I have to do a presentation about Odyssey arts applying Mckinseys 7s framework model to the information given above. identifying any solutions to help them using Mckinseys model please I need help I know it's a lot to read but it's due in for tomorrow

Odyssey Arts are an interactive media company based in the United Kingdom. Originally founded in 2016 and formally registered in 2019 as Odyssey Arts L.L., Odyssey Arts is nun by Designated Members Alexander Bishop and Christopher Sutcliffe. The company was intended to focus on both Theatre and Interactive Media productions but in 2018, the company switched focus exclusively to the latter. The company operates as Limited Liability Partnership, with Alex and Chris being its only two designated members and Mark Sutcliffe serving as an additional member. Odyssey Arts makes entertainment products known as 'Interactive Films' or Full Motion Video Games', in which the user or audience, are asked to interactive with the films they view and make decisions which effect and shape the overall narrative. The company is focused on offering expansive and rewarding experiences for a low price point in order to provide customers with better value. In addition to its members, the company also hires additional staff and performers on a contractual basis to complete its productions and is looking to expand its members over time by incorporating key creative and management staff. Odyssey A rts are keen to offer positions primarily to recent graduates or relatively unknown performers, as its members feel the creative environment is difficult to break into and would like to carve out opportunities in the industry that it can then pass down to less established people in the industry. Business Objectives Odyssey Arts is a company founded by artists and as such, wants to work for artists. Part of the reason the company was founded was due to the difficulty performers face breaking into the industry and holding down consistent work. To try to remedy this situation for the artists we work with, Odyssey Arts aims to pay every contractor an industry standard wage, one set by Equity, the performers union, of which both designated members are registered members. In addition to this, the company intends to always consider less established people in the field when recruiting or casting, so as to give opportunities to recent graduates or those who may have had little luck breaking into the industry. This latter goal will be achieved by offering localised casting and recruitment when hiring for projects, in our home locations of Manchester, Liverpool and any potential areas of filming. We believe that if we can succeed then we should help others succeed. All members of the company feel strongly that any contractors or potential employees must come first and we have written into our LLP agreement, that we, as members, are to only be paid at specific periods and after all operating costs (wages included) have been covered. This means that in the case of projects underperforming or the company losing money through other means, we, as the owners, take the financial hit, not those we employ. This a matter in which all members are resolute and we believe we take a highly ethical, bottom up approa to our company and its artistic operations.istring it comes to our work, Odyssey Arts intend to release well crafted cinematic, interactive experiences that offer exceptional customer value withou compromising on quality or the company's artistic vision. We believe that, by taking this approach can become the premier name in the relatively new medium of interactive film within the UK and potentially even international markets. Business Model The company's business model is similar to that of other film production companies, in that it focuses on feature releases and uses the profits from these releases to fund future releases and cover its operating costs. These releases will features large spikes of profit during the release window (anywhere between the first week and four weeks after the release date), with the product gained smaller but consistent sales after that period, much like any other released media. This means the company lives and dies on the performance of its releases, Initially, the company will be reliant on these feature releases but hopes to expand the release listings to include a number of smaller, likely, less profitable products as well. We ultimately intend to expand this further in the distant future, to include smaller projects designed for mobile and handheld devices, likely with an even lower price point, but there are no concrete plans in this regard within the next five years. Having multiple releases allows more chance for success and can soften the blow of any one project failing to meet expectations. Though, as will be discussed when summarizing our competitors, it is also possible to stretch your resources too thinly or over saturate your own market, so we will only introduce new releases gradually and when the risk is a lot safer financially. This means the company's initial releases will have to perform sufficiently well to allow us to expand our release portfolio. The release schedule as it currently stands will be detailed later in this document. Our first release, 'Fertyman', is an outlier in this business model as, instead of it being a full feature release, it will be released for free as a marketing ploy. The hope of this particular strategy is to crowdfund the production budget for our next feature film 'Let it Lie (Working Title). 'Ferryman' was made on an incredibly small budget ( 1,500 ) by just the three members of the company and is as high a quality as we can manage at this current state of our business, but it does not reflect the quality we can achieve with sufficient funding. The company has very little in the way of startup funds and due to the long length of film production, it makes loans without delayed repayment unviable, so we have decided on crowdfunding to jump start the company. After this initial jump start, the company must be financially self sufficient Films usually have incredibly large production budgets but the strength of our production style allows us to keep costs relatively low compared to much larger film productions. With this cost effective style of film naking, working in tandem with the capable staff, we can produce films more cheaply without ompromising on quality and therefore maintain a lower. More consumer friendly price point, with an mphasis on product exposure and volume sales to generate income, though this will be detailed later the document. 'Let it Lie' will require a minimum estimated budget of around f95,000. Product Overyiew Allow the viewer complete control over the stories they see play out. Heavily inspired by the incredible preceded those, The viewer watches the film, decades, and the 'choose your adventure' books that the film they are regularly given choices to make which home, perthaps on the go, and as they watch which, proverbial, fork in the road to walk down. The signectly impact the film's plot. They choose 'do we buy the coffee or not?' Or they may be much monificance of the choice may appear small: die?' however they always affect the plot in some way, and immediately impactul; 'Does she live or of the film. Every decision made unlocks a different path, will almost always impact the conclusion these multiple endings which really makes the viewer feel ind each path ends in a different way. It is film translates to the consumer. in control, and this is how the value of our decisions the viewer make really do make a difference, and this is what will keep them coming back. Action and consequence. Film, as most people know it, is a passive medium and with streaming on track to becoming the dominant form of media consumption and the video game industry being the most successful form of media, there has never been more options for a consumer. We can offer them something that