Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Dugdale.
Hi Rick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in small-town Canada – actually the name of our LA-based company, Enderby Entertainment. While exploring an acting career as a child, I realized that I needed to have more options so I began working in production in Vancouver on X-Files. I met my business partner, Dan Petrie Jr. on a film called The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he was one of the Executive Producers on set and we decided to begin working together in a more formal partnership. This is where Enderby Entertainment was born. It’s been over 20 years of working together and now we have offices in LA as well as Kelowna, British Columbia (near Enderby). We have produced nearly 20 films together at this stage and yet still feel that we are just getting started when considering what we’d like to achieve in the next 5-10 years as our company grows and grows.
I’ve always looked out for new and interesting ways to move the film business forward in a fashion which allows access to business opportunities for independent film entrepreneurs outside of the studio system. Having also been an early adopter of crypto-technology and decentralized systems, I felt strongly that the future of the movie-making (and showing) business lies in this realm. I teamed up with a partner from that world, Cameron Shell, and together we created the world’s first NFT movie distribution company. It’s early days yet but we can confidently say that there is nobody who is doing what we are doing right now and soon we are sure it will be the norm.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think along the way, the obstacles I faced were encountering the aspects of the film business, and business in general, that I didn’t know well at that young age. There were setbacks for sure, incorrectly preparing for financial pitches, spending too much time in complicated chain of title situations, over-developing some projects and ideas. These setbacks required me to put the work in and learn and educate myself in those areas. You dust yourself off, get back on the horse and when you encounter those problems again, you’re better suited to deal with them. Trying to gain traction in the industry with a small company and few connections at the time, I had to cut through a lot of the layers. Fortunately, now we’re more established as a production company and I’m pleased every day with how we deal with mistakes or setbacks. We don’t repeat them.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I think along the way, the obstacles I faced were encountering the aspects of the film business, and business in general, that I didn’t know well at that young age. There were setbacks for sure, incorrectly preparing for financial pitches, spending too much time in complicated chain of title situations, over-developing some projects and ideas. These setbacks required me to put the work in and learn and educate myself in those areas. You dust yourself off, get back on the horse and when you encounter those problems again, you’re better suited to deal with them. Trying to gain traction in the industry with a small company and few connections at the time, I had to cut through a lot of the layers. Fortunately, now we’re more established as a production company and I’m pleased every day with how we deal with mistakes or setbacks. We don’t repeat them.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Squeaky wheel. You have got to get in a room with the people you admire and can learn from. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but don’t give up from getting that person on the phone or sitting down with you. You aren’t wrong to believe you can help someone while learning from them. Networking in general has more value than a college degree in my mind. Expand your interests. You never know when a construction foreman will give you insight into building a corporate structure in your company. Take up a sport, your golf game may be awful, but your handshakes will lead to opportunity. Don’t be shy, everyone is shy internally, people will admire your openness and will respond in kind. Most importantly, don’t quit your network or feel you have outgrown it. It doesn’t matter if you are launching with a studio head one day and then breaking fast with an inexperienced agent the next. People don’t like to feel used and you never know when you might need them in the future.
Pricing:
- We’ve launched two new drops of the first NFT film in history. $59.00 bundle and a $25.00 bundle. Both unique, both collectible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vuele.io and www.enderbyentertainment.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vueledigital/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickdugdaleproducer
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/vueledigital
Image Credits
Courtesy Enderby Entertainment
