how to set up your own script, bypassing the manage.py dance

skip_manage.py

from __future__ import unicode_literals

import os, sys, django
from theproject import settings
os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'theproject.settings')

django.setup()

# now import normally, e.g.
from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
# ... whatever else