History of The Other Dimension

The Other Dimension was the first feature-length script written for Rickair Productions, but the film itself was never finished. It was in development for approximately 8 years (due to being such a massive undertaking), but was eventually put on hold for more professional projects.

The Original Idea
The original idea was created by Erik Margolin and his friends when they were still in middle school. They had been discussing many things one day when a thought suddenly came to one of them: "What if there was a huge, hidden roller coaster type ride underneath your house?" Eventually they became very interested in this thought and started expanding on it. As the conversation progressed, many of the details started changing dramatically: "What if there was a huge, hidden cave underneath your house that you suddenly found the entrance to?" Soon they started thinking about if there were dangerous creatures in the cave. Then they decided that the creatures would be giant sand like creatures, capable of changing shape and size.

Finally, their end result of the discussion was: "What if there was a gigantic chain of hidden caves underneath a city, and you just found a hidden hole in your closet wall that was the only entrance down to the caves? Also, what if the caves were inhabited by dangerous and mysterious creatures?"

And thus… "The Other Dimension" was born.

The Beginning of Filming
They eventually decided to make a short film about this cave concept. They filmed a bit of the beginning that day, but didn't get very far. Before they had a chance to film any more they told their idea to their other friends and eventually it became a hit. A full group was now onboard and they all thought, "Hey, maybe we should make a longer film with this idea. Maybe even 30 minutes long." However, they had to wait till the next summer to film.

The Original Version
By the time they were ready to film again, many more details had changed. The entrance was still through the closet, but instead of going to a cave, it lead to another dimension. As soon as summer came they began to film. Although, they soon learned that one of their friends who they wanted to play the hero would be gone for the whole summer. So they filmed what they could, but eventually stopped, and now had to wait much longer to make the film.

The next summer they began to film again, however they still didn't have a script, just a main idea. They had filmed about 20 minutes worth when they realized that it would be nearly impossible to continue on without a script. They began writing down some ideas, but before they could finish the summer had ended. They worked on the script until the next summer, but realized that writing a nearly feature-length script would be very hard. Eventually the script started fading and they all completely gave up on the project.

Back on the Project
Now in 9th grade, Margolin was still heavily involved in writing scripts and making films, but no longer focused on "The Other Dimension". During a P.E. class he and a friend would run around the track and use the time to discuss script ideas. At that time Margolin's main focus was a mystery/thriller about a kid who suddenly sees many hidden clues all around him and realizes that everything that had happened in his life had happened for a specific reason. In discussing this idea on the track, his friend asked, "What about ' The Other Dimension'? I think we should finish that first." Margolin had previously given up the idea of ever finishing "The Other Dimension", but it sparked his interest when his friend posed the question. Needless to say, Margolin was back on the project and so was everyone else.

He revisited the script and finally finished it that year with a total of 68 pages.

The Second Version
After finally coming up with a full script, they decided to re-shoot everything. The original footage was scrapped and they began filming a new introduction. Unfortunately, Margolin finished the script right near the end of summer, so they could only film a bit of the introduction. This second version was short lived due to the limited amount of summer and the intrusion of school, and was ultimately scrapped in favor of a more cohesive "complete" version. In this version they only filmed up to where the two kids enter the portal. They never even got to the "other dimension" at all in this version. It was also an extremely slow version, whose pacing issues were addressed in additional re-writes to the script, a learning process for Margolin and his friends.

The Final Version
Now in 11th grade, they began filming footage that would make it into the final cut, and after waiting through another school year they were finally in the zone. They now filmed more than ever before: most of the introduction and much of the action and scary scenes in the Realm of Exile. However, by the time summer had finished they still weren't done.

It was now their senior year in high school and they were really pushing to have it done by the end of the year. They filmed a lot of additional footage, even some blue-screen footage, but never really came close to finishing. They were now graduating and moving on to college and the prospect of ever finishing seemed to dwindle.

The film slowed down quite a bit from that point on, but after that refueling of the project in 9th grade, Margolin never gave up. He waited for each summer and asked his friends to film whenever they could. None of them really expected to ever finish, and even Margolin had his doubts, but they still pressed on.

Filming has mostly stopped since then, but Margolin still vows to finish it. He jokes, "I still want to finish it though… even if I have to film the rest with me just wearing wigs and standing in place of all the characters. As long as I can finally call it done, I'll be happy."