Q - How happy is he?

A - The rifleman is very happy. Very happy indeed.

Enough with the 80 pop culture sidetrips - its time this blog got back to its primary purpose.

Me whining about my life and its precarious brushes with near failure...

Bread and butter baby...

But here is the twist.

Once again - we are deadly close. So stinking close that I can actually smell a bit of the wind carrying the scent of Hollywoods dirty money. When we last spoke -while the news was good, we didn't really know if it meant anything. SO here is the latest.

This week formal offers go out for our two top stars. These guys have theoretically been attached for two years - but it seems as if the schedules have aligned and both of them and their people and their people's people's people have decided they are sick and tired of my stalking and to get me out of their hair - they might as well do the stupid movie.

We are gearing up for an August 1 start date. There will be rehearsals and post days and a myriad of other details to work out - like their travel, how many assistants, their perks... blah blah blah...

But the truth is - this is stinking huge. To get them both at the table, agreeing to a date - is monumental. This is the biggest hurdle we have had to overcome ever - and it can mean really good things.

On the other side - the minimajor is not ready to commit to where we are shooting. We were planning on Utah - mostly because the producer that really got this project going is doing a film there now with Sean Penn. If we were in Utah - we can be close by and he can be more involved. The further we are away - the less he will be there.

The company wants us to look at other places - and then mentioned specifically New Mexico and Canada. I know the big star would love Canada because that is where he is from - but I hate Canada and Canadians and all of their north of the boarder nonsense...Just kidding. Some of my best friends were Canadian - but that doesn't mean I want to give them our jobs. I really want to keep this here in the states - but it is hard when you say that 10 million here is like 15 million there - and they just give you money to shoot there... So there are dilemmas that need to be overcome...New Mexico is cool - they give you a lot of money too - but it is mostly reserved for films that are PG and PG-13 - not R - and for those of you who know this script - it is definitely an R. Plus New Mexico can be a little warm.

I love Louisiana. Not just because of my undying love for the South. That state has a great look and feel that would just permeate this film. And the food... Don't get me started... But shooting there in August? Might be a tad bit warm... Not to mention the start of Hurricane season... So who knows?

What this means for me directly? I don't know...We will see how much pre-production we are allowed to do this soon. We definitely would need to be going by May. And since we know when Star 2's schedule starts - we would be able to approach a bunch of other stars that play at the same time...My agents have their talent person at my agency reading the script now and I am supposed to hear their ideas on Monday.

So there is work to be done.

As a producer - I hope to get something soon. As a writer - my option is up this month... And I am not planning on letting them renew it. I am planning on forcing them to buy it. But we shall see... Either way - the savings here is a little below "E" and we are running on fumes... But hopefully it is enough to make it to the next exit - cause its so close I can almost see it...

For all of you out there who have been so supportive - thank you. This is far from being a done deal - but it definitely has never been closer.

The most frightening thing about it actually happening is that I might have to do some real work - God Forbid!

I was nervous about doing this post - cause you never wanna talk about something before it happens - but since I have a blog to run - I figured that things crashing and burning only makes for another post... So if I post about the highs - it just makes the lows that much more interesting...

So today - things look great. Let's see what Monday brings....