here” giving a message of hope to our nation.
It’s our honor to present to you “Tomi Girl” and “Broken Colors” as part of the “Broken Color” Franchise.
Tomi Girl addresses the identity crisis of Native American fashion designer, Tomi Sweetwater and how she must stick to her roots to make a statement among a strong team of Latino’s at the New York Design Company The blend of her faith and love for her people catapults her forward through troubled times.
Broken Color is a love story between Jason, a Native American grafitti artist that always uses black and white for his art, and Tabitha who is an impressionist artist. She paints using the broken color technique, which is a painting method that involves applying small, distinct strokes of contrasting colors next to each other without blending them. This technique creates a shimmering, vibrant effect that captures the movement and light in a scene.
We are working on developing the Franchise for distribution, similar to how the “Hunger Games” flowed. To do this effectively, we are currently working on partnerships with people in Los Angeles to assist with distribution and marketing strategies for success. We are also working on publishing books to complement the movies and it’s own brand of merchandising including relationship building apps from a Christian world point of view.
AI Services
Four years ago, I began learning about AI and META development with our partnership with Rhino XR Studios. It’s an entirely different world out there in the platforms with avatars, NFT’s and connecting with others in that space.
I gained a lot of knowledge about the AI systems that have been being built since the 80's when British scientist Tim Berners-Lee coined the term “world wide web” while working at CERN. There are 10 different phases and we are just now entering phase 3. You can imagine what advancements they are working on for the future!
For now, we have teamed up with Largo.ai for developing our pitch decks. Their system literally saved us from going bankrupt! I wanted Not Too Far From Here to go through theaters first and then to streaming. IF we went to theaters, we would have lost 150%. Because we’re going to streaming, we’re gaining an average of 242%. They are so confident in their system, they only charge $199 a month for the first year and the remaining licensing fee is not payable until after a profit is shown in the project. That’s teamwork!
Saving money by creating training videos using AI, developing songs through Donna,AI and images through DaVinci.
5:15-17
Redeeming Time Ephesians
We are honored to have Tony Orlando joining our advisory board for the festival as we prepare for our growth next year. At this time, we are planning on hosting it the weekend of April 3-5 with an expo center at The Chateau on the Lake, screenings at the IMAX theater, and an opening concert on the night of April 12th at the Americana Theater.
We will also be bringing back “The Actors Voice” presented all day on Thursday April 3rd. Invited judges include Tony Orlando, John Schneider, Kirk Cameron, Dallas Jenkins, Kathie Lee Gifford, casting director Beverly Holloway, casting director Rickie Maslar, Treasure Coast Talent Agency Jean Selig Wenger, and Roxanne Warren (Greenapple Entertainment)
We are excited to create an opportunity for people to share their testimony through our platform with the “2 minute Testimony” series. People can come and share their transformational stories of what God has done in their lives and we will create a series to share on our youtube channel. If they are not coming to the festival, they will be offered an opportunity to send in their recording to be included.
We will also have a classic car show to help support the efforts of Brycen Newman. Miracle at Manchester tells his story of how God healed his brain tumor when he was a teenager. His goal is to put a tablet into the hands of every child diagnosed with cancer so they can stay in touch with their friends and classmates It was his lifeline while in the hospital Our goal is to raise funds to help purchase 1,000 tablets for him through this car show event. ($100,000) Tony Orlando is on board as a celebrity MC and we are asking John Schneider to come and let people take a selfie with him next to the General Lee for a donation of $10 or more They will toss the cash in the trunk where Brycen will be waiting and thanking them for their support. We will ask local business owners to do the same and have Marshall Meadows on site for professional business photo’s for them to use in their business marketing and advertising.
This years Red Carpet Awards Ceremony will be a dinner Gala at The Chateau on the Lake.
Jeeps had fun with the ducks. Subaru has the Moo Moo Subaru. Ford is getting Happy Hoppers.
Happy and his twin sister Hope use to live in the swamp with their friends. Someone drained it and they had to find a new home. So, they jumped onto the fender of a Ford and discovered that Ford drivers are happy people. They decided to hang out on the dashboards and go on new adventures. Their friend Lily has joined them on their journey and can be purchased at: https://brand-2-22.myshopify.com/ for $1 50 each or a bundle of 24 to save for $31 99
Cost for shopify account is $39.00 a month = 468.00 a year. Cost of frogs is $0.53 per frog, label and packaging.
We need to sell an average of 41 frogs a month to cover cost of Shopify portal. To do this successfully, we need to have a Brand Ambassador/Manager to work with our Merchandise Manager and Grant Writer for the Ford Foundation, who will also communicate with Ford dealerships nationwide. We need to raise $25,200 for an annual part time salary.
Total annual budget cost would be $25,460.76. We would need to sell 26,249 frogs to cover all costs.
From Deborah’s Desk
March 15th, 2025, marks our 10 year anniversary. I realized that while I have been so focused on the ground work to build Studio 2 22 Film productions, I neglected staying in contact with those responsible for helping make it happen. For that, I apologize and look forward to being better at staying in touch with you as we hire people to help move things to the next level.
I don’t know how many of you have started new businesses, or been at a construction site when the basement and foundation is poured. If you have, I know you understand. I have not been in this space before though. Yes, it was what I was going to K-State to do, but life took me on a different path as I followed my husband with his aviation career.
My heart is forever thankful for his love, care, and support for me to follow my dreams now. I wanted to be able to be a blessing back to him at levels I know I could never achieve on my own. That is why I founded Studio 2.22 Film Productions on his birthday of March 15th, 2015.