most they want. We eliminate potential frustration from a vian the consume and shape it in any way decisions. Did a character do something you wished thers perspective, by having variable narrative power in the hands of they hadn't? Replay and change it. We put the Interactive media, outside of the video game industry, is beginning to grow and develop. Netflix's original show 'Black Mirror' will be experimenting with it in the near future and some children's media content has also begun to dip in their proverbial toe. The video game industry has also been making use of similar mechanics for quite some time, allowing for substantial audience crossover potential. With this trend looming, now is the perfect time to capitalise on this idea. Given our substantially lower budget and backing, we can carve out a niche below the industry giants, like Netflix and the former Telltale Games, focusing on cultivating an audience much in the way that independent films have done, as an alternative to big money media projects. Our biggest rival would be Wales Interactive, who produce a product similar to ours (with substantially less scope) at a similar price point, with Supermassive Games' output also being of a similar vein. Our lower budget forces us to be more creative and allows us more creative freedom than many of our competitors would have. Through frugal budgeting and clever writing, we can outdo many of our potential rivals in the sheer scope of our films. We can offer more choice and variation than anyone else and this will be what makes our films stand out from our competitors. The Ferryman has recently left post production and is headed into its testing, marketing and subsequent release phases for a planned release in the second quarter of 2023 via the Steam platform. The company is currently developing Ferryman's official website and profiles on all major forms of social media. Product Development WOur interactive system was researched extensively and developed over several years. Our initial pproach was to see what people liked and disliked about the products our competitors were making Personnel \&e Organizational Structure Odyssey Ares currently comprives of three membern, two of which are designated members of the LLP. The company plans on adding new members over time to till certain ker mites within the business. All other staff hired win be on an individual contracied basis for the forseeable fanire. though the company will consider hiring employees when in a much better financial position. Alexander Bishop -Designated Member -Roles: Performer, Director, Composer, Audio Mixer, Writer A former L.JMU student, having graduated with a BA(Hons) in Drama, Alex has an extensive background of theatre and film work. He is also a published poet and has had several of his written plays staged on Merseyside. Alex is also a seasoned musician having both composed and performed music since 2007. You can hear him in his current musical project, a historical heavy metal band named 'Forlom Hope'. Christopher Sutcliffe -Designated Member -Roles: Performer, Director, Head Writer, Chief Editor, Director of Photography A nother former LJMU student, having also graduated with a BA(Hons) in Drama, Chris has an substantial repertoire of theatre and film work under his belt. He has also written several critically acclaimed plays staged in both Merseyside and Manchester. Mark Sutcliffe -Member -Roles: Brand Manager, Head of Marketing, Graphic Design, Lead Programmer, Web Designer Mark graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BA(Hons) in Digital Environmental Design. Mark also runs his own business as an indepent graphic designer, working under his own name. Mark also works for a larger graphic design company. Whathe company makes use of several advisors in a number of specific areas in which the members lack expertise. The company's list of advisors is as follows: Doug Mccall (Trademarking, Business) Andrew Mccall (Financial) Chris Simpson (Legal) The company plans to add the following roles to its list of permanent employees (either as members or paid employees) in the future. In the event of a role being the same as that of an existing member, the goal would be to relinquish that member of that role responsibility so as to allow them to focus on other areas in the business: XHead of Marketing, Lead Programmer, Sound Designer, Human Resources, Payroll \& A ccounting, Head of Security, Legal Administrator, Assistant Director, Gaffer, Make-up department, Production Assistants, Lead Technician Contractors - Editors, Sound and Light Technicians, Cameramen and how we could align this with our artistic intent to offer as much narrative choice as possible. Whilst no in person surveying was conducted, we did look extensively as both crifical and user reviews for a large number of rival games, as well comparing both critic and user review scores overall. Our findings told us that there was a large audience for narrative driven games but that many users felt limited or restricted by the lack of re-playability found in those experiences, often citing an effective 'illusion of choice'. We also looked technically at the systems these experiences used in order to achieve their desired form of interactivity and build our engine based upon these inspirations. We then prototyped both the game engine and the filming process itself extensively, making a number of short prototype experiences, not intended for any public release. Projects are decided by both designated members far in advance of production. Once determined, a director is assigned and pre production on the project can begin. Chris directed our first release, 'Fentyman' and Alex will be directing our second, 'Let it Lie'. The third planned release will be codirected by both designated members due to it's more complex structure and scale. Once all the preproduction on the film is complete, preliminary photography (shooting) begins. Once that is complete, the project enters post production, which entails all the usual post production elements that film would but with additional technical steps in programming and structuring due to the required interactivity of our projects. During post-production, the marketing team determines the most effective release strategy and this stage begins once the product is complete and ready for release. Quality Assurance \& Contingency The films will undergo extensive Quality Assurance (QA) testing before release in order to ensure that they work as intended, without any bugs or errors. Scripts are also extensively researched and drafted prior to production, with any sensitive topics discussed extensively with more individuals more experienced in the topic in question. The company plans extensive contingencies for production delays and will carry out regular maintenance of any online services or websites once they are up and running. The company will keep a secure database of any people under its employ, whether as a member of the partnership or as a contracted employee. Copyright, Trademarking \& Other Legal Matters Whilst the various aspects of the film's interactivity cannot be fully copyrighted, the engine and the code that comprises it can be. Our current plan is to license a pre-existing game engine but we have our own custom built one as a reserve engine in case we aren't able to secure the license. All our creative work, including both the script and the finished film, is protected under standard creative licensing. Trademarks for the company's brand, including the name and logo, are currently pending. limr Contractors will be under specific non-disclosure agreements for the projects they work on, as outlined in their respective contracts. The company and any prospective Customers are protected under the buyer/seller agreements of the various store fronts we will be selling our products on. The company has liability insurance provided by its members Equity membership to cover any injuries or damages