Crowdfunding with SEC-Compliant Online Stock Offerings

2011-12-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

How MediaShares Can Help The Facebook IPO

This is MediaShares’ discussion of Facebook’s IPO, weighing the advantages of using Direct Registration to sell shares directly to Facebook's online users without the typical underwriter. David Ebersman, Facebook’s CFO, has stated that the company may not work with underwriters to sell their shares. If Facebook does not use underwriters, they will need to sell their shares using Direct Registration, the main component of MediaShares’ methodology.

Key Points of the Facebook IPO:

1- If Facebook works with an underwriter, they WILL NOT KNOW WHO THEIR SHAREHOLDERS ARE - their underwriter considers them to be the Underwriter's customers, not Facebook's customers.

2- If Facebook completes their IPO using Direct Registration (MediaShares or others) they will have incredibly valuable demographic information on each shareholder: Social Security number, age, home address, INCOME, and even the share purchaser’s ACH CHECKING ACCOUNT INFO. Facebook already knows each users interests, and by adding an instant payment method (ACH debit) for each user, Facebook will become the world’s most powerful marketing and fulfillment company.

3- If Facebook sells their shares directly to their users, without an underwriter, there will not be a "green shoe" allotment of shares to the underwriter.

4- The underwriter will not be able to NAKED SHORT THE SHARES which is NOW PERMISSIBLE in an IPO by the SEC!!!!!

5- Facebook will save 7% on the underwriter's IPO commission!

6- They will save the underwriter's up-front charges

Link To Press Interview at Tech Coast Venture Network

2011-03-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

In this 2-minute interview, Gene Massey, the CEO of MediaShares, describes how companies can use Crowdfunding to get the funding they need from their fans, customers, of affinity group. Using MediaShares' U.S. Patented system and software, any company can now post a fully SEC-compliant IPO on their own Web site, and sell their shares with or without the typical Underwriter in an IPO.

MediaShares/Gene Massey TechCrunch Interview

2010-10-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Click here to see the MediaShares TechCrunch Interview

In this interview with Sara Lacy, Gene Massey talks about MediaShares unique new method of Crowdfunding through SEC-compliant online stock offerings.

Foundershowcase Pitch Competition

2010-09-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings Crowdfunding Fans!

Here is a link to a short video on our recent pitch (and the VC's comments) about Crowdfunding through SEC-Compliant Online Stock Offerings at the Foundershowcase in Silicon Valley:

http://www.vimeo.com/14132796 (It is HD so it takes a moment to load)

CinemaShares.com - Beta Test Page for Stock Purchases

2010-05-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Crowdfunders!

The Beta test for the new sign-in pages for CinemaShares.com's online stock sales can be viewed through this link:http://67.109.139.218/site/CSWelcome.csp

Please be advised that WE ARE NOT YET SELLING STOCK IN ANY PRODUCTION!

These are test pages only to show our partners how the sign-in might work and to get their feedback .

CinemaShares.com will notify all interested parties when our S-1 Registration statement is effective and when we can legally sell stock in our next film. Any questions, please contact Gene Massey - 310-871-3668 cell

Irvine Entrepreneur Forum June 1st, 2010

2010-05-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings Crowdfunders. We are happy to announce that CinemaShares.com's Patent-Holding parent company, MediaShares, has been selected as one of 14 presenting companies at the Irvine Entrepreneur Forum on June 1st. See the schedule here: http://www.iefinfo.com/live.php

If you cannot attend, you may download the PowerPoint Presentation:

http://www.CinemaShares.com/video/MediaShares.ppt

CinemaShares.com - A Finalist in the Vator.tv Competition

2010-04-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

CinemaShares.com holds a License to U.S. Patent (# 6792411) for Crowdfunding major movies and recently was a Top Ten Finalist in the Vator.tv Competition in San Francisco. CinemaShares.com is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MediaShares whose Business Method allows any company to raise funding through a unique new online IPO by selling NASDAQ Capital Market stock on its own Web site. Movie companies, NASCAR Teams, and others use this new technique to get funding from their fans or customers. The clip below is a video of the CinemaShares winning presentation:

See this video on Vator.tv »

CinemaShares.com will use this method of Crowdfunding to finance our first project, a Christian-themed film on Dr. David Livingstone, the famous 19th Century African missionary. CinemaShares has obtained the rights to "David Livingstone - The Truth behind the Legend," by Rob Mackenzie. This is the best-known Christian-themed book on Livingstone and Rob is recognized as one of the world's experts on Livingstone.

Here is a link to a video of Rob that we filmed in Zambia while location scouting for the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivUfu9WXEaQ

Movie Fans can participate in the financing of this film and follow its production by signing in to the film's Web site:

http://www.livingstone-anafricanlegend.com/

Latest Comments from Legendary VC Investors

2010-04-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

This video is a discussion among legendary VC's Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway and David Hornik, about the latest Silicon Valley investments and how valuations are accelerating.

