Theft of Ideas – You Get What You Pay For

Have you ever been in a storytelling mood? I am in one right now. This is a true story. Names have been omitted to protect all the parties involved.

In the summer of a year not too long ago, I received a phone call from one of my agents. He is creating a show for a company coming to Orlando in January of the following year. We have 6 months to prepare, but they need a proposal this week. He came up with the concept “Orchestrating the Future,” and as his primary string musician and orchestral contractor, he asked me to join him in creating the proposal. Between multiple emails, draft proposals, price list comparisons, and numerous conversations, we had the finalized proposal ready within that week. Everything was in writing. Given the fact that it has now actually been done and performed, here is what we decided for the proposal:

The client wanted a theme and a session opener with live entertainment. The agent created the title “Orchestrating the Future.” We both decided it needed a 28 piece symphony with a conductor, plus 3 attractive female violinists playing in front of the orchestra. We decided it would start with one soloist, then add the 2nd , then the 3rd, then the full orchestra would be revealed onstage joining them for an approximate 4-5 minute high impact song. I chose the song “Explosion” by Bond, and pitched the 3 violinists doing improvised solos that led into it with the full orchestra. This would lead to the introduction of the keynote speaker and then the orchestra would disappear until the end to close the session. We were still undecided about the closing song, but we thought a choir with an orchestra would be an excellent ending, kind of like Beethoven’s 9th Symphony finale (shorter, of course).

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