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Around noon, January 27th, I was on Twitter and read this tweet from Film School Rejects…

[fsr] Stop The International, Earn Some Cash http://twurl.nl/ib6hpm 11:23 AM Jan 27th from twitterfeed

Which twittered my interest a touch… I mean “EARN SOME CASH!” who wouldn’t be a bit interested in that? RIGHT?!

So that link takes us over to this site… please go check it out… it will help with the understanding of what is going on…

I will wait…

…

So you checked that out… It has to do with a viral ad campaign that was very similar to a lot of the viral ad stuff that was done for a Dark Knight a while back. Anyways, essentially this is a giant campaign for the movie The International starring Clive Owen and the wowser Naomi Watts…

I wish we took screen shots… so now we have to relay on my ability to tell a story and paint a beautiful landscape… so essentially we are screwed.

On that website, if you click on “Find The Money” it takes you to a map, and on the map there are locations where evidence drops will be performed. It doesn’t give you an exact location if you click on it, but what it did show you was a clock counting down… counting down to what you ask?! WELL to when the evidence was to be dropped… gosh, I thought you could piece that together yourselves.

It just so happened that on this particular day, and at this particular moment, the clock for San Diego was counting down from 3 hours (ending at 2:00pm PST), and the clock for Los Angeles was counting down from 4 hours (ending at 3:00pm PST)… This meant nothing to me, nor did it peak my interest until I see what is scrolling across the top of the map… cities followed by dollar amounts… and cahlearly it was on. The EVIDENCE WAS MONEY… MONEY YOU GET TO KEEP!!!…

I kept reading and I learned that not only does zero on the clock mean that the evidence will be dropped, but that they will reveal the exact coordinates, a clue to the location, and the code for the lock box in which the “evidence” will be contained…

What do I do though!? I am only one man… and there is no way that I can sit at work in Corona, CA and make it to San Diego or LA in time after the location is revealed to make it to the lock box before some other movie nerd snatches it up! Cahlearly I need a partner in crime… a Chloe to lead me whilst I do the things that Jack Bauer does… and for about a half a second I thought “Monica, my beautiful and lovely girlfriend could help!” but that was quickly met with… “but she had a hard enough time purchasing concert tickets online right when they went on presale… she can’t handle the pressure! Nor the computer-ee nature of her task…” So this leaves my trusted pigeon enthusiast, friend, and partner in TWH… Tyler Hauser (with a special backup props to my Tony… Blake Kunisch).

Once my Plan A and Plan B tech supports were in line, I headed off to LA… arriving… 45 minutes a head of schedule. I was hoping to get there at 345pm to have enough time to set up the plan of attack with Tyler. So I sit and wait for Tyler to inform me that he is on screen… The starting point I picked was just West of the Staples Center (which is where the Lakers, Clippers, and Kings play) at the intersection of 11th and Valencia.

If you look at the map I am just south from the actual intersection, and pointing north parked on Valencia… and this area… was pretty much scaring the CRAP OUTTA ME!… So I was working on my script work for the play I am in, and hoping the time would pass by quicker… and finally, the time was NIGH!!! 3:50pm PST Tyler is on the computer and we work out the particulars…

I informed him of his role… He was to have the International website in one screen, and Google Maps in another with my location already entered as the starting location… awaiting the coordinates… Once the coordinates come in he is to quickly enter them, and proceed to inform me of the first few directions to get me on my way, and then pass on the clue and the combo to the lock box. He understands, and we disconnect communications and its now a waiting game…

3:55pm PST…
3:56pm PST…
3:57pm PST…
3:58pm PST…
3:59pm PST…

I call Tyler… and we wait…

4:00pm PST…

Nothing is revealed… WHAT THE HECK!?

And then THERE IT IS… The game is on!

I hear Tyler “Chloe” Hauser typing away over the phone… inputting the coordinates into Google Maps…

“OK get onto the North Bound Harbour Freeway”, Tyler informs me. And if you can tell by the map… the 110 is a block away from me, and I am off…

“Man you have to go a long way on the 110″, Tyler said in a defeated voice…

“Ok well how long exactly?”, I reply.

“Oh… 1.6 miles! Get off at exit 24″, he says in a jittery voice.

“HOLY F***… I am at exit 23b already”, erupting out of my tense shaky face.

The adrenaline is pumping so much and my senses are at the height of their efficiency, and I zig… zag… and dash through any opening to get me there quicker, and the normally completely packed 110 North (especially at 3pm) opens up… I am at exit 24 before I know it!

I get off, and Tyler informs me… “LEFT ON COLLEGE!”.

“How many streets?”

(at this point I cross into China Town)

“Two blocks… no ONE… next left!!!”

I hang a louie onto College, and now the clue comes into effect… “On a chain link fence, near the escalator, at a metro station”…

“Tyler where is the metro station?”

“Less than a block… on your left”

“Crap I just got in the right lane… that’s ok…”

I pull right across the street of the escalator, into what looks like a strip mall/back alley, and there are old Chinese people everywhere… (Chinese New Year is this weekend) and I park it ASAP and I run… My hand is on my hat as I fly across the street… in my head I envision getting there 2 seconds too late… so every second counts… I come up on the escalator… THERE IS THE LOCK BOX!!!

Do you see it?

I sprint the 5 feet from the curb to the lock box, and it is still closed… UNBELIEVABLE… I sit there, and I input the code… 5-7-3-0… pull… nothing… 5-7-3-0… pull… nothing… “Tyler it’s not working! Is that the code?”

“5-7-3-0″

“That’s what I…”

It suddenly clicked that this is a freaking realtors box and there is a little sliding door on the side…

“I am an idiot…”

I look around the side of the box… I see a door… IT SLIDES UP!!! I reach in, and pull out a bunch of paper… a bunch of money… UNBELIEVABLE!!! This giant sense of accomplishment rushes over me… I jump… I scream… and the Chinese people look at me weird… but I know one thing… at this moment… I AM JACK BAUER… and to a lesser extent… Tyler is Chloe… (bitchy but helpful)

Then I realize, I am parked in a questionable space, and I run back across the street… only the see… the cop printing out my ticket. Literally out of my car for less than 5 minutes, and I end up with a ticket! Oh well, I still end up ahead. As he chuckles at my adventure, the cop points across the street (right next to the lock box) “You see that parking lot? that is only 3 bucks, and this is 58.” We talk for a minute, and still in good spirits I drive away.

Unbelievable…
UNBELIEVABLE…

Tyler does a quick currency exchange for me, and we find out that it is about 300 bucks! Which is pretty sweet!!! 300 bucks is not bad for a 3 hours I was suppose to be working…

100 Euros
20 Euros
10,000 Yen
20 Mexican Pesos
100 New Zealand Dollars
20 American
20 American

The official final total… $368 – $58 (the ticket) = $310

Honestly… this is the most fun I have had in a long long long time… And trust me, I am keeping my eyes and ears out for the next one!!!

Thanks to:
Film School Rejects (who made me aware of the possibility of winning the money)
Blake Kunisch (who texted me the information and left it in a voice mail for me in case Tyler wasn’t able to)
and of course Tyler Hauser

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