After an afternoon of soul searching in the mountains he decides to honor his deadline, and plans to spend his final week in Hollywood visiting friends to tell them he's leaving for good and that he'll have a going away party to cap it all off.

With a couple days left before his going away party and tension mounting, Matt visits his eclectic mix of friends and people who have affected him over the years.

But finally Dylan shows, then Robert, Amanda, JR - even Mylo, which means a great deal to Matt - and before long all the people he's visited over the past week are at the party.

Branin and Collins shot the film for about $500, and to complete post-production raised $16,203 on Kickstarter, which had launched just a few months earlier.

Branin and Collins decided to rush to incorporate the fires into the plot of the film in order to finish shooting before they had to cut camera and evacuate.

Casting consisted of Branin and Collins hand-selecting friends, basing each character in the film on the actual person who was playing them.

Gary W. Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times called Goodbye Promise a "richly emotional look at a failed actor's introspective last days in Hollywood.

"[10] Frequent Francis Ford Coppola collaborator Fred Roos: "On a micro budget David Branin and Gregor Collins created a perceptive and touching portrait of the lives of struggling actors working on the fringes of Hollywood.

"[11] Mark Bell of Film Threat: "A collection of thematically-connected scenes layered on top of one another, Goodbye Promise employs a unique narrative structure.

"[12] Television Producer Elizabeth Yoffe called it "A story that is completely accurate both in its harsh quality and sense of continual possibility.