The rough cut of the promo-trailer is done.  And, yeah I think it looks pretty good.  Guess I'd better...as I'm the editor!  As others have said, editing is like sculpting with clay...you clip some here, smooth places, pull, turn and replace.  And it gradually appears.  But it isn't free form.  You have to start with a drawing, some reference points of reality and storyline, then build a support to hold the structure, before ever starting to shape.  And switching tools, and modes and points of view helps as well.  It is definitely a process.  I enjoy it, but it mainly informs me as to directing...that is where I prefer to be, and editing sure helps train the director's skills.

James (see below entry) and Jack Kimball (works for our consulting producers) have been great help.  And we've brought several in to critique it, and all but one said they really liked it.  (The one exception didn't understand what I'm making, I guess.  Really don't know what was up with that.)  The others gave some great constructive ideas, and tomorrow, before we lock it, I'll get even more to take a look.

Then we'll be heavy in the mix of up-converting it to the full HD, telecine work and the titles.  And then fine tuning the 'output', the means of being able to give it out for viewing.  My concern is that if we publish it on a straight DVD, then we lose the HD quality, which is the very thing we spent so much of the budget to obtain.  The only other option with a DVD format is BluRay, and that is too expensive to produce for this.  So, we can publish to an HD Quick file (or so I am told), and that will then be only viewable on computers, or pushed to a big HD flatscreen (my preference of course).  So....busy busy.

And the DP for this promo shoot, Helge Gerull, is coming up from LA tomorrow to give me his thoughts, and to pull a reel of some of his work.  It will be great to see my big German friend.  I also need to get a reel thrown together for our actress Jessica Uberuaga.  (Any others down in LA who are associated with the making of the promo-trailer, feel free to contact me and let's get together, if you want.)

Wish my kids were here, but otherwise, sure is a beautiful place to work!  (Thankfully the fires were out that night, and there've been no re-occurrences in this area....so the sky's been bright blue.)   

My only complaint would be how quiet and singular this part of the process is.  I could never make a life of being an editor, even if I wanted to...it's far too isolated!  I prefer a big collaborative set all a-buzz with creative people.  That said, the molding and shaping and storytelling of editing is very satisfying.  How do you get digital clay out from your fingernails?

I am still planning on going to Argentina to show the promo at events prior to the big game on December 6th.  But, before I lock it in, I need a lot more info on the events, who will be there, etc.

Ride on. 

This evening an 800 acre fire has erupted in the hills of Montecito and Santa Barbara.  Really awful.  70+ homes have burned so far.  I've never seen anything like it.

Tomorrow editing continues.  Going well.  Had great meeting with ICM this afternoon, in LA.  All waiting on this promo to be done.

Meanwhile, this fire is intense.  Ride on.  

 

Finally!...we are underway editing the trailer- short-promo...whatever you want to call it.  You long-time readers will know the angst and struggle to get here.  It is a great feeling to be now assembling what I hope/intend to be a powerful selling tool for our film.

I'm in Santa Barbara, working with HOME PLANET POST....great guys.  Tom Piozet, the owner, is a cool cat...HD documentary filmmaker extraordinaire, and his minion,  James Brill, is the young guru post tech everyone should want.  (Tom will shoot me for saying that as others may try to hire James away.)

So, I'm editing, with James' steady tech assistance.  Using Final Cut Pro 6 with all its bells and whistles.  Lots of discussions about music, output, codex, etc. around here.  The footage looks great and I am excited to show it to people (you?).  (Especially the slow mo HD stuff from the Phantom...stunning...even if I do say so myself.)

The first 'showing' will be in Buenos Aires on Dec 2nd, I think.  I am going down to promote the film during the week of the Argentine Open.  Can't wait.  Still not sure where I will stay...so if you have a suggestion (preferably free), let me know!  (Oh, and any help/ideas on tickets to the semis and finals?)

I may be kinda quiet this week, as I am very head-down/ass-up in an editing bay, if you get my meaning.  I am heading in to LA to a meeting at ICM on Thursday afternoon.  As I've mentioned, they've given it great coverage and I'm looking forward to seeing how they might want to proceed.

Ok...that's it...I'm being told the edit room is ready for me...ride on!

You steady readers will know that I've been a bit...shall we say 'concerned'... because we've been in a slump in funding, and we were thinking that we might not be able to make the Argentine Open with the promo/trailer.  But one investor, who  first reached out to me a month ago or so, has taken the leap with us, and set us back on track.  I'm very pleased.  They want to be a 'silent partner', so I'll respect that.

