FAQ s
PAGE 3 What is Really Real Resources? CONTENTS PAGE 5 PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 10 PAGE 11 PAGE 15 PAGE 16 PAGE 17 PAGE 18 PAGE 19 What type of company will Really Real Resources be? Where will our images come from? Who will our customers be? Why is Really Real Resources needed? Respect and why such an organisation has not been established before? Who is involved with Really Real Resources? Graham Miller Leon Wilkes Where are we now? What about security? How do I find out more? How do you get in touch? Why do you have a dog as a logo?
What is Really Real Resources? Working with the most vulnerable in society and, where appropriate, their carer s and families, Really Real Resources will be a unique media agency dedicated to generating, sourcing and making available very high quality editorial media, that is stills, video and audio material which Really shows what people s lives are like. Our primary source of income will be through sales of licenses and subscription fees for our content. REALLY REAL is as real as it gets. The RESOURCES will be the highest quality media. We will also offer secure image hosting and archive management services to the Third Sector. Access to our libraries will be by registration only. The stories our images tell will be honest, non-judgmental, sometimes happy and sometimes sad, but always true to life. We will be a globally significant organisation. page 3
Social enterprises are innovative, independent businesses that exist to deliver a specific social and/or environmental mission. All their profits go towards their mission. Social enterprise is a dynamic, ethical and more sustainable way of doing business.
What type of company will Really Real Resources be? We ll set up a Social Enterprise. It s very important that those who work with us understand what this means in practice. It means we would not and cannot sell the business. That s key because a specialist archive, like ours, would become attractive to the large photo agencies as they seek to add content to their own library. There is a possibility, when such acquisitions, occur for contract changes to take place and image use to become less restricted. That won t happen at Really Real Resources. We ll always work to our rules. We are also required to operate an asset lock which means that the brand name, and anything we buy for the business, belongs to the business and can t be sold. We ll be a limited company Limited by guarantee. That is also important as we do not then offer shares and share dividends. Our motives then remain true to goals of RRR. We also plan to sign up to the Disability Confident employer scheme shortly after we register the business. We ll positively discriminate in our recruitment towards the disabled. page 5
Where will our images come from? Our capability to earn money will be directly proportional to the security, size, quality and uniqueness of our database. While working with focused groups we will also approach Third Sector organisations and recognised professional photographers with the aim of securing their work for our archive. The quality of what we do, the fact that we are a Social Enterprise and the secure nature of our archive, will encourage partners to work with us. Wonderful images, which have had a limited but appreciative audience, will have the potential to receive global coverage where they can have greater impact. page 6
Who will our customers be? Customers will be in media generally and include news, print and digital, magazine print and digital and Third Sector. We ll charge the market rate to media in general. Pricing to Third Sector will be much lower as we seek to challenge widespread use of free, but often low quality images. Without giving too much away, we ll seek to form unique partnerships with the Third Sector, and photographers, to increase our archive. page 7
Why is Really Real Resources needed? Over the last ten years Graham Miller has worked as a Documentary Photographer focused on Mental Health, Downs Syndrome, Autism and more recently Rare Conditions. He was a Samaritan s listener and trainer for four years and mentored a group of young adults with Autism in a photographic project last year which was then exhibited. Graham says, I ve learnt a great deal about the challenging lives people lead and am frustrated that we rarely see images in the media which reflect the reality of life for them. Stigma is a terrible thing and yet stereotypes continue to be reinforced, through use of conveniently available images. It s shocking that we continue to misrepresent people in one of the most accessible ways. That of visual media. page 8
Those who are affected are best placed to tell their stories, but often don t do so, for reasons of lack of support, opportunity, encouragement, guidance, skills and confidence. By working with individual s, we will help one person and their immediate family share what life is Really like for them but, by making that work available globally in the media, we ll help millions in similar situations. Really Real Resources will work directly with people to tell their stories visually, and through that hope to see the first hand the social impact we have on them and their families. We ll create a community to openly discuss our work and its impact and, as a digital business, will positively discriminate in the favor of those with disabilities in our recruitment. We ll run an ongoing intern programme offering work experience. Those who work with us and who choose to be in front of, or behind the camera, will emerge with a feeling of social inclusion, that they have a voice and that they are taking steps to create a more understanding society. In some case s we will provide them with skills which will enable them to join us as an employee or to take first steps to work in the digital marketplace. page 9
Respect and why such an organisation has not been established before? There can be no more sensitive work than this and instinct is not to share and make money for images of those who are vulnerable. In a way that will be our biggest challenge as we seek to establish Really Real. However, from experience we ve worked with many families who are determined to share what life is like for them and we are confident that many will trust us by letting us store and sell their images. As our business grows, and people see what we do, we expect many more will want to work with us. Our archive will grow exponentially and with it, income. It s important to understand that we are a Social Enterprise and any profits will be reinvested to generate new content in some of the most challenging areas such as mental health, dementia and domestic violence. We believe that a company like RRR has not been established before because of some of the challenges we ve highlighted. We feel our unique experience combined with the warmth we feel from our supporters will help us succeed. page 10
Who is involved with Really Real Resources? Right now, there are three of us; Graham Miller, Founder and CEO Leon Wilkes, Marketing Director Dave, the Terrier GRAHAM LEON DAVE page 11