that may occur during film production. and how we could align this with our artistic intent to offer as much narrative choice as possible. Whilst no in person surveying was conducted, we did look extensively as both crifical and user reviews for a large number of rival games, as well comparing both critic and user review scores overall. Our findings told us that there was a large audience for narrative driven games but that many users felt limited or restricted by the lack of re-playability found in those experiences, often citing an effective 'illusion of choice'. We also looked technically at the systems these experiences used in order to achieve their desired form of interactivity and build our engine based upon these inspirations. We then prototyped both the game engine and the filming process itself extensively, making a number of short prototype experiences, not intended for any public release. Projects are decided by both designated members far in advance of production. Once determined, a director is assigned and pre production on the project can begin. Chris directed our first release, 'Ferryman' and Alex will be directing our second, 'Let it Lie'. The third planned release will be codirected by both designated members due to it's more complex structure and scale. Once all the preproduction on the film is complete, preliminary photography (shooting) begins. Once that is complete, the project enters post production, which entails all the usual post production elements that film would but with additional technical steps in programming and structuring due to the required interactivity of our projects. During post-production, the marketing team determines the most effective release strategy and this stage begins once the product is complete and ready for release. Quality Assurance \& Contingency The films will undergo extensive Quality Assurance (QA) testing before release in order to ensure that they work as intended, without any bugs or errors. Scripts are also extensively researched and drafted prior to production, with any sensitive topics discussed extensively with more individuals more experienced in the topic in question. The company plans extensive contingencies for production delays and will carry out regular maintenance of any online services or websites once they are up and running. The company will keep a secure database of any people under its employ, whether as a member of the partnership or as a contracted employee. Copyright, Trademarking \& Other Legal Matters Whilst the various aspects of the film's interactivity cannot be fully copyrighted, the engine and the code that comprises it can be. Our current plan is to license a pre-existing game engine but we have our own custom built one as a reserve engine in case we aren't able to secure the license. All our creative work, including both the script and the finished film, is protected under standard creative licensing. Trademarks for the company's brand, including the name and logo, are currently pending. Contractors will be under specific non-disclosure agreements for the projects they work on, as outlined in their respective contracts. The company and any prospective Customers are protected under the buyer/seller agreements of the various store fronts we will be selling our products on. The company has liability insurance provided by its members Equity membership to cover any injuries or damages that may occur during film production. Whilst our marketing strategy is currently in development for feature releases, we have a fairly early draft of our marketing strategy for the release of Fenyman. Currently, budger is a problem, so we've been forced to take a mone grass roots style of marketing as our chief focus. We plan to contact a large volume of relevant influencers across all major social media and video/streaming platforms, with the hopes of working alongside them to promote the project. There is some money for occasional but small sponsorship deals and some limited, targeted advertising to our relevant audience. Our target audience is people primarily between the ages of 10 and 40 , both male and female, and primarily those who already play video games. We plan to expand this to a more general audience as time goes on and will target certain demographics based upon the genre of the film we are releasing at that point. Video gaming itself is a lot more commonplace amongst all generations now than it used to be, so we would hope to target a wider, more casual demographic once we have the funds more substantial marketing campaigns. Our first release will also be limited to the PC platform (via Steam) due to budget and technical restrictions, though, as aforementioned, this release is simply intended to jump start the company's finances so that our second release can be made in order to generate future profits. This second release is intended to be available on as many video gaming platforms as possible in order to maximise our audience reach. The company currently holds no online presence but will have a fully functional website and all relevant social media active and heavily pushed during the build up to 'Fertyman'. Release Schedule \& Price Point Odyssey Arts has a planned release schedule for its next few projects, though like many businesses this has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, causing the first release to be delayed by 12 months from its initial release window. Release windows are tentative and subject to change. Feature releases are planned for every 18 months, though their preproduction will begin 24 months ahead of their planned release date. Ferryman will be the first release and will be used to crowdfund the second release 'Let it Lie'. This will have ramifications for the schedule as a failed crowdfunding will delay production for all subsequent films. As you can see from the tail end of this schedule, the company plans to eventually produce at least one short and one feature film within an 18 month four smaller and two feature projects within further in the future. We are unlikely to release more than and diminishing returns. Feature releases will have a recommended retail price between 7.99 and 11.99 depending on production budgets but will always sit as close to the lower end of that range as the company can manage. Smaller releases will have a recommended retail price between .99 and 6.99 depending that 4.99 was to project and its production budget. In our research and sales projections, we found the latter may be necessary for more expensive pmduetions that 11.99 was likely too high, though arrived at in much the same way. As aforementioned in this document, 'Ferryman' will be a free release as it's primary purpose is to raise awareness of the company itself and to advertise the crowdfunding campaign for our first planned paid release. Competition \& Sales Figures Full Motion Video games have been in existence since the early 1990's and choose your own adventure styles games for even longer - yet it is only in the last two decades that interactive narratives of comparable scope to Odyssey Arts products have been in existence. Thanks to the influence of video game studios like Bioware ('Mass Effect' \& 'Dragon A ge' series) and Telltale Games' early work, interactive narrative has become a key part of many modern video games. Odyssey Arts specialise in a more filmic approach to video game production however, and as a result we aren't aiming to compete with more diverse experiences like CD Projekt Red's 'The Witcher' series or non narrative focused experiences like Epic Game's Fortnite. Odyssey Arts direct competition comes from studios that offer similar narrative experiences, where the sole, or at least primary, game mechanic is influencing the narrative events of the story through action or dialogue. As such, we have assembled a reasonably comprehensive list of our direct competitors and their products in order to see what we can leam from them. Sections