The Most Successful Crowdfunding Example- AgeofStupid.net

2010-04-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

For you believers out there, this Web site for AgeofStupid.net is perhaps the most successful example to date of the followers of a Web site funding a movie. These U.K. Filmmakers funded their movie online to the tune of over $1MM USD from their fans. In this 23 minute video, they explain how they did it: http://tinyurl.com/ybupz8a

CInemaShares.com - A Finalist in the Vator.tv Competition

2010-03-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last month CinemaShares.com was a Top Ten Finalist in the Vator.tv Splash Competition in San Francisco for startup companies. Out of a field of 200 companies competing, CinemaShares finished as a Top Ten Finalist. We would like to thank the judges for this terrific opportunity to have participated in this event, and thank Vator.tv for the prizes we won.Here you can see a short summary of our unique new method of funding movies online and the video of our 3-minute presentation:

http://vator.tv/company/mediashares-com

CinemaShares.com holds a License to the MediaShares unique U.S. Patented (U.S. Patent # 6792411) Business Method for Crowdfunding movies. We will use this method of Crowdfunding to finance our first project, a Christian-themed film on Dr. David Livingstone, the famous 19th Century African missionary. CinemaShares has obtained the rights to "David Livingstone - The Truth behind the Legend," by Rob Mackenzie. This is the best-known Christian-themed book on Livingstone and Rob is recognized as one of the world's experts on Livingstone.

Here is a link to a video of Rob that we filmed in Zambia while location scouting for the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivUfu9WXEaQ

Movie Fans can participate in the financing of this film and follow its production by signing in to the film's Web site:

http://www.livingstone-anafricanlegend.com/

CinemaShares.com - Using MediaShares.com's Business Method

2010-03-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

CinemaShares.com is Using the MediaShares.com Patented Business Method.

MediaShares.com is a financial services company that earns its revenues by providing a new mechanism (U. S. Patented Business Method, software, and marketing techniques) that enables any company to raise capital from the general public on its own Web site

1- Using an SEC-approved method of Crowdfunding, this new mechanism:

A. Creates a NEW TYPE OF ONLINE IPO for any company that needs capital by providing a method to offer their stock on their own Web site. Such an offering is made through Direct Registration, with or without the traditional underwriter.

B. Creates a NEW TYPE OF ONLINE IPO for media and entertainment companies to sell their stock online to their specific target audience (THEIR FANS or their Affinity Group).

C. Produces massive multiple revenue streams through licensing our business method, software, and marketing techniques to any company planning an IPO.

2- Other Crowdfunding methods, and even some of the individual components of our Business Method, are already being used in some manner on the Internet. It is our way of combining and applying these elements to an online IPO that makes us unique. For example, Direct Registration/DRS is a method of selling a company’s stock online. Home Depot’s Web site allows anyone to buy HOME DEPOT STOCK on its Web site directly from Home Depot using Direct Registration. Our Business Method also uses Direct Registration, but we apply Direct Registration to selling stock in an online IPO.

3- Our Business Method provides an SEC-approved, legal means of selling single shares of stock online to an entertainment company’s FANS (its affinity group).

4- Our unique Business Method offers to each shareholder a free product, (usually a DVD, delivered as a stock dividend) with a retail value that is worth the cost (about $23) of her share purchase.

5- Our Business Method can be applied to Crowdfunding Entertainment projects on the Internet. We now have the capability to create an online IPO for an entertainment company owning a Movie, a NASCAR team, a record album, a Broadway Show, or any entertainment entity with a large FAN BASE and Distributed Media as its end product.

6- Our methodology creates massive online communities of loyal fans around each company. Selling related products to these fans online can be highly profitable.

7- Our massive online communities offer the extraordinary opportunity for numerous collaborative retail partnerships

8- We have in-house projects ready to proceed to an IPO using our methodology:

a- A Christian-themed movie on Dr. David Livingstone

b- A NASCAR Team

9- MediaShares.com holds an issued U.S. Patent for this unique Business Method (U.S. Patent # 6792411)

10- We have major partners working with us to implement our business method:

a. BNYMellon – A Direct Registration provider

b. Computershare - A Direct Registration provider

c. Ellen Phillip & Associates – A company with a precedent for a similar business model for selling shares online, EPA will handle our data management and shareholder logins

11- We have assembled a stellar team to implement our Business method:

a- Dan Sherkow is the former V.P. Paramount Pictures and has an SEC series 7 license.

b- Jim Volpe INVENTED the Direct Registration system (DRS) for online securities.

c- Peter Elwell (CFO) is a California CPA and has extensive SEC reporting experience with major Corporations including Disney and KPMG.

d- Ileana Rizescu is a former PWC consultant who develops and implements sophisticated e-commerce systems for Pepperdine University.

e- Gene Massey, MediaShares.com’s founder, has owned a Los Angeles film production company for many years, implementing highly successful marketing campaigns for Callaway Golf and others.

