Six weeks to go; the proverbial Double Edged Sword is there ever was one. The money scramble continues and C & D have stepped up their efforts to get Bagan ready for the delivery from Stamford to Newport. Today I was asked if I was scared. The answer was an easy one, “Down to my socks.” Yet all isn’t fear and fret; yesterday I had the great fortune to sign on Marc Rosenberg as writer for the documentary. Years back, Marc and I worked together in L.A. and while I bailed from the industry for the sake of my sanity (or lack thereof) Marc stayed and has in the business and done very well for himself; one of his last scripts was “December’s Boys” was released last year. Truly an honor to have him writing the project… Meanwhile, back in reality … I met today with Matt Dutra & Molly McGuirk of Rubic Design. Matt & Molly are mounting a full-court-press for media coverage and promotion, something I’m not entirely comfortable with but know all too well is a necessary evil. While I have trouble selling myself and my projects (see: Reason #37/D For Leaving L.A.) I’m more than aware that if this documentary is ever to get its full voice a groundswell needs to be generated. Rubic Design and Hole In The Wall have been working together for over a year now and here too I’m extremely fortunate to have such a treasure-trove of talent and expertise on the team. Within the next week the Northwest Passage Film site and Blog will go live.
Got a call today from Tony Linder who’s handling the sponsorship aspect of the project for me. Tony has been pounding on closed doors that have been firmly shut since the economy started to tumble. Despite this we have a conference call tomorrow with a potential sponsor. Keeping guarded optimism but am very hopeful that good things may come from this. Meanwhile Clinton & Dominique are prepping Bagan for her quick trip north to RI at the end of the month. They’re currently pricing out the Espar heaters and compiling the list for the paper charts. We’ve decided to wait until Newport to pull the injectors to the main engine. Oil prices have tumbled in the past few days so to try and take advantage of this Bagan will get her first fill-up Friday. One thing this weak economy has done is allowed me to do some stock market day-trading and have managed to pick up some muchly needed profits. I’m all too aware that this can go the other way as well. June 15th looms. Our land based doctor, Phil Wagner, emailed saying that he has a contact at NBC who he’s going to brief about the documentary. Obviously exposure like this would be great for the project but equally as important the story of what could potentially happen to the Passage and its surroundings should be heard.
Scrambling try to find any sort of insurance coverage. I’d be amazed if I did come up with anything but a year ago at this time that’s just what I was, amazed. A company in South Africa came up with a policy, which had a 2% deductible, full hull coverage for $10,000. Today that company is no longer in business. The best I can find now is $15,0000 and no coverage for ice damage, plus no coverage for north of 62.10N, which is about half the trip. Very hard to keep focused on the trip with this economy. June 15th can’t come soon enough.
Had a great showing of “58 Harrison Lane” last night, a documentary I spent the past two years producing. The 100 or so people who were there helped to reassure me that I’m on the right track chasing down a doc about The Passage. I say this as I receive more yard bills. Bagan is die up here in two more weeks. Looking out onto the water from my rental I can oh so strongly feel the expedition coming together. Very trite, but the sea does indeed call.
Received a call from Matt’s office at The Today Show. Matt and I worked together at a local affiliate years ago and a month back I wrote him about how he, in his position, would market the final product or get the word out about the doc/expedition. It’s a tough situation I face, part of me wants to simply skip away quietly to and through the Passage and hopefully have a wonderful tale to regale any future grandchildren with. The film maker part of me knows that, at my level anyway, exposure is needed, hence high profile, something I’ve never been comfortable with.
Bills roll in and potential sponsors don’t return calls, and I don’t blame them; when faced with having to lay trusted employees off who in their right fiscal mind would want to throw money at a venture which may very well be stuck in the ice for a polar winter. While the five of us know that our getting to CA in November is a “sure thing” we also respectfully realize that there is no such thing as a “sure thing”. Due to the beaten state of the stock market I’ve been watching battered stocks which fluctuate for a few days of their historic lows. I try to garb/shave an point here and there. So far I’ve made enough to pay for our diesel and food for the trip but come tax time a year from now know that I’ll get hammered on short term cap gains. Desperate times call for desperate measures? I should put “DJIA” on the side of the boat.
Bottom painted, new zincs, stabilizers overhauled, chain re-galvanized, Bagan is now resting where she should be, in the water dockside and if all goes to plan should be coming up here to Newport May 1st where Dominique will start the arduous process of supplying her for the trip. I’m still pounding on doors for funding but have resigned myself to the fact that the once the trip is finished a sale of the documentary will hopefully reimburses me, hopefully.
