“There are a gazillion great ideas out there, but it comes down to who you can get to buy into your product,” says Tracey Baker-Simmons, the co-owner of Atlanta-based B2 Entertainment Studios, LLC who has produced such shows as “Being Bobby Brown.” “This is business and you have to consider to whom you’re pitching your idea, which audience they attract and who you can get attached to your project to make it more viable.”

Baker-Simmons, for example, was able to get Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston to agree to a show about their lives. While the show took only a little over three months to film, crafting a deal took twice as long.

The deal, Baker-Simmons explains, is the business behind the glamour and it’s the hard work and detail that can make or break a TV show or film before it ever comes to light on the screen. Baker-Simmons reiterated this theme during a new senior seminar entitled, “The Business of Producing for Film and Television,” that was created for Emory's Goizueta Business School undergraduate business students and opened to those majoring in film at Emory University. Students had an opportunity to learn all aspects of negotiating a deal to get a project on the air.

Art aside, Baker-Simmons stresses, “this industry is 80% business and 20% creative.” It’s a fact that shocked some students but business is the strategic backbone of much of the industry.

According to Baker-Simmons, the business acumen stretches beyond creative projects, and begins with selecting a professional team, which includes an agent, attorney, etc, with years of experience who embrace her company’s vision. We spent a lot of time interviewing for our professional team and we checked references,” she explains. “We also made a decision to select a team that had a presence in Los Angeles and New York because those cities are essential in the industry and having representation there makes a big difference.”

As for the creative aspect, Baker-Simmons says an idea is merely the starting point. “The first thing networks and studios consider is how a project will fit into their network, film or theater.”

Therefore it’s vital that would-be producers thoroughly research a potential client to whom they will pitch their idea. Why? “Because the buyer needs to satisfy his or her client, such as advertisers, and make money,” she says.

Even if the idea appeals to a client, the negotiations don’t end there. While a producer has no creative control over a project, it’s imperative that he or she retains the rights to the deal. A lawyer who is knowledgeable about the entertainment industry and a good accountant are key, notes Baker-Simmons. “That way you don’t have to worry if you were paid appropriately,” she says. “We spend a lot of money on legal and accounting because the right team makes sure that we are on budget and represented properly.”

Although “Being Bobby Brown” aired on Bravo, Baker-Simmons licensed the show through her company, B2 Entertainment LLC, and retains the rights. “So, it’s still our show and we are compensated every time it airs,” she explains.

When structuring a deal, Baker-Simmons’ goal is that everyone gets what they want. Sometimes that means giving in more than you anticipated. “Our legal team holds us to the fire on it. As much as you do not want to feel compromised in a deal, you should consider your opponent’s perspective,” she says.

In an industry that is sometimes characterized by heavy-handed interactions, Baker-Simmons cautions that no deal should cause you to lose sleep with guilt or shame, she adds. She advocates for a more balanced view to deal making, and acknowledging when a deal just can’t work.

“Make sure you are giving something and receiving something,” she explains. “Walk away when [you’re forced] to compromise your moral perspective, and if you know in your heart that you will not be able to perform at your absolute best with the given terms.”

The allure of melding a passion for film with business knowledge continues to grow says Andrea Hershatter, associate dean and director of the BBA program. “Over the years, many graduates of the Goizueta BBA program have pursued opportunities in entertainment. Some of them are doing extraordinarily well in the industry, but they had to learn what it takes to succeed on their own,” Hershatter says. “When Tracey expressed interest in working with Emory, I realized that this was a wonderful opportunity to provide our students with unique and invaluable insights. We hope this class can serve as a template for additional experiential courses that link art and industry.”

For students who embarked on the course, the emphasis on business was a rude awakening. “This is very jarring to the film students because they didn’t understand how much of the entertainment industry is about business, not creativity,” Baker-Simmons explains.

For non-business student Andrew Carlin, the class delivered invaluable lessons. Carlin, who has created screenplays and several short documentaries, had always aspired to a career in the entertainment industry, but was unsure what role he would play.

“There are so many facets of the industry that interest me, but I had no way of learning the business side of entertainment,” says Carlin, who has interned with an independent film distributor in New York City. “The Goizueta class was a Godsend. I knew I had to be in it.”

To further immerse the students into the real-world workings of the industry, Baker-Simmons split the class into six teams and required each team to produce a project. Each team was headed by an executive producer, and included associate and line producers, a director and writers.

“I showed them how to make a pitch and then develop an actual package, from outline to visual presentation of the overall idea,” she adds.

Next, students had to pitch their ideas to Baker-Simmons and a panel of industry experts. Panel members included a producer from Tyler Perry’s company, who has created and produced several plays, movies and the television show “House of Payne”; experts from Rainforest Productions, who produced movies including “The Gospel” and “Stomp the Yard”; and the executive producer and partner with Andre Benjamin of the group Outkast who developed “Class of 3000.” The aspiring producers learned that their ideas had to be good enough to gain approval of advertisers who want their products advertised during shows that will draw the most viewers. “How do you sell Tide if no one is watching,” Baker-Simmons says. “The most expensive audience to produce a product for is viewers ages 18 to 25, so it made sense to see what the Emory students could come up with.”

Students stepped up to the challenge and gained invaluable skills, Hershatter says. “Producing demands a blend of sophisticated business knowledge and creative vision. Tracey brought this combination to life for business students, and gave film students a forum to tap into, and augment, their own strengths and abilities,” she adds. “She definitely brought them to new heights, and their final projects were amazing.”

The panel, impressed by many of the products, chose to develop an idea pitched by Carlin’s team. Although reluctant to leak too much information about the project, Carlin described it as a mockumentary from the perspective of a college student living in a freshman dormitory. “We would use the Internet to develop buzz surrounding the show and air it exclusively online,” he divulged.

The experience was a win-win for the professionals and the students. “I wasn’t expecting a viable project as an outcome of the class because the students are so new to this business,” Baker-Simmons says, “but we were pleasantly surprised. The students are so smart and so eager to accomplish big things in this industry. They blew us away with their ideas.”

According to Hershatter, the seminar will be offered again next school year.

Photo: Tracey Baker-Simmons, far left rear, with Emory film students.