We need a minimum of $500,000 to a maximum of $1,000,000 now to implement the first IPO. An investment in MediaShares can be structured as straight equity or a loan with all or part convertible to stock in the first IPO.

Any interested parties should feel free to contact Gene Massey at the numbers below.

All the best to you,

Gene Massey

Chairman/CEO

MediaShares and www.CinemaShares.com

The Livingstone Film Company, Inc.

Producers of "Livingstone - An African Legend"

1334 Westwood Blvd. Suite 6

Los Angeles, California 90024

Phone (U.S.) 1-310 476-3668 or 1-310 871-3668 cell

E-mail: gene@cinemashares.com

"Imagine a million or more Christian movie fans online, each holding a single NASDAQ share of stock in a public company owning one major motion picture. These shareholders follow the production of their movie online, while waiting for their stock dividend of a free DVD and their share of the movie's earnings."

Crowdfunding Examples

2010-02-18T06:31:00.000-08:00

Crowdfunding of Music Groups:

Fan financing, or crowdfunding, is already being used by a wide variety of online companies worldwide. For example,www.Sellaband.com and www.SliceThePie.com offer music fansthe opportunity to invest in up-and-coming BANDS seeking funding for their next album. On these Web sites, a band posts a demo of their music that they would like to record professionally. If a fan thinks the band’s demo has promise, he or she can pay as little as $10 and buy a participation unit in the band and later receive a free download of the band’s album when it is released. The fans thereby fund the albums they want to hear, by buying them before they are made.

Crowdfunding of Major Movies

Fan financing, or crowdfunding, can also be applied to MAJOR MOVIES. There are a number of companies worldwide who have already started fan-financing movies besides www.CinemaShares.com. Takewww.IndieGoGo.com for example. This is a site for fan financing movies on a smaller scale. There is also a French Web site offering Crowdfunding of movies: http://www.touscoprod.com/index.php

We must also mention one of the most successful online game sites for fan financing movies - www.HollywoodStockExchange.com orwww.HSX.com. However, this Web site does not really finance movies, as it is just a game for people who want to pick which movies and which stars will succeed at the box office. The site is so successful that over 700,000 users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on the site,pretending to invest in movies. Word has it that they are developing a system to compete with CinemaShares.com for fan financing movies in the not-too-distant future.

In the U.S., no one (that we know of) other than CinemaShares.com has perfected the mechanism of selling single shares of fully registered NASDAQ-listed stock in a movie to online fans through an IPO. We have developed our method of selling stock online using Direct Registration/DRS. Our online affinity groups replace the typical network of brokers working for investment-banking firms that underwrite the offerings. CinemaShares holds a U.S. Patent (# 6792411) for our new method of selling stock online and giving a free DVD as a stock dividend for each share purchased.

Like the other fan financing examples above, our business method also builds and fully monetizes massive online communities around each entertainment company by offering each fan tremendous value for their single share purchase. In addition to their stock, participants in one of our offerings also receive such benefits as:

Daily Video clips and pictures from the movie set
Contests to be in the movie or have dinner with the stars
Voting on certain non-essential but fun items
Participation in online chat groups and forums
E-mails from the stars and producers
Special merchandise offers of discounted hats and T-shirts
Discounts to affiliated retail merchants
E-mailed autographed pictures of the stars

These benefits are in addition to the free DVD dividend and the cash earnings that each fan receives. We also provide a similar package of benefits to fans purchasing stock in our other entertainment projects such as NASCAR Teams.

The management of CinemaShares.com believes that we offer tremendous value for the purchase of a single share of our preferred stock and we feel that anyone would agree that this is a truly remarkable value for a mere $22 investment.

2009-12-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Crowdfunding Through Other Online Affinity Groups

Fan financing or crowdfunding is not limited to just bands or movies. It is already being applied to a variety of entertainment projects - wherever a large online affinity group exists.

Take for example FORMULA ONE TEAMS: Justin Wilson financed his F1 team through online stock sales to his fans, and was very oversubscribed (not enough stock to sell to everyone that wanted it). See: www.JustinWilson.com.

What about SPORTS FANS? Well, take a look at: http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk. Here is a football club in the U.K. owned by its online fans.

How about FASHION? Here’s a Web site allowing fashion fans the opportunity to finance a designer’s next extravaganza: www.catwalkgenius.com

How about thoroughbred HORSE RACING? Check out: http://www.racingshares.co.uk/ where the fans can share in their horse’s winnings.

