We just returned to the real world from the first renaissance faire ever - the Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California. We ended up filming near 7 hours worth of footage and almost all of it was interviews. We didn't really shoot any of the performances, which isn't to say that the place didn't have top notch performances, because they did; as well as cast and staff. But we couldn't escape the sense of history that was being presented to us with every interview. Some of these people have been going to faire for over 40 years, and they have some amazing insights into what the whole thing is about; which is really what we're exploring in the documentary - what is it about this type of festival that makes it cultural? And we met some great folks out there. Barbara Butcher was especially kind to us, Jolly Roger was an incredible interview, Sue Honor, Chief from Clan McColin, and the lady who, to us, seemed the queen of all playtrons - Linda Sutherland of the Friends of Faire. By the way, FoF at this festival is a whole different beast than FoF at Scarborough - they're more of a booster club than a group of season pass holders - and they support, support, support the faire as well as put on displays. And the Lady Sullivan was gracious enough to make Glenn and I members!!!

The thing that I found really interesting out there was the guild system. They have a roster of guilds which are basically historical re-creation clubs. While the majority of the faire has given way to the need to stress entertainment over history, the guilds are strictly historical and class-based. The military guild, for instance, re-creates a military camp of the renaissance, gives demonstrations, and acts as the queen's guard. St. Cuthbert's guild organizes parades and demonstrates crafts. Clan McColin presents a historically accurate Irish clan of the day.

I have to say that the faire has an excellent staff as well. We were very well received - everybody had heard of Huzzah! The staff of this festival is dedicated and enthusiastic - AND they gave us nerd treasure. That is, they gave us photo IDs for all access. But a photo ID with the name of the faire on it is nerd treasure indeed! We were also pleased to discover that this faire is owned by the same company as owns Bristol and Sterling so we have a green light for Bristol and a good lead on Sterling!

We've also got a lot of recommendations to cover the Northern California faire, which is run and owned by the participants and I'm really eager to see that business model at work. Fortunately for us, Sue Honor, the head of St. Cuthbert's guild in Southern California is the chairman of the board in Northern, so we'll hopefully be able to work with her on getting permission to go there. And a lot of people we met here will be there so I hope we get to see them all again.

So now I've returned to the mundane world, working in Las Vegas - AKA Mordor - and am eagerly awaiting my return home to Dallas next weekend where we start shooting at Scarborough!!! I also miss my dog.