On a different note, I've got some more good news to report.
Earlier this year, in mid-May, I was contacted by a nice lady who works with VICE TV in London, England. Aside from her exquisite British accent, what else interested me was her request that ernie and I consent to be filmed for one episode which VICE TV is currently making.
I could not consent, and I explained to her that I am already under contract with Lionsgate Studios in Los Angeles to pursue an entire series on ernie and self. She was disappointed, but stayed on the phone for a while, then asked me to connect her with my contact at Lionsgate. I told her I'd get their permission first and have them contact her. I did, and they did. After some negotiations Lionsgate contracted with VICE TV to grant VTV's interviews with ernie and self for one one-hour episode. That all took some weeks, and after that deal was done I became a part of the planning process for just what a film crew from London might do in Montana, where we could shoot "scenes", people to interview, etc.
Finally the day came when I was to be four hundred miles south of where I live in Montana to meet the advance crew from London as they lit down at the Bozeman, Montana airport and checked into their hotel. I brought ernie along and the four of us had a great visit. Next day, we did the same, and the following day we commenced to filming. VTV had managed to get a Bozeman court's permission to take their seven-man film crew into the court to film a, er, let's say he is a "non-conformist" lol, so ernie and I were along for that bit of fun. After lunch we went to a friend's ranch at Three Forks and interviewed five people including ernie and self. Next day we drove four hundred miles up to Eureka from Three Forks, and the following day we filmed ernie at his home on the hill where he lives. That afternoon we went "Fishing Without A License", which is the original act which launched ernie's war against the corrupt court system in Montana and spread his mission all over the Internet. (The video I originally shot of him three years ago explaining to a judge why he does not need to buy a fishing license, which resulted in the judge's frustration and her erroneous abandonment of her courtroom, has now more than ten million views on YouTube.) The film crew loved that shoot as much as they loved the north-country Montana scenery. (That was in mid August, before all these nasty fires broke out.) Next day was another four-hundred mile trek back to Three Forks and Churchill, Montana, where we shot ernie's mom, his van, and finally his son who had the star of the series hammering hot iron on a forge which ernie had helped him build.
This epidode will air (probably) in March of Next year, and I can't wait to see how they edit us for their British audience, lol. But doing the shoot was very educational for both ernie and self, and a lot of fun to boot, so we don't care what they do "to" or "with" us on their show. What I am pleased to report is that the entire seven-man crew was top-line professional and equipped to the gills. They brought two cameras with them, each of which cost $50,000.00. They were experienced, worked very smoothly together, and got ernie and self completely relaxed for the various shoots.
There is another nice part of this story. Lionsgate has for over a year been trying to locate a TV network which would air the series which Lionsgate wants to shoot on ernie and self. In talking with VICE TV the door has opened to explore the possibility of contracting with VICE TV to air the series Lionsgate wants to film. If that happens, which I am stating clearly right up front is a very big "IF", then Lionsgate will shoot the series and ernie and self will enjoy multiple film shoots. However, to help that possibility come to fruition I've been tasked by Lionsgate to write yet another "Treatment" for their writers in Los Angeles, and that will take more weeks of my time -- time which I scarcely have, due to the fact that I'm trying very diligently to get my new casting shop up and running. I need to get back to jewelry work so I can finance TMM's activities. Fortunately, and with sincere thanks to all who have contributed to my rebuilding my casting shop, I'm now in the last phase of preparing the shop for action. I've got a complete wax design studio (pic of my hands waxing here --
https://thementalmilitia.net/jewelry-before-the-revolution ), a complete bench operation for hand tools and metal work, and now have all the equipment to finish my casting shop. All of that is sitting here in my little cabin in the woods. And that is a miracle in itself, since I've been unemployed for the past ten months and had to replace nearly ten thousand dollars' worth of equipment while depending on support of TMMers and friends. I'm excited!
Anyway, I'm grateful for having had the opportunity to work with a professional film crew, and just wanted to share that good news with all readers here.
Salute!
Elias