Now we have a bunch of work to do to be ready for Argentina on Dec 1st.   (Great problem to have!)  For those in the film biz who don't understand the AR Open, it is the biggest polo game of the year....50,000 people in attendance in Palermo, outside Buenos Aires, and attended by some individuals who will may be instrumental in our production finance.  (That game/location is the location for the pivotal event in the film.)  So, we'll go to them, with the trailer, for the week, and hope to make some biz.  Think of it as a film festival for one film: our promo/trailer.  And while there I'll be talking to some AR production companies about co-prod possibilities, scouting some locations, and possibly considering some of the talent who have approached me via email over the past months.

So, it's off to SB for me, and many arrangements to make in AR.  I'll tell more in coming entries...but I wanted to jump on here and tell you all the good news.  And THANK YOU to the 'unnamed' investor. 

 

By the way, for all of you considering investing, we still need you!  Let this be an encouragement to you, and give me a call...you have my number!  Ride on!

I am so pleased to share with you a story done on this film in the latest issue of The Polo Magazine.  Check them out at www.ThePoloMagazine.com. 

So far there's not an online version of the story, so you'll just have to subscribe and/or find a copy!  If an online link becomes available, I'll let ya know.

The writer, the fox Charley Larcombe, was great.   The Polo Magazine, if you aren't familiar with it, is a new UK glossy with a fun feel to it.  In fact their slogan is "Polo...but not as you know it."  She crafted a story on us that definitely fits that style. 

The photos (like this story-leading pic of me directing) were taken by our beautifully-skilled production designer (on the short film), Jesse Benson.  Fantastic job Jesse.  To see more of his work, go to www.JesseBenson.com

Oh, and there's a shot in the article taken by the famed polo photographer David Lominska too.  Thanks Dave! For more of his work, go to www.PoloGraphics.com

Finally...we have some very good news coming on the 'money front'...stay tuned!  Ride on.

Regardless of your politics (and mine are firmly with Obama...even though I am Texan), this is a stirring and powerful speech.  Ride on, President Obama.  Ride On.  Amazing.

 

Warning:  This entry talks about money, and ends up asking you to invest in our company, BlueRun Productions, www.BlueRunProductions.com .  Just so we're clear!

My attorney/CPA side wants to talk tonight, so I guess I'll put on the ol' green visor and let it out.  One of the greatest 'arts' of the producer-filmmaker's process is the art of avoiding getting stuck on the oft-interminable merry-go-round of the financing process. To make my point (and ultimately my request), let me first sketch out the process.

Typically it goes like this: the writer finds the producer, or the producer finds the script, and they or he/she snaps the reins and sets out to find financing.  Traditionally that 'financing' is funds to produce the film, which often comes by getting a distributor on board.  Or, if the film's budget is small enough, the money is raised by investors directly, the film is shot/edited and then pony-showed around to festivals hoping a distributor will purchase it (and thus foot the marketing costs). The marketing costs, called the P&A, or prints and advertising, is typically about the same as the film's production budget.  Today it's becoming required for producers to raise the budget money and the P&A money as well, with the distributor being basically 'for hire' at that point.

I wasn't sitting down tonight to give a lesson on film finance.  What I'm attempting to describe is the 'Catch-22' of it all.  But to do that, you have to know what we're facing.  For Of Kings & Cowboys, I'm optimistic we can get the budget down to no more than $20M. (That will happen by filming the majority in Argentina and using multiple HD cameras...hey if Lumet can go-modern, so can I).  Thus, if you're following along, we need to be looking for the budget plus the P&A, or $40M ideally.  But, I think we can find a distributor to come in for at least half the P&A, so let's call our 'ask' $30M. Still with me?

That's really not that much money, believe it or not, in the film biz.  And there are plenty of financiers who will be very interested in our unique film with its highly international appeal.  So what do they want to see before they look hard at us? Talent attached -- who will play our major characters. That's what.

So, let's talk about finding talent. Swing a cat in LA and you'll hit an actor...and even the cat will be a wannabe-actor.  (And not just to run across hot tin roofs.)  But the right cast for this film (ones I will like), and 'bankable' cast that a distributor/financier will like, are not so easy.  To get the script to major actors often requires their agent to get involved, read the script and recommend it on to them. Or you can go commando and try to get the script to them directly...which is risky for its own reasons...but often necessary.  But agents want one key thing before they'll take your script to their client (regardless of how much they may love the writing/story): financing.  They want to know you have your financing.

