The latest Footlong Update:

... Some of you know that Gerry and I have been working on this film for quite a few years, and within the last few months you may not have heard from us and wondered just what became of the opus of processed meat that we began. I am here to tell you, it is alive and well.

As it is with any independent film, you have to make sacrifices and commitments at the same time. We are dedicated to finishing the film
but, in March, having just gotten off a year-long road-trip across the country, we were flat broke. So as we get back in the day-job routine to make ends meet, we continue to edit and build our own digital editing suite at home. This final step will save us money in the long run, but it does take a bit of research and patience to get it up and running...and if anybody knows of a Beta SP deck for sale out there, let us know!

We finished shooting with over 120 hours of footage, so of course, logging and transcribing takes time as well. We don't really have any
money to pay people to do this, so we do it ourselves and then eat a dozen or so hot dogs after having watched hours of footage of hot dogs flying through the air.

For those of you that saw the PBS show, "A Hot Dog Program", do not let it deter you from believing we will finish our film. We have known of the PBS show for a while and haven't let it discourage us since then. While they showed some very amusing stories about hot dog stands across the country, they did not touch on the icon we know as the hot dog.

Did they investigate the Atlantic City Hot Dog Wars? Any of the numerous hot dog festivals in the country? Did they traverse to the bowels of the Oakland Museum of Art to unearth a 20 foot hot dog sculpture, buried for the past 20 years? Did they document the training of a Jersey City man during the trials of the Nathan's hot dog eating contest? (That was Gerry) ...I think not.

Rest assured, we will deliver a documentary so unbelievable, so outrageous, so everlastingly gob-stoppable, that you will walk from the theater in your home town, craving a hot dog (or for those vegetarians out there, craving a veggie dog...)

PBS may have presented a fine-hearted look at hot dogs, whereas "Footlong" is an experience you will never forget.

We have some offers from distributors but as is usually the case, they need to see a finished product before making any offers...so every
morning, my friends, we get up, we turn on that editing machine, and we cut another segment to "Footlong". It won't be long now, just as long as it takes...

To understand a bicycle you look at the wheels, to understand a wall, you look at each brick, to understand America, you look at a hot dog.
Somewhere between a snack and a meal...is a "Footlong".

Chris Patak & Gerry Beyer