Randall Blaum Back From the Edge Film Blog

NEW BACK FROM THE EDGE MOVIE TRAILER

Home for the Holidays

Namaste everyone,

Things have been a bit quite as of late because we have had noses to the grindstone and doing the hard work no one wants to hear about, or cares about.  Suffice it to say, we have been viewing over 100 hours of footage, taking notes and assembling our edit log so we can begin to cut the film beginning in January.

We have been working on a distribution deal and we are in the final stages of the agreement so everything is on track and looking good on our end.

Werner has been on the road make some great presentations to standing ovations and large crowds.  As you can see in the photo the "two sides of Werner" look a lot different.  I, for one, am glad he got a bar of soap for the Everest trip.

If you have not had the chance to see the new trailer, please go to www.backfromtheedgemovie.com and take a look.  I think it will blow your mind.   You'll also get the chance to take a look at the new website.  On the website we have a cool feedback and story section where you can upload your own medical, health, and nutrition misery or success stories.  Let us know what's happening in your life so your wisdom and stories can help others.

Be well and from everyone on the film crew, have a safe a happy holiday season.

Randall

San Diego Wild Fires

Namaste everyone,

I have been getting a lot of communications from people about the fires in San Diego, the status of my home, and my safety.  So, I thought I'd take a moment to update everyone.

For the time, our area is safe, although everything is covered with black ash and it is almost impossible to breath outside the house.  The sky is black and we are in a potential evacuation zone.  Right now over 500,000 people have evacuated the area.

There are three major fires burning within about 10 - 15 miles of us and for the moment they are not coming any closer, but we are all packed and the cars are loaded in case we have to leave.

Please do not call on the cell or landlines as we are being asked to keep the lines clear for emergency personnel.  If anything dramatic happens, I'll send a note on the blog.

Be well and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Randall

New Working Title Chosen for Film

Namaste Everyone,

We held a board meeting today and it was decided that the working title for the film is, "Back from the Edge."  This represents how "on the edge" we are as a society right now and that only through our own decisions about our health and future can we come "back" from that edge.

Last night at the UR Pre-Approved premiere we screened for the first time the new teaser trailer for Back from the Edge.  It was well received and we received good feedback from the audience.  The trailer should be finished this week and we will send an email out shortly to everyone that is signed up on the www.MeetMeattheTop.com website so they can see the internet premiere of the trailer.  If you have not signed up on the web site, do so now so you can be kept up to date.

In the upcoming weeks we will do a final tour of the country to complete our interviews for the film.  We are procuring and shooting B-Roll footage now and are creating the library of footage.  Our next major step is to have all of the expert interviews transcribed so we can read what they said and begin to place of that information into the context of the film.  We have about 30 hours of footage from the interviews, so this will not be a short process.

After the interviews are transcribed, David Scotland, our producer and screenwriter will take the reigns and create the working script for the film.  Once we have that we'll begin editing the film together and our hope is to have a rough cut sometime in March 2008.

It is a fun time and the fun is just going to get bigger and better.  As a reminder all posts from now on will be found in the folder marked "Back from the Edge."  All the blogs from the Everest trip up to a few days ago will still be found in the Everest folder.

Be well and I shall write more soon-

Randall

World Premiere of UR Pre-Approved a Success

Last night was the world premiere of "UR Pre-Approved" at the UltraStar Poway 10 in San Diego.  I have to admit that after years of creating and executing theatre openings, premieres, and personal appearances for others, it was decidedly different being at the premiere for my own film.

Several of the crew from the film were also on hand to share in the excitement.  David Scotland, the screenwriter, assistant director, and producer mingled with the audience before and after the show.  Mike Wood, the assistant editor, was there as well as Patrick Wenk-Wollf who played one of the lead characters. "Father."  Patrick is also credited with some of the writing for the film and was also an assistant editor.

As the lights went down and the audience settled in, the URPA logo came on screen as the showing got underway.  It's been several months since the film has been finished and it was both interesting and fun to see it again, but for the first time on the big screen.  Fun, because our team's efforts worked well.  The film is funny, entertaining, and educational.  I'm proud to have my name on it.  And interesting, because I saw many things I would change in the film given the chance now, but perhaps that's the way it's supposed to be.  The more you grow the more you know.