But of course, you still don't have your financing because the 'money' is awaiting seeing the cast attached.  And thus you find yourself of the friggin' filmmaker's merry-go-round, Catch-22, whatever you want to call it.  And this damn spinner will get you queasy fast! So how to avoid the spiralling vortex? Three ways:

1. Find another hook, like a very well done short or trailer, and present it to financiers, agents and key actors;
2. Find other things in the film itself that will attract financiers (sans cast attached); and/or
3. As mentioned above, go commando and approach key actors directly, hope to get them fired-up so they'll in turn take it to their agents (and hope not to make an ass of yourself in the process.)

I am in the middle of it all right now. On one hand I'm pursuing the traditional route...getting the script to all five of the top talent agencies.  For example, by our persistence and marketing, the script has now been read and well received at ICM (International Creative Management).  They wrote great coverage on it (an in-house review) and we should be able to move into talking about casting there. (But it has slowed, and I suspect it is due to us not having ready financing yet.)  Meanwhile on the other hand I am battling the three-pronged alternate attack: trailer, alt-investors, and going commando to actors:

1. Trailer/Short. The trailer, as you know, costs money, and we have raised a lot to get it shot. But then October, 2008 happened and the wind got kicked from us just as with so many others. Now we find ourselves rather urgently needing to raise $60K to finish it and get it out there. It'll be very useful in not only nailing production investment but in attaching talent too.  Therefore, as you can see...this is the most critical element.
2. Alt-investors. This is why I spent the last 6 months developing and marketing the film to the polo community. Now with hundreds of polo enthusiasts (are you one of them?) on board, there are some serious contenders for financiers unique to this film...for example a major polo facility owner who is quite likely to participate in the production financing to have his club featured in the film.  (By the way, there is now talk of us simultaneously making a 20 min IMAX film called POLO! to be released with the film. Great marketing idea.)  Most all of these alt sources are waiting on the trailer/short.
3. Commando Directly to Actors. A careful dance to be sure. Some efforts in this direction. No success to report on, obviously. Much more difficult without....can you guess it?....the trailer/short. Yep.

So...that's where we are: a tremendous film, a fantastic trailer/short shot ('in the can'), and numerous connections worldwide, all poised to see our next move. Once we have the trailer/short in hand, we'll be free from the Catch-22, as our 'other' means will begin to work.

Here's where you come in.  If you (or someone you know) are interested in helping with this last $60K.... the wind that will launch all ships....please let me know.  If an angel lands this week, I can still get the trailer/short edited just in time to show it in the concourse of tents, etc. at the Argentine Open (greatest polo event in the sport) in early December. That's a standing offer for us to present it, and I would hate to miss it. We've raised over $100,000 so far, and I am confident we'll get this last $60K (eventually) but perhaps not in time.

So, I guess this entry is a bit of plea.  I wake, breathe, eat, and sleep thinking about and working on nothing else.  I need your help.  Many good people have put so much into this, and now we need you. Please email me at dmbluerun@gmail.com and I'll go over with you the guaranteed 230.2% return on your money (yes really).  Damn, I really hate asking for money.  I loathe it.  I just want to get off the merry-go-round, out of the Catch-22, and back to the art of this film, of making a stunningly beautiful, powerful picture.  Ride on.   And help if you can.  Now?

Ok, it's Halloween... in America (not sure how the custom is done elsewhere)...and I'm going to be indulgent for a second:  My son, Jack (4) (whom you faithful readers have come to know) debated long and hard about being a ninja or a cowboy (Sheriff Jack) riding a horse.  Finally the cowboy won out.  Here the good sheriff rides in this morning's costume parade at his pre-school.  Giddy up!

What does this have to do with the subject of this blog?  Perhaps nothing.  Perhaps everything.  The fantasy of dressing up, pretending, escaping, imagining, placing ourselves into the adventure of a story... we do it at 4, we do it at 84.  It seems essential to life...almost as elemental and certainly as instinctual as love, laughter and even breath.

Filmmaking is, to me, the ultimate storytelling, and if done right, the ultimate costume party for all as it pulls us up into the screen, under the hat, astride the horse, and away into the fairytale.  We gallop off with our buddies as girlfriends look on in awe! 

As in the pic above:  good and evil Batmen fight while the sheriff cantors alongside the explorer Diego, with a cadre of giggling princesses and fairies in swirl.  Doesn't get better than that.

Ride on Jack!  Ride on all of us.  Never stop riding.

