Update on the “Beyond the Label” Documentary, Dec. 15th, 2012

Update on the “Beyond the Label”  Documentary, Dec. 15^th, 2012

Derek W. Logue

                First, I wish to thank the dozens of people who have invested their time, energy, and support of this landmark documentary. I promised a formal update upon my return from Port Angeles, WA, so here is the trip in a nutshell. But first, the technical aspects. I had raised $700 in the raffle for this project, which paid for the trip and other expenses. It is divided as follows: Round trip bus ticket, $260, hotel fare $100, video editing software $40, extra memory cards to handle all the filming $60, gas $25, new travel bag $20, and sending out the raffle prizes $20, so that’s $525 accounted for thus far. I don’t count food and personal expenses as production costs. (I already own a tripod, and an HD Camcorder was already donated to the cause).

                Long distance bus rides are always interesting and unpredictable. My ride to Port Angeles was quiet and uneventful until I reached Missoula, Montana for our layover. The bus was four hours late due to a snowstorm, and after it arrived, it had a wiper malfunction, and thus we were delayed two more hours. It served as a harbinger of things to come.

                I arrived at Seattle six hours late so I missed the shuttle to Port Angeles. Thus, I had a 14-hour layover. The station was locked down and I was one of only five people who spent the night in the station. Greyhound fed us some pizza and sodas and I slept in the terminal for a few hours. Sunday morning, with eight hours left to kill, I decided to do a little sightseeing. I visited the Space Needle and the Pike Street Fish Market to watch the famous fish-throwers. After a lunch of fried Calamari, I headed back to the station to await the shuttle.

                The shuttle ride was great. We rode across the Kingston Ferry and instead of going all the way to Port Angeles, I got off at “Discovery Bay.” I ate a fried oyster po’boy while I waited on Erik Mart from monstermartorg.blogspot.com. I spent Sunday night with Erik and his girlfriend and toured his quaint little Pacific paradise with envy.

                The next morning I began my work at Port Angeles, setting up interviews and collecting information for the documentary. I spent the evening with Leslie, who was to be my liaison with the Blanton family, but I was receiving little cooperation from her in this matter. As my time went on, Leslie became less cooperative and as communication broke down, I became a target of her anger. Eventually, she took it upon herself to cross a certain line and at that point I found it prudent to permanently sever a working relationship with Leslie.

                This ending of our business partnership, of course, means there will be some slight changes to the premise and direction of the film. For now, I am still referring to the film as “Beyond the Label” but without Gary Blanton Jr.’s name in the title. It is even possible the project will be renamed. There will still be a documentary but since the majority of the footage revolves around the murder, most of the film will revolve around that. This changes my original premise of the film, which was intended to be largely a portrait of Gary Blanton himself, whereas now it is more a traditional journalism piece.

                This is not to say this was a wasted trip. There still successful interviews from one of Gary Blanton Jr.’s friends as well as audio from the DA who handled the case. In addition, I received the case files from the county prosecutor’s office, which has answered many questions I had about the murders themselves, in addition to some extra stock footage of the city.

                So at this point, I feel there is enough footage to proceed to the next step. I will have to revise a few things at this stage, including the instructions to some of my narrators.

                Once Fallen Productions, Inc. is still dedicated to producing a quality product for the sake of all those impacted by these laws.