Interview: John Mehrtens (Sarge)

It's funny, looking back, how little I knew about setting up shots and planning for a shoot, but I knew enough to plan things so that I could have a "do-over". John was located near me geographically so I could come back if the whole thing really didn't go well. It actually went pretty well, although we conducted the interview for way too long. At the time, I was concerned I didn't have enough possible footage, so we spent a long time covering every possible aspect of BBSing, running a board, being a user, and so on. The real great part turned out to be the old BBS he had in a box in his basement, which we went down and pulled out on camera. Between his dark basement and the pure "from another time" sense of his BBS, it's almost archeological how the whole thing comes across on film. I made a lot of mistakes on this shoot, like I said, but there's definitely footage that I was able to use in the final episodes. And John was great, even inviting me to a party a year or two later. I lost my first item on this shoot, a screen that is meant to go on one of the lights and stop debris from falling on it, which could lead to damage. I never recovered it.