June 1, 2006

HC Newsletter - June 1, 2006

Friends,

With the arrival of summer right around the corner, the "Humboldt County" project team, like the country as a whole, is feeling the heat. Our start date is fast approaching, and we have a veritable mountain of tasks to accomplish over the next few months. Luckily, our momentum is still growing, and the advancements we continue to make give us more confidence than ever in the potential of this film.

A few brief notes about our progress over the last month:

- Casting: As most of you know, Jeremy Davies signed on to play the role of "Max." Not only is Jeremy a tremendously talented actor, but he is also astoundingly passionate about the project and has been a big help to us in attracting other actors to it. He is working remarkably hard to make this film a success, making him an invaluable asset to our team. This month brought some frustrating news for us. Several of the actors we had targeted for major roles in the film -- and who wanted to play them -- had their TV "pilots" picked up for fall broadcast. While this is terrific news for them, it means they are unavailable to us this summer. Nevertheless, we will persevere and anticipate having another announcement or two in the next few weeks about additional cast members.

- Production: We decided to postpone our estimated start date by 5 weeks to August 14th. Much of the motivation behind our eagerness to start production in mid-July was to enable us to attract actors during the summer television hiatus, before TV shows began shooting their new fall seasons. However, many of these shows will begin shooting earlier than anticipated, thus preventing some actors from working with us. (Also, as mentioned above, a number of film actors who were eager to play roles in "Humboldt County" have been cast in television shows this fall as well.)

Because there is now less pressure to complete our production before the fall TV programs begin shooting, we have slipped our "go" date by slightly over a month. This has the added benefit of giving us more time to prepare. Part of this preparation includes our continual improvement of the screenplay. As always, if anyone would like to read the latest version, please let us know.

- Financing: We identified a number of new investors this month who seem intent on participating in the project. We are also engaged in early discussions with two film financiers/distributors who have expressed interest in funding the remainder of our budget. All the same, we still haven't reached our minimum capitalization and thus are not fully "greenlit"; this is a milestone that is not only required, but also now urgent. As always, we appreciate any and all introductions to individuals or groups who you believe might be interested in participating.

Keep your fingers crossed and your hopes high. June promises to be a monumental month.

Regards,

Jason

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