Another Saturday and another great University of Texas football game.   But this time I was fighting through the last vestiges of a head cold, so I slumbered in and out of the action.  Why does the sound of a football game on TV bring on the droopies?  I did hear one quote that struck me...one that I'll add to my lexicon.  It came after one of the receivers pivoted in the end zone and strained to catch the ball, barely snatching it from mid-air.  Later he was overheard saying he'd lost it in the sun.  That lead a commentator to remark about a baseball coach who counseled his outfielders: "When you lose the ball in the sun, catch the sun."  Brilliant! (Pun intended.)

This business, film business, is often like that:  catching a ball lost in the sun.  There are a plenitude of rules and customs one is told to follow, to observe...the 'way it is done'.  And it can appear daunting, overwhelming, yes blinding to the newcomer.  In fact it appears that way to most, even those with years of experience of glaring into the light.  (Perhaps the reason for the addiction to sunglasses in the biz?)  But those who succeed (or at least those who maximize the opportunity for success) don't worry about it.  They just go for it.  They reach out and catch what seems unseeable, uncatchable.

An example:  Jessica Uberuaga.  Jess (left) is a remarkable young actress (and sometime model) who played the roll of Catarina in the short/trailer for the film (see pic from set below).  She's a dynamo, a small Idaho powerhouse.  Though she modeled all over the world prior to me casting her, her acting work had gone barely beyond Boise.  (I found her through a lead from one of our Exec. Prods who had trolled her on FB.)  (To see more of her, click on the pictures and videos links to the top left.)  After the shoot she pitched me hard for the roll of Catarina in the actual film.  (And continues to!) Well that's not something I'd promise her.  In fact I may cast an Argentinean actress like Mia Maestro...but Jess certainly has that AR look.   But as I told her, it's not decided yet and one way or another she'll be in the film.  (You'll see we have her listed as 'Argie TBD' on the Of Kings & Cowboys listing on IMDBPro.)

But even for that, I had my prerequisites before I would consider her:  First she had to move to LA.  Then she had to enroll in a good acting school.  And lastly, she had to get on stage in the LA area.  (Remember I come from theater...I think it is invaluable.)  That was in early July.  Now, already, not even four months later, she has done all three.  Wow.  Ok.  Now I am really impressed.  She knew no one in LA.  She didn't know which school to enter.  She wasn't sure how to find the auditions for theaters.  But she just did it.  Recently I gave her an opportunity to meet a major talent agent...but it'd require some patience and persistence on her part.  She did it, beautifully.  Most would've given up after the second hour of lobby pacing passed.  Not Jess.  She was innovative and persistent.  I won't tell more of the story...don't want to jinx the outcome.  But I'm excited to think of where her career may go.  Click here for Jess's initial IMDB listing.  Yes there are twenty thousand wanna-be starlets in LA tonight who have yet to be in their first film.  No matter.  There is at least one I know who has the proverbial sun in her grasp.

Finally, there have been many who have asked to be given a job or a chance to get involved with BlueRun, to write one of our next films, or to appear in Of Kings & Cowboys.  I am an actor's-director with great respect for the art.  But, if you really want to be on my team, cast or crew, I want to know that when you can't see the ball, you won't hesitate to reach, squint and catch the sun.  Ride on. 

 

 

 

 

With the growing 'buzz' around Of Kings & Cowboys, we're beginning (just beginning) to draw the attention of some institutional financiers, and that's a great development.  These are waters I have been swimming in for years, and so I welcome discussions of production tax credit asset-backed financing, leveraging pre-sales (foreign and cross-promotional), etc.  I had a lengthy conference call with one from NY yesterday, a shorter one today, and a sit down with a Texas investment banker later this week.  That coupled with our continuing relationships with Abu Dhabi emirati dirham ...and, we're doing pretty good.  (Well, we will be when those second rounds are actually funded.)  Then, with our discussions of purchasing a post-house in a tax credit/refund haven state like Michigan or Florida, and a possible reverse-merger IPO down the road... well, BlueRun is drawing some serious looks.  And we're ready.

I'm particularly pleased to see the market is not as frozen-up as one might have thought.   Now, I suppose if BlueRun was a home building company, our new-money goose might be cooked, but we're in the most venerable (not vulnerable) of growth industries: cross-media entertainment, which sits at the nexus of the most successful (long and short term) of sectors:  lifestyle and information technology.

