tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27558798660281089592024-03-15T18:40:58.442-07:00Stephen Mitchell(A filmmaker's life/La vie d'un cinéaste)Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.comBlogger866125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-26539691341930161132021-08-14T04:59:00.008-07:002021-08-14T05:01:09.892-07:00Guesting on the Rick Amato Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqatlxdWjSyiWP14hlTTK9Fl8zqfK4VdxNfi0xHDu9trdMEEU7NFAAuOhQr2umjcioeSYuEV8rM9bANLTHAL70r-j7F5bxvvX_EzudgzSnrk2L0pyi3ZZYF9v9ibENJy5WqTFF-PqdaRlA/s960/SM+Rick+Amata+Show.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqatlxdWjSyiWP14hlTTK9Fl8zqfK4VdxNfi0xHDu9trdMEEU7NFAAuOhQr2umjcioeSYuEV8rM9bANLTHAL70r-j7F5bxvvX_EzudgzSnrk2L0pyi3ZZYF9v9ibENJy5WqTFF-PqdaRlA/s320/SM+Rick+Amata+Show.JPG"/></a></div>
Doing a guest spot on The Rick Amato Show on One America Network speaking for the Constitution...Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-37811769889617062292021-08-13T07:21:00.006-07:002021-08-13T07:23:27.126-07:00Confessions (promo)<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdxMH6n-fBM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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This is a promo for the Confessions series of 1997-98...Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-22611767916258689582021-08-07T03:01:00.002-07:002021-08-07T03:11:14.517-07:00Exigence (2017): The Street Vendor<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Frs6BaU2x8Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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Exigence (2017): Pry'ce Jaymes, Tom Maseth and the inimitable Kbaby Nate with special thanks to Jaymes Young...Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-9853921715398748282021-08-05T02:49:00.004-07:002021-08-05T02:51:53.494-07:00Notes on a Call Sheet: Steve McQueen<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='420' height='236' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwSRF1b6o8W50CtpA967i9xecPnD6C2UK6Gd_V2E3UdbZF6coruEvnl04EUmEWqV2oK8jmOpd8FuyCiHSS0xw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br>
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I always thought of my encounters with acting icon Steve McQueen as 'Ferrari' anecdotes but looking back on them from the perspective of a filmmaker who instructs technique and branding to actors, it's impossible to remember them and not come away with interesting observations about the screen legend and insight as to how it was he maintained his star status at the box office for most of his career. Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-18428835390939281762021-08-03T01:38:00.003-07:002021-08-03T01:38:48.951-07:00The premiere of Addiction Incorporated<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BQZMb3qH9A7gJjkaRy-4g4xX6SjHUa9ofXWYIFrW0uOrn1Cp0Iz4EIQlqZXQitP26ggTUraWP0B4_K1amO2_bu-_fSxBEM26ZkBVDvjIApCLiwzCseLCKTbk_0TpPc8pRLV8lPjUIL2Y/s960/SM+Plaza+Hotel.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2BQZMb3qH9A7gJjkaRy-4g4xX6SjHUa9ofXWYIFrW0uOrn1Cp0Iz4EIQlqZXQitP26ggTUraWP0B4_K1amO2_bu-_fSxBEM26ZkBVDvjIApCLiwzCseLCKTbk_0TpPc8pRLV8lPjUIL2Y/s320/SM+Plaza+Hotel.jpg"/></a></div>
Stayed at the Plaza Hotel, New York, Central Park when I attended the New York premiere of Charlie Evans, Jr.'s documentary Addiction Incorporated on which I was a co-producer. The screening was at the Film Forum where Clouzot's Wages of Fear was also showing. Addiction Incorporated can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video: https://tinyurl.com/y73q37u7Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-80729294529461455932021-08-01T06:13:00.006-07:002021-08-01T06:16:30.169-07:00Woman on the Beach (1985) screen capture<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszA4XPozCcnny7hwDmO14MYVsKTlrrfvBkPQaFZ6PSetHGNOQe_aii7smu_KkbxKa_V4dI5YwT3m4HIxW8NDnZMFDsBsbGWTw7C77DQO28Nqz0jRowerZg7ajmwsz8YdnFCsQenqrZeYo/s720/WotB+SM+MS.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszA4XPozCcnny7hwDmO14MYVsKTlrrfvBkPQaFZ6PSetHGNOQe_aii7smu_KkbxKa_V4dI5YwT3m4HIxW8NDnZMFDsBsbGWTw7C77DQO28Nqz0jRowerZg7ajmwsz8YdnFCsQenqrZeYo/s320/WotB+SM+MS.jpg"/></a></div>
This is a screen capture from Woman on the Beach with me and Margareta Sjödin...Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-8736960718925117802021-07-28T05:53:00.009-07:002021-07-28T06:28:21.313-07:00Woman o the Beach (1985): The Exhibition<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hJ3jfVyelpU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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In this scene, I wanted to show the viewer that our football hero was now in her world where she is the celebrity and he is anonymous.Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-74099015629807246482021-07-26T06:09:00.000-07:002021-07-26T06:09:08.722-07:00Buying Maseratis in Italy with Tom Meade<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzCvDBhlbZPPvnt3yxu9SsfXhq3w4Q5cEgMrlK439OXBH9LSxtDm3EJ6nY_A5G2kxnlu_Xx5obD_b0p_q5SybaZrs4on-njyaP7HDEio149IG35NObRRqI6TM5LtQ7nnDxdASobv7u1xy/s800/Maserati+Mistral+blue+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzCvDBhlbZPPvnt3yxu9SsfXhq3w4Q5cEgMrlK439OXBH9LSxtDm3EJ6nY_A5G2kxnlu_Xx5obD_b0p_q5SybaZrs4on-njyaP7HDEio149IG35NObRRqI6TM5LtQ7nnDxdASobv7u1xy/s320/Maserati+Mistral+blue+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;">I
knew Tom Meade over the course of four decades meeting him in Costa
Mesa when my friend John Andrews pretended he wanted me to look at a
Ferrari he found for sale and wanted my opinion as to what it might me.
