you'll be fine

we're searching for the perfect location here in good ol' film country. it must be an unoccupied farmhouse on lots of wild land with an old tobacco barn close at hand. easy as a wink.

spotted by one of the trusty folk working on the film, we found some old houses, completely empty, and only had to go to the county clerk to find out the owner...which prompted this email from the producer:

If you could stop by the home of [the property owners] and tell them we'd like to be in touch with them and tell them as much about the project as you like & get some information.. I'll give them a call if you can get a number. thank you!!!!!!!!

i was to go out and approach some unsuspecting people and inform them i knew they owned some property and that we wanted to use it for a film. good times.

they did not live on the property, so i had to search for the home in town. i found the street and there were tons of newly built neighborhoods all over the place and i couldn't find their address for anything. i drove back and forth on this street until i finally saw that the little dirt path in a clump of trees was actually a driveway - and the driveway i was searching for.

i took a breath and figured that the film would compensate me for any bullet holes i acquired on the job, and drove down a long, narrow, dirty and gravelly driveway to find...a caboose, a house with a golf cart secured onto the front porch, seven garages of various sizes, hanging art, and flowers.

so, of course, i got out of the car and headed for what i felt was the front door. i knocked once. nothing stirred. and i promptly returned to my car.

i drove to a near walgreens and wrote out a note, attempting to seem casual and not at all psychotic, and drove back and slipped it in their mailbox which sat safely on the side of the road.

i informed the producer of my quest and he wrote back:

thaaanks could you circle back there at the end of the day? or is it too far from you?

i explained to him that distance was not the issue, but that i felt extremely uncomfortable returning, since these people seemed to live off the grid (even though they were feet from neighboring yards). he understood and went out himself...

i haven't heard from him since.