Take for instance JP Morgan.  With the recent collapse on Wall Street, JP Morgan has done surprisingly well.  In fact so well that they were the investment banking house in the position to purchase Washington Mutual in a quick sale (shotgun wedding?) for a meager $1.9 Billion.  A key reason for JP Morgan's ability to fly above the disaster was a healthy diversification, including a $200,000,000 investment in the entertainment industry just this past December (see JP Morgan to Invest in Entertainment Opportunities) and the formation of the JP Morgan Entertainment Advisors unit.

Well, I'll stop before this starts sounding like a sales pitch...which it is not.  My point here is just to say that, believe it or not, I think we're commencing BlueRun at the perfect time.  Whatcha smokin' Davo?  Hear me out.  With all the fuss and dust-up going on up the (wall) street, it only shines a light on the glimmering glow coming from the ever growing uber-HD plasmas and LCD TVs filling our living rooms.  Name of that game?  Content.  And we have it.  Unique.  Dramatic.  Powerful.  Designed for the new age of entertainment.

Speaking of that...check out the 'touched-up' look of our parent site:  BlueRun Productions.  It still needs some flashy Java stuff (will trade for stock!), but it's functional.  And you'll see some new additions, like the overview and script of Fortunate Son (my novel and cable-TV mini-series pilot), the concept of WOOT!, our fully interactive TV/Web series, etc.

Hell yeah.  Ride on!

 

 

I commonly find myself explaining how this film will be different and unique in its look.  So, I often use a comparison of sports magazines to make the point.  Definition by comparison.   I thought I would expand on the idea somewhat, and put it here.  The first polo film in history must reflect the texture that is 'polo', and will.  But the story is at your gut...touches everyone, internationally.  One might say the 'feel' of the romance, the story, is the left column...while the 'feel' of the film itself is right column.  Got it?  And no, it isn't just common items v. luxury items.  Look closer.  This is certainly an imperfect comparison, but it begins to set the stage.  Ride on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick note.  With all the growing buzz, there have been quite a few sniffing around, hoping to see the script, peruse the budget, eyeball the PPM, etc.  No problem.  Just click on the link on the left called MORE INFO.  That will get ya what ya need!  Ride on.

"David, I really like the blog, but it's gonna get boring unless you get more revealing 'bout the details."  That's the comment I got today from a long-time reader.  More revealing.  Hmmm...  In this reality-TV world everybody expects to be allowed the voyeur license or they feel robbed. 

In truth, I've been pretty dang honest here.  But I know what she meant.  She's a filmmaker too, and knows the ups and downs, the triumphs and the toilet-hugs...especially on the 'first film' journey.  And she knows I am holding back some.  Why?  Because this blog is kinda a selling tool too.  We have two kinds of readers:  filmmakers and those just curious about the process...and the various people I am courting to get involved (read invest).  I have a tendency to lean starboard toward the latter...perhaps understandably?  And the other adage is that ya gotta keep some mystery about you in Hwood.  Ok...but it won't take long to lose you, the regular reader, if this just starts sounding like a puff piece. 

So...the lady wants more candor...hmmm... ok, then I'll talk about me in this one.  But to do so risks sounding like I'm full of myself... so, just to get it straight:  I ain't.  Why the self-dis Davo?  Cuz I let myself veer too far off my passion-bliss-path, and now I'm regaining lost ground.   I've blah-blahed in many entries below of my background, etc., so if you wanna know that stuff, get to scrolling.  But what I'm talking about here is 'focus'...or perhaps the chapter of years when it flickered and blurred.  I had focus back in '97 when I packed up my law practice and headed out on the writing journey, leading me to a dual life ala LA/Dallas for the next 5 years.  Now I'm 44 now, so we're talking about my later 30s.  I made some good coin writing for DreamWorks, etc., but nothing was produced, and I grew weary of the treadmill.  Luckily, in LA I had two good friends, Nick Kharabadze (producer) and Zane Zidel (writer/director) and a pretty good manager, Nick Mechanic.  Kept me individually sane...or at least mutually insane...same thing in LA.

Then in early 2002 Nick Kharabadze http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0451412/bio  was murdered (by the Russian mob no less...yes really) and that was all my disillusionment needed to tail-spin me off.  (Murdering assholes were only given 15 years:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-20-3665990425_x.htm?loc=interstitialskip )  So I said bye to Zane and Mechanic, emptied my Bev Hills condo and hit the road back to my Dallas where I hung out my shingle...sorta.  Well really I returned as a 'fixer' and dealer... putting handshakes together...mainly real estate and energy deals, raising over $75 Million for three companies...and along the way got embroiled with a publicly held company that was led by crooks.  I blew the proverbial whistle on 'em and spent two years trying to help the SEC bring them down.  Ughhh.  Meanwhile I was like my lab Dillon (left) whining for his favorite duck-toy.  My sense of self, my passion - writing/directing - seemed just beyond the fence.  Oh sure I was writing all the while, but most of it was a mess.

