Deathworld: First days at the Glass Mansion

As promised, I'll be writing the occasional diary entry here on the forum for people following the Deathworld project (search Deathworld: to get full list)

4 days ago we moved into our palatial California estate, and have been settling in and getting basic systems online such as computers and networking.

The place is amazing. A paradisaical atmosphere of tranquility and wide open spaces. The size of the place is such that with just the three of us here, there are often times when we cannot find each other and have to use the intercom system.

The accommodations are very comfortable and there is are plenty of places to set up work areas or just chill out for a while. Our yard stretches out at least a half mile in every direction, and is very quiet and serene atmosphere populated only by the occasional chirping of birds in the distance. A friendly brown horse gallops by our back patio here and there, grazing in our side yard where it lives.

Harry Harrison has contacted me again today and is ready to start working with us on the details of the project, so I'm looking forward to talking to one of my favorite authors this week. For a gentleman of 88 years, he is still quite enthusiastic, and I'll be interested in hearing the input he's been working on for these past few months.

In the mean time, I'm mainly working on getting our advertising and front-end stuff up, as well as securing the first major contract for our team. I've gotten the green-light to create and send in the proposal, and starting in about 9 days, we'll be building the reels to support that documentation. I'm going to outline multiple levels of product, but focus around an 80k package that would allow our group to completely offset the cost of living over the year with no more than one week per month of work. I think there's a strong chance of success there, and we have a very solid pitch in the works.

I've also created a new business plan revolving around incumbent sales to the convention industry, which has a very high profit potential, and might be the easiest of all to recruit investment for. If that operation were to become successful, we might be able to fund the entire phase 1 operation internally, and end up owning this 1.3 million dollar home and all the movie equipment. Far too early to tell on that. But it is a good plan.

We went into town here in Los Banos on Friday night, and results were lackluster. It's just one time, but I get the strong impression that this is not the greatest possible town in terms of the social scene. On the positive side, it will be nice to take advantage of this great opportunity free from distraction.

Overall, for those still on there way here, or considering joining us later, I'd say that this is a very relaxing environment, and that we couldn't have done better in terms of finding an ideal place for a group of filmmakers to work together.

-Nate
 
Sounds great, Nate. Sorry if I haven't been following along on everything and if that makes this a dumb question. Is this a co-op?
 
Maybe the Los Banos nightlife is only waiting to be injected with a little more Funk!


















Just kidding. I only go out a handful of times a year, actually. The only part of Los Banos' economy that will feel the Funk-Bump will be the local taco stands. God, I miss me some authentic Mexican!
 
Los Banos is definitely rural and remote. I've driven past it many a times on the 5 en route to and from the Sacramento area. You'll certainly have your choice of taquerias. Lots of wildlife refuges for exploring, too.

Good luck Team Deathworld! Knock it out of the park!
 
Sounds great, Nate. Sorry if I haven't been following along on everything and if that makes this a dumb question. Is this a co-op?
No it is not a co-op. It is a start up production company from my understanding of it. They will make Deathworld and also do some other production jobs to pay the bills while making the Deathworld movie.
 
Los Banos is definitely rural and remote. I've driven past it many a times on the 5 en route to and from the Sacramento area. You'll certainly have your choice of taquerias. Lots of wildlife refuges for exploring, too.

Good luck Team Deathworld! Knock it out of the park!

Interesting that someone would think to build a mansion in a place like Los Banos. Perhaps someone should check the cellar for drug labs or underground rail tracks for smuggling uranium.
 
Interesting that someone would think to build a mansion in a place like Los Banos. Perhaps someone should check the cellar for drug labs or underground rail tracks for smuggling uranium.

hahah.... If there are drugs in the cellar, I guess these guys have made it.
 
Very awesome! And the lack of immediately available nightlife is a plus...as you said, less distractions and if you need a mental break from working, you can always go for a walk, or th aforementioned taco run!

Damn, I want tacos now.
 
We're thinking about the webcams, but right now it wouldn't be too interesting. People making sandwiches and the like. At the moment we're still just getting everything working. Once we start filming in about 10 days, things will get a lot more interesting.

Justin is showing up day after tomorrow, and Carl about a week after that from my current understanding.

I'm most definitely working hard on the money already, and we have a small array of eggs in various baskets.

It won't be easy, but it's quite possible. I'm working on the big proposal that would knock out our rent for the rest of the year today. It's expensive and risky, but then what worthwhile thing isn't?

I'm enjoying feeding the horse Soltana, and watching it gallop happily through the field in the afternoons. This place is as low stress as it gets, and it's making it easy to work and be productive.

Really looking forward to Justin and Carl's arrival, when you have something this great, you want to share it.

If anyone wants to help support us, I'll make it easy for you. The contract we need to pay the rent for the year is with borrowlenses.com, a very good and inexpensive lens and camera rental place that will ship anywhere in the US. To help out the Deathworld project, simply rent any lens or camera from Borrowlenses.com and include a note on the order that you were referred by our team. That will help them see that working with us will bring in new customers, and could make the descision to work with us easier for them. The best thing about this is that it doesn't cost you anything other than the rental, and you get your choice of 700 great lenses and cameras.

I'll probably post that in another thread in a week or so.

Meanwhile, we do still have a slot available, maybe 2, so those considering still have an opportunity to apply. Once we start making money, I suspect it will be a lot harder to get in on this, since the average paying job these days has over a hundred applicants per slot, and this is hardly an average paying job.
 
Seriously, especially if some of the funding doesn't come through. Always good to have a back up plan. That's what I say...

Sounds like a good short film about film makers trying to make a movie start selling drugs to film the project then right before the movie makes it big get busted and thrown in Jail. The film goes on to be a top seller and then later they get out of jail and become washed up because they lost their mojo then later have their second great success to redeem theirselfs.
 
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I'm enjoying feeding the horse Soltana, and watching it gallop happily through the field in the afternoons.

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A dog chasing a $20K horse? Expect to see Shepard in pound or dead by the end of the day. Might I suggest radio collars?

I was just foolin' around. The house has a fenced yard, and that is where the dogs will stay. Though I will admit to being curious as to how my dogs would react to the horse. I actually don't think they would chase it, though they'd definitely be drawn to it, at least initially.
 
whew.. thats good to hear. Though I still might recommend a radio fence and collar. Cheap'ish insurance against losing your dog.

Unless your dog is especially well trained, a Horse will run and the dog will chase.
 
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