When we arrived, the seller led me to the garage and pulled off the car
cover to reveal the Thomassima III (!!) and we all had a good laugh and
went out for dinner thus beginning a long friendship. I spent a lot of
time with Tom in Costa Mesa doing car things and eating lobster on
Balboa Island. I also accompanied him to Dan Gurney's AAR where Tom
tried to persuade Dan to sell him one of his Formula 1 Gurney-Weslake
V12 engines for use in a planned Thomassima creation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;" /></p><div style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;">When
Tom returned to Italy, I met up with him in Milan where I was buying
some cars and he arranged to have a couple of Maserati Mistrals brought
to a car dealership in Parma for me to consider. After a breakfast of
strong Italian coffee, the spiciest tomato juice you could imagine and
some croissants at a hotel bar, we headed off on the 80-mile trip to
Parma in a Fiat 238 van that seemed to appear from nowhere. We covered
the distance in record time as the engine tried to tell anyone who would
listen that it was on its last legs and about to blow up from
over-revving but we actually made it there and back to Milan without
incident.<span> <br /></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><span><span style="background-color: white; display: inline !important; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">When
we arrived, the dealership was closed for lunch and so our own
memorable three-hour lunch ensued where we were joined by the proprietor
of the hotel/restaurant who sat with us and served us a delicious Parma
ham along with other savory distractions and a lovely wine that kept
flowing--it wasn't every day you could have lunch with the creator of
the Thomassima cars and stories were traded back and forth</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline !important; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Finally,
we realized we should move it along and go look at the Maseratis before
the dealership closed for the day. I test drove them both and decided
they belonged in Los Angeles and that was that. The transporter put them
back onto the truck and off they went to the shipper's garage in Milan.
Tom and I returned for a dinner at Il Rigolo and an evening at the
Nepenthe.</span><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><span><br /></span></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; display: inline !important; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; widows: 2;"><span><span style="background-color: white; display: inline !important; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">When
the Mistrals arrived in Los Angeles, one of them looked just like the
one in the picture here-dark blue. The other was a silver/gray. Both had
4-liter engines with ZF 5-speed transmissions, the DOHC six cylinders
having fuel injection and twin plugs per cylinder. I kept them both,
along with a Maserati Quattroporte, until I returned from Paris a few
years later and the Mistrals were transformed into resale red and I sold
them.</span><br /><br style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" /><span style="background-color: white; display: inline !important; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">When Tom returned to Los Angeles, we had other memorable times together but that lunch in Parma was one of the best...</span></span></span>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-51160711892834212062021-06-18T03:48:00.000-07:002021-06-18T03:48:00.879-07:00The Action/ReAction Technique<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NRTKEB5wlQEd4lURNT8MmreRIDd9fQAqLK7-OR1ZUmJgJKs4CBnasE9AWVHcpSt7LgqMgDgaGS52nl6SGy13E1fMh_X7ZeOLdqy10muGCRpCvMiARTLHkUYH_T7DfSlkqpxdRcAD7ASn/s613/stanza-websized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NRTKEB5wlQEd4lURNT8MmreRIDd9fQAqLK7-OR1ZUmJgJKs4CBnasE9AWVHcpSt7LgqMgDgaGS52nl6SGy13E1fMh_X7ZeOLdqy10muGCRpCvMiARTLHkUYH_T7DfSlkqpxdRcAD7ASn/s320/stanza-websized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span class="" title="Edited">It was never my intention to become an
acting coach but, as a filmmaker, I delved into the complexities of an
actor’s performance as a quality control measure to ensure that the
films and television shows I produced would be salable and effective in
engaging the audience. The result of my studies and observations is the
Action/ReAction technique. It is designed to develop an actor quickly to
the point where he or she can perform like a seasoned professional. It
also enables the actor to express his or her personal brand signature
and to create a fan base by resonating and connecting with all of the
constituent groups in the audience instead of just one or two.<br /><br />For
years, I only taught the technique personally to actors in my repertory
company. More recently, I teach Action/ReAction to actors on Skype
anywhere in the world in private sessions. Email cineparis@hotmail.com to find out more.<br />(Illustration by Tom Gurnee) </span><p></p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-46393156739718204692021-06-16T09:19:00.003-07:002021-06-16T09:21:34.284-07:00Carrera Panamericana (1950-54) on Vimeo on-demand<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-vH5uuIVbH729WMaGR7VVBHlnFYTkq3jRYnNBCGQV_3h36dLhrJbhvzElNVJC7xI1Chgalxbb1SHFCpSa-QHPx-iNIfLnIOVpWcYrWRPn-xo2X7hTmlO7vMOZ32nOr45W5tVwyZC-6H5/s2039/CarreraPanamerica_+Landscape+car+elementVimeo+vod.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="2039" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-vH5uuIVbH729WMaGR7VVBHlnFYTkq3jRYnNBCGQV_3h36dLhrJbhvzElNVJC7xI1Chgalxbb1SHFCpSa-QHPx-iNIfLnIOVpWcYrWRPn-xo2X7hTmlO7vMOZ32nOr45W5tVwyZC-6H5/s320/CarreraPanamerica_+Landscape+car+elementVimeo+vod.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span title="Edited"><span title="Edited">Carrera Panamericana (1950-54) is now available on Vimeo on-demand (worldwide): <a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/331993" id="LPlnk">https://vimeo.com/ondemand/331993</a><br /></span></span>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-90268959830939904232021-06-13T03:29:00.002-07:002021-06-13T03:29:32.421-07:00From Tom Maseth<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsperf_N71afcc33kfJBU2x0u4z0VcyF4LFrVmeDj8mQf5DJaJgJABJQNMgapc0remnCnHxqopfePWlzp8G03YTzFtyD7dzV79hEduYoSsZB8xesD5BpbXNUnNHhK4L43f-2V4cO6nmCYu/s1751/Exigence_Tom_Pryce+in+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1751" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsperf_N71afcc33kfJBU2x0u4z0VcyF4LFrVmeDj8mQf5DJaJgJABJQNMgapc0remnCnHxqopfePWlzp8G03YTzFtyD7dzV79hEduYoSsZB8xesD5BpbXNUnNHhK4L43f-2V4cO6nmCYu/s320/Exigence_Tom_Pryce+in+car.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <i><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">"I
have some great news I want to share with the people on your Branding
For Actors FB Page and you Stephen. I will have a character / supporting
role in an upcoming SAG-AFTRA film to shoot some time later this year.
