Let's Put on a Show! - [Rufus]

"my dad has a barn..."

Alright Harriers (Harryacks? Harricanes?), if you aren't convinced I'm nuts yet this post will leave no doubt. There's been an odd convergence of coincidences in my life this past week that have all pointed to this one, very bizarre idea. The first few times the fates pointed me towards it I was convinced I was nuts, and didn't mention anything, but more coincidences continued to pop up. Today Glenn(?) over at Dirty Harry's Place.com danced around the same subject and I figure somebody wants me to put this into writing, so, here goes:

Let's make a movie.

None of us on our own has the ability to come close, but that's the beauty of this internet thingy; it makes for easy collaboaration across wide expanses of geography. Heck, even overseas readers like Guido and thud can pitch in. We write a script as a team. We solicit funding as a team (none of us can pitch in $1M, but we can find 100,000 folks who can throw in $10, or 1,000 who throw in $100). We find the resources (people, props, equipment) in the locations we need as a team. We are a smart group of people and we literally have natioinwide, semi-global reach. If you throw in our close circle of friends (outside the blogosphere) we are a very, very powerful bunch.

Here's the pitch:

There are two, big topical things particularly driving me nuts right now. I propose we take one of these ideas, refine it and run with it with the goal of getting something in the can (that is what you Hollywood types call a finished movie, isn't it?) in about six months. Here are my two suggestions;

1. An examination of national economies showing the truth of what works and what doesn't, kind of a reverse "Sick-o." We make it clear that free market capitalism works better than anything tried before, or currently being done, and we show the heros of capitalism who truly are inventing cures, saving the environment, caring for the needy, teaching our children...

2. A real, honest depiction of Iraq, life under Sadaam and the immense strides the wonderful men and women in our military have brought to the region. We show women's and children's lives and lack of rights before and after. We show the remarkable economic successes in the north, and other regions. We show the murderous chaos of those trying to destabilize the region.

For #1 I picture something similar to how Ben Stein did his recent ID documentary. A roving narrator (perhaps Ben Stein or P.J. O'Rourke in the flesh), schlepping around the world, showing power points and graphs, interviewing citizens of failed economies and captains of industry, etc. There are a lot of ways we could take idea #2.

So, anyway, I'm not good enough on my own to illuminate it all. That's the whole point of the exercise. I am good at organizing, however, and I'm sure some of you are even better. We already know Harry can direct. Troy is an attorney. Several of you are great screenwriters. Some of you must know how to work a camera. We even need people who can simply help write lists and keep track of stuff. Any able-bodied persion could be very useful. The first few steps I see are;

1. Verify Harry doesn't think I'm a freakin' moron.

2. Who is interested? Let me know if you are interested in the comments and give me an e-mail address to contact you.

3. Troy and/or any other attorneys; what do we need to have folks sign, how do we copyright ideas created in collaboration, what do we have to keep off the public internets, etc?

4. Can anyone do a high level time-line of what milestones have to be hit when in order to produce a documentary in 6 months?

I'm not talking "Lawrence of Arabia" here, I'm talking a low budget $1M or less, indie documentary that shoots in 60 days or fewer.