page 12 INTRODUCTION TO GRAHAM As the son of an alcoholic father my childhood was difficult. My parents separated when I was around eleven years old and my mother raised us on the social receiving just 43 per week. Having had to deal with a challenging childhood has made me strong, determined and sensitive to others who live in difficult circumstances. I m 56 years old and live in Perthshire with my wife of 33 years and have two grown up daughters. I have chosen to take Flexible Working with my current employer for six months, with a resulting 40% drop in my income to focus on setting up the new business. I ve been a photographer for over 35 years and qualified with an MA in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism at UAL four years ago whilst working in my day job. My work with the disabled and their carer s has been published and exhibited at home and abroad. I m well integrated into the photographic community and I understand the challenges and sensitivity around working with the vulnerable. In addition to my experience as a photographer I have over thirty years of International sales, marketing and channel development
experience. I ve held two CEO positions and sat on the board of two companies. I regard networking as one of my key strengths. In five years, my vision is that Really Real Resources will be a substantial, stable and profitable business, staffed by over twenty happy and determined people who love being part of our company because they can see the impact of what we do every day on the most vulnerable in society. We ll have overseas partner s. We ll be respected for our courage, determination, professionalism and honesty and our ability to have good fun at the same time. It was during the production of 6% Down s Syndrome: My Photographs, their stories I met Leon Wilkes. page 13
INTRODUCTION TO LEON Leon Wilkes is passionate about creativity, creative design and finding the right creative solutions. Starting out at Art College he has been in the marketing, design and print industry for over 30 years. Constant self-development along with working for companies like Pfizer, Elanders, Potts and extensive freelance roles have given him vast experience in all aspects of the creative industry. He was previously the MD at 52PS, which specialised in offering marketing solutions across all platforms. He has lead teams and departments all with the common goal of achieving objectives for a diverse group of global companies and local firms alike. These endeavors comprise of creating brands, policing brands, creative design, creating marketing strategies and the project management of specific marketing campaigns. Currently the Managing Director at Fearless Creative, Fearless helps companies create brands and elevate their online presence. He has roots in the North East of England but Leon now lives in Edinburgh with his wife. page 14
Where are we now? We are in the process of raising funding so that we can configure the web platform and legal agreements. It s such a fundamental part of what we ll do that we need to do that first. That will be the embodiment of the ambitions we have for Really Real Resources and so we understand our partners and potential funders will wish to see it. Once we receive some money we ll put the platform in place, complete our business plan and seek to recruit an intern to build the content. We ll register the new company and will, in parallel, seek additional funding so that we can start trading. We are lucky in that we don t need work space and that greatly minimises our financial overheads in the beginning. We hope to add to the Board of our organisation through addition of two new board members with expertise in media law and financial accounting. page 15
What about security? Attention to security and the protection of those we work with will underpin everything we do. Access to our archive will be through registration and so images will never be generally circulating where they can simply be taken. Registrants will need to accept our terms and rules. Images will be stored encrypted in a very secure Tier 1 facility in Scotland. Our partner is recognised as one the top three most secure IT providers in Europe. NAMES WILL BE REMOVED FROM ALL IMAGES TO PROTECT IDENTITIES. page 16
How do I find out more? We already have the.com domain name and have a holding page which is a good place to go for more information. You can also register there for future mailings. You may have received this information as someone who has been photographed as part of Photohonesty.org. If that s the case we d like to seek your approval, given the assurances above, to add those images to our archive. We do plan to contact everyone going forward but it would be very helpful to receive your approval now ahead of that process. If you agree please contact graham@ reallyrealresources.com and we ll send you an updated release form for signature. Please note that more recent Photohonesty release forms made allowance for images to be sold in the right circumstances and so the intention in those cases would be to supply those images to the archive. page 17
How do you get in touch? This has turned into a longer document than intended, but we hope it reflects fully the need for an organisation such as Really Real Resources and the belief and talent we have which will ensure we reach our goals. If you feel as passionate about what we are doing as we do, then please get in touch. POTENTIAL FUNDERS, if you would be prepared to contribute financially to our work and/or are interested in joining our board, when the time is right, then please also get in touch. We d love to hear from you. THIRD SECTOR ORGANISATION S, who have read this document, and who would be interested in collaborating please contact us. PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS who are interested to contribute to our archive should also register to receive mailings and include a link to where we can view some of your work. Please don t send portfolios to us right now. We ll let you know when the time is right. We ll only do that when we have the time to give your work the time and respect it deserves. We ll always respond to those who have been kind and considerate in showing interest in our organisation. It may take a little while for that reply to come but rest assured it will page 18
Why do you have a dog as a logo? Frankly we are more than a little upset that you feel the need to question our use of Dave as our logo Joking apart, it was an obvious choice and our first formal management decision. Dave is Graham s terrier and he s already featuring in the first of series of blogs about our new organisation. We chose a dog because he s non-judgmental and his love is unconditional. How else to better represent a business whose ambition is to contribute to a world where everyone is viewed equally, free of stigma and prejudice. Contact: graham@reallyrealresources.com Twitter and Instagram feed: @ReallyRealRes Website: https://reallyrealresources.com page 19
contact dave & the team dave@reallyrealresources.com graham@reallyrealresources.com Twitter and Instagram feed: @ReallyRealRes reallyrealresources.com