The reason I have landed the role without an audition is the lead
actor/producer has seen my work in both Exigence and The Dearly Departed
(2017). He is a big proponent of the Action / Reaction method of
acting. Thank you Stephen! The impact you have had on my acting career
thus far has been significant. So looking forward to how much more of an
impact you will have on my acting career as my journey continues."</span></i><p></p><p><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">Thank you, Tom! <br /></span></p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-82866754174465653672021-06-09T05:57:00.005-07:002021-06-16T05:26:15.572-07:00Exigence & The Dearly Departed update<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrRSB1wPRcTsp5D-1zc015ahyn7GXNxF4GN9PUhqBEmpTjSfGW7w-06oxh-invtV3ZDIJMRqDZYa11HPg7632_uRoxcfpRKxdnaI4AqazNaycVRW5xuvx3-aPIkDswUtmv1uKYyX5RaUC/s1272/Exigence_TDD+Posters.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrRSB1wPRcTsp5D-1zc015ahyn7GXNxF4GN9PUhqBEmpTjSfGW7w-06oxh-invtV3ZDIJMRqDZYa11HPg7632_uRoxcfpRKxdnaI4AqazNaycVRW5xuvx3-aPIkDswUtmv1uKYyX5RaUC/s320/Exigence_TDD+Posters.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>On May 19, Exigence and The Dearly Departed have been delivered to Vimeo (TVOD service available throughout the world).</p><p><a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/334823" target="_blank">Exigence on Vimeo on-demand</a></p><p><a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/334319?fbclid=IwAR2JfBxkoYgLRoLVkhtwNtPe5VLXsPAp_oHyzgKjSULq65Y7xKoXUUmfe7M" target="_blank">The Dearly Departed on Vimeo on-demand</a> <br /></p>On June 9, The Dearly Departed has been selected by rlaxx TV, which is available on Xbox, Xumo, FireTV, Roku TV, iOS, Android.Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-38006399442047125412021-05-31T05:04:00.002-07:002021-05-31T05:04:27.657-07:00What does a producer do?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBc2LMzbHaK0a_kfhMXCYCRyjRV4Oxb3r8Pzdj15m41VvspN91d29ulIhDjmYlq6cRhUuzPNiDOGKNHvOzMk1762WOE_ep_WNzwjloQIGiDyYlnhSJ5_QnxsmxHA06kEXP4VTpUkhD_IZ/s2048/SM+orig+IMG_0193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaBc2LMzbHaK0a_kfhMXCYCRyjRV4Oxb3r8Pzdj15m41VvspN91d29ulIhDjmYlq6cRhUuzPNiDOGKNHvOzMk1762WOE_ep_WNzwjloQIGiDyYlnhSJ5_QnxsmxHA06kEXP4VTpUkhD_IZ/s320/SM+orig+IMG_0193.JPG" /></a></div> <p></p><p>What does a movie producer do, anyway? According to Richard Corliss,
one of the editors of Time magazine: This is the Hollywood equivalent of
Freud’s “What does a woman want?”</p><p>The most popular misconception I run into is that a producer is
someone who funds your movie. If that were true, we wouldn’t need the
term “investor”. It may be that a producer attracts money to a project
but that is only a part of his or her job of attracting anything and
everything a project needs to be viable and get up onto its own legs.</p><p>After I left Paris and returned to Los Angeles to market <em>The French Chef</em> which I’d shot with Philippe Léotard, I found that I was getting
interest in The Crazy Horse Saloon revue which was situated on the
avenue George V. I had met with Alain Bernardin, the owner of this
Parisian landmark and had secured the rights to the show for cable TV in
the US. Not realizing it at the time, other US companies had already
been negotiating with Alain for those rights including Al Burton who was
Director of Development for Norman Lear. The rights went to me—for a
token $1. You might say, a producer’s job is being in the right place at
the right time and being able to speak French. </p><p>I developed a good rapport with Alain and he offered to “lend” me one
of the Crazy Horse girls to act as Philippe’s assistant when I shot <em>The French Chef</em>.
Alain approved of the fee I offered her and we had a deal. I think a
good producer realizes you don’t build a hamburger stand to cook one
hamburger and so it was that I involved Bernardin, if indirectly, in
another of my projects. You will often hear a good producer speaking of
“relationships” he or she enjoys and without those ties to interesting
and important people built upon past associations, a producer is
hard-pressed to produce.</p><p>Interestingly, though I had selected her from a line-up of girls
arranged for me by Alain one afternoon at the Crazy Horse, I was not
prepared for the girl I picked up at her apartment in Paris the morning
of the shoot.</p><p>I am sorry to say that I don’t remember her name but she was an
American blond living in Paris and working in the Crazy Horse revue.
Though I had expected all the girls to be French—a romantic notion,
perhaps—most of the girls in the show were from other countries. I
picked her up early in the morning and she climbed into my car wearing
jeans, a flannel Pendleton shirt and no make-up. </p><p>She was carrying a
wardrobe hanger and, for a moment or two, I thought she was a friend of
the girl I had selected and was coming along as a wardrobe mistress or
make-up artist. When she settled into the front seat, closed the door
and buckled up, I got the message that this was my girl. Had her
plain-Jane sister decided to fill in for her on the shoot? With two
intertwining projects involving Alain Bernardin, I knew I had to do a
good job with this girl and could ill afford a negative report of her
experience with me to get back to Alain. A producer needs to realize
that things he or she thought were a slam dunk can go south in a
heartbeat.</p><p>Driving to the location, La Mère Catherine, a restaurant in
Montmartre, she told me her story. Far from being the exotic creature
one might expect her to be as a member of the Crazy Horse line-up, she
painted a picture of being from a rural area of the United States with a
boyfriend back home whom she intended to marry after earning a
predetermined amount of money at the Crazy Horse. She also told me that
she, her family and her boyfriend were Jehovah's Witnesses. Perhaps you
will forgive me for thinking I chose the wrong girl. I asked her how
working in a nude revue in Paris went down with the family and boyfriend
and her church. “Not too well,” she said. A really good producer would
recognize that he or she just heard an inadvertent, million-dollar movie
pitch. </p><p>When we walked into La Mère Catherine, the crew was setting up. No
one took notice of the Crazy Horse girl as I escorted her to the ladies'
room which would be her dressing/make-up room. I found a quiet place to
sit and write some English text as dialogue for Philippe who spoke no
English but I had a coach there to help him speak it phonetically.</p><p>About an hour later, I was suddenly aware that the room had fallen
silent. All of the bustle and commotion of a crew setting up for a shoot
came to a complete halt. I looked up from my writing to see our
American Jehovah's Witness from the heartland trying to locate me. I
almost didn’t recognize her. She had transformed herself into a Crazy
Horse girl with hair and make-up and the sexiest, lime green tube dress
you can imagine. Let that be a lesson to us all! Sometimes a problem
fixes itself… </p><p>Fast forward a few weeks and now I am in Los Angeles. I had yet to
return to Paris to shoot the film for Tropicana and I am enjoying making
the rounds of production companies regarding my projects and driving my
Maseratis that had been sitting idle during my two years in Paris. I
also managed to get in some sailing aboard a friend’s forty-foot sloop.