So why is this new financial model of fan financing not being more widely used in the U.S.? The principal reason is that the world of online stock sales is a highly regulated environment. In the U.S., a company cannot take money from the public as an investment without registering with the SEC (donations are okay as long as nothing is promised). This makes it necessary to sell fully registered stock to fans in order to receive their investment in an entertainment project. Due to the complexities of registering with the SEC and its extensive financial reporting requirements, most companies have tried to avoid selling stock here, and perhaps this is why the companies named above are outside of the U.S.

MediaShares.com has perfected and has an issued U.S. Patent (# 6792411) for our unique new method of Crowdfunding or Fan-financing. Our business plan includes licensing our patent to owners of entertainment projects seeking financing.

For many more examples of fan financing or crowdfunding, click on this link:

http://crowdfunding.pbworks.com/

MediaShares.com would love your feedback on fan financing or crowdfunding of movies. Please respond to Gene Massey, the originator of MediaShares.com’s unique and U.S. Patented business method by e-mailing: gene@CinemaShares.com or by calling (310) 476-3668

2009-12-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

Crowdfunding of Major Movies

Fan financing, or crowdfunding, can also be applied to MAJOR MOVIES. There are a number of companies worldwide who have already started fan-financing movies besides www.CinemaShares.com. Take www.IndieGoGo.com for example. This is a site for fan financing movies on a smaller scale. There is also a French Web site offering Crowdfunding of movies: http://www.touscoprod.com/index.php

We must also mention one of the most successful online game sites for fan financing movies - www.HollywoodStockExchange.com or www.HSX.com. However, this Web site does not really finance movies, as it is just a game for people who want to pick which movies and which stars will succeed at the box office. The site is so successful that over 700,000 users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on the site, pretending to invest in movies. Word has it that they are developing a system to compete with CinemaShares.com for fan financing movies in the not-too-distant future.

Daily Video clips and pictures from the movie set
Contests to be in the movie or have dinner with the stars
Voting on certain non-essential but fun items
Participation in online chat groups and forums
E-mails from the stars and producers
Special merchandise offers of discounted hats and T-shirts
Discounts to affiliated retail merchants
E-mailed autographed pictures of the stars

Film Financing using crowdfunding

2009-12-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

“Fan financing,” or “Crowdfunding” as it is often called, is a new financial instrument for funding entertainment projects online by attracting large affinity groups, or fans, to a Web site and capitalizing on their interest in a company or specific project in order to fund it. It typically involves a massive number of online fans, each of whom can purchase a small incremental interest, or participation unit, in an entertainment project in order to fund it.

Fan Financing brings two groups together:

1- Entertainment companies that desperately need new capital for highly risky investments in movies, record albums and NASCAR teams, and,

2- Their fans that desperately want to be part of the action.

Fan financing, or crowdfunding, is already being used by a wide variety of online companies worldwide. For example, www.Sellaband.com and www.SliceThePie.com offer music fans the opportunity to invest in up-and-coming BANDS seeking funding for their next album. On these Web sites, a band posts a demo of their music that they would like to record professionally. If a fan thinks the band’s demo has promise, he or she can pay as little as $10 and buy a participation unit in the band and later receive a free download of the band’s album when it is released. The fans thereby fund the albums they want to hear, by buying them before they are made.

In addition to receiving their free album as a dividend, a fan’s “investment” in a band also entitles them to also receive some interactive benefits during the making of the album such as video downloads of rehearsals, printable autographed pictures, a free download of the band’s music video, contests to meet the band in person, or sometimes feedback to the band through online voting. A fan is also offered cash dividends from their band’s earnings, if it is successful. But perhaps even more importantly, the fans receive the tremendous satisfaction of knowing, that even in a small way, they are partly responsible for their band’s success.

What does the band receive? Most importantly: funding! No one need mention the difficulty (and cost) of launching a new band in the current market. However, even with major music company backing, many bands often die on the vine, never to be heard from again. With fan financing, once a band is funded, it has a following…a massive following…and one that can certainly be monetized. Do you think for a moment that these fans that financed “their” band won’t buy a hat or a T-shirt? Do you think they won’t buy tickets to “their” band’s local concert? In short, what the band has received is instant loyalty from a massive number of their online fans that have a vested interest in, and a desire to share in, their band’s ultimate success. It is therefore a win-win scenario for both parties.

Another VERY important element of this scenario is that with fan financing no one loses! The band gets a bunch of fans and the money necessary to please them. The fans get a product dividend (the album) that is worth their small investment. So even if the band’s album never reaches the top ten, or even fails to return the original investment necessary to make the album, neither party goes away completely empty-handed.