in italics are brief overviews of what the company has leamed from each competitor respectively and are merely the findings and opinions of the designated partnership JHEWales Interactive: Late Shift (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam) - RRP 14.99 9ESales Figures - 115,000 (2019 - Steam Only, other platforms UNKNOWN) The Complex (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam) - RRP c9.99.XOSales Figures - Feaditrap Dungeon: The Golden Room (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X. Nintendo Switch. Night Book (PS4, PS5, X box One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC) - RRP 9.99. Sales Figures - UNRELEASED Wales Interactive are the primary comperition for Odyssey Arts, as their product mirror most similarly to ours out of all of our competitors. They are much longer established and have access to impressive, they lack the narrative and per foel that whilst their products are technically very though that is of course a subjective debate. Ow he quality that Odyssey Arts bring to the table, breadth of content. We find Wales Interactive and key difference in manageable, non subjective areas is multiple endings to be a lot more linear and limited other video games with narrative strands and is usually not felt undil subsequent playthroughs. This the appear on a first experience, though this market. By offering a much broader scope for the is is where we hope to strike our niche in the all given the same dedicated production polish, we hrative to change, more decisions, more endings, example, has 7 main endings. Our free release, Ferryme to offer value for money. Late Shift for Lie' (Working Title), is planned to feature 70+ endings. Fin', features 25. Our first paid release, 'Let it would see us have a value for money advantage, but we are also trying our competition in price point but still profitable, in order to improve accessibility and are also trying to keep our price point low WNetflix:BrBandersnatch (Netflix Streaming) = RRP N/A (Subscription Model) UNKNOWN UribUbrealcable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend (Neffix Streaming) RRP N/A (Subscription Model). Viewing Figures - UNKNOwN? Reverend (Netflix Streaming) The most prominent competition we face is from Netfix. Whilst we will platform basis, given we currently have no means betflix. Whilst we will not be challenging them on a of a comparative form of comperirion. Seen by many as the first to make a produre Motion Video (though technically being. Seen by many as the first to make a product like this in Full Bandersnatch is the product most likely to be made reference to when our product is discussed in reviews or by potential customers. Whilst the narrative and performative quality of Bandersnatch is very high, we still feel we offer a unique advantage in breadth of content, given Bandersnatch is more limited than much of our competition, even if it does offer some unique elements on replays. Wravourworks: Erica (Ps4, Steam) - RRP E8.99. Sales Figures - UKNOWNN Similar to Wales Interactive's output but with a much more gameplay style of interactivity (such as the opening of drawers etc), there is no doubt that this is technically the most impressive Full Motion Video Game to date. It's narrative and performances have not been overly well received how ever, so we feel that this is an area in which our company will hold an advantage, alongside our breadth of content, as this is reasonably linear as interactive experiences go. Supermassive Games: Until Dawn - (PS4) - RRP 49.99 - Sales Figures - 1,900,000 (2019) Kidden Agenda - (PS4) - RRP E15.99 - Sales Figures - 600,000 (2019) he Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan - (PS4, Xbox One, PC) - RRP 24.99 - Sales park Pictures Anthology: Litule Hope - (PS4, Xbox One, PC) - RRP 224.99 - Sales Figures Dawdibly high quality experiences delivered by one of Sony's up and coming first party studios. Until wrion, though they are heavily motion captumed on the PS4 system. These games are not live (rom the performers involved. Our method of pmed in order to create as realistic a portrayal as possible however products but as a re similar. Supermossive fon will differ somewhat from this studios. than wet. We believe we can result hold limited narrotive Games output features more gameplay variety have failed to recreate the success of their smash hit.'Until byilising our USP. Their smaller projects Telltale Games: The Walking Dead RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 3,600,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walkind Dead: Michonne -RRP: 3.99 - Sales: - 300,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead Season Two -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 1,400,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead A New Frontier -RRP: FREE - Sales - 200,000 Downloads (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead: The Final Season -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - UNKNOWN Batman: The Telltales Series -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 200,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Batman: The Enemy Within -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 80,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 70,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Wolf Among Us -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 1,100,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Minecraft: Story Mode -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 300,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - UNKNOWN Tales from the Borderlands -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 700,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Game of Thrones -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 600,00 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Telltale Games are one of the gold standards for narrative delivery in videogames. Having made several earlier attempts utilising well known movie licenses, such as Jurassic Park and Back to the Future, Telltale nailed the formula for an interactive narrative with their biggest hit to date 'The Dead; Season One'. Estimated to have sold a total exceeding 20,000,000 units acrosy all boldened by their hit success, the studlo fout their doors within a few years of those releoses. Al produced games featuring Morvel and found themselves able to court many prominent licenses popopularity. Each release was a case of diminicenses, as well as Game of Thrones at the height of Monselves having oversaturated their owen minishing returns however and the studio soon found opensive licenses, at the same time. This courket by releasing too many similar products, featuring 2018. The studio has since been boughe coupled with poor management led the studio to fold in late currently announced. Telltale are a great but's new output has yet to be seen, with only one project bad thing and has definitely factome great example of why taking on too much at once can be a really projects we make. Their dialogued into our planned release schedule and the scope of the individual competitor mentioned in this sertion choice system has also been an influence on every other This is not an exhaustive list and more have been released in recent years as this form of media sees a resurgence in popularity. This should be seen as a starting point featuring a number of notable example products by competing companies. All figures are accurate as of September 2020 using all available data at the time of our research. Sales Projections Lacking the production and marketing budgets of our competitors, we are going to have a much harder struggle to hit their sales figures. However, many of our competitors overall sales are likely much higher due the availability of their products across a multitude of platforms, with the sales data we have access to only telling us the sales from a single one of those platforms. The