After the film was over a good portion of the audience came up to me and told me about their own credit nightmares and how they are dealing with them.  Others said the film, "scary," and they had no idea things were so crazy.  One person even said that they would stop using credit cards altogether.  I have a video testimonial from him and we'll post it here once we get the footage from the tape and into a digital format.  The photo here is Mica, the projectionist and Jess, the district manager fine tuning the projector and sound for the premiere.

The film is getting good buzz in the press, the public, and on the Internet and because of that buzz members of the press like the San Diego Business Journal and prominent attorneys that help people through bankruptcy were at the premiere. 

The film opens today exclusively at the UltraStar Poway 10. The show times are 10:00am, 5:15pm, and 7:00pm now through Thursday September 13th.  The film will play other theatres and college campuses over the next several weeks.  For more information, please go to www.urpreapproved.com.

This was an important night as in less than a year we'll be holding another world premiere for our film, Back from the Edge, our new working title.

While all of the blog entries from the Everest trip through today will be found in the Mount Everest folder, I am beginning a new folder which will be filled with all the updates and new adventures as we proceed through the production process of the film. 

I am yours in success,

Randall

New Trailer on Web Site

Namaste Everyone...

It's been a while since I reported in and I regret the length of time, but we have been very busy filming and editing.  If you have not had a chance to see the teaser trailer entitled, "The Climb," go to www.MeetMeattheTop.com and check it out.   Click on the Media tab at the top and then scroll down to the first video.  It is labeled as Teaser Trailer.

This is a 3 minute trailer that showed Werner's determination and success while climbing Mount Everest.  It has been shown across the country to standing ovations.

We are in production of the next trailer which will have it's world premiere in San Diego this Friday at the UltraStar Poway Ten Theatres.  It is on the head of my previous film, "UR Pre-Approved" which has an exclusive showing at the same theatre for the week of September 7 - 13, 2007.  I have to say its pretty cool to have a trailer for my current project playing on the head of my last film.  Just a great feeling.

My previous film, UR Pre-Approved (www.urpreapproved.com) is about how people get into credit card debt and how they are taken advantage of by the credit card companies.  It shines the light on many of the major issues, like interest rates that have no cap and fees that keep people spending more money they don't have.

Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask of you.  There are so many high school and college students, as well as lower income families that cannot afford to pay to see the movie that can help them actually get out of debt.

Through a special arrangement with the people at UltraStar I have negotiated a $3.00 ticket price if people buy at least 20 tickets at a time.  If you have $60.00 and can afford to buy a set of group sales tickets, I will personally deliver them to those people who need them and will benefit from seeing the movie.  All you need to do is call 760-597-7777 extension 18 and talk to James as soon as you can.  The film opens on Friday and I need to get the tickets to people on Wednesday and Thursday.

If you live anywhere near San Diego, you can buy tickets at the theatre box office, or by going to the UltraStar website and buying a tickets for you and your family.  By the way 30% of all tickets sales for UR Pre-Approved for the first week benefits the Newspapers in Education Foundation at the North County Times, so by getting a ticket you help those in debt, get out and a great charity as well.

Thank you for your consideration and time.

I am yours in success,

Randall

World Premiere of Meet Me at the Top Trailer Set

Namaste everyone,

We've been all across the US, parts of Canada, to Nepal, Bangkok, and Mount Everest and on other locations for the filming of the movie. The hard work and hundreds of hours of time all come to fruition  on July 25th at 7:00pm EST when the first footage shown to the public will be presented in a 3 minute trailer in Washington DC at a Robert Allen wealth retreat.

The 3 minute trailer took 50 hours to edit which included scoring music, fixing all the "problems" in the film (cleaning up the image, stabilizing the image, etc), adding special effects, manipulating the sound and then creating the DVD's from which it will be played.

The film crew just got back from Salt Lake City where they interviewed Tim Wood, a nutrition expert from USANA.  His interview was packed with relevant and little-known facts that are critical for movie-goers to know and will also cause quite a stir at the FDA, the AMA and other organizations.  (These organizations declined our request to be interviewed.)

The trailer will be made available on the Meet Me at the Top web site after it premiers in Washington.  It should be on the site by the 27th of July.