Living the life of a producer, you might say.</p><p>My agent had RKO Nederlander on the hook for the Crazy Horse project
and they were very interested. They had questions and details they
wanted to lock down and it became clear that I needed to have a meeting
with Alain Bernardin. I called Alain but there was too much to discuss
over the phone. Rather than either of us making the trip to Paris or Los
Angeles, we decided to meet more or less halfway in New York. I had
gotten the rights by looking him in the eye; I felt I needed to be
face-to-face with him again to keep them. </p><p>Alain put up at the Pierre but when I tried to book, they were full
and they laid me off onto the Westbury where scenes from William
Friedkin’s <em>The French Connection</em> were shot. Over the next
several days, Alain and I would meet in the bar of the Pierre and
discuss the various issues of the project.</p><p>When we weren’t meeting, I had a lot of alone time since I didn’t
know anyone in New York, so I walked. One evening, I saw a Woody Allen
film that hadn’t yet appeared in Los Angeles, <em>Stardust Memories</em>,
and after enjoyed a late supper of pastrami on rye with a Dr. Brown’s
cream soda at the Stage deli and listened to the conversations of those
pouring in as the Broadway shows let out. <em>42<sup>nd</sup> Street</em> was the hot ticket at the time. Everywhere I looked, I saw stories to be told. <br /></p><p>Some evenings, I would just walk the streets and study the
architecture wishing I had a camera with me. I remember finding an
amazing, black saxophone player on a street corner at about one in the
morning. Jazz was his thing and he was especially gifted. I assumed he
might be a session musician during the day. Like a scene from a surreal
Fellini film, the two of us stood there enjoying the performance that
was for me alone but echoed along the strangely empty corridors of the
darkened New York streets. I should have gotten his phone number but I
was already talking to John Klemmer, a saxophonist whose album Touch
made a huge impression, about being in a movie. A smart producer should
always have a back-up plan.</p><p>Finally, the time came to leave the icy New York September behind and
return to the endless summer that is Los Angeles. My more recent trip
to the city for the premiere of Charlie Evans, Jr.’s <em>Addiction Incorporated</em>
on which I was a co-producer brought back some of these memories as I
wandered the streets late at night just seeing what is there. I have to
wonder what did I see that night that will eventually become the seed of
an idea for a film project. <br /></p><p>The question is often asked, “What does a producer do?” Sometimes, to quote Jake Gittes, “As little as possible.”</p><p>(Photo by Chantal Simon) <br /></p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-10014179819268335412021-03-31T06:14:00.002-07:002021-03-31T06:17:12.240-07:00Universal Studios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccdRrZsjVcfDQxNwYlqlmxWKAmVR4PBJeLANZ7yWQo608raRacLzpm_uH9FNHVfRotuQvHbaErOLhY3QyuzCP2SFYD2K0H4gMV4B6-eIv8RbyLzibssGNvEsjB7FVz5WBTIyf_B8ovPu6/s1223/Universal+Studios+classic+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccdRrZsjVcfDQxNwYlqlmxWKAmVR4PBJeLANZ7yWQo608raRacLzpm_uH9FNHVfRotuQvHbaErOLhY3QyuzCP2SFYD2K0H4gMV4B6-eIv8RbyLzibssGNvEsjB7FVz5WBTIyf_B8ovPu6/s320/Universal+Studios+classic+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>For a time, the Universal Studios lot was a playground of sorts for me. My mentor Paul Stanley was directing episodes of The Road West and I took advantage of his gracious standing invitation to come onto the set whenever he was directing. As a result, I met Barry Sullivan, Glenn Ford, Glenn Corbett, Andrew Prine, Brenda Scott (years later I leased one of those stilt houses above Coldwater Canyon from her) and Kathryn Hays. Barbara Anderson, who went on to be a regular on the Ironside TV series, did two episodes as a guest. Paul asked if I could give her a ride home, which I did.</p><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">There were times when I would pick up the stage phone and call the Universal transportation department and order a limousine. It would arrive at the Road West stage and take me out to the back lot where I would watch Ben Gazzara shooting Run For Your Life. Then I'd have the driver take me to the Laredo set where I would see what was happening there. Life was good. During that period, I was having guests from out of town and I'd invite them to the studio and give them my own 'Universal Studio Tour' in a limo rather than the tour tram. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I came to think of that film studio as a school with each sound stage being a classroom of sorts where you were isolated from the students in the other classrooms. But just as it happens in any school, when something extraordinary is going on in another classroom, word gets around. One day there was a buzz circulating amongst the grips, carpenters and gaffers--the real tough guys of the movie business--about something going on over on the set of The Virginian. An actor there was impressing the crew--which is really saying something--and word was circulating to the other sound stages. I called my limo--yes, I did (!!)--and had the driver take me to where they were shooting. I made it in before the red light came on and watched an older man doing a scene sitting at a campfire. In between takes, I could hear whispers from the crew: "He hits the same beats every time"; "He's amazing!"; "He couldn't blow a line if he tried." The actor had impressed the 'unimpressable'. His name was Lloyd Nolan and I would become a fan of his over the years. What I saw him do that day influenced my Action/ReAction technique decades later.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Those days spent on the set of The Road West or T.H.E. Cat, which Paul directed at Universal or the sets I visited while I was there are brought to mind when I watch Nancy Olson playing Betty Schaefer in Sunset Blvd talking about growing up near Paramount Studio and visiting the sets at night. So much history had been created and so many memories for so many viewers around the world. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I've been a lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan--books and films--and only recently did it dawn on me that the repertory company of actors appearing along with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in those Holmes films were working at the same Universal Studios that was my classroom for a time. I had incorrectly assumed they were filmed in England thanks to the power of suggestion and the magic of Hollywood. Imagine those poor actors wearing overcoats and woolen scarves filming in a 'London fog' in the intense heat of North Hollywood.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">That's showbiz!</div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-58412829115532269842021-03-06T08:20:00.003-08:002021-03-06T08:30:08.968-08:00Action/ Reaction By Victoria Stevens for The Hollywood Times<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D55qTFXWdjWa5lBdGap9VoVK_UvO7OfeLJUfBdeHRoc_bccdlw1NY2_YFN5GI_UXlK4FPBpfnZfCWvgJfaHxIiBZ7aW2ZH1BXVUQO7G-tpbNYdaRbDZZWXFRbT3kc2qeFolsw5qz1B6J/s652/THT+article+blogger.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="652" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3D55qTFXWdjWa5lBdGap9VoVK_UvO7OfeLJUfBdeHRoc_bccdlw1NY2_YFN5GI_UXlK4FPBpfnZfCWvgJfaHxIiBZ7aW2ZH1BXVUQO7G-tpbNYdaRbDZZWXFRbT3kc2qeFolsw5qz1B6J/s320/THT+article+blogger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Action/ Reaction </b></p>
<p>By: Victoria Stevens</p>
<p>Los Angeles, CA<i> (The Hollywood Times) </i>3/5/21 – How can you
tell a Hollywood actor from a mediocre one? Is there a difference in
appearance, attitude, or even skill set? When can you tell when it is
only a hobby versus a career? An accomplished producer, director, and
writer Stephen Mitchell explains in his book, <i>Action/Reaction</i>,
that there are three kinds of actors. There is the bankable lead who is
the protagonist that brings the audience to the box office to buy
tickets in order for the investors to put forth the money to get the
film distributed. There is the antagonist that focuses the audience on
the flaws of the protagonist, which will ultimately upstage the bankable
lead. Then there is everyone else that adds to the film but will not
distract the audience from what is going on. In his classes, Mitchell
molds his students to become more of the antagonist because
realistically most actors will not become the bankable leads.</p>
<p>There are many acting techniques in the industry that an actor can
study in order to improve his or her skill set, however, what Mitchell
has come to realize is that many of these techniques are not helping the
actor but actually hindering them instead.</p>
<p>“<b>As a director who grew up in Hollywood and worked there</b>,
I have been making movies for over 20 years. What I have come to
realize is that not everyone who went to Stella Adler got A’s in class. I
thought either that method didn’t work or those actors weren’t
practicing it. Most of the expert advice that actors are given is
designed to shut them out of a career. Most techniques that I’m aware of
are based on Stanislavsky where they want the actor to feel something.
