Let me start by apologizing for the year of silence on the progress of the film. There is no excuse I can give for the silence or the lack of a final product at this point. Unfortunately life got in the way, and after an exhaustive six months leading up to that fateful day, it seemed like a good idea to cool off for a bit, it probably wasn't the best move. 

When I started the project, I thought it would be a snap to throw everything together in a few weeks, and wow was I wrong. We have gone through the hours and hours of footage shot to try and find a cohesive story that is compelling and hopefully entertaining. 

Last summer, Shayna and myself traveled to my hometown of North Pole, Alaska and did a lot of filming around town, and this additional bit has actually led to a much richer story than I thought possible. We have several sections of the film cut together, and I'll be sitting down in the coming weeks to wrap this thing up. 

I can't thank you enough for your patience and support. Your awards will be arriving not long after we release the film. It was never my intention for it to be this long before the release, but it happens. 

If you have any questions, or just feel like writing me a very stern message, please feel free to do so, I'll answer every one as openly as I can. 

Thank you all, your support has helped change my life. 

Nick Brewer

It has been a little while since I gave an update so here goes. This film is going to be amazing. The people working on it have a really good idea about what needs to be done to make it great. That being said, to achieve these things it is going to take some time.

I know.... I know... When I wrote out when this would be published last summer I had NO IDEA what that would demand. And after talking to our editor Tony, we came to an agreement that it needs to be postponed longer to flesh out a better story. It is going to be so much more than people just talking about Santacon. We are changing the scope of the film to make it a much more compelling story, something people who don't know or care what Santacon is will want to watch.

To do this, we are going to head out and do more filming. We are even debating a trip to my hometown of North Pole, Alaska to get some perspective on where I come from and how it influenced my love of Santacon. There are also talks of using animation in the film.

So what does this mean for you, the fans. We will work harder to get your gifts out to you. This means you could receive gifts and eventually receive a DVD of the finished film. Maybe we'll put up some exclusive footage of our progress to keep things interesting.

Everybody has been so kind and supportive of this project and I promise you that it has come such a long way since we started our Kickstarter drive. The film is so much more than anything I had originally thought it could or would be.

It is because of this that I'm going to quit saying when it will be done. In all honesty, I don't know. We would like to make a big push for it when we are done so it could be a while. We want to make you proud, and with this extra time I know we will.

Thanks for your understanding and support,

Nick

I am very proud to announce the new and improved http://santasonthemove.com. Shayna basically built the site over the course of two days and it looks amazing.

The website features videos, crew bios, press clips, and most importantly the list of our supporters. If you donated to the film in any way, your name is on the site!

There is also access to the blog on the new website. We have moved it over from tumblr to wordpress at http://santaconrobot.wordpress.com/ if you want to view it that way.

Pass it along because when we finish the film I expect each of you to watch it 5 or 12 times... then send it to two friends, who will send it along to at least two friends... and you know the drill.

Nick!

I am proud to present the trailer for "Santas On The Move."

http://vimeo.com/17826432

Here is an article Dan Glass wrote for Wired: Underwire about the robot and our journey through SantaCon this year.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/12/robot-santa-santacon-nyc/

Thank you to EVERYBODY who helped make this possible. Saturday was amazing. SantaCon has grown by leaps and bounds over the 4 years I have attended and the creativity is THROUGH THE ROOF. Not only was Santabot pretty popular, but Reindeer Shayna was a pretty big hit too. Many thanks to Shayna and Jess for being amazing helpers and Lance doing a great job behind a camera he had learned how to use only that morning.

From this point, my friend Kirsten McNary has been helping with some rough cuts and Tony Ozwald will take over this weekend to help put together a final product. Unfortunately it looks like we will not be hitting our original Christmas deadline. As much as I would like to have it completed by then, I would rather push that date into January and come out with a much better final product than something that was rushed. Everybody has been volunteering their time, and have jobs to do on top of this project, I will forever be in their debt.

And finally, now that Santacon is passed and editing is about to begin, we are going to work hard to get rewards out to people. But with the release being pushed back, posters and DVD's are going to have to be extended a little too, as I don't want to send three packages when I could get away with one. Your patience and support is not lost on us, so please think of it as a belated present.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU once again. Without each and every one of you, we would not have had this amazing opportunity.

Nick

T-10 Days... Initiate Panic In 3....2....1....

Below is part of a donation I received from Casey Grove, a friend from UAF. It was accompanied by a lovely card that basically said I should use the money for the project... or not, either way it was hilarious.

I apologize for the lack of updates, please take it as a sign that we are working really hard on this whole thing. The robot is coming along nicely, paint is almost done and we could be wrapping up the robot by the end of the weekend.*

As for the filming, rough cuts are coming along and we are preparing for the BIG DAY! It might be a little more guerrilla than I had originally planned, but either way, it will get done.

I hope everybody is doing well and please know that we are working on your prizes too. I figured we should get the film done before hitting them hardcore, but please know your donations and support has not been forgotten. I think everybody will really like the finished product.

Nick

*Fingers crossed