Planting The Seeds For Drama

Alright, just incase this turns out to be an incredible disaster, I thought it best to document the beginning of what could very well be the end of an era.

SHADOWBOXER

Amidst concerns that the feature length documentary would shed an unfavorable light upon our employers, we were willing to comply with their request for two toned down versions. One would be a 10-15 minute featurette that would more closely resemble the typical fare: O.K. interviews spliced with slightly amusing, but more importantly, safe, anecdotes from the set.

The second half hour version was essentially our feature length fly-on-the-wall-and-nothing-else approach stripped down to its bare essentials. Not that there's anything wrong with that - it was still true to the spirit of what we'd been trying to achieve as we've shaped this documentary throughout the last two years.

We were just happy that some of what was good, new, and interesting was still there. There were still those vital moments from preproduction during all the wheeling and dealing that no one ever gets to see...that no one would ever see had it not been for our boss' willingness to show the reality of the process at his personal and professional expense.

But this morning's rude awakening was more than the usual dump trucks thundering down Meserole Street at 7am. The first email I read this morning, the first piece of information I'd really processed after realizing I was already going to be late for work, informed me of their decision to scrap the good stuff and just keep the short 12 minute featurette.

All the work we'd done to distinguish ourselves within the Behind The Scenes "genre" (said with a tone of self aware mocking, mind you) was apparently for naught.

But I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself. We haven't even had a chance to counter yet. We are planning on fighting this thing as best as we can. I just thought I should introduce the situation now and get it off my mind so I can concentrate on yet another day in the tedious grind of corporate america. Maybe that Korean bum who sits on the corner of 53rd and Park all day smoking his pipe and ranting about how fucked everything is has a point.

I should see if I can get a picture of that guy.