Then you all stepped up to the plate and helped us launch this adventure together. You took a lot of risks in doing so. At the time, I didn’t think we would need millions of dollars to achieve “all the things” and giving a double portion at 2% back to you on all films was, and is, the right thing to do. Now I see that we are going to need millions of dollars to achieve “all the things” and we still get to honor our 2% commitment to you on the stories I write and create.
How? By hiring a venture capitalist to help us achieve our goals for 2025, and hire staff to come and help We cannot grow anymore with just me working on the leadership team. I saw it coming in 2023 and made adjustments in 2024 to stage us for the growth spurt in 2025 Enjoy this recap and details on where we are and where we are growing towards.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out and ask.
DeborahJ.Watson
Fixed Costs
Monthly Cost
Shopify
Zoom
Largo
Wix
Adobe Office
Google Closed Caption Service
Capcut
YouTube Premiere Insurance
Amazon Prime
Blaze AI S.Media Content Creator
Audible
Instories Maker
Mailchiimp
Annual fee
Donna - Song Creator
PO BOX Fee
Invideo
$39 00
$21.98
$200 99
$40.00
$34.99
$499 52
$24.99
$5 99
$13.99
$278.58
$31 24
$27.00
$14.95
$19.99
$60.00
$1,313 21
$311.48
$200.00
$240.00
$751 48
Fixed Annual Costs $16,510
Variable Costs
Merchandise Development
Social Media Boosts
Marketing Costs
Advertising Costs
Example
Ford Explorer Give-a-way - Goal raise $1,000,000 00 from the Ford Foundation while raising awareness for project.
Spend 20% of goal for marketing and advertising
Spent 22.7% of goal
Successes
Gained awareness and partnerships with 9 tribes in Oklahoma
Gained partnership for future give-a-ways and events with Speedway Motorsports ( 11 tracks nationwide )
Gained partnership with local restaurant Pasghetti's for events
Created the Happy Hoppers for Ford drivers - similar to ducks for Jeeps
Created partnership with DMO Knives(Ar), Ozark Mountain Outdoors(Mo), The Boxz (Tn)
Currently working with a grant writer to obtain grant from Ford Foundation
Current Debt
Kevin and Sam Sorbo
Mobile Office
Ford Explorer
Ford Explorer Commercial Music
Fuel the Fire Funding animation of Sparky and Twiggy
$35,000.00 $34,289.49 $53,000.00 $1,000 00 $800 00
Income Streams
Production Services
Fuel the Fire Funding Campaign
Club 2.22
Coaching Courses
Merchandise
10% of total income through Fuel the Fire
Offering services as Unit Production Manager
Offering project development services
Crowdsourcing
VIP - First to know, insider Information with discount membership services for fans
Income Streams in the Desert Film Festival Mastery
T-shirts
Jewelry drinking cups
Stickers/magnet books Happy Hoppers decorative pillows blankets horse tack
Total Staffing Needed
$150,000
$55,000
$50,400
$25,200
$37,800
$37,800
$25,200
$25,200
$50,400
$25,200
$25,200
$37,800
$37,800
$37,800
$15,500
$10,200
$25,200
$25,200
$25,200
$722,100
CEO
Bookkeeping
Human Resources
Administrative Assistant
Merchandise Manager
Fulfillment Manager
Fulfillment Associate
Vendor Specialist
Event Planner - Film Festival
Volunteer Coordinator
School Liason
Fuel the Fire Funding Campaign Manager
Marketing and Advertising Manager
Club 2 22 Manager
Web Designer
BTS Photographer
Cyber Security Officer
Content Creator/Scheduler/Marketing
Data Room Manager - Communications
Total Cash Flow Need
$722,100
$20,000
$206,865
$10,000
$16,510
$124,089.49
$1,099,564 49
Staffing
Ignition Deck Services
BIFF Expenses
Independent Contractors
Monthly fixed Costs
Debt payoff
Hire venture capitalist to facilitate working capital to achieve in the first 6 months
Greg Downing with Purim Ventures from Sarasota Florida.
Consulting Fee - $20,000.00
Negotiated a deal of $5,000.00 plus 10% total capital raise.
We want to hire him to raise
$1.5m for working capital 1st year
$2m for land acquisition
$2m for cost of Not Too Far From Here
Building a bridge between the Church and the Hollywood entertainment industry through prayer and relationships.
2001: Right after it's inception, we joined the Hollywood Prayer Network. They connected me with someone within the industry who reached out to them in need of prayer It was my honor and privilege to pray for the administrative person they assigned to me She battled insecurity, depression and anxiety of never being able to measure up to her bosses expectations. Something many employees deal with, I'm sure.
2014: I felt like I was suppose to be more involved with HPN I reached out to Karen, the founder, and asked what I could do She teamed me up with the Missouri State Leader who replied, "I can't do this anymore I quit." Karen offered me the job and now Wendy Smith and Ed Moncada from St. Louis are part of our Missouri team. Jana Gamble is another state leader. There's plenty of room at the table if you would like to join us
2021, I had to make another call to Karen. This time it was "How can I serve while we ' re mobile?" She made me the Traveling Director to pray for the leaders in the communities we are visiting and to share about the HPN in area ' s where there are no state leaders If you visit their website you can see there are plenty of places and spaces that are unaware of this group of people praying for Hollywood We are committing the first and fifteenth of each month to be our zoom group prayer meetings. If you would like to join us, please email deborah at Deborah@studio222films.com