Then in 2006, my friend Zane, only one year older than me (42 at the time), dropped dead of a heart attack.  That shook me to my core.  If the death of Nick-M led me out of LA, the death of Zane-Z brought me back.  To put it bluntly, I came to my damn senses.  I took everything I knew (and made up the rest) and all the money I had, retooled my film projects, re-gained Of Kings & Cowboys, and opened BlueRun... throwing myself back into the briar-patch of filmmaking...for good.  (By the way, now Nick Mechanic seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth...and frankly I fear the worst.  If any of you know of him, lemme know.)

So...fast forward across the span between then and now.  (For the interim detail, read the other entries here.)  Where's my head and heart now, you ask?  Very enthused.  I couldn't be happier with what we're doing, what we've accomplished in just 6 short months.  And I have many people to thank for our great launch.  Now, as we all know, the market is mid an arrhythmia attack (though not for long I'm sure) and we find ourselves struggling a bit.  But this is nothin'.  Nothin' a'toll.  All it is is the first test of my mettle.  I am, in Texas Hold'em parlance, 'all in'.  I'm confident we'll get this next round of pre-prod financing and move on quickly.  But I gotta say, the ol' sphincters tightened a bit.  I am not 23, fresh out of UCLA and ok with eating Ramen Noodles in a West Hollywood dive-apartment.  I have a family, mortgage, responsibilities galore, a ticking clock and a shaved head.   (This ringing a familiar bell with any of you?)

So we ride on.  We have many great things on our side.  To start with, an invaluable team of loyal friends and professionals all helping.  And an already developing base of investors which, though understandably sorta-shaken by our momentary pause in progress, are here for the long climb.  And we have great properties:  see list at www.BlueRunProperties.com .  And frankly, we have an attorney/CPA with a bunch of years of raising funds and managing complex finances at the helm (see... now I'll be accused of chest thumping.)

In the next entry, I'll pull the curtain back a little further...tell you about the actor we just approached, the friend who is frustrated with me (ok pissed) because I was too critical of his script, the new potential-PA who is making me think twice, the struggles with trying to be a good dad while doing this...yada yada.  Who knows.  Let's see you get bored now!  Ride on!

By the way...now that we're being all candid with each other...Nick-K, in his thick Georgian accent, often capped off a conversation with 'Ride on!'.  I never knew if he was actually saying 'right on'...or, to me the writer he was saying, 'write on!'...but he thought it was cool, so that's good enough for me.

First I want to welcome a new group of readers.  We started out, just a few months ago, with the only readers here being a handful of polo enthusiasts, a couple of investors and random friends.  That's grown significantly, and frankly...don't you have something better to do!? :-)   If you're new here, welcome...I hope you'll take a look around, sign the guestbook, watch the videos, etc. 

Oh and for you newbies and old-timers alike, you'll see two new links there on the left:  Archives and Press Clippings.  Scroll the archives for past entries...though good luck deciphering the titles.  And we'll add more of the press articles from the past, and all of the new ones as they come out.

The number one question everyone has is:  status.   What's the status Davo?  Well...the sorta bullshit answer is that we are rocking forward at full speed, no worries!  But the real answer is that we're sorta in an "in-between-zone"...  between people pledging investments--and those funds actually being funded...  between me returning to LA next week--and completing the editing of the short...  between the extension of offers to a couple of people to be involved in various ways--and them committing, etc.  This is not a comfortable place for hyperactive people like me.  Another way of putting it would be to reference the sailing entry below:  I am still f$%&ing rowing!

So, if you're one of the many who have over the months pledged your help...now is the time!  If you know we're waiting on an answer from you...please get back to us ASAP.

Oh, and before I go, here's another photo I came across of us shooting on the 4th day.  It was taken by one of our intrepid grips, Brion Hopkins.  Nice shot.  Click here for more of Brion's pics.  Ride on.

In case you missed it, here is the Variety article as published.  Love the cartoon they drew for it.  Now, there's a way to film polo:  small people with cameras standing on the horses' croups!   Ride on, with camera in hand!