Popcorn

“I don’t know how brilliant we were, but we were very enthusiastic about movies and the chance to make them.” — Francis Ford Coppola

On Sunday, Kathy Kristof wrote an article entitled: Producing an Investing Strategy that’s Boffo. I’m so out of synch with the Hollywood scene that I had to look up the definition of “boffo” on UrbanDictionary.com. Boffo means extremely successful and is typically used to describe a movie. Am I the only one that didn’t know this? I checked with Jeanine… she hadn’t heard of the word either. Perhaps, this is why we don’t get invited to any parties in the Hollywood hills.

The article featured Alan Haft, a movie producer turned financial advisor. Haft is touting his moneymaking formula: “Invest like a movie producer. It’s a far more certain route to riches.” He offers these tips:

– Keep it simple
– Work carefully
– Count costs
– Plan
– Diversify
– Don’t reinvent the wheel
– Where there’s a will, there’s a way

You can read the full Hollywood comparison here. I’ve been in California for eight years and none have been spent in the entertainment business. The closest I came to Hollywood was being interviewed in JC Calciano’s Coming Out movie. I was dreadfully heavy (fat) at the time and to this day, I’m thankful it never got picked up on Showtime.

Although, I did think my interview was thoughtful and hoped it would inspire others to come out of the closet… of course, since I was wearing a size 16 at the time, perhaps I should have stayed behind closed doors. A size 16 on the big screen looks like a size 20: I was larger than life.

So I don’t have any movie experience but I’ve written about others making movies and going broke. The little that I do know about movie making is that it all boils down to editing. Coppola said it best, “The essence of cinema is editing.” Haft seemed to forget this tip. It’s usually what you leave out that makes something better. Hmmm… I see a nice segue into saving money and cutting expenses. Should I bring popcorn?