the whole theaterworks vs. the unemployed dude thing is way out of hand... I think Owen was just offering to consult with this less experienced company, and if needed, fly out to assist to help with the execution of the project. That's not uncommon, and I would make the same offer of the job were the right size.

Stew, you should call your local Escient and/or audiorequest rep and get started with them. If you want to add this to you repertiore, there is no time like the present to get your feet wet.
If you are hesitant about doing any more of these in the future and just want to satisfy this client, they may recommend that you partner up with an existing company from his area, and could give you leads of who the most experienced companies are. This type of thing is common in other fields (ie: automation, lighting control) and there should be a high end guy around LA that will take on something like this as a subcontract job.