Point of Departure

Point of Departure

A woman is set adrift in Europe after the man in her life fails to meet her. Set in Paris, Cannes, Venice, Milan, and Monaco, the search for him reveals the covert nature of his associations and her life with him. Reminiscent of L'Avventura.

(running time 84:34)

Cast List

The woman.....Kelly Michèle

The policeman.....Bertrand Schafer

The friend.....Jean-Jacques Millo

The colleague.....Joe Filbeck

The attorney.....René Altervain

Colleague #2.....Alexander Quinn

The CIA agent.....Wesley Harris

Music

Michael Chanslor

Written, Produced, Directed

Stephen Mitchell

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Elysée Wednesday mentioned in the Berlinetta Newsletter

This is what they wrote about Elysée Wednesday:

Have you ever wanted to buy Tom Meade a cup of coffee and pick his brain? Have you ever wanted to meet Matt Ettinger - you know, that infamous Californian who once owned the Breadvan? Do you like independent and/or foreign film interests and like discussing them with like-minded people and/or actors and actresses and/or film makers and directors? Ever wonder what it'd be like to shoot the breeze with someone like Pierce Brosnan?

These are all people and characters who assemble weekly just to hang out. Some come for the conversation, some come to see who might pull up in what, and others come for the bakery's superb cheesecake and Napoleons.

One night, while everyone was talking, I sat with Stephen Mitchell (a former 250 GTO owner and the guy who started the whole get-together). Down the block, across the street, parked in front of a quaint Italian restaurant was a beautiful 360 Spider. I desperately wanted the serial number for my database, but couldn't inconspicuously walk past the car and see the information clearly so late in the evening.

Stephen said to me, "Do you really want the serial number?" I said yes and next thing I know, I'm following him over to the restaurant. He walked right in, surveyed the patrons for a moment and made a bee-line for a couple sitting by the window.

"Hello, my name is Stephen Mitchell," he said, "and this is my friend Carbon McCoy. Is that your Ferrari outside?"

"Yes."

"We were just admiring it and Carbon here runs a database and he was wondering if you knew the serial number."

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The man wasn't phased a bit, and while he didn't know the serial number, he had no problem with us going out to the car to have a look while he sat there and ate his dinner. I was amazed at the whole thing. And that was just one instance of one Wednesday night at the Elysée Bakery.

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So if you're ever in Westwood Village in Los Angeles on a Wednesday night, stop by the Elysée Bakery on Gaylee Street. We'll be there, talking about or becoming infamous Californians.

Disney Remakes the Movie Studio

In BusinessWeek, Ronald Grover writes that Robert A. Iger, the new chairman at Walt Disney, is reinventing the modern Hollywood studio. He points out that, in addition to choosing good movies, Iger sees the need "to be a brand manager." Grover goes on to observe that, "At a time when studios are reducing risk by making fewer movies, he [Iger] is betting on household names with an established record of turning blank pages into billion-dollar franchises."

I would suggest that this is a good approach for a company in any sector of business to take in the current climate. I would also suggest that business executives who are not yet household names in their field act to quickly become one so as to aid and abet--not to mention participate--the process.