more accessible our product is across as many platforms as possible, the higher audience exposure we receive and the higher likelihood of sales. There is a a lot we don't know about how our own products will fare so our best estimation puts sales somewhere between 1,000 and 200,000 units as a realistic range. At a price point of 8.99, we would need to sell 9,455 units in order to break even, assuming the production doesn't go over budget for any reason. We believe this is more than achievable given the large audience sizes of the platforms we are planning to release on. This figure was cleared by all of our competitors, at least those we have sales data for, and as mentioned earlier, this data is in itself incomplete and an inaccurate reflection of the true sales figures across all platforms. Ultimately we would expect to hit this sale range on each individual platform the product is available on. Odyssey Arts are an interactive media company based in the United Kingdom. Originally founded in 2016 and formally registered in 2019 as Odyssey Arts L.L., Odyssey Arts is nun by Designated Members Alexander Bishop and Christopher Sutcliffe. The company was intended to focus on both Theatre and Interactive Media productions but in 2018, the company switched focus exclusively to the latter. The company operates as Limited Liability Partnership, with Alex and Chris being its only two designated members and Mark Sutcliffe serving as an additional member. Odyssey Arts makes entertainment products known as 'Interactive Films' or Full Motion Video Games', in which the user or audience, are asked to interactive with the films they view and make decisions which effect and shape the overall narrative. The company is focused on offering expansive and rewarding experiences for a low price point in order to provide customers with better value. In addition to its members, the company also hires additional staff and performers on a contractual basis to complete its productions and is looking to expand its members over time by incorporating key creative and management staff. Odyssey A rts are keen to offer positions primarily to recent graduates or relatively unknown performers, as its members feel the creative environment is difficult to break into and would like to carve out opportunities in the industry that it can then pass down to less established people in the industry. Business Objectives Odyssey Arts is a company founded by artists and as such, wants to work for artists. Part of the reason the company was founded was due to the difficulty performers face breaking into the industry and holding down consistent work. To try to remedy this situation for the artists we work with, Odyssey Arts aims to pay every contractor an industry standard wage, one set by Equity, the performers union, of which both designated members are registered members. In addition to this, the company intends to always consider less established people in the field when recruiting or casting, so as to give opportunities to recent graduates or those who may have had little luck breaking into the industry. This latter goal will be achieved by offering localised casting and recruitment when hiring for projects, in our home locations of Manchester, Liverpool and any potential areas of filming. We believe that if we can succeed then we should help others succeed. All members of the company feel strongly that any contractors or potential employees must come first and we have written into our LLP agreement, that we, as members, are to only be paid at specific periods and after all operating costs (wages included) have been covered. This means that in the case of projects underperforming or the company losing money through other means, we, as the owners, take the financial hit, not those we employ. This a matter in which all members are resolute and we believe we take a highly ethical, bottom up approa to our company and its artistic operations.istring it comes to our work, Odyssey Arts intend to release well crafted cinematic, interactive experiences that offer exceptional customer value withou compromising on quality or the company's artistic vision. We believe that, by taking this approach can become the premier name in the relatively new medium of interactive film within the UK and potentially even international markets. Business Model The company's business model is similar to that of other film production companies, in that it focuses on feature releases and uses the profits from these releases to fund future releases and cover its operating costs. These releases will features large spikes of profit during the release window (anywhere between the first week and four weeks after the release date), with the product gained smaller but consistent sales after that period, much like any other released media. This means the company lives and dies on the performance of its releases, Initially, the company will be reliant on these feature releases but hopes to expand the release listings to include a number of smaller, likely, less profitable products as well. We ultimately intend to expand this further in the distant future, to include smaller projects designed for mobile and handheld devices, likely with an even lower price point, but there are no concrete plans in this regard within the next five years. Having multiple releases allows more chance for success and can soften the blow of any one project failing to meet expectations. Though, as will be discussed when summarizing our competitors, it is also possible to stretch your resources too thinly or over saturate your own market, so we will only introduce new releases gradually and when the risk is a lot safer financially. This means the company's initial releases will have to perform sufficiently well to allow us to expand our release portfolio. The release schedule as it currently stands will be detailed later in this document. Our first release, 'Fertyman', is an outlier in this business model as, instead of it being a full feature release, it will be released for free as a marketing ploy. The hope of this particular strategy is to crowdfund the production budget for our next feature film 'Let it Lie (Working Title). 'Ferryman' was made on an incredibly small budget ( 1,500 ) by just the three members of the company and is as high a quality as we can manage at this current state of our business, but it does not reflect the quality we can achieve with sufficient funding. The company has very little in the way of startup funds and due to the long length of film production, it makes loans without delayed repayment unviable, so we have decided on crowdfunding to jump start the company. After this initial jump start, the company must be financially self sufficient Films usually have incredibly large production budgets but the strength of our production style allows us to keep costs relatively low compared to much larger film productions. With this cost effective style of film naking, working in tandem with the capable staff, we can produce films more cheaply without ompromising on quality and therefore maintain a lower. More consumer friendly price point, with an mphasis on product exposure and volume sales to generate income, though this will be detailed later the document. 