Sweet, Sweet Music

In July 2004, Patrick Misterovich was a stay-at-home dad when he read an article featuring an entrepreneur who had turned Altoid tins into iPod speakers. The idea inspired the 40-year-old ex-IT administrator to make a list of other possible candies and electronics that could be combined: laser pointers, Life Savers, USB drives. But nothing seemed to fit until he noticed “MP3 players” and “Pez dispensers” sitting idly on his list like two lost souls waiting for someone to play Cupid.

Five minutes later, Misterovich was e-mailing Pez about licensing its dispensers to create a Pez dispenser-shaped MP3 player and was only steps away from turning his self-proclaimed “crazy idea” into reality.

“I knew it was feasible after five minutes of research,” says Misterovich, “but I had no clue if there was a market or how much it would cost.”

That weekend, Misterovich spent $50 on Google ads and created a short survey to test the market. To his surprise, everyone from toy collectors to anti-establishment teens was interested in the product.

But after waiting six months to finalize the license with Pez and stopping production at 1,500 after learning he would need approval from product compliance agency UL to continue with a second run, Misterovich started feeling as if someone had pulled the emergency brake on his sprouting home business.

“When you come up with an idea, and two hours later you have the company saying, ‘We’re willing to license you,’ you think everything is going to happen quickly,” says Misterovich. “But it takes time to make something.”

The response has been positive, and current sales are at $120,000. In 2006, Misterovich sold out of his origi-nal production run and received approval from Pez to go forward with the second edition of Pez MP3 players, which have passed UL testing and will go into production early this year. In the future, Misterovich also hopes to expand outside his online sales forum, www.pezmp3.com.

Says Misterovich, “It just makes me feel good that I came up with a product people think is cool.”

Moving Pictures that Sell

Doug Wolens has been involved with filmmaking for over 9 years. After earning two BA degrees, a law degree, and spending seven years practicing law in New York and California, Doug became a filmmaker in 1993.  He started out working on feature film sets and for commercial production companies, learning the skills necessary to create high quality projects.  At the same time, Doug began making his own independent films.  

His short films, HAPPY LOVING COUPLES (1993) REVERSAL (1994) and IN FRAME (1995) have screened at film festivals throughout the world including Sundance, Seattle, and Mill Valley. 

Doug successfully self-distributed his feature documentaries WEED (1996) and BUTTERFLY (2000) with theatrical screenings in over 80 cities. BUTTERFLY, was broadcast nationally on P.O.V. (PBS’s award winning non-fiction showcase).  Currently, he is working on two new documentaries.

Wolens teaches film classes at San Francisco State University’s Multimedia Studies Program and taught at the Academy of Art College of San Francisco.  He has also been a guest lecturer at Parson’s School of Design, Loyola Marymount, and University of Alaska.  Wolens also acts as a consultant to other filmmakers.

Doug currently serves on the Film Arts Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a juror for the Mill Valley Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival.

Doug is the owner of i-magine media – Moving Pictures that Sell provides a combination of products and services to enhance the marketing efforts small San Francisco businesses, specifically increasing their web presence and branding, in order to capitalize on the new broadband environment.

The Best French Restaurants are in France

From their website: 

Maurice Graham Henry is the founder and sole owner of DininginFrance.com.  He also owns DININGINPARIS.COM which takes users directly to the Paris section of the DininginFrance site.

Maurice inherited his love of France and French cuisine from his father. As a boy, his father would tell Maurice stories about his frequent travels to France, especially about the fine restaurants and the wonderful food he experienced there. His father, an attorney who is also an accomplished cook, would often prepare French cuisine at home when Maurice was growing up.

This background, along with trips to France and an entrepreneur’s fascination with the Internet, prepared Maurice to launch DininginFrance.com and DININGINPARIS.COM in 2001.  Because Maurice recognizes that not all top tier restaurants are to everyone’s personal taste, his primary goal is to help online visitors determine which restaurants with multiple Michelin stars they would personally enjoy visiting for truly unforgettable meals.

In the past five years, the site has firmly established itself as the Web’s most trusted guide to the very best restaurants of France and the best French restaurants around the world.