10 Zillion Light Years

For a couple of days this week I didn't think I would be able to write this month's newsletter. Why bother? What does it matter?

But then I started receiving emails from various people around the country, some just checking in, others expressing concerns & opinions. It felt good to know that so many people out there felt like I did and were able to share their feelings. I started to really appreciate the Internet as a tool for expression and communication that may help in the healing process. It isn't just for porn anymore!

My main concern at the beginning of the week was to get a copy of my movie in the mail by Friday to be placed in consideration for an upcoming film festival in New York. On Tuesday, it didn't seem all that important anymore. Then I talked to my sister, Susan, about a poetry reading she gave last week. She brought together a diverse group of people from her community and involved them in a truly positive creative experience. She even got some of them to sing. Many of those who attended thanked her afterwards and told her that she had inspired them to go out and be creative themselves. I realized that I had a responsibility to continue working on my movie, even moreso than before. A responsibility not only to myself but to my community. Creation in the face of destruction is as essential as breathing in after breathing out.

My cousin Blake has been working on the final "print" of the movie for the past two weeks, in between his other assignments. Blake is a colorist at a big post-production company here in Hollywood. He looks at a film or tape and runs it through some highly sophisticated color-enhancing equipment and adjusts things like tone and hue and tint and contrast and a whole spectrum of colors, making sure each scen is properly balanced and color-correct. I finally got to see what he had done with Dante's View late thursday night at the end of his shift. I was amazed. The changes Blake made went far beyond color balance and correction to include evocation of mood and enrichment of texture. He created an internal palette that gave the movie a cohesive color logic of its own. And he made my many mis-matched cuts look seamless. We made a VHS copy of the movie and I got it in the mail on Friday, just under the deadline. It was another example of discovering how much generosity and talent people have and being fortunate to tap into it.

I think there are tremendous resources within us all that have been untapped for too long. I think we are beginning to see some evidence of that in the response to Tuesday's nightmare. The human spirit has always thrived when confronted with adversity. There may be no greater test of that ability than the one we now face.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of all will be our attempt to reach understanding with people we now perceive as evil. If we are to meet that challenge, it will require every inner resource we have. But most of all, it will require creativity. The world is what we make it and it is time for us to make it new. Every act of creation is a step in the right direction.

I was listening to Stevie Wonder the other day and I heard something that I felt I needed to share with everyone I knew.

Here's what Stevie said:

"They say that Heaven is ten zillion light years away,
But if there is a God, we need Him now
'Where is your God?' That's what my friends ask me
And I say it's taken Him so long
'Cause we've got so far to come

But in my heart I can feel it
Feel His spirit...
If you open your heart you can feel it..."

I hope everyone can feel it.

Love, Rich

p.s. To those of you in New York, my thoughts have been with you all week. If you get the chance, I'd love to here how you're doing.

Letter to the Editor

Making a movie takes a lot of work. It requires the combined efforts of a small army of professionals, camera operators, electricians, sound technicians, lighting technicians, makeup artists, production assistants, set designers and builders, property masters, caterers, drivers... not to mention actors, directors, producers, writers, and a hundred others. But in the end, it all comes down to one person: the editor.

Now, we didn't exactly have an army working on our movie, most of the time we just had me and Jon. But we have just as many editors as any big-budget, star-studded, Oscar winning, box-office blockbuster: We have one. And his name is Mike Kessler.

I met Mike while I was on jury duty and was first putting together the notes for Dante's View. I had picked up an old copy of the Longfellow translation of the Inferno and was reading it during the breaks. As the judge interviewed each juror, my ears perked up when I heard one guy say that he had recently graduated from film school. 'Hmm...,' I thought, 'maybe he could help me figure out how to shoot my movie.'

We spent a lot of time sitting in the hallway outside court while the lawyers argued points of law and evidence. Mike always had his palm pilot out, and everyone wanted to see how it worked. To me it was amazing how a tiny wireless, hand-held computer could access the internet and download text, pictures, even music, from right there in the hallway of the courthouse. To Mike it was completely normal.

At film school, Mike had learned to use the latest cutting-edge editing software and he urged me to shoot my movie on digital video to fully take advantage of the new technology. He even advised me on what kind of camera to buy. His enthusiasm and familiarity with the 'state-of-the-art' convinced me to take the plunge. I bought the camera, plus some lenses and microphones and was committed to going digital.

I gave myself a crash-course in digital cinematography and picked up some "sound" advice from friend of Jon's who happens to be an audio technician, and all of a sudden I was on the forefront of independent digital moviemaking. But all the while I was planning, preparing and shooting, I kept wondering, "How's this all going to get put together?"

