Who can participate? Anyone, via the portals created by each Creator in the Calendar.

Who can be a Creator? Anyone whose Application gets accepted.

Who owns the Movies? Creators own their own IP (Intellectual Property) and defend their choices.

Definitions

FAITH-ALIGNED: Some aspect of the Movie, or simply the Creators' intent, will have a Christian Worldview, aka a Kingdom-Mindset. At Plumb Tales™, we're interested in a foundation of Christian Faith.

GENRE-INCLINED: Genre-Inclined means we're open to all types of stories, not just inspirational.

FANS-DESIGNED: Fans are our audience and Creators bring them along for the ride, from inception thru test screenings and grass-roots marketing.

PLUMB: A plumb bob is a weight on a string that causes the string to point to True Vertical.

TRUE VERTICAL: The idea of Absolute Truth, because there can only be one Up.

PARABLE: Jesus told stories that connected to people where they were, but also contained a spiritual message for those who had "eyes to see and ears to hear." 

KINGDOM-MINDED: Jesus invited people into the Kingdom of God. Kingdom-Minded means keeping God at the center of your decisions and serving others to further His kingdom.

PLUMB TALE™: A parable-like story that seeks True Vertical, focuses on entertainment but seeks to ask questions that make people think about eternity. A Plumb Tale avoids blasphemy and explicit sex, violence and language.

EDGY FAITH™: Faith without contrast between dark and light is weak faith. Edgy Faith™ describes edgier Plumb Tales™, often in genres that are not so accepted by the Faith Film market. 

MOVIE: A form of visual entertainment, such as a feature film or a series, that leaves preaching to the pulpit and propaganda to [insert your favorite woke media giant].

ENTERTAINMENT: Something that amuses, pleases, or diverts, especially a performance or show. Blaspehemy or gratuitous violence or sex does not entertain us. We want to escape the reality of the world while acknowleding evil's presence.

INDIE FILM: A movie funded and likely distributed outside the Hollywood studio system.

GENRE: Genre is a type of story, from drama to romance to action, thriller, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and comedy. Genre is the language of culture. 

FAITH FILM: Faith Film, aka Faith-Based or Faith-Adjacent, is not actually a genre, it's more like a marketing strategy, often to please all audiences as a church outreach.

FANS: Movie lovers who especially love Plumb Tales, feature films and series where they can enjoy bold storytelling without having their values offended.

CREATORS: Indie Filmmakers who agree to make Tales that are Plumb, while engaging with Fans along the journey from script to screen.

FUNDERS: Anyone who supports a Movie through donations (cash or services), sweat (deferred or reduced salary), or investment (the general public up to $2500 per year through Reg CF, or high networth individuals through other SEC methods).

THE 3% FLYWHEEL™: Reseach data shows that 97% of indie films fail to make a profit. The 3% Flywheel™ is the strategy for indie filmmakers to join the 3% that make ROI for their investors.

CASH EQUITY: Hard equity, governed by SEC rules.

SWEAT EQUITY: Deferred salaries or in-kind donations that we believe should get part of the Investor-half of the pie.

R.O.I.: Return On Investment, or Return Of Investment. Sharing the risk and reward with the Investors.

KINGDOM R.O.I.: When an investor cares about a return for the Kingdom of God as well as a financial ROI.

P.R.O.V.E. Method™: Method for de-risking a Movie by validiating with audience data berfore making the Movie. (Popular myth, Real alternative, On-set test, Validate with data, Earn trust).

THE WATERFALL: The process of windowing a movie's release such that if a movie doesn't become profitable in it's first release, either theatrical or streaming, then it has more chances as it moves from Premium to Transactional, to Ad-supported VOD (Video On Demand) etc. Each window requires its own marketing, called P&A.

P&A: Prints and Advertising is the marketing stage for each releasing window of a movie. P&A is last money in, first money out. Profits trickle town the waterfall until at last, hopefully, the movie pays its Investors off, plus a 15-25% increase, and finally the movie can see a profit, which is split 50/50 with the Investors.