In my experience, when an actor feels something it doesn’t show on the
camera, and therefore doesn’t affect the audience at all,” stated
Mitchell.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEPI9HrxJG6iqU-V0n5LfsB3L7KtqB1g3DRDGPCBjwB7SGGVwYEHALoFH3QBv0NmVlNUgAc-INweaK6Hsf6busw3g3TJQba4yV4qNF1DSz3m8FHazXzcvsJ6iyoHyCUx0EvveuAr_V2dI/s1400/SM_actor+as+luxury+product.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZEPI9HrxJG6iqU-V0n5LfsB3L7KtqB1g3DRDGPCBjwB7SGGVwYEHALoFH3QBv0NmVlNUgAc-INweaK6Hsf6busw3g3TJQba4yV4qNF1DSz3m8FHazXzcvsJ6iyoHyCUx0EvveuAr_V2dI/s320/SM_actor+as+luxury+product.jpg" /></a></div> Stephen Mitchell <br /><p></p>
<p>Due to this realization, Mitchell decided to create a different
technique that would work for anyone who came through the door. He
started up a repertory company where he would teach actors this new
technique and create a company of actors that he would like to work
with.</p>
<p>“My technique has a lot to do with branding. Every actor in Hollywood
is branded and a brand doesn’t limit you, it actually opens you up to
getting a higher paying job. Typecasting is for background actors but
branding is very specific and will give you a lot of specific
information. For example, Meryl Streep is branded. She always plays
intelligent, emotionally vulnerable people who are at a turning point in
their life and usually with a different nationality. Her films <i>Sophie’s Choice</i> and <i>Manhattan</i> fit that profile among many others,” said Mitchell.</p>
<p>Mitchell’s book, <i>Action/Reaction</i>, is a helpful resource for
learning this new technique. It gives you the basics but doesn’t deal a
whole lot with the brand. It was created to express the brand publicly.</p>
<p>“On the cover of my book it says to think of yourself as a
singer/dancer because everything I teach and all the rules of song and
dance applies to acting,” explains Mitchell. “You’re going to sing your
lines meaning phrasing, tonality, pitch, and cadence all enter into it.
Then you’re going to dance your emotions which basically means body
language.”</p>
<p>In addition to his technique, Mitchell created an audition set that
would help actors book cold readings. He said that it is almost like a
magic trick if you knew how the trick went.</p>
<p>“Everyone who gets the sides will look at the definition of the
character. Then they will go into the audition and try to do what was
described. Therefore, the casting director is seeing the same
performance 40 times. I want my actors to go in there and show them what
they will look like in a leading role staring their brand,” explains
Mitchell. “The actor will know how they are going to say each line
regardless of what the line is. Their interstitial will be exactly the
same and fully rehearsed. So, they will sell their brand and show the
casting director something different for that day.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, an actor’s goal is to affect each audience member in some
way. Once you bond with the audience, then they are a participant in
your performance. However, how can you affect an audience that has a
wide range of publics inside of it?</p>
<p>“You need to target the right public, however as an actor, you can’t
do that because every audience has about nine publics inside of it. What
I teach my actors is how to do interstitial reactions. For instance, I
would do a quick reaction that would suit one public, then do a
completely different reaction for another public. When all said and
done, I would have just resonated with four different constitute groups
in that audience. By the time I got through my whole performance that’s
just four phrases, I would have resonated with the nine constitute
groups that made up that audience. They would have each seen a bit of
themselves in me in the infinite forms. If you knew how to give these
little homeopathic doses throughout the performance by the time you’ve
finished, they would all have recognized themselves in you,” said
Mitchell.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-C1ZZMlbgQA9oret6vAX10mCoemO8lrUwHwPQfxlQnoeOlhiboxnLR7EiByDGX6SSy-QXrOlIllqfuQzmNTLY1j6TSqp1Dkt6w7Pf28B3YVnBLCDYAkBSzugJueYHW12tFIng-yxdFNq/s995/Ex_LID+posters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="995" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-C1ZZMlbgQA9oret6vAX10mCoemO8lrUwHwPQfxlQnoeOlhiboxnLR7EiByDGX6SSy-QXrOlIllqfuQzmNTLY1j6TSqp1Dkt6w7Pf28B3YVnBLCDYAkBSzugJueYHW12tFIng-yxdFNq/s320/Ex_LID+posters.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With
so much knowledge and understanding, Mitchell has dedicated his life to
helping actors’ study how they can use Action/Reaction to their
benefit. He gives his students opportunities to practice what they have
learned by hiring them to act in his film projects. His recent film that
was just released in 2020 was <i>Look into Darkness</i> which included many of his students.
