This week, we’ve been trying to juggle the schedules of our many different actors and crew, attempting to match them with the demands of our back lot — Riley’s Farm, where hundreds of students see a kind of live version of Courage, New Hampshire daily.    Frances Romero Mena has it nailed down about 90% now, which is about as tight as you can get these things.  Sometimes, you just have to wrap the tavern in a blanket and do day-for-night and squeeze in a pickup shot at the end of the shoot.  Otherwise, things seem pretty fixed now.

We sent out a bulk email this week, pitching our new listing on Indiegogo.com, a site that, among other causes, helps independent film makers raise a little cash.  I try, without success, to refrain from refreshing that page more than about three hundred times a day.  If you are interested in attending the premiere, it’s a great way to schedule a date night and help us tell the story.

We have a new entertainment consultant, Tracy Balsz at IndieMarketing.com.   She’s sharp, professional, and, best of all, very enthusiastic.   I have easily three dozen questions for her, one of which is:  As the market moves away from DVDs ($8.95 to $17.95 each) to video-on-demand ($0.99 to $2.95) how would you possibly advertise something that cheap?   There’s a reason why you see high ticket items advertised on television:  if an ad costs you $10,000, you only need to sell one Red Camera to pay for it, but if you’re selling something for $0.99, you need to close an absurdly high number of viewers.    Maybe Tracy will figure it out, or when I actually ask the question, the answer will come to me.

We’re working on a few celebrity cameos this year.   That’s all I can say about that.

On the housing front, we’re trying to see if a local mansion here in Oak Glen is available for the cast and crew.   We know it’s vacant, for sale, and wouldn’t your average effortlessly rich person LOVE to rent a home to a film company like ours? Maybe?  The Desert Inn has heart.  Right?