Rock House Rally & the Rooting of Major Brand Productions
My friend Dan Amen recently acquired his family's 1893 land purchase in Pawnee. It's a 686 acre ranch devoid of any man-made structures (save an abandoned house and the ruins of 3 original 1890's stone buildings). He took me out there last October, with the idea that I could set a future film shoot on the land. It is certainly an impressive expanse, with a couple of bodies of water, a diverse amount of terrain, and beautiful lookouts.
At the time I was chock full trying to simultaneously complete the three shorts I was contracted to do, finish the master version of the Fire in the Mountain documentary, and get things together for the feature distributor. Not only that, but I knew winter was fast approaching, with absolutely no time to invest in planning something new (no matter how low budget or thrown-together it might be).
After talking to him the other day, he presented me with a mock-up list of events he's trying to organize on his land to generate interest in it. The list above details the many types of events that can take place there. In the course of discussion, I realized that many of my long-standing ideas for events are fulfilled a hundred times over by his invitation to make use of the acreage.
For my entire life I have yearned to open up a haunted house/trail/hayride attraction. The number one obstacle every year was not necessarily money (as that can be regained through admissions), but available land. You pretty much need an isolated plot that won't disrupt city ordinances. Well here it is, sitting in my lap. Not only is there 386 acres of potential terror, but a creepy old abandoned house to boot!
Last year when Misty, falfax, Deb and I went to the Scream Country trail, we had a blast, but I asserted that someday when *I* make a haunted attraction, it would rapidly become one of the top ones in the country. Now I more than have that ability. Work will earnestly begin on this pronto.
As for other events: For the first time since 2000 I was seriously canceling my annual mid-May Nashville party due to its miserable failure the past two times. But with the added dimension of an outdoor screening, all the open ranch space we can handle, and all sorts of room for other activities, I'm reconsidering.
And my annual Horror-Movie-Marathon in the Woods? More than covered. What could be creepier than being isolated in the middle of so much virgin land in the middle of the night, especially near an old abandoned house? It'll be far better than last years! He even said I could screen in the house if I want to.
So anyway, I'll be planning big things for this awesome opportunity. I'm very grateful for Mr. Amen's invitation, and I'll be doing my best to generate activity on his property to see that it becomes an important landmark in the state. It already has a very important historical significance (apart from the original 1890's homestead, the completely untouched land is a precious exception in this new century). Of course all these events on his land will require ticket prices to help his family eventually pay off their reaccession of it, as well as the general maintenance, but I think everyone will more than enjoy the atmosphere. Before this past weekend I was limited in my thinking, only focusing on what types of things I could film there. When he started discussing other possibilities it really opened things up.
As for what my first feature will be on the land? After Loads of Dames, and perhaps after Bald Knobbers, it will likely be Nature Trail to Hell, from the awesome Weird Al song! The strange thing is that very Sunday past when I talked to him, I had hit upon an idea in the shower beforehand: that my passions for projects come MUCH faster than I'm able to fulfill them. Given that I know of a core selection of people that enjoy specializing in certain production fields (editing, lighting, et cetera), I should form an assembly line of sorts for new productions (but free from a cookie-cutter formula). The point is that I am such a control-freak that I dislike handing footage over to an editor. But in the shower I dawned upon the concept of partial-participation (e.g. - the editor can simply log and transfer footage, leaving the creative portion to me).
Freed by these restraints, all I have to do is raise enough money for each individual project, pay the same trusted stock of crew and cast members each time, and be able to get these ideas out there MUCH more regularly. One of the things I've struggled on with Let Us Go and Burn Her Body is the lack of a marketing/festival budget. I spend WAY too much time trying to refine its presentation and trying to generate a buzz with no resources. These new budgets will be inclusive of such plans. I already knew this from production classes in the past, but since that project was an academic thesis, it didn't have the usual requirements or time needed for such necessary provisions. And since my distributor is eager to consider future properties I come up with, these new co-op productions will likely have an immediate outlet, saving me a tremendous amount of time and effort!
NOTE: As the events listed are itinerant examples, so is the price he has listed at the top. He said the correct amount should be $10 instead of $20 for those events. Also, the July 29-30 Bird Watch should be moved to late September with the Butterfly Migration. And of course, I'll be pencilling in my own events soon enough!