June 3, 1996

Back Stage relented today and took my money for cast and crew listings. The trick was accomplished with four letters of recommendation on film industry letterheads, all attesting that I am a regular guy who is unlikely to force actors into white slavery. We've lost a precious week, but the listings might still see print in time to do us some good.

The paper insisted that we include in the listing the name of a film with nudity requirements similar to ours, to give actors a reference point. This posed quite a riddle. I finally came up with BETTY BLUE.

I shipped my CP16R camera off to John Nuler today, so that he could look it over before the shoot. I felt as if I was sending a five-year-old off to kindergarden.

Alex and I went over a list of candidates for the crew, and filled in most of the remaining blanks in our budget. Over the weekend, I read that CLERKS didn't draw up a budget until after the film was over, which made me feel better. Professional types are distressed at the idea of our not having done a budget yet, but I don't see that it's such a big priority. We already know that we don't have any money to spend.

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