Gene Wallbauer is a simple man who has spent the better part of his adult life just "getting by." The auspicious beginnings of a 12 year-old fearless bicycle daredevil's legacy had long since faded into the past and been replaced with the hum-drum practicalities of real life – and the mounting responsibilities that come with them. A dormant life is his. Striving to do the right thing by his ex-wfe and child, he has resigned himself to his civil service job as postman, delivering the mail dutifully to the Southern California residents who make up his world...

Until....

...One day Gene is surreptitiously videotaped selling marijuana on his route by 14 year-old Jamie Ellard, who immediately blackmails him for $3000. Unable to produce it – and realizing what is at stake – a bewildered Gene turns inward to tap his dormant parts. Asking himself....does he still have what it takes to save his own skin?

A gentle but distinct feeling began to emerge during the process of making Waking Wallbauer.  It was the notion that the simple passage of time – weeks, months, years – can easily work to dull a guy's senses, and bring about a rather wearisome character as a result. That as a person grows older, his passion, his yearnings, his ambition -- all seem to fade somewhat.  And with it, an accompanying sentiment settles in, like a well-worn patina that might even somewhat mythologize a rather average early life.

Waking Wallbauer emerged from a script that I began in 2003.  In the ensuing years, with the escalating war and the accompanying Quicktime images of hostages delivered with such cold precision, the script always seemed to cling to the same basic premise.  It was horrific and barbaric to watch disguised, hidden captors issue cold, crazy demands from caves halfway around the world.  A comedy seemed natural.

-Kurt Mercer
September 2010