</p><p>“I don’t create these rules and this way of doing things because I’m a
dictator and I love to tell people what to do,” expressed Mitchell. “I
do it because I love it when my students call me and say they got hired
and were upgraded to a bigger role.”</p>
<p><b>Apprentice and pupil Pry’ce Jaymes had only great things to say about Mitchell and the work he does for his students. </b></p>
<p><b>“Being the apprentice of Stephen Mitchell has been an
unexpected lane that has cemented itself in my journey in the industry. I
was honored when he unexpectedly put me in the car and groomed me to be
the additional driver. This happened because over the years I trusted
Stephen, and he believed and trusted in me. Together, we have been able
to film and produce a total of 6 films, 3 of them available on Prime,
completing season 1 of a new web series, corporate industrials, and
numerous videos for his Series-of-One DVD’s…these are one-man/woman show
monologues that are written specifically for various students, also
available on Prime. Action/Reaction continues to challenge me, which
stimulates change. It is an important aspect of my acting. Incorporating
this technique in these films has elevated my presence, awareness, and
resonance on screen,” said Jaymes. </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-66Fgkqr7qytJQZYatHA2KkuFk-oz2KCpo-wgFnYTExTG-mlDTvCfedvC5I4U5YYcTt8EwoirNeIV_AlcgIEG_RW6NdD7igjGJS8dILRsrof-rjrCwpz52-p47wA0B8mNZS7yp0u687-4/s2048/Pry%2527ce+Jaymes_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-66Fgkqr7qytJQZYatHA2KkuFk-oz2KCpo-wgFnYTExTG-mlDTvCfedvC5I4U5YYcTt8EwoirNeIV_AlcgIEG_RW6NdD7igjGJS8dILRsrof-rjrCwpz52-p47wA0B8mNZS7yp0u687-4/s320/Pry%2527ce+Jaymes_2.jpg" /></a></b></div><b> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Pry'ce Jaymes</span><br /></b><p></p>
<p>If you would like to take classes with Stephen Mitchell, then reach
out to him via email and mention that you’ve heard about him from the
Hollywood Times.</p>
<p>For more information: <a href="mailto:cineparis@hotmail.com">cineparis@hotmail.com</a></p><p><br /> </p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-40283196222025913122021-02-23T09:29:00.006-08:002021-02-23T09:29:51.675-08:00Stevie Williams (Interview) <iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_BlX8KHWeo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
<br>
Stevie Williams (Interview) starring Jaime Lynn Randall: When this first aired, I had 30 messages waiting on my answering machine the next morning. Before I could get to them, the phone rang and the voice on the line said he was calling about the book that had been talked about on the show the previous night. He had already talked to all the New York publishers who couldn't help and they had referred him back to the cable channel who, in turn, referred him to me.<br>
<br>
He said he wanted to buy the film rights to the book and asked if I could help. I told him there was no book, it was a fictional interview and it was just a story I had written. He said he didn't care that there was no book and that it was a great story and asked what I wanted for the rights. This was very early days and I had yet to sell one of these stories so I suggested he make an offer. He did and it blew my mind! I told him I thought we could work something out.<br>
<br>
We arranged to meet and, in ending the call, I asked what movies he had produced. Blind Date ((Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger), Dragnet (Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd) and The Marrying Man (Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger) was his answer. His name was David Permut. The story was ultimately picked up by Rob Cohen at Taft-Barish Entertainment and David arranged for me to have a 'first-look' deal at TriStar Pictures.
Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-74847301771358498062021-02-21T04:27:00.002-08:002021-02-21T04:29:50.654-08:00Action / ReAction Webinar with Stephen Mitchell and Pry'ce James hosted by Jay Chapin</p><iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/soqd2FHqeig" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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This webinar with Pry'ce Jaymes and me hosted by Jay Chapin gives an overview of the Action/ReAction technique I created and how a technique should inform an entire approah to the industry and not just what transpires in front of the camera. To learn more, send an email to me at cineparis@hotmail.com.Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-62641132416144539702021-02-08T06:13:00.003-08:002021-02-08T06:16:56.276-08:00Ask Aunt Lolly: "The Grizzly"<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fwFM9prwYQo" width="420"></iframe><p><i>Ask Aunt Lolly</i>: "The Grizzly" with Heather Callahan-Stevens, Tammi Rogers and co-producer Pry'ce Jaymes on set...</p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-562730284937933382021-01-09T14:24:00.003-08:002021-01-09T14:25:21.489-08:00Directing from the booth when the 'booth' is 3000 miles away...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3FdatkQOgyFQmKmUpa7mkYE_mcIsSd1mQRCeXQp2yKJHyej0CevIc9b4edaVILki4mpec0otSMxK6JHQ0stzQg381BAwHKnRxlmwHyED1_5XS3isQJPPVxSQPg5UrL0PBfCpuayJt7da/s1440/AAL+SM+in+the+corner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3FdatkQOgyFQmKmUpa7mkYE_mcIsSd1mQRCeXQp2yKJHyej0CevIc9b4edaVILki4mpec0otSMxK6JHQ0stzQg381BAwHKnRxlmwHyED1_5XS3isQJPPVxSQPg5UrL0PBfCpuayJt7da/s320/AAL+SM+in+the+corner.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><div dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_a0"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">It was an interesting transition from making movies guerrilla-style in Los Angeles where we moved quickly from locations on a dry lake bed in the desert to a Las Vegas casino or back to L.A. to shoot in a restaurant after it closed at 2 in the morning and wrapping at sunrise. Like many of the European filmmakers who influenced me, I operated my own camera usually shooting hand-held from the shoulder as I always felt that the slight or abrupt changes in frame constituted the filmmaker's visual 'penmanship' that made the film more personal. I started with an Arriflex SR with a NAGRA recorder for sound--later I went digital like everyone else.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Things changed when I started making movies and television series with actors who were 3000 miles away. Suddenly, the camera was on a tripod or on someone else's shoulder which took some getting used to but Pry,ce Jaymes<span></span>, who attended one of my webinars and who went on to star in our movie <i>Exigence</i> on Prime and function not only as an actor but as a co-producer as well, took on the task of camera management taking my directions on angles, framing and movement with a minimum of fuss and bother. We were in 'guerrilla' mode again!</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">If you look closely at the photo here. you might recognize me on the corner as I am watching the set-up for a scene in our comedy series <i>Ask Aunt Lolly</i>...</div></div></span></div></div></div></div>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-86630968541011620472021-01-04T09:45:00.002-08:002021-01-04T09:45:30.735-08:00Ask Aunt Lolly, episode 4: "5150"<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IrpbWloZUs8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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<i>Ask Aunt Lolly</i>, episode 4: "5150" with Antoinette Greene and Heather Godwin with Pry'ce Jaymes on the scene...Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-2271869371084902862020-12-26T05:57:00.001-08:002020-12-26T05:57:59.238-08:00Confessions (1997–1998)<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NWlMc7-6M0Y" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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<i>Confessions </i>(1997–1998): Our Internet soap opera first appeared in 1997...<br>
