FREE DOUBLE FEATURE AT SPUR’S PALACE, SATURDAY 4 PM
On the website for Blockchain Media’s new short film, “The Big Empty,” the aerial shot of a dry, desolate and rusted-out rural swimming pool says it all.
Here in Spur, Texas—Pop. 873, according to the green signs posted after the declines of the 2020 Census—business and industry, talent, and even water have been draining away as fast as people can escape for places like Lubbock or Dallas or Houston or
BLOCKCHAIN MEDIA / WWW.THEBIGEMPTY.XYZ But the website image to the far right tells a different story.
In it, construction crews work feverishly on Spur’s historic Swenson Park pool, pumping gunite concrete onto forms that are expected to soon bring this favorite recreational feature back into use.
“The Big Empty” tells the tale not only of Spur’s rebuilt swimming pool, but of a bitcoin mining firm’s pledge to do right by the community where it has, by now, put down its own roots.
“We looked to shed a positive light on bitcoin,” said the film’s producer, William Foxley, “but bitcoin isn’t the focus.”
In October 2021, while the world was still reeling from setbacks of the Covid- 19 pandemic, a startup cryptocurrency miner that had been in conversations with local landowners and the county commission to establish a plant in Dickens County 20 miles north of Spur burst into the public eye with a gala barbecue and an astonishing announcement.
Argo Blockchain, traded in London with facilities already in North America, had broken ground on a 125,000-square-foot building that would employ 20 local workers and keep construction contractors busy for months. And to show their appreciation to the community, they pledged to restore Spur’s swimming pool, out of commission for half a decade.
When Argo found itself on the ropes a year later, its successor Galaxy Digital
Holdings said it would keep
Argo’s promise.
Plunging into bitcoin.
While the cryptocurrency industry still remains a head-scratcher to many West Texans, the appeal of a cool dip in a brand-new pool on a steaming summer day isn’t hard for anyone to grasp. Foxley, a friend of Galaxy’s then head of mining Amanda Fabiano, pitched the idea of a film that would deal with both aspects of life in Spur.
Galaxy, said Foxley, also wanted the story of Spur to be told. For Foxley, with roots in the small town of Saratoga, Wyoming, felt he had a grasp on how to tell it. “Spur reminds people of the places where they grew up,” he said. Or, for others, “most people can connect with neighbors, characters, values” that Dickens County residents share.
In June 2023, “we started sketching out what the structure of a film might be,” said Foxley. By September the project had been greenlighted, and Foxley and his crew came to Dickens County in September for visits to the now-operational Helios plant and local towns. They filmed Spur during its annual Homecoming weekend, when folks are all about festivities and football.
After shooting in New York City, where Galaxy and its CEO, Mike Novogratz, are based, they returned to Spur in January for more shots. After addition of sound and music—which capture the flavor of Texas— the team wrapped up mastering in February.
The film went live in early April. Featuring interviews and footage of many area residents and enterprises (including The Texas Spur, full disclosure), it melds the aims of New York investors and big finance with those of towns like Spur that don’t want to dry up and die.
Contrasting the fast pace of Manhattan with the laidback ranchlands of Dickens County, the film invites viewers to consider how industry can coexist with local values, and even help preserve them.
Screening this Saturday as first part of double feature. Thanks also to Galaxy’s underwriting, the first film date of The Palace Theater’s summer season will feature free admission for all ages, and Galaxy giveaways during the movies.
“The Big Empty” will kick off the afternoon’s entertainment at 4 p.m., followed by the feature “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Mutant Mayhem” (PG, 2023). The audience should be out in plenty of time to enjoy dinner hour (and patronize area restaurants!).
The Palace Theater is located at 422 Burlington Ave., Spur.
