The D-Word's life is one of glamour and riches, as only a documentary filmmaker can live it

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On May 13th, my 46th birthday, the word finally comes down: Home Page will have it's HBO Signature broadcast premiere on Sunday, July 4th at 8pm.

I'm not amused, at first. I have this peculiar notion that after three years of work on my film I'd actually like people to see it.

No, no, no, it's a good date, the HBO folks insist. No one else will be doing original programming so it'll stand out. It's the end of the holiday weekend so everyone will be back home. Besides, the HBO Signature demographic doesn't do fireworks.

I pause to remind myself that HBO gave me a significant chunk of change, then left me entirely alone for two years to make my film. I made exactly the film I wanted. It's gotten a lot of attention. It'll have a long and healthy life, and it couldn't have happened without HBO's support. They could smother the film in ketchup and eat it and it would be hard to complain.

So, ok… it's genius. Sheer counter-programming genius. (Besides, Home Page will be rebroadcast four more times in July.)

My deeper anxiety has more to do with having so little time left until the broadcast date. Suddenly, we're facing a real deadline crunch.

I haven't really harped on it here, since fundraising is such drudgery (and makes for less than scintillating reading), but Esther and I have worked on and off for the past several years trying to find some flush technology company to come on board as a co-presenter with HBO and ZDF-Arte.

The tv money was never gonna be enough. And even if I didn't hate grant applications, I somehow couldn't see it happening for Home Page:

Justin: I used to have one big
secret and then the other day
I put it up on the Net.

Doug: What was it?

Justin: Well, when I was 13 or 14,
I used to be able to put my legs
behind my head, and I figured out
I could fellate myself…
But not very well.

It's not like we haven't had some success. Media 100 gave us $25,000 worth of software for an online edit system, and Excite came in with a modest cash contribution at a critical moment. But the big fish has remained elusive.

Once we learned we made it into Sundance, we redoubled our efforts. And now, with the HBO credits having to be locked by three weeks before the first broadcast, we're really under the gun.

It's been deceptively easy to get to our target list of Internet biggies and pique their interest. I fire off a succint e-mail, often to the CEO himself:

FROM:dbblock@bway.net
TO: bigcheese@successfulipo.com
SUBJECT: An interactive film for HBO, a role for (your company)?

More often than not, I get a response within a day or two. They always want to see the tape and a short proposal spelling out what we can offer and what we're looking for in return. Inevitably, there's lots of initial enthusiasm since everyone loves the idea of being part of a movie (even a d-word).

Closing the deal is another matter.

One leading Web community site balked at the last possible moment, on the eve of Sundance, right as the lab was about to cut new presentation and Executive Producer credits into the print. Apparently, it only just occurred to them that Excite's presence might present a problem to their new parent company, a direct competitor. Another imminent deal with a huge content company was nixed when the new Marketing head overruled his staff and deemed that an association with Home Page would create brand confusion.

And then sometimes things happen at warp speed. One night recently, I read in Variety that the CEO of a top broadband company has been cozying up to Hollywood. So I fired off an e-mail. "I'm afraid we don't put money into original programming," he personally replied within hours. "Does that mean you only put money into unoriginal programming?" I immediately shot back (it's so easy to be flip when you have nothing to lose). Three hours and eight exchanges later, we worked out terms of a possible barter deal down the line.

Two days later, I picked up the New York Times and discovered his company sold the very day of our correspondence for over 5 billion dollars.

Tens of thousands of dollars are at stake for us, but it's chicken feed for them. I write about it now and it hardly seems real, but this is where an inordinate amount of The D-Word's time has gone to this year.

Playing with the Big Boys.

Less than two weeks remain to make changes in our broadcast credits and a couple of companies are still in the running. The waiting game continues, on hold through the holiday weekend. It's hard to move corporations. Even if we come to terms tomorrow, can we possibly get a deal memo in place in time?

And you thought I was a filmmaker. Most amusing.

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