The Making of “The YES Movie”

<Attendees to the 7th Annual NACCE Conference will be able to attend a complementary showing of the movie, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 @ 8:30pm>

By Louis Lautman

Executive Producer of the YES movie & Founder, Young Entrepreneur Society

I woke up last year on my 30th birthday and thought to myself that there had to be more. I knew I was an entrepreneur, but wondered if I was still a young entrepreneur. I had always gravitated toward other young successful people and others always wondered how I did so much at such a young age, but I knew I had more in me. I thought about all the amazing young people I had met over the years, then started researching more and thought that there were some amazing stories out there that most of the world didn’t know about and would love to hear.

I wondered what would be the best way to get the stories out about these amazing young geniuses, then it hit me…make a movie. I loved the idea, only…I had never made a movie before. But I knew I could do anything in this world and if I let this chance pass me by, I would never get over it. I am all about taking action and seizing opportunity and I knew that this is where my path was meant to go…or at least I said so! I believe you don’t find your destiny, but de-fine your destiny.

I began to intensely research every aspect of the film world, from pre-production to post production to marketing to distribution and everything in between. After about two months of research, I began the pre-production phase of "The YES Movie.” I could have been nervous, but I decided to be excited, at every step of the way from interviewing production companies to arranging our shots to setting up a three-month tour of the U.S.

I was fired up and ready to meet the nation’s most successful young self-made multi-millionaires. As the production crew and I took off around the country, we met amazing people along the way and each person taught me so much about business and life and true happiness. As a first-time film producer, I felt very happy that I made it to the production phase. Many filmmakers and people who want to start their own business never see their dream come to fruition for many reasons, but the biggest excuse I hear is that they don’t have the money.

I can tell you that whatever your dream is, there is always money out there to make it a reality! If you want coaching on how to find the funds, you will have to watch our movie. I can tell you that everything went perfectly, because I believe that everything did…however, that is not to say that things didn’t go over budget, we got lost, we missed appointments, we missed flights, equipment broke, we were stuck in traffic, blah, blah, blah, blah!

None of that matters. What matters is that I spent three months on the road and got the footage that I needed and it rocked. As we went into the post-production phase, I was fortunate to hook up with Emmy-Award winning writer Robyn Symon and Lifestyle Production guru Bernard Bonomo. With this awesome combination, our film was sure to be world class.

Again, I could tell you about the challenges in the relationship or re-arranging our schedules or losing data in computer crashes and the challenges of setting the strategy to make this the best film ever made on the topic of young entrepreneurship, but as you will learn when you watch the film, successful entrepreneurs all go through "stuff” and it’s not the "stuff” that matters, but how you react to that stuff that matters. What I did was make a world-class film despite all the "stuff” that happened along the way.

"The YES Movie” had its premier in Las Vegas this past spring and will be screened in select theaters and on specifically targeted high school and college campuses to reach young people as directly as possible. The film is already inspiring a global audience via online viewing and DVD sales of the film. For more information about "The YES Movie” or to view the official trailer, go to: www.theYESmovie.com.

*For more information on business incubation, visit www.nbia.org