'Let it Lie' will require a minimum estimated budget of around f95,000. Product Overyiew Allow the viewer complete control over the stories they see play out. Heavily inspired by the incredible preceded those, The viewer watches the film, decades, and the 'choose your adventure' books that the film they are regularly given choices to make which home, perthaps on the go, and as they watch which, proverbial, fork in the road to walk down. The signectly impact the film's plot. They choose 'do we buy the coffee or not?' Or they may be much monificance of the choice may appear small: die?' however they always affect the plot in some way, and immediately impactul; 'Does she live or of the film. Every decision made unlocks a different path, will almost always impact the conclusion these multiple endings which really makes the viewer feel ind each path ends in a different way. It is film translates to the consumer. in control, and this is how the value of our decisions the viewer make really do make a difference, and this is what will keep them coming back. Action and consequence. Film, as most people know it, is a passive medium and with streaming on track to becoming the dominant form of media consumption and the video game industry being the most successful form of media, there has never been more options for a consumer. We can offer them something that most they want. We eliminate potential frustration from a vian the consume and shape it in any way decisions. Did a character do something you wished thers perspective, by having variable narrative power in the hands of they hadn't? Replay and change it. We put the Interactive media, outside of the video game industry, is beginning to grow and develop. Netflix's original show 'Black Mirror' will be experimenting with it in the near future and some children's media content has also begun to dip in their proverbial toe. The video game industry has also been making use of similar mechanics for quite some time, allowing for substantial audience crossover potential. With this trend looming, now is the perfect time to capitalise on this idea. Given our substantially lower budget and backing, we can carve out a niche below the industry giants, like Netflix and the former Telltale Games, focusing on cultivating an audience much in the way that independent films have done, as an alternative to big money media projects. Our biggest rival would be Wales Interactive, who produce a product similar to ours (with substantially less scope) at a similar price point, with Supermassive Games' output also being of a similar vein. Our lower budget forces us to be more creative and allows us more creative freedom than many of our competitors would have. Through frugal budgeting and clever writing, we can outdo many of our potential rivals in the sheer scope of our films. We can offer more choice and variation than anyone else and this will be what makes our films stand out from our competitors. The Ferryman has recently left post production and is headed into its testing, marketing and subsequent release phases for a planned release in the second quarter of 2023 via the Steam platform. The company is currently developing Ferryman's official website and profiles on all major forms of social media. Product Development WOur interactive system was researched extensively and developed over several years. Our initial pproach was to see what people liked and disliked about the products our competitors were making Personnel \&e Organizational Structure Odyssey Ares currently comprives of three membern, two of which are designated members of the LLP. The company plans on adding new members over time to till certain ker mites within the business. All other staff hired win be on an individual contracied basis for the forseeable fanire. though the company will consider hiring employees when in a much better financial position. Alexander Bishop -Designated Member -Roles: Performer, Director, Composer, Audio Mixer, Writer A former L.JMU student, having graduated with a BA(Hons) in Drama, Alex has an extensive background of theatre and film work. He is also a published poet and has had several of his written plays staged on Merseyside. Alex is also a seasoned musician having both composed and performed music since 2007. You can hear him in his current musical project, a historical heavy metal band named 'Forlom Hope'. Christopher Sutcliffe -Designated Member -Roles: Performer, Director, Head Writer, Chief Editor, Director of Photography A nother former LJMU student, having also graduated with a BA(Hons) in Drama, Chris has an substantial repertoire of theatre and film work under his belt. He has also written several critically acclaimed plays staged in both Merseyside and Manchester. Mark Sutcliffe -Member -Roles: Brand Manager, Head of Marketing, Graphic Design, Lead Programmer, Web Designer Mark graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BA(Hons) in Digital Environmental Design. Mark also runs his own business as an indepent graphic designer, working under his own name. Mark also works for a larger graphic design company. Whathe company makes use of several advisors in a number of specific areas in which the members lack expertise. The company's list of advisors is as follows: Doug Mccall (Trademarking, Business) Andrew Mccall (Financial) Chris Simpson (Legal) The company plans to add the following roles to its list of permanent employees (either as members or paid employees) in the future. In the event of a role being the same as that of an existing member, the goal would be to relinquish that member of that role responsibility so as to allow them to focus on other areas in the business: XHead of Marketing, Lead Programmer, Sound Designer, Human Resources, Payroll \& A ccounting, Head of Security, Legal Administrator, Assistant Director, Gaffer, Make-up department, Production Assistants, Lead Technician Contractors - Editors, Sound and Light Technicians, Cameramen and how we could align this with our artistic intent to offer as much narrative choice as possible. Whilst no in person surveying was conducted, we did look extensively as both crifical and user reviews for a large number of rival games, as well comparing both critic and user review scores overall. Our findings told us that there was a large audience for narrative driven games but that many users felt limited or restricted by the lack of re-playability found in those experiences, often citing an effective 'illusion of choice'. We also looked technically at the systems these experiences used in order to achieve their desired form of interactivity and build our engine based upon these inspirations. We then prototyped both the game engine and the filming process itself extensively, making a number of short prototype experiences, not intended for any public release. Projects are decided by both designated members far in advance of production. Once determined, a director is assigned and pre production on the project can begin. Chris directed our first release, 'Fentyman' and Alex will be directing our second, 'Let it Lie'. The third planned release will be codirected by both designated members due to it's more complex structure and scale. Once all the preproduction on the film is complete, preliminary photography (shooting) begins. Once that is complete, the project enters post production, which entails all the usual post production elements that film would but with additional technical steps in programming and structuring due to the required interactivity of our projects. During post-production, the marketing team determines the most effective release strategy and this stage begins once the product is complete and ready for release. Quality Assurance \& Contingency The films will undergo extensive Quality Assurance (QA) testing before release in order to ensure that they work as intended, without any bugs or errors. Scripts are also extensively researched and drafted prior to production, with any sensitive topics discussed extensively with more individuals more experienced in the topic in question. The company plans extensive contingencies for production delays and will carry out regular maintenance of any online services or websites once they are up and running. The company will keep a secure database of any people under its employ, whether as a member of the partnership or as a contracted employee. Copyright, Trademarking \& Other Legal Matters Whilst the various aspects of the film's interactivity cannot be fully copyrighted, the engine and the code that comprises it can be. Our current plan is to license a pre-existing game engine but we have our own custom built one as a reserve engine