Just a quick note, I’m very tired.

Two more good leads about possible investors arose on Friday. I spent the day following those up.

Saturday I had a build meeting with Carson and Ted. They had some great ideas, and it looks like we may have resolved two of our biggest concerns - temperature/air flow in the theater and securing the false ceiling.

The theater will be an enclosed space in a gallery with no air conditioning. In L.A. in July. HOT. Probably unbearable without some form of air conditioning, or at least air circulation. So we’ve developed a plan to create a flow of air through the gallery, from back to door to front door, using fans, wall grills, venting, and an air conditioner.

As for the false ceiling, Ted came up with a great idea for installing and securing the tiles on the ceiling. He and Carson made some drawings of the method we envision. I’ll post those on the ephemera page in the next week or so.

After that meeting I flew to a meeting with Skye and Elise to discuss the aesthetic feel of the film, and some of their ideas. Just from the tensions that arise in our discussions, the radically different obsessions and tastes we all have, I feel certain the film will be entertaining. The stresses we’ll bring to the process should make it lean and energetic.

So, all good news. Though I am pretty worn out, I must admit. I profoundly underestimated the amount of time that it would take to manage a crew this large. And how stressful the budgeting would be. Marketing, promotions, sales, I forgot how stressful and time consuming that all is. And being well behind in all those areas is also pretty disconcerting.

Fortunately for me, I really do have the most amazing group of people working with me. Their ability to imagine the project and envision solutions is phenomenal. Especially as any power I had for those areas is pretty well burned out of me right now.

Finally, I just need to add in this post that I spoke with Susan on Friday. And if an artist has ever had a better gallerist/curator to work with, I would be surprised. Her support is unwavering. She’s not only the gallerist for this project, but also my best therapist, advisor and supporter. Without her unwavering and almost unconditional* backing we could never be attempting a project on this scale.

*Her conditions? That we not screw ourselves over financially or feel too much pressure. See, how could you imagine a better gallerist?

Well, it’s confirmed, The MVM is coming to Hollywood. We’re founding a movie studio (23E Studios, natch). We’re building a production facility. We’re building a theater. We’re shooting a film. And we’re premiering that film in LA’s chinatown.

I spoke with Susan at Fringe today and we agreed on July 2008 for the show. The tentative date for the show’s opening is July 12, but that may shift by a week or so.

Susan is very excited and, as always, unbelievably supportive.

I, too, am excited.

I will meet with Ted Rzad and David Gurman next week to begin budgeting the build. And I need to get a start on the model with Ted. That could take awhile I suspect.
Then next Sunday I am holding a full crew meeting. I want to introduce everyone to each other. And do a presentation on the project. Answer questions and take ideas. And then collect head shots and bios. I also want to have meetings with the different crew units to get a sense of their needs, for budgeting purposes.

As well, today I ran into a friend and alumni of CCA’s Visual and Critical Studies department, Hanif O’Neil. Hanif is amazing. He is insanely insightful on media and theory issues, as well as video and audio art. I broached the subject of bringing him on board to work with me on the press and other written materials for the show. He’s interested, and hopefully we can meet next week to nail some things down. I’m hoping he’ll agree to be my conceptual personal trainer.

This is going to be a wild ride. We are going to take Hollywood by storm!
And I’ll be living with my parents.