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<i>"It's 'Dynasty' meets the 'Thorn Birds.'"</i> <b>Daily Breeze</b><br>
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<i>"...all the makings of a good Aaron Spelling series."</i> <b>Los Angeles Daily News</b><br>
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<i>"Secrets? You've got to be kidding! Computer users check into the website each week for an update."</i> <b>San Diego Union-Tribune</b><br>
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<i>"...a lucrative fusion of entertainment, art and commerce, the videos are like the artistic sauce, enhancing the plot and showcasing the actors...the timing of this artistic and commercial union looks picture perfect."</i> <b>Santa Barbara News Press</b><br>
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<i>"The camera and editing work is very high quality and shows evidence of the fresh filmmaking style and technique of creator/director Stephen Mitchell."</i> <b>The Lumberjack, Humbolt University</b>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-3943570133144326902020-12-16T05:50:00.002-08:002020-12-16T05:51:35.216-08:00Bleeder, Porsche. Mulholland<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NM5z0t-w_v4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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Bleeder and Bates (1989)<br>
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My first film adventures on Mulholland were with Peter Helm having fun with our Ferraris for the camera. A week wouldn't go by without me racing one of my cars along this famed stretch of road and the canyons running across the Santa Monica Mountains. In the late 80s, while making Bleeder and Bates, I again combined film and high speed using a Martini-liveried Porsche Turbo and its owner actor Laurent Khaiat.<br>
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In the movie, Laurent plays a French hustler who hears a bit of gossip from his call girl girlfriend (Tami Lunt) and while speeding along Mulholland, conceives a plan to turn the police interest to his advantage. Before climbing into the Porsche, we see Laurent on the banquette at L'Express where, for years, members of my repertory company would meet for coffee every Tuesday morning and we would be joined by viewers who had seen our shows on television or film business personalities with whom we were making deals.<br>
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In the scene that follows this clip, Kip Parrot, in the role of a homicide detective, rides as a passenger in the Porsche with Laurent. I quote from a note Kip sent to me for my book How to Shoot a Feature Film in 15 Days (And Survive to See Profits):<br>
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<i>“Stephen,
If you stop and think about just how many different projects we were working on, many at the same time, it is amazing what we pulled off. Stealing scenes in restaurants, bars, homes, motels, and even in some old warehouses down close to the railroad station, which was spooky enough just attempting to find the location where you were shooting the scenes.
The car chase scenes and trick driving by some of the fellow actors and stunt people--and, one last memory was riding in the French guy’s extremely quick Porsche 911, in the rain, at speed--scared the hell out of me. What the..? But it was all too exciting!<br>
<br>
I am not sure which movie it was, but I was constantly amazed at the many different locations you found.
Loved every minute of it, and will savor the memories, as I will with your book when it’s published.
Write on my friend.<br>
Kip”</i>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-58660016099514049782020-12-08T13:42:00.002-08:002020-12-15T05:50:11.317-08:00My second Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2AGBlzba4PIAD3OWnTKUuiBhS3cPDqbMASMTM8GqxVZCZssWQISwQKGxO7zcI03RosfS_rduMq1xZX90e0XUhwb9DO8nILn7niMEUIOAO5cMECJkVK8qN16FRzbg9p-49Yo_PTy66RHO/s512/Ferrari+Lusso+silver.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2AGBlzba4PIAD3OWnTKUuiBhS3cPDqbMASMTM8GqxVZCZssWQISwQKGxO7zcI03RosfS_rduMq1xZX90e0XUhwb9DO8nILn7niMEUIOAO5cMECJkVK8qN16FRzbg9p-49Yo_PTy66RHO/s320/Ferrari+Lusso+silver.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">My second Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso was silver with black leather like the one pictured here which I bought from a rich kid in the flatlands of Beverly Hills south of Sunset. He and I had very little in common. When I took the Lusso for a test drive, he wasn't keen on my driving the car but I wasn't interested in telling him this wasn't my first Lusso or that I'd owned a GTO--I'm not certain he would have known what a GTO was. I explained that if he wanted to sell his car to me, I would be getting behind the wheel and he relented.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div></span><div dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_439"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">As I drove along Sunset Blvd. where I'd been driving exotic cars of various descriptions at speed for years, the young man nervously and emphatically alerted me when I should be shifting gears. I ignored him, of course, but to put his mind to rest, I told him I'd never driven a stick shift before and was finding his coaching extremely helpful.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">This did nothing to alleviate his discomfort and I could see and feel the wheels turning in his mind as he tried to work out which he wanted more--to admonish me for what he thought was inappropriate driving or to sell his car. My suspicion was he had never come close to the 7,000 r.p.m. redline during the time he owned the car and the sound of the V12 reaching the upper ranges made him very uncomfortable not to mention my lines through the corners were disconcerting him, to say the least. "You're coming awfully close to the curbs," he pointed out. No, I mean he was literally pointing to the curbs on my turn-in and exit points.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">He'd made the mistake of showing me his new car--a Jaguar XJ6 saloon--before we went on the test drive thinking I'd be impressed with his upgrade. I like Jaguar XJ6 saloons as much as the next fellow (mine was charcoal grey with Bordeaux leather) but I know as well as anyone the significance of 'south of Sunset' even if he didn't and no doubt Mater and Pater were eager for the noisy Italian thing to be gone and the coffers replenished.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I made him a derisory offer with a look and tone that suggested I was happily doing him a favor--something along the lines of Idiot's Delight--and the following week I was on my way with the Lusso to Virginia City for the hillclimb event along with the Ferrari Club mob.