in case we aren't able to secure the license. All our creative work, including both the script and the finished film, is protected under standard creative licensing. Trademarks for the company's brand, including the name and logo, are currently pending. limr Contractors will be under specific non-disclosure agreements for the projects they work on, as outlined in their respective contracts. The company and any prospective Customers are protected under the buyer/seller agreements of the various store fronts we will be selling our products on. The company has liability insurance provided by its members Equity membership to cover any injuries or damages that may occur during film production. and how we could align this with our artistic intent to offer as much narrative choice as possible. Whilst no in person surveying was conducted, we did look extensively as both crifical and user reviews for a large number of rival games, as well comparing both critic and user review scores overall. Our findings told us that there was a large audience for narrative driven games but that many users felt limited or restricted by the lack of re-playability found in those experiences, often citing an effective 'illusion of choice'. We also looked technically at the systems these experiences used in order to achieve their desired form of interactivity and build our engine based upon these inspirations. We then prototyped both the game engine and the filming process itself extensively, making a number of short prototype experiences, not intended for any public release. Projects are decided by both designated members far in advance of production. Once determined, a director is assigned and pre production on the project can begin. Chris directed our first release, 'Ferryman' and Alex will be directing our second, 'Let it Lie'. The third planned release will be codirected by both designated members due to it's more complex structure and scale. Once all the preproduction on the film is complete, preliminary photography (shooting) begins. Once that is complete, the project enters post production, which entails all the usual post production elements that film would but with additional technical steps in programming and structuring due to the required interactivity of our projects. During post-production, the marketing team determines the most effective release strategy and this stage begins once the product is complete and ready for release. Quality Assurance \& Contingency The films will undergo extensive Quality Assurance (QA) testing before release in order to ensure that they work as intended, without any bugs or errors. Scripts are also extensively researched and drafted prior to production, with any sensitive topics discussed extensively with more individuals more experienced in the topic in question. The company plans extensive contingencies for production delays and will carry out regular maintenance of any online services or websites once they are up and running. The company will keep a secure database of any people under its employ, whether as a member of the partnership or as a contracted employee. Copyright, Trademarking \& Other Legal Matters Whilst the various aspects of the film's interactivity cannot be fully copyrighted, the engine and the code that comprises it can be. Our current plan is to license a pre-existing game engine but we have our own custom built one as a reserve engine in case we aren't able to secure the license. All our creative work, including both the script and the finished film, is protected under standard creative licensing. Trademarks for the company's brand, including the name and logo, are currently pending. Contractors will be under specific non-disclosure agreements for the projects they work on, as outlined in their respective contracts. The company and any prospective Customers are protected under the buyer/seller agreements of the various store fronts we will be selling our products on. The company has liability insurance provided by its members Equity membership to cover any injuries or damages that may occur during film production. Whilst our marketing strategy is currently in development for feature releases, we have a fairly early draft of our marketing strategy for the release of Fenyman. Currently, budger is a problem, so we've been forced to take a mone grass roots style of marketing as our chief focus. We plan to contact a large volume of relevant influencers across all major social media and video/streaming platforms, with the hopes of working alongside them to promote the project. There is some money for occasional but small sponsorship deals and some limited, targeted advertising to our relevant audience. Our target audience is people primarily between the ages of 10 and 40 , both male and female, and primarily those who already play video games. We plan to expand this to a more general audience as time goes on and will target certain demographics based upon the genre of the film we are releasing at that point. Video gaming itself is a lot more commonplace amongst all generations now than it used to be, so we would hope to target a wider, more casual demographic once we have the funds more substantial marketing campaigns. Our first release will also be limited to the PC platform (via Steam) due to budget and technical restrictions, though, as aforementioned, this release is simply intended to jump start the company's finances so that our second release can be made in order to generate future profits. This second release is intended to be available on as many video gaming platforms as possible in order to maximise our audience reach. The company currently holds no online presence but will have a fully functional website and all relevant social media active and heavily pushed during the build up to 'Fertyman'. Release Schedule \& Price Point Odyssey Arts has a planned release schedule for its next few projects, though like many businesses this has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, causing the first release to be delayed by 12 months from its initial release window. Release windows are tentative and subject to change. Feature releases are planned for every 18 months, though their preproduction will begin 24 months ahead of their planned release date. Ferryman will be the first release and will be used to crowdfund the second release 'Let it Lie'. This will have ramifications for the schedule as a failed crowdfunding will delay production for all subsequent films. As you can see from the tail end of this schedule, the company plans to eventually produce at least one short and one feature film within an 18 month four smaller and two feature projects within further in the future. We are unlikely to release more than and diminishing returns. Feature releases will have a recommended retail price between 7.99 and 11.99 depending on production budgets but will always sit as close to the lower end of that range as the company can manage. Smaller releases will have a recommended retail price between .99 and 6.99 depending that 4.99 was to project and its production budget. In our research and sales projections, we found the latter may be necessary for more expensive pmduetions that 11.99 was likely too high, though arrived at in much the same way. As aforementioned in this document, 'Ferryman' will be a free release as it's primary purpose is to raise awareness of the company itself and to advertise the crowdfunding campaign for our first planned paid release. Competition \& Sales Figures Full Motion Video games have been in existence since the early 1990's and choose your own adventure styles games for even longer - yet it is only in the last two decades that interactive narratives of comparable scope to Odyssey Arts products have been in existence. Thanks to the influence of video game studios like Bioware ('Mass Effect' \& 'Dragon A ge' series) and Telltale Games' early work, interactive narrative has become a key part of many