Robots Don't Cry (circa 2005)

As I was dabbling in writing a script or story I usually ended up with synopsis or outlines with the promise of filling in the details later. Of course, later never comes. I read more good novels and more good movies for inspiration. As I was reading the novels like "The Chronicles of Naria" and "Dragonlance" I realized that it would take an incredible amount of time to learn how to write nearly half as good as the authors of the books I had mentioned.

I knew I had to either have someone write for me or ask permission to borrow a story for commercial purposes. I think it was 2004 when I found a science fiction short story on the internet that I liked very much. I bookedmarked the story and got back to concentrating on trying out new 3D software. That story turned out to be "Robots Don't Cry" by Mike Resnick. I didn't know how much of a prolific writer he was until later.

After experimenting with Anim8or, Poser, Vue, and Virtual Stage software I created a few short animated chapters of "Robot Space Troopers", a story that I had developed to try out my new skills. I wasn't interested in continuing Robot Space Troopers anymore and for some reason, the "Robots Don't Cry" story came to mind. I thought "I wonder if this Mike Resnick dude will allow me to use his story?"

The website publishing the story didn't have Mike Resnick's contact information. It took me a while but eventually, I found his website: http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/farmer/2/ and e-mail address. It was in Mike's and other websites that I discovered what a great writer he was in terms of the number of works published, awards, and sales.

In October 2005, I wrote to Mike and he responded a few hours later. (I was shocked that a busy writer like him would even consider responding so soon). He didn't say yes at first. It took a few e-mail exchanges and later, we had a contract the next day. I really didn't know what to expect before sending the e-mail. Everything seemed like it was meant to happen.

When the agreement was made, I greenlighted my own production. I was very optimistic and even had ideas that the project would take 4 months. Boy, was I so wrong.