As things are being shifted around and refigured, there are a lot of little positive things going in during the production of “Risalo”. As I have been working on this project, I’ve been traveling around the country in the course of my work and in doing so, I end up at a grass roots level, revitalizing the idea of traditional puppetry. Many people have expressed interest in hiring a group to perform, or bringing them to different institutions.While that may or may not happen, there is some ground work being laid for future plans. Now that I have finally met Abdul Hakim sahib, who can make puppets, we have a starting point. Several people who saw the puppeteers when we went to the design school expressed an interest in having puppets made. This is a way that puppeteers in India have been earning for many years, but that has never happened in Pakistan. I am trying to facilitate this, by explaining some of the opportunities that can come out of this process to the puppeteers. They suggested I buy some premade ones. They do not sell their own, but some may have puppets that they are willing to sell. These are family heirlooms, and I really have no interest in separating these artists from the treasures of their elders. So, I have explained that we want them to earn from this and start puppet making once again. At first it will be the master puppet maker creating a puppet head and perhaps other family members can make clothes and paint it.If a few people in Multan get puppets made, then a process will begin. Then it can spread from there. Eventually, I would love to see these puppeteers with a booth of their own at an event like Daatchi, selling puppets and booking performances directly with the general public. I think it will take some time, but if we can get things started now, it could even happen within a year’s time. The beauty of it is that no one need stand between the puppeteers and the general public or their earnings. I really want to see this happen.Other than that, it has been a roller coaster ride today. I have to pull this production together somehow. My funds are low. I of course have the puppeteers properly covered, but I don’t have much left for any additional expenses, such as equipment rental or hiring a DP. So I have my beggar’s bowl out so to speak to see if I can get the help that I need. I also have to keep in mind that if I need to pull the plug on this and try again another day, then that is my last resort. It would be very painful and I am doing everything in my power to prevent that, but there is that.It is tough to keep on task when there are so many things to figure out and a lot of uncertainty, but with any production, you have to keep moving forward. I continued to fill in the shot spreadsheet and then took a walk to pick up some materials for props. I bought a clean jharroo (kind of broom) and created little puppet sized jharroos from it. One more prop crossed off the list.I met with a few DPs today. I am thankful for their time. One dropped by and watched the Sohni animatic. He felt that the piece could use animation to bring it to life. His thought was that the things that these puppets can’t do, such as changing facial expressions or creating detail in the backgrounds, could be done with 3D animation. He is a very talented photographer, so it was good to hear his thoughts. They differ with what I am attempting to do, but he was very straight forward about his feedback and offered to at least visit the set and offer some technical advice once he is back in Lahore. I appreciated that.Afterwards, another pair of DPs came by. They had just finished a shoot for the day. I can imagine they were quite tired, but here they were, willing to take a look at “Risalo” and give it some consideration. I’m not much of a salesmen in terms of pushing people into making decisions they may regret later. I would much rather lay out what we have and certainly tell a person why I feel this is a great project to be a part of, but in the end, I want people to do what they feel best about. I want to create a great environment for people to work together and flourish.They agreed to discuss the project and get back to me. I feel like there are three scenarios for this project. Ideally, I would love to have a fully committed DP who can dive into the project and bring their love and creativity to it. Barring that, perhaps a few people can commit time to different scenes or stories, which they can put their personal stamp on, building on the framework I have laid out. If that is not possible, then I have a contingency plan. I have a group of friends who are talented artists and photographers, but not necessarily DPs. We’re all on this project one way or another, and we’ll get some initial guidance and go for it if other options don’t come through. I felt a bit better after deciding on that. My friends Imran, Shoal and Yaser are also trying to connect me to resources and people. So I need to get camera and lighting gear, explore places we can shoot and stay, finish up spreadsheets, get a DP, finish up props, guide backgrounds to the finish and figure out any and all other logistics to make this thing happen while still making sure I have just enough money left to get back home and put together a life again.No pressure, consider your work done…