Creatively, Sam Bailey is not revolutionary. While we're all very excited by our blue-collar approach to modern fantasy, and while this certainly isn't a movie anyone has seen before now, we're basically making a mystery buddy movie with a supernatural twist. Our story is the hook that keeps us all working so hard, and it's the core of what we can offer our audience. At the same time, it's not what defines us as leaders in the film industry.

In terms of the long-lasting impact we can have on this business, Sam Bailey's real contribution is our relationship with you. When has mass media been able to create and sustain a community, rather than a product? Since the decline of theater, media artists have come to see branding as a substitute for relating to the audience in real-time. Now that technology has caught up, those trends are reversing... and our film is helping to define one approach to navigating those changes and restoring the community element in cultural exchange. Repertory film is what Sam Bailey and our other projects can give the industry.

At the same time, this week has taught me that our approach is not the only one that works. Crowdsourcing press and documentary filmmaking is changing the way people look at news and current events. Fan-based production, like the work currently being done in the Star Wars universe, is allowing community to step in and reclaim pre-branded products. Personal relationships between development teams and prospective audience members, like that between the Wayward Sons team and their followers, is allowing for focused feedback in realtime. Some of these ideas are being implemented with more success than others, but all are valid approaches.

When they work, these approaches focus on the core principle of community. Like Homer and Shakespeare, today's media creators are responsible for building - and relating to - the audience that supports their efforts. By providing a viable model for that relationship, Sam Bailey and 8 Sided Films is, we hope, making things easier for future storytellers and our culture at large.

This is something that's been on my mind of late, and I just wanted to bring it up as an aspect of what we're creating.

If you're wondering how you can help, there are two things in particular that make a big difference right now:

First, please click THIS LINK. Demanding Sam Bailey on Eventful brings us one step closer to theaters.

Secondly, please join us on the 8 Sided Forum. Every new community member is another voice, and another reason for even more people to rally around our cause.

Now that our community has grown large enough to attract the attention of our media contemporaries, we can finally begin sharing the myths and stories that truly define our community.  

Thank you for making our dreams come true. We're excited and proud to be returning the favor!

Yours truly,

T