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">As Sun Tzu often joked, “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”</div></div></span></div></div></div></div><div><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic"><div><div><div><div class="l9j0dhe7"><div class="bp9cbjyn m9osqain j83agx80 jq4qci2q bkfpd7mw a3bd9o3v kvgmc6g5 wkznzc2l oygrvhab dhix69tm jktsbyx5 rz4wbd8a osnr6wyh a8nywdso s1tcr66n"><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 buofh1pr ni8dbmo4 stjgntxs"><span aria-label="See who reacted to this" role="toolbar"><span class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 b3onmgus" id="jsc_c_43c"><span class="np69z8it et4y5ytx j7g94pet b74d5cxt qw6c0r16 kb8x4rkr ed597pkb omcyoz59 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 qxh1up0x qtyiw8t4 tpcyxxvw k0bpgpbk hm271qws rl04r1d5 l9j0dhe7 ov9facns kavbgo14"><span class="t0qjyqq4 jos75b7i j6sty90h kv0toi1t q9uorilb hm271qws ov9facns"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><span aria-label="See who reacted to this" role="toolbar"><span class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 b3onmgus" id="jsc_c_43c"><span class="np69z8it et4y5ytx j7g94pet b74d5cxt qw6c0r16 kb8x4rkr ed597pkb omcyoz59 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 qxh1up0x qtyiw8t4 tpcyxxvw k0bpgpbk hm271qws rl04r1d5 l9j0dhe7 ov9facns tkr6xdv7"><span class="t0qjyqq4 jos75b7i j6sty90h kv0toi1t q9uorilb hm271qws ov9facns"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></span><span aria-label="See who reacted to this" role="toolbar"><span class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 b3onmgus" id="jsc_c_43c"><span class="np69z8it et4y5ytx j7g94pet b74d5cxt qw6c0r16 kb8x4rkr ed597pkb omcyoz59 goun2846 ccm00jje s44p3ltw mk2mc5f4 qxh1up0x qtyiw8t4 tpcyxxvw k0bpgpbk hm271qws rl04r1d5 l9j0dhe7 ov9facns du4w35lb"><span class="t0qjyqq4 jos75b7i j6sty90h kv0toi1t q9uorilb hm271qws ov9facns"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"></span></div><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh m9osqain" dir="auto"></span></span><div class="bp9cbjyn j83agx80 pfnyh3mw p1ueia1e"><div class="gtad4xkn"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41"><div class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl l9j0dhe7 abiwlrkh gpro0wi8 dwo3fsh8 ow4ym5g4 auili1gw du4w35lb gmql0nx0" role="button" tabindex="0"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql rrkovp55 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh m9osqain" dir="auto"><br /></span></div></span></div></div>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-17489980364915576912020-12-08T05:04:00.000-08:002020-12-08T05:04:07.393-08:00The Dearly Departed: At a glance<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MHPsYDoVG2s" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
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<i>The Dearly Departed</i>, an ensemble comedy dealing with the aftermath of the passing of a family matriarch and the proliferation of schemes and conniving plots on the part of family members as well as a ragtag group of total strangers.Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2755879866028108959.post-43913816176336028442020-12-07T06:41:00.001-08:002020-12-07T06:41:38.935-08:00 How to Shoot a Feature Film in 15 Days (And Survive to See Profits) excerpt:<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxnoLZjIAmUMy0i54N0mTEGIiTUBqhGXUtV5jAz2uf5My5pXuHg_hK79vh6weWVLR6X4suhyphenhyphenpjqjpiSxEiYeDHhfqAwRmb6BDMAUvsuLiZgvUgIV4Xj9n41arL0Rz1fLEa3mjlaurS5r-/s1333/15DaysFrontCover3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxnoLZjIAmUMy0i54N0mTEGIiTUBqhGXUtV5jAz2uf5My5pXuHg_hK79vh6weWVLR6X4suhyphenhyphenpjqjpiSxEiYeDHhfqAwRmb6BDMAUvsuLiZgvUgIV4Xj9n41arL0Rz1fLEa3mjlaurS5r-/s320/15DaysFrontCover3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class=""><br /><br /><b>“Before, he was evil and my enemy; now, he is evil and my friend.” (Alec Leamus from The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) </b><br /><br />Relationships
and the ability to form immediate and lasting bonds with people are,
for me, the sine qua non of filmmaking. It explains why so many have
volunteered so much to the making of Dead Right and I am not speaking
only of the cast and crew but of the people with whom we came into
contact during the production who offered help and assistance. <br /><br />Without
ever having to ask, we would suddenly find ourselves being offered all
sorts of help. Would you like to shoot a scene in the cafe? Yes, we
would. Want to know where there is an abandoned pig farm that would make
an interesting location? Yes, we would. Had we asked, they might have
viewed us askance. By not asking, they came forward offering
hospitality.</span><span class=""></span><br /><span class=""></span><p></p><div class="C4VMK"><span class=""><br />One
of the memorable people we met out in the desert where I commonly
filmed was a fellow named Pat. He told us he owned race horses. During a
meal at the Pearblossom Cafe, we listened to his stories about his
horses and how he took care of them. He was a nice fellow and conversed
easily with our group of desert outsiders. After lunch, Pat asked if we
would like to drive up to his place, see his horses and, if we cared to,
shoot some scenes on his property. How could we say no? Whatever we
were expecting to see as we reached Pat's property, it wasn't what we
found. The horses--maybe six or seven of them--were there in corrals and
they looked to be healthy and of good stock to my untrained eye. What
came as a surprise was seeing how Pat lived. <br /><br /> <br />His abode
was a ramshackle collection of plywood, plastic, drywall and canvas
tarps all of which formed a dwelling that rambled across the side of the
mountain. Pat lived without electricity or any other form of modern
convenience save for a butane stove on which he prepared his meals. In
the harsh desert climate of intense heat and freezing cold, Pat lived
without air conditioning or a heater. The structure he had tacked
together had no insulation that I could see as Pat took me on a tour of
his house proudly showing me the innovative details of his
construction.</span></div><p><span class=""><br /><b>“The
American grizzly embodies the spirit of America. He should be our
symbol! Not that ridiculous eagle--he's nothing more than a dandified
vulture.” (Theodore Roosevelt from The Wind and the Lion)</b> </span></p><p><span class=""> We went
outside and shot some dialogue with the actors and managed to complete
the scenes I wanted before the sun fell below the mountain ridge and the
temperature dropped precipitously. As we were preparing to leave, I
reflected on the fact that this man who lived in the most unimaginable
circumstances yet was able to feed and care for his horses had
graciously offered us his hospitality out of kindness and a wish to be,
if only for a moment, a part of what we were doing. As I said goodbye
and shook his hand, I slipped Pat some cash which he wasn't going to
accept. “It’s a location fee, Pat. It's in the budget,” I told him.
“I’ll spend it on the horses,” he replied. We took our leave of him
and, though I never saw him again, </span></p><p><span class="">I'll never forget him.</span></p><p><span class="">Excerpted from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Feature-Film-Survive-Profits/dp/1505402379" target="_blank">How to Shoot a Feature Film in 15 Days (And Survive to See Profits)</a>.<br /></span></p>Stephen Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06808705341828556267noreply@blogger.com0