Be well and have a superb weekend.

Randall

Hot Time Summer in the City...

Namaste everyone,

As the heat wave continues to roll across the West, we are in the laborious phase of the edit process, that of digitizing footage and creating a log of every shot for over 60 hours of film.  This takes about 130 hours to complete and while not the most exciting part of the production, it is essential or we will not be able to edit the film.

Werner is finally getting some rest after a month of media events and interviews.  He is never really at rest though and is already scheduled to appear in front of thousands of people at upcoming events across the US and Canada.

The crew and David Scotland, our producer, will start another trek cross country this week with interviews of more experts.  When you see the film I think you will be blown away by what they say and what they offer as reasons for us being a sick country and the solutions for all of us being healthier.  It's pretty amazing stuff and some of it will be controversial, so hang on to your seats!!

I just got back from a week's holiday and am right in the middle of creating the first trailer for the film.  It will be on the web site within two weeks and will have its world premier at a huge event next week.  As soon as it is available, I'll let you know.

Back to work now and I hope you all have a superb week!

Randall

A Photo Journey from Randall

Namaste everyone.

As I wrote about in the last blog, our trip to the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast was jammed packed.  I have had several people ask me if there are any photos from the trip and, yes there are.  Here are a just a few and check out the new photo category labeled interviews for more.  This is Gordon Janow the Operations Director from Alipne Ascents, the expedition team that got Werner up Mount Everest.  Gordon rides his bike to work 20 miles every day and doesn't own a car.

This next photo is of me and Dr. Bruce, who went on the trek to Everest and is now hooked on mountain climbing.  Dr. Bruce runs a family clinic in Seattle and is part of a dying breed...  Doctors that work for themselves that truly care about their patients.  He even makes house calls!!!   For more photos check out the "interviews" category on the right side of this blog.

Be well,

Randall

Westbound and Down, Loaded Up and Truckin'

Namaste everyone,

We arrived back in San Diego at 1:30 this morning from our east coast swing and are now getting ready to head to LA for the day to complete round one of the expert interviews.  This past week has been grueling for the crew and we're all looking forward to a few days off.

To reiterate our travels; in the the last 11 days we have had an average of 16 hours of travel, shooting, and prep per day and have been to, San Fransisco, Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., New York, Philadelphia, Pottstown, PA, Orlando, Charlotte, and Las Vegas.  Whew!!  And based on the questions some of you have sent me, these facts may surprise you.  You see, movie-making is not glamorous.  It's hard work, with long days and just the logistics to get our crew on location at the right time for all the interviews has been a huge task in itself.

The next round of interviews will take us to Toronto, New York, Salt Lake, Houston, Dallas, and Scottsdale.  The travel schedule is hot an heavy, but after this next round of interviews, we'll be e mostly completed with principle photography for the film.  We'll still need to pick up a couple of experts and take a trip to Mexico, but overall we'll have most of the footage.

We are digitizing tape right now (getting it from the tape form to the electronic form in the computer) and logging all the shots (literally making notes on every shot we took at Mount Everest.  This is laborious and critically important work, for without it, we couldn't even start to edit the film.

Be well and I'll write more when I get back from LA tomorrow.

Randall

Werner's Welcome Home Party

Namaste everyone,

Wow!  Last night if you weren't able to make it, you missed a great party for Werner as he finished up his international media tour and event schedule after he came home from summitting Mount Everest.  Last night over 50 people were on hand to see and hear Werner's presentation on health, nutrition, and of course, climbing Everest.

The event was held at the Pottstown Athletic Club and while we were filming Werner lifting weights, doing pull ups, and using the stairmaster, event the young guys at the gym were amazed at what Werner cold do.  All around a great time.

The film crew and I left Pottstown around 10:00pm and raced back to New York to be able to catch a couple hours of sleep and to get on board a 6:00am flight to Orlando to interview Lyle McWilliams, one of the world's leading nutrition experts. 

We're all a bit tired after the three-hour drive and early wake up call, but it was well worth it to be able to film Werner at the party.  I need to end this short blog now as we are heading out the door for the interview and getting ready for another interview with Dr. Melissa Andersson tomorrow about an hour outside of Orlando.

Be well and I am yours in success,

Randall