modern video games. Odyssey Arts specialise in a more filmic approach to video game production however, and as a result we aren't aiming to compete with more diverse experiences like CD Projekt Red's 'The Witcher' series or non narrative focused experiences like Epic Game's Fortnite. Odyssey Arts direct competition comes from studios that offer similar narrative experiences, where the sole, or at least primary, game mechanic is influencing the narrative events of the story through action or dialogue. As such, we have assembled a reasonably comprehensive list of our direct competitors and their products in order to see what we can leam from them. Sections in italics are brief overviews of what the company has leamed from each competitor respectively and are merely the findings and opinions of the designated partnership JHEWales Interactive: Late Shift (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam) - RRP 14.99 9ESales Figures - 115,000 (2019 - Steam Only, other platforms UNKNOWN) The Complex (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam) - RRP c9.99.XOSales Figures - Feaditrap Dungeon: The Golden Room (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X. Nintendo Switch. Night Book (PS4, PS5, X box One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC) - RRP 9.99. Sales Figures - UNRELEASED Wales Interactive are the primary comperition for Odyssey Arts, as their product mirror most similarly to ours out of all of our competitors. They are much longer established and have access to impressive, they lack the narrative and per foel that whilst their products are technically very though that is of course a subjective debate. Ow he quality that Odyssey Arts bring to the table, breadth of content. We find Wales Interactive and key difference in manageable, non subjective areas is multiple endings to be a lot more linear and limited other video games with narrative strands and is usually not felt undil subsequent playthroughs. This the appear on a first experience, though this market. By offering a much broader scope for the is is where we hope to strike our niche in the all given the same dedicated production polish, we hrative to change, more decisions, more endings, example, has 7 main endings. Our free release, Ferryme to offer value for money. Late Shift for Lie' (Working Title), is planned to feature 70+ endings. Fin', features 25. Our first paid release, 'Let it would see us have a value for money advantage, but we are also trying our competition in price point but still profitable, in order to improve accessibility and are also trying to keep our price point low WNetflix:BrBandersnatch (Netflix Streaming) = RRP N/A (Subscription Model) UNKNOWN UribUbrealcable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend (Neffix Streaming) RRP N/A (Subscription Model). Viewing Figures - UNKNOwN? Reverend (Netflix Streaming) The most prominent competition we face is from Netfix. Whilst we will platform basis, given we currently have no means betflix. Whilst we will not be challenging them on a of a comparative form of comperirion. Seen by many as the first to make a produre Motion Video (though technically being. Seen by many as the first to make a product like this in Full Bandersnatch is the product most likely to be made reference to when our product is discussed in reviews or by potential customers. Whilst the narrative and performative quality of Bandersnatch is very high, we still feel we offer a unique advantage in breadth of content, given Bandersnatch is more limited than much of our competition, even if it does offer some unique elements on replays. Wravourworks: Erica (Ps4, Steam) - RRP E8.99. Sales Figures - UKNOWNN Similar to Wales Interactive's output but with a much more gameplay style of interactivity (such as the opening of drawers etc), there is no doubt that this is technically the most impressive Full Motion Video Game to date. It's narrative and performances have not been overly well received how ever, so we feel that this is an area in which our company will hold an advantage, alongside our breadth of content, as this is reasonably linear as interactive experiences go. Supermassive Games: Until Dawn - (PS4) - RRP 49.99 - Sales Figures - 1,900,000 (2019) Kidden Agenda - (PS4) - RRP E15.99 - Sales Figures - 600,000 (2019) he Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan - (PS4, Xbox One, PC) - RRP 24.99 - Sales park Pictures Anthology: Litule Hope - (PS4, Xbox One, PC) - RRP 224.99 - Sales Figures Dawdibly high quality experiences delivered by one of Sony's up and coming first party studios. Until wrion, though they are heavily motion captumed on the PS4 system. These games are not live (rom the performers involved. Our method of pmed in order to create as realistic a portrayal as possible however products but as a re similar. Supermossive fon will differ somewhat from this studios. than wet. We believe we can result hold limited narrotive Games output features more gameplay variety have failed to recreate the success of their smash hit.'Until byilising our USP. Their smaller projects Telltale Games: The Walking Dead RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 3,600,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walkind Dead: Michonne -RRP: 3.99 - Sales: - 300,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead Season Two -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 1,400,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead A New Frontier -RRP: FREE - Sales - 200,000 Downloads (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Walking Dead: The Final Season -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - UNKNOWN Batman: The Telltales Series -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 200,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Batman: The Enemy Within -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 80,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 70,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) The Wolf Among Us -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 1,100,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Minecraft: Story Mode -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 300,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - UNKNOWN Tales from the Borderlands -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 700,000 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Game of Thrones -RRP: 11.99 - Sales - 600,00 (2019 Figures - Steam Only) Telltale Games are one of the gold standards for narrative delivery in videogames. Having made several earlier attempts utilising well known movie licenses, such as Jurassic Park and Back to the Future, Telltale nailed the formula for an interactive narrative with their biggest hit to date 'The Dead; Season One'. Estimated to have sold a total exceeding 20,000,000 units acrosy all boldened by their hit success, the studlo fout their doors within a few years of those releoses. Al produced games featuring Morvel and found themselves able to court many prominent licenses popopularity. Each release was a case of diminicenses, as well as Game of Thrones at the height of Monselves having oversaturated their owen minishing returns however and the studio soon found opensive licenses, at the same time. This courket by releasing too many similar products, featuring 2018. The studio has since been boughe coupled with poor management led the studio to fold in late currently announced. Telltale are a great but's new output has yet to be seen, with only one project bad thing and has definitely factome great example of why taking on too much at once can be a really projects we make. Their dialogued into our planned release schedule and the scope of the individual competitor mentioned in this sertion choice system has also been an influence on every other This is not an exhaustive list and more have been released in recent years as this form of media sees a resurgence in pop