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Page 12: Money Walks
By late summer, Tender Loving Care was ready for principal photography with a budget of $800,000. According to a number of the Trilobyte board members, the project was green lighted as an experimental project for $500,000 on the interactive side, although "the film financing was supposed to be found outside the company," according to Devine.
"I had made the decision to get out of Trilobyte, so I didn't want to influence the direction of [TLC]."
- Graeme Devine
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Given Devine's reaction to the nudity in The 11th Hour, was he not concerned with the screenplay that was about to be filmed? "I got the TLC script to Graeme so I could make sure he had no problems," says Wheeler. "And he said, 'I have no problems with this.'" Devine said he did read the script and didn't raise any issues with it, which was a surprise to many inside Trilobyte. What wasn't known to anyone inside the company was the decision that Devine had already come to, privately. "I had made the decision to get out of Trilobyte," he admits, "so I didn't want to influence the direction of that project. I respected Rob as a person, so I always wanted to publicly support what he wanted to do. But yes, I did have concerns about the content."
The seductive nurse Katherine in a scene from Tender Loving Care |
The story of Tender Loving Care involved a young couple that loses its only child in a car crash, and as a result, the mother starts to lose her grip on reality. Soon after, the couple visits a psychiatrist who appoints a nymphomaniacal live-in nurse, Kathryn, to the case. The nurse further complicates all facets of the couple's relationship, including their sex life. (In the interactive product, adult situations could be avoided based on the user's own selections). Even with the adult themes in Tender Loving Care (which "a lot of people were uncomfortable with," according to COO Beeck), the film was shot in the late summer and early fall of 1995.
John Hurt earned over US $100,000 for a week's work on Tender Loving Care |
Although Wheeler and Landeros maintain that the Trilobyte board had approved their budget for the filming of the project, many of the board members felt they had never fully signed on for the project's full production cost. No matter, production began, and Trilobyte flew Oscar winner John Hurt and his girlfriend in from Kenya at a cost of $20,000 so he could spend a week on the set playing the psychologist Dr. Turner and earning close to $100,000 for his work. Relative unknowns would flesh out the rest of the cast, although Robert Hirshoebeck, known as Old Man Stauf to Trilobyte fans, was brought in for a cameo.
Cel animation was contracted to a Taiwanese firm for Clandestiny at a cost of US $150,000 |
To an outsider, it may seem puzzling that Trilobyte would be sinking nearly a $1 million dollars into a feature film when its staple product, The 11th Hour, had yet to ship. But money was walking out the door, according to many inside the company. In late 1995, Trilobyte also began production on Castle (later renamed Clandestiny), known as "The 7th Guest in Plaid," which detailed a young couple's adventure to reclaim their ancestral home in Scotland. A Taiwanese firm was hired for $150,000 to do the hand-drawn cel animation.
"I never saw a budget for the project. We literally just spent money when needed."
- Producer James Yokota on the production of Clandestiny.
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Although Landeros told Café Z magazine that Trilobyte "prided itself on having sound fiscal procedures," those inside the company paint a different picture. "I produced Castle and never even saw a budget for the project," exclaims James Yokota. "No matrixes to track dollars or anything - we literally just spent money when needed." As investment advisor and board member Andy Kessler remembers, "At one point, someone inside Trilobyte said to me in reference to cost overruns, 'We had the money in the bank. If Paul Allen didn't expect us to spend $5 million, he wouldn't have given it to us.' To me, that was the telltale sign that people inside the company didn't understand value. If you are going to spend the money and not invest it to create value, you are going to lose the company."
However, amidst the cost overruns, there was good news: By fall of 1995, it appeared The 11th Hour was finally ready to ship. The crunchcrew had delivered the final gold masters to the duplication house in early November, and by the end of the month, the four-disk 11th Hour, featuring breathtaking 24-bit 30 frames-per-second video, was going to be on store shelves for the holidays.
At the end of 1995 The 11th Hour finally ships. |
On November 30, a staffer at Software Etc. called Devine at his office and left a message: "Hi, this is a call for Graeme Devine from Software Etc. to let you know that your copy of The 11th Hour is in stock and on hold. This coming Sunday, 11th Hour creators Graeme Devine and Rob Landeros will be at the store signing copies of the game."
11th Hour had finally arrived.
Next: Where Am I Needed? 
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