There really are only a number of hours left until the first screening of this film. What has taken almost a year of our life is about to come to fruition. I wish I could jump ahead 9 days. But instead, I’m waiting for my computer to reboot since it’s now crashing. A lot. Scares the hell out of me. I need another backup. And a backup for that.

But the music is starting to sing. The legal work - vast amounts of boring documents that can easily shut us down or bite us in the ass if the smallest detail is missed - is almost done. Ken has lived up to his title of producer on this project more than once. And this week is no exception. All I can say is, it’s a good thing I’m not the one left to the details.

But speaking of me - I haven’t much going on. Just emersed in the edit. I’m lucky to not have a normal job. I work on this thing day and night. That is it. I haven’t left the house in 4 days. Just no need to. Some nights it seems almost cozy. My social life consists of listening to the stories of the athletes in the film. Playing clips over sometimes just to hear those stories again and again. I feed the squirrels out back too. Well, until one bit me.

I guess this is what sleep deprevation does to a person. I feel all out of sorts. I’m down to 5 hours a nite. I think I’m getting used to it. Ok, computer is up. Gotta run. Thanks for checking in.

j

Today was a major victory for the movie. We have been anxiously - no, all caps - ANXIOUSLY - awaiting word from the US Olympic Committee. The past 48 hours have been a rollercoaster of emotion. After calling to see if it’s ok that an announcer in the movie mentions the “O” word, Ken was told by the USOC that we were in violation of their trademark “Road To Athens” and they wanted some money to let us use the name. Well, we could change the name easy enough but then they watched the trailer and BOOM - things got worse. They said the content of the film was “Olympic-themed” and that also violated their trademark - not good. SO - that seemed to the USOC to indicate that we should pay them royalties. And at first it looked like we might have to pay in the neighborhood of $150,000 - uh, yea. Riiiiight. I don’t live in that neighborhood and neither does Ken. Since I sold my bike in Austria to pay the rent I have not won the lottery. Nor has Ken taken a second morgage on his house or sold his kids into slavery - so that kind of money was NOT in our budget. After some fearful nights and ideas of changing the name (Off Road To Debt was my new favorite), we did some back and forth with the USOC and I’m STOKED to announce we struck a deal!!!! We don’t even have to open a new credit card for it! WHEW.

It might not sound like a big deal but as of this morning, the film was in serious jeapordy of coming to a quick end. VERY BIG THANKS to the USOC for being reasonable and working with us. Feels good to be legit!

So it’s full-speed-ahead and I’d once again like to thank anyone who is still reading this. Sorry it’s so long in between updates.