Magic Inventors. Just be HONEST!

Today I was saddened that a business deal that I was looking forward to went from "This is going to be awesome!" to "What the Heck happened?"I can't really go into the effect because their could still be hope. Not just now. I was in the process of buying the rights to a magic effect. We have been talking on and off for the last few weeks discussing how important it is that I keep it as original as possible to his effect. I saw this effect years ago and never knew what the name was. Around 1995 shortly after the Hostage Story "Hostage Incident" (Read Story Here http://officialimaginator.blogspot.com/2013/01/imaginator-back-story-my-life.html)  I had bought a collection of magic from a young man that was getting out of magic. I had bough a mismade girl, chair suspension, doves and a wonderful collection of magic on VHS. YES! VHS. I still think sometimes those are more reliable then Dvds.

I bought the collection shortly after the "Hostage Story" this was my growing period. Man! There must've been around 50 magic VHS tapes. All tapes of magic on tv. That's all I did. I would watch magic tapes. Hours and hours.Copperfield TV specials, Worlds Greatest Magic and  more......
Computer Illiterate:

I came across one particular effect that was performed by a famous magician. I WANTED IT!

The thing is I didn't even know the name of it. For years I would find myself asking magicians if they knew what it was called after describing the effect. I couldn't google it because at that time I was pretty much computer illiterate. Boy has that changed. Thank God for the Mac. 
One day at a magic club I came across a old friend.  He helped me once before on a effect that I wanted to perform, but didn't know how to do it. It was the "Linking cards" effect. A light bulb lit up!
I thought " I wonder if he would know the effect I'm looking for" This magician is like a walking encyclopedia of magic. BINGO! he knew the name of the effect. GREAT! now I just have to figure out where to go. Take a breath! I'm sorry I went off a little from what the main story is about.

FAST FORWARD:

Fast forward a bit. I stumbled across the effect after a little google search. I finally learned how to use a computer and was putting my Mac skills to the test. I came across a link that said the name of the effect and the name of the inventor. I decided to give him a call and see if he had any in stock of the wonderful gem that magicians have forgot about. When I was talking to him I felt a feeling of connection. He was very pleasant and quite surprised of my call. He told me that the effect is no longer being sold. I was shocked and I quickly tried to convince him that he should re-release it. He said he would think about it. He then kindly asked for my address and sent me one for free.



WOW! a few days later I received the effect in the mail. I could hardly wait to see how this works. The workings are as genius as the effect itself. I played with it a few weeks and then displayed it proudly in my class magic display.

Butterfly in a Box:

About a year later I came out with "butterfly in a Box" I still can't believe how great my first effect is going. It just goes to show you that if you take simple methods and put your brain to work you can come up with some really stellar creative effects. After the first few weeks of my "Butterfly in a Box" selling out I was quickly getting a taste of something  I never had and I wanted more. I was getting a tremendous amount of pride, confidence and motivation to create more, but what? I had several ideas, but most were on the back burner as I couldn't figure out the logistics to make it complete.

The Nightmare: Running On EMPTY:


Then one day I woke up in the middle of the night in a sweat. I had another dream of the "Hostage story" It was the same story. The same feeling of when I broke out of the cuffs and I started running for my life. Have you ever had that dream where you're running from a monster or killer and no matter how fast you try to run you're running very slow? You feel very heavy and week and it's terrifying because the person is catching up to you. That was my dream except for that night I was in the hostage situation and escaped those were the feelings that really did happen. 

When I woke up from my dream I couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to clean my magic display. The magic effect that I was talking about earlier fell on the floor. I started to play around with it. I remembered how cool it was. I started to think about how great it would be if I could release it myself. 

Buy the rights:

The next day I thought I would contact the inventor and ask him if he would be willing to sell the rights to the effect. To my surprise he said "Yes" I couldn't believe it. I was going to put out a effect that I would be presenting on behalf of a great creator of magic. We talked on and off for a few weeks. Brainstorming, thinking of ways to bring it back to life. Then just a few days ago I emailed him with some additional ideas. This I think is where maybe I messed up.
I think maybe he didn't like my ideas I would add to it, but I was simply doing what he suggested I do. Come up with my own ideas. Whether he liked it or not that is the whole process of creating, inventing and improving. You think and then you think some more.

The Let Down:

Shortly after my email he emailed me back telling me that he decided not to sell the rights after close thought. I was crushed. I started putting together the video trailer and everything. I was also looking at ordering supplies and I was only a few days from paying the rights for the effect. It just goes to show you that when it comes to business anything can happen at a moments time. I was disappointed in myself. I started questioning whether I'm competent or even know what I'm doing. "Why did I tell him my other ideas?" I should of just kept my mouth shut, paid the money for the rights and then market and sell the effect.

Morals:

Then I realized who I am. Their is a reason why I told him my ideas. It's because I wanted to keep the integrity of the effect and at the same time add a little ZAM! I respect the creator and want to make good of his name. That's actually what I was proud that I would be doing. It's all good though. things happen for a reason.
I guess in this blog I wanted to tell other magic creators or inventors to follow your hearts. I could of probably bought the rights and changed it, but then that would of created some bad business and a huge let down to the creator. So I guess my message to the magic inventor community is that if you come into a situation of purchasing the rights to a magicians effect, Just be honest. It may not work out the way you want, but at least you're clean. If you try to just blow it or be sneaky and add your ideas after the fact it could could some problems. It's also a good to get something in writing and if you are going to change, add or tweak it make sure that you have that Written in your agreement. Ask for "Creative Freedom" of the effect when in negotiation or in the written agreement process.
Doing the right thing will give you the trusted reputation you need for future endeavors.

My next Effect:

Shortly after the email news I was upset and disappointed for a short time. I shrugged my shoulders and started to work on my next effect. The one coming out in July. 
I have about five other effects lined up. Some are just on the back burner for when I figure out the logistics as I said earlier in the blog.
So I would like to end with this.
JUST BE UP-FRONT AND HONEST. HONESTY IS THE WAY TO GO.
-ImaGinator-