About this project

Vacationlanders is a 12 part miniseries that will be released on the Internet as free webisodes.

Our story begins in 2012, when the U.S. government takes its first drastic step in the decline of the Age of Oil. In response to leaked data about the true remaining oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, Congress passes the "Emergency Energy Conservation Act." Within several months, six U.S. states are shut off from the grid and all remaining infrastructure is left in the hands of those who choose to stay behind.

No power. No services. No Internet. No law.

Three years later, a documentary film crew travels into The Unorganized Territories of Maine to learn and document how survival has worked for those who have made the decision to stay and rough it out. Those people will be known as Vacationlanders.

On film, the Vacationlanders are meant to instruct viewers about an alternative lifestyle, each episode covering how-to's about water, food, electricity, birth, death, health, shelter, transportation, entertainment, self defense, and common law. But things don't go as planned in a land where everything is different.

Vacationlanders is not about Armageddon. It's about change and humanity and humanity's adaptation to that change. It's about sustainable living without the use of oil related energy. It's not your typical post-apocalypse story; our characters are not the victims of worldwide collapse due to a virus or an instant climate shift. Instead, it's an optimistic, promising spin on what the world is facing with the potential for peak oil hysteria. Vacationlanders is about a handful of brave, principled, (or crazy) people who have chosen to live by a different, more sustainable standard, BEFORE the lethal hammer comes down, BEFORE there is nothing left.

We're shooting for the first episode to be released on the web on April 22, 2011, Earth Day, with additional episodes released monthly thereafter. Each 45 minute episode will be broken into three 15 minute parts and released on the web.

This is an ambitious project and the funding from you will allow us to produce the first 6 episodes. The actors and crew are donating their time because the content of the series speaks directly to them and their views about our collective futures. Money from contributors will fund whatever it can: location costs, equipment, props, wardrobe, fuel, etc. Each of us creators has had plenty of experience producing quality productions on extremely tight budgets and time frames, so we know we can do this. But we need your support.

Modern storytelling is a direct and effective way to inform and educate important ideas among people. Choosing paper over plastic is just not enough anymore. By supporting this project you can do something much more powerful. You can contribute to the dissemination of vital information and education by way of the Internet.

The timing is right.

Maine's film making scene is getting on the map. Let's keep that trend going. Help us show the richness, the beauty, and strength of this rugged state. Help us to inform the world that it is possible to survive in a different value system and have fun doing it.

Contact: offthegrid@vacationlanders.com

Creators and Executive Producers: Marc Bartholomew, Regina Bartholomew, Jeff Day Writers: Jeff Day and Marc Bartholomew

CAST AND CREW

Cast: Ben Keller Chris Reiling Jeff Day Erik Moody Ian Carlson Clara Junken John Rogers Janice Garnder Stephan Pejic

Crew: Marc Bartholomew - Director, Camera, Editing Jeff Day - 1st Assistant Director Regina Bartholomew – Director of Photography Jessica Borelli - Assistant Producer Ben Keller - Camera and Location Sound