<Originally
written on pen & paper, transcribed on June
7th>
8:53 AM, Thursday,
June 4th, 2009:
En
Route to Masai Mara
I mentioned in the
last entry that there probably could be a
better place for this announcement... but as I write
this on a notepad while bouncing around in a white van
on my way to my first African Safari, I see I was
wrong. The notepad seals it. To have journeyed beyond
electricity is the essence of "jumping" and I believe
I've finally convinced 2000 Adam to keep going. I am
sooooooo glad I FINALLY get to explain this
entire year to you all...
In late February,
while suffering through "Inauguritis" and lack of
adventure, I was doing more grunt work for The Journey
in preperation for the 10 year anniversary (Youtubing
every video, etc.) At the same time, the Filipino
newspiece on The Journey made Entry #1 even more
magical. As I gazed at it with a foreign tongue behind
it, I imagined being able to talk to that Adam. What
if I told him the entirety of the next 10 years? Would
he still do it? What an incredible conversation that
would be... and what, a great, movie. Because it's
sooooo grey! You really think he'd choose to lose
Jess? At that moment I was certain 2000 Adam would
turn around and go back to Ohio. It really
affected me. I mean I'm used to not being able to hide
with The Journey -- but this was a whole new level.
I'm writing this script in my head as 2010 Adam trying
desperately to make 2000 Adam keep going... and
failing. It ate at me. have I just rationalized
failure? 2000 Adam certainly thinks so. 2000 Adam sees
losing Jess, and still not really making it, and is
mortified.
However, in my
mind? The idea for the movie was just far too good to
ignore the truth. So I was stuck with the possibility
that 2000 Adam turns the fuck around. The only way I
could possibly avoid that was to somehow impress him
with the only year remaining. So now does the "Hail
Mary" of Africa make sense? Absolute desperation. I
kept thinking of the videos I would show 2000 Adam to
make him keep going. It was a little crazy. And all
because I was writing this movie script and hating the
ending...
...and that one
move of a ticket to Africa, lead to Weller/Grossman
wanting my demo, lead to pitching to Comedy Central,
and lead to the most extraordinary break of my life.
And it was all done in an attempt to convince 2000
Adam to keep going. That is remarkable to me.
Stunning. And that is why writing this out free
hang on a notepad is perfect. That one act of
insanity...saved The Journey.
So let me
introduce the first trailer for The Journey: From 1 to
1000:
If your
computer can handle it (meaning it doesn't stutter
once it's loaded) click the "HD" button...
incredible.
I'll be filming
the new live-action elements in... well, now Comedy
Central has made that a bit more difficult to
determine. It was gonna be September & January,
but it might have to be whenever I can. Marty
& Jessica will be reprising their 2000
counterparts (calling all people with a cat that looks
like J-Dog in the Columbus area) and this will be
feature length (90 minutes). My plan is to premiere it
in Columbus in an actual movie theater for Entry
#1000, which should have landed on April
Fools' Day, however recent events have kept me
writing at such a pace that I'm actually a bit
concerned. From this month which could top 20 entries,
to the 4-Square Show to Comedy Central it's gonna be
all I can do to pace it down for the Premiere
April 1st. So funny considering a few months ago I was
trying to create random content (ten 4-Square Shows)
just to make it to to April 1st. Journey fortunes do
turn on a dime. :-)
So there's the big
announcement. I can really see this movie being
one of the most touching stories I've ever told.
I mean look at how I reacted telling Jess the
Comedy Central news. Whew. This will be epic... and if
done right, paired with the press from the 10 year
anniversary on January 2nd, could be perfect
timing.
