THE PLOT

It's the year 2017. Well-meaning but perennially unsuccessful NYC documentary filmmaker Hank Braddigan receives a mysterious package, which includes a message carved into a large piece of bark, requesting that he come to Oneonta, a small, mysterious town adjacent to the equally enigmatic Delaware County in upstate New York. Hank seizes on this invitation as his big break, that it's a lead to finding Art Angst, the director of the smash hit film, LOG. LOG is a two and a half hour, one-shot film of a log sitting in the woods with leaves blowing on it. People worldwide are obsessed with finding hidden meaning in the film, even though no one seems to be able to contact Angst, the film's director. All that is known is that he resides somewhere between Oneonta and Delaware County.

So the near-broke Hank sells the last of his prized possessions to get to Oneonta. Hank drives upstate, and reaches Oneonta only by navigating around Delaware County. He discovers the County has been officially and indefinitely closed, and all direct roads directly through it have been blocked off. Once Hank reaches Oneonta, he finds that not only is the place mysterious, but it tends to pack a wallop, as well. While searching for clues regarding his invitation and the whereabouts of Angst, he is roughed up by an assortment of unsavory characters. So it is with suspicion that he finds Sidney Lake, who claims to have been Angst's film editor, assisting in the editing of many of the rumored 571 deleted scenes in LOG. Lake promises Hank access to Art Angst.

Hank calls his crew, oddball inventor/sound man Jake Shempp, and Hank's on-again, off-again girlfriend/cinematographer Linda Hopkins, to join him in his quest. As is typical, Linda is skeptical of the venture, as she is of most of what Hank does, viewing his work as one impractical adventure after another. Hank pleads with her to go with him just one more time, and she finds herself unable to resist his entreaties, knowing full well she is kidding herself. Meanwhile, Jake is game for the gig, save for the fact that he has to work with Linda, with whom he exchanges frequent, not-so-playful barbs.

The crew assembles in Oneonta, where Sidney Lake reveals that they will have to trek through uncharted Delaware County to find Art Angst. Lake answers no questions about the trek, other than that the crew should prepare for spending a few 24 hours outdoors. The crew is shuttled into Delaware County, blindfolded and tied together. Once the blindfolds are off, they meet their guide, "Bovina" Joe Hancock. Gun-toting, bandana- wearing Joe escorts the crew through all manner of difficult terrain—dense brush, steep cliffs, and dark, ominous forests. At the end of Day One, the crew sets up camp in an abandoned graveyard. Joe explains this is the only safe place to camp, as the "feral children" who rule the County at night are afraid of the old gravestones. Around the campfire, Joe tells the crew the "tragedy of LOG." He tells of repeated, devastating flooding, so much so that the federal government stopped fixing the County and ultimately closed it for good, correctly figuring no one would notice the County's geographical absence. County residents were forced to resort to survivalist, frontier living. The only thing that gave the people hope, says Joe, is Art Angst, who broadcast inspirational, naturalist television from his compound, The Land of Angst.

The morning comes and Joe is gone, off to tend to other matters. He leaves instructions as to how to proceed further. Alarmed but undeterred, the crew continues as per the instructions, meeting up with a new Joe, "Trout Creek" Joe Treadwell. This Joe helps them further navigate the unfriendly landscape, and leads them to the Land of Angst.

The compound at The Land of Angst is something of a cross between a mediæval village and the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. Hank is anxious to talk to Art Angst; Linda remains skeptical of the whole setup; Jake is content to go with the flow. The compound's unofficial director, a clipboard-toting, effervescent woman named Tommy, assures the crew they will have their opportunity to talk to Angst in due time. In the meantime, they are shown to the guest quarters to rest up before that evening's festivities. At the fest, the crew accidentally ingests a large quantity of a local favorite hallucinogenic drink, Blue Pistachio Punch. While Jake and Linda enjoy the effects of the punch, Hank has the proverbial bad trip. All of his seeking and yearning comes to bedevil him in one apparition or another. Capped off with a brief run-in with Art Angst himself, it is all too much for Hank's beleaguered brain, and the run-in serves to end Hank's conscious activity for the evening.

The next morning, Angst gives the crew a tour of the compound, and offers them an exclusive interview that afternoon. The crew is excited that all of the struggle and strangeness transcended is finally going to pay off. When they do interview Angst, each crew member, in a surprising twist, unexpectedly discovers something life- changing about his or her self. But it is Hank, in particular, who finds new direction. Hank may have known little about Art Angst, but Angst apparently has been keeping an eye on Hank. Angst makes Hank an offer which appeals to Hank's sense of social responsibility and, most significantly, to his heart. It is "an offer that he can not refuse."

And it is with an uplifted heart that LOGJAM concludes, setting the stage for a more hopeful future for the film's participants, and for the world in which they live.

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