So, the suspense can end: we’re committed to Vietnam.  The decision was difficult and complicated, and it seemed on that every issue we faced a dilemma.  Financially, leaving Vietnam would mean basically eating the $3000 it took to get us all here, but it also promised higher wages and more job stability, at least in theory.  Logistically, Korea would be easier in the long run, but leaving now would disrupt a production cycle that was in the nascent stages and growing quite well.  Mentally, Korea seemed like a more comfortable incubator – modern cities, reliable internet, more English – but, since when has comfort been our primary goal? 

We never fully surrendered the notion that Korea was a promised land, but at the end of the day, we realized that we simply couldn’t quit.  This team had built this production project from scratch, endured a summer of double-jobs and near poverty-level wages, left behind almost everything that was familiar – we weren’t going to let these challenges prevent us from doing what we left our former lives to do. 

We each had our personal reasons for wanting to leave.  For myself, I thought back to some of my initial reasoning in joining this project: if I walked away from this opportunity, I would regret it forever.  Here similarly, I felt that walking away from Vietnam would leave a rusty taste of regret.  I knew that at the heart of the matter, I was afraid, and in the end, knowledge of that fear galvanized me.  Wasn’t that what all of this was about? 

- Matt

The speed at which we became friends and a functional team, piecing this start-up together, learning how to film and be filmed – it felt so smooth.  As Rob has said, “give this team glue, wood, and a saw and we can go to the moon.”

I think Brian’s pose sums it up quite well…