An important message from Mike to supporters

Sent this out to Facebook supporters, but I don't have access to the website's blog, so I'm posting it here.  This is exciting stuff (and yes, Mike did write this himself even though I'm posting it).

Friend and Supporter:

You may wonder what I have been doing since the 2008 election. I have lectured at universities in Europe and Asia (20 universities in East Asia over 3 months in 2009). Here at home I continue to speak out against the war, the military industrial complex and America’s misdirected government policies; and, of course, I continue my organizational efforts to empower national citizens by advocating the enactment of the National Initiative for Democracy.

Earlier this fall Eliot Fisher, a creative young writer from New Mexico, asked if I was interested in doing a TV comedy series, a sharp satire on the political establishment, via the fantasy of a Mike Gravel presidential administration, a cross between the political drama of The West Wing (in fact we will be using all of the West Wing sets) and the melancholy comic realism of The Office (with an occasional hint of the absurdity of Dr. Strangelove and Bulworth). The documentary style of the show (see The Office) is achieved by embedding as part of the show itself a French Canadian documentary film crew.

The documentary or rather “mocumentary” style of the show is ideal to enlarge the knowledge of viewers on political issues beyond the slapstick, throw-away lines and celebrity interviews of existing political comedies and is considerably less expensive to produce since there is no audience involved. The show will lampoon the Administration, the Congress, the political parties, the military, the media, the wars, foreign governments and the cultural foibles of the public. It will serve as an antidote to the corporate-controlled mainstream media babble that passes for civic debate in our country.

I Like Mike, the title of the show, will appear initially in a weekly half-hour format distributed by cable or standard network and digitally via CDNs (content delivery networks) on the Internet, e.g. via Hulu, YouTube, Netflix, iTunes, and video podcasts from our own website. I will play myself and act no differently than I did during the presidential debates. My presidential staff (chief-of-staff, press secretary, etc.), permanent characters on the show, will be improv comedy actors who will play off of and react to my positions and antics on the issues.

The show’s primary audience is 18 to 35 year-olds who grew up with the advent of cable television and the Internet, as well as those of all ages frustrated with the excesses of our political culture, for which the ornery Grandpa Mike will present a humorous, irreverent, compelling alternative. The primary purpose of the show is humor, satire and parody; and those goals will not be subverted to any underlying political message; otherwise I Like Mike will not gain and retain a loyal following of viewers.
The unique novelty of this political comedy is that viewers like those on American Idol will be able to vote at the end of each program, in this case, on public policy issues raised in the course of the show. Integral to the format of the I Like Mike show is the assumption that Citizens will have already voted to empower themselves to vote on laws through the enactment of the National Initiative, the meta-legislation empowering citizens as lawmakers, the enactment of which “President” Gravel made a precondition for his continued service as president. Although the series is couched in the fantasy and humor of an alternate reality, the participatory role of citizens making legislative policy decisions will capture viewers’ attention and interest. Through this alternate reality, we hope viewers will come to realize the potential of implementing viable public policy solutions by the people directly.

Normally shows of this nature solicit initial funding for a pilot and sign on with a distributor to fund the production costs for a season. Obviously, the money ultimately, controls the content or at least limits the extremes of the show’s message. In the case of I Like Mike, pressure from elites will eventually limit Gravel’s attacks on the military-industrial complex, Wall Street and American Imperialism. I have no intention of letting that happen.

I had no delusion of winning the presidency, but I did have a message to get across to the American people. I was marginalized when I served in the Senate because of my attacks against the establishment. General Electric and the Democratic Party leadership agreed to exclude me from the presidential debates in September 2007; and the rest of mainstream media went along, making me a media non-person five months prior to the first primary vote, even though I had won two of the first seven debates. My message had impact and was universally characterized across the nation as “a breath of fresh air.”

The only way to guarantee control of content and the ability to pursue a political message we think the American public needs to see and hear is to be financially independent. We can accomplish this by raising the funds to pay for the production costs and then make separate distribution arrangements. This could be done with a standard cable network, but more importantly and at the same time, in the new DRM (digital rights management) format. Interestingly, the latter approach is financially more profitable.

Eliot Fisher, the creator, and I, the producer, have set up Canuck Producktions, LLC to produce the I Like Mike television series and have retained 1680PR, an Albuquerque talent agency to represent Canuck’s interests in the entertainment industry. We have a pre-production agreement to base our production activities at the “Q” (Albuquerque Studios) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and thereby take full advantage of the unusual economic incentives offered by the State of 25% cash rebates on all in-state production costs. We have a team of writers developing scripts for the first season. We will hire the professional talent and hope to begin shooting in February 2010 assuming success with this private placement.

The minimum investment is $1,000, with incentive premiums for investments of larger amounts. Our goal is to raise up to slightly less than $1 million, which will cover the production costs of the show for the first full season (13 episodes). The show is relatively inexpensive to produce, since there is only one location, the sound stage at the “Q” and no relocation expense. The season is shot all at once over a two- or three-week period. The main costs are the rentals of stage 5 at the Q, the West Wing set and equipment, and fees for the actors and writers.
We already have commitments from investors beyond the minimum who became aware of our plans through personal social contacts. A Scandinavian network and the PressTV network have voiced an interest in the pre-purchase of the first season and are waiting on us to submit additional documents.

If you are interested in making an investment, please respond to this communication by email to (www.mg@mikegravel.us) and I will see that you are sent a prospectus that will include budgets, projected returns, and a treatment to give you a feel for the scripted arch of the proposed shows of the first season. All the necessary documentation will be included to complete your investment under this SEC exemption.
If you would like to talk to me personally (703-516-4056 home-office, 703-618-4056 mobile) please respond by email with a suggested time and number so I can call you. I hope you will share this opportunity with anyone who you think might have an interest.

Let me recap what I hope will motivate you to invest in the I Like Mike TV comedy series that will: 1) launch a fearless challenge to the political establishment; 2) enlarge knowledge of public issues for TV and Internet viewers while spoofing the powers-that-be with their half-baked solutions; 3) offer a process whereby viewers can vote on political issues as lawmakers, creating an awareness of what might be possible in the real world; and finally 4) make money with a high risk “good cause” investment, which offers high returns. Initially revenues above costs will be paid to investors at 125% of their original investment including investment amount premiums before any other stakeholder disbursements are made. Thereafter, investors will share a percentage of the profits as outlines in the Prospectus.

Sincerely,

Senator Mike Gravel
1600 N Oak St Apt 1412
Arlington, VA 22209
703-516-4056 Mobile: 703-618-4056
www.mg@mikegravel.us

P.S. We have a $1,000 minimum investment limit for management purposes. However, it’s acceptable for several friends to form an investment club aggregating your investments to equal at least a $1,000 and thereby purchase one unit of I Like Mike. In that case the club would be the shareholder of record and receive profit distributions mailed to the club address, care of the responsible officer.