The answer is called Final Cut Pro. That's the software Mike learned how to use and it is fast becoming the method of choice among professional editors. The only problem was we needed a fast, powerful computer to run it on. Specifically, we needed a Macintosh G3 or G4. We thought we would be able to "borrow" one but it soon became apparent that in order to spend the amount of time we'd need to do justice to the project, someone would have to buy one. That's where our producer (me) stepped in and literally doubled our budget (i.e. my Mastercard balance.)

We set up the computer in a spare bedroom in Mike's grandparent's house in Studio City (they live next to Tiffani Thiessen) where we have spent the past eleven days staying up very late editing together all of the various clips that are scattered across five hours of mini-DV tape. The software really makes it seem easy once you get the hang of it and we've been able to accomplish a tremendous amount of work in a relatively short time. But without Mike, it would have been impossible. Whenever I freak out at computer (which is often,) whenever I don't know if a scene is working or not (which is always,) whenever I am tired and punchy and we're right in the middle of an edit and I can't remember what we're supposed to do next (which happens every night about midnight,) Mike somehow keeps it together, suffers patiently through my paranoid-obsessive, borderline psychotic yammering and puts us back on track.

The editing room is where the movie really takes shape. Having someone there who not only keeps things grounded but also encourages taking risks is a great asset. But most of all it's a hell of a lot of fun. It's cool to watch as the pieces of the puzzle come together. It's exhilarating when you pull off a really slick piece of manipulation. And best of all, having the opportunity to do something you really love with someone who shares your passion and is having just as much fun as you are makes it not seem like work at all. Mike has, from the very start, been a key factor in making this dream come true and in the best way possible. Plus he's working for nothing, which is nice.

Anyway, even though the screen credit will just say "Editor," I wanted to share a little more of what my friend Mike has contributed to this project.

Thanks Mike.

Hope everyone is doing well.

"Action!"

We wrapped principle photography on Dante's View last Wednesday at noon. The location was Ago, an Italian restaurant in West Hollywood that is a favorite among movie stars, partly because it is co-owned by Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken and several other Hollywood heavyweights. The scene was a meeting between the main character, played by Jon Sperry and a woman he has been trying to set up a deal with, played by Ivana Massetti. Jon and Ivana are friends with one of the waiters at Ago and he got us permission to shoot there. So there I am, shooting a scene from a movie I wrote with two of my closest friends in one of the hippest spots in town, saying things like "Cut" and "Action" and "That's a wrap." It was soooo cool!

I had to learn a hell of a lot during my week as a "director." One of the first things I had to learn occurred on the first take of the first day of shooting. We were in a parking lot behind a Sav-On drug store doing a scene where Jon's character encounters a homeless woman. At the beginning of the scene I ask the actors if they're ready. They nod. I frame the scene and start shooting. But nothing happens. Nobody moves. Then Jon says to me: "Uh, there's a particular word you're supposed to say..." Who me? Oh yeah, I'm the director... "Action!" I bark, and off we go.

The woman playing the homeless woman is a beautiful actress with shining hair and piercing blue eyes named Linda Michaels. When she showed up on set that morning I took one look at her and thought she looks way to good to be a homeless woman. What am I going to do? Linda told me not to worry. She went over to the edge of the parking lot and scooped up a handful dirt from under some bushes and smeared it all over her face. It took several handfuls to hide her good looks but eventually she actually started to look pretty bad. Then she began to get into character and her face literally changed before my eyes, she became older and angrier and a little crazy looking. I was amazed. Even though it was just a small role in a low-low-budget indie flick, she had done some serious preparation. Linda gave me her time and her talent and a little part of her soul and she did it all on faith. I knew that making a movie was a collaborative venture, but I wasn't prepared for the incredible generosity and goodwill that people like Linda were willing to offer me. Another lesson.

The next morning we were scheduled to shoot in another parking lot, behind a Radio Shack on Sunset Blvd. I went up there early to stake out our turf and within minutes I was told by the owner of the lot that I had to leave. You see, I never really did ask for permission. I did speak with the lot attendant one afternoon and he seemed agreeable. I'm not sure if he spoke English, but he seemed agreeable. Anyway now I'm in a slight panic. I have another actress on her way to meet me to shoot the "Hooker" scene and I have no location. I improvise. I tell her to meet me at my house because we are going to change locations to somewhere better. Actually I have no idea where we are going. Fortunately, the actress, Patti Troisi, is really cool and as we drive over to meet Jon and Ivana I tell her that it's no problem because according to Sidney Lumet's book the accidents and mistakes always lead to the most interesting results.

Anyway, we pull up outside Jon & Ivana's place and they climb into the Lincoln Navigator I've rented for the week. We are about start off toward the unknown location when Ivana tells me to stop. Why don't we use the parking garage under their building? There is a frosted glass window right in front of their parking space which offers excellent lighting. We go in and check it out and it works great, in fact better than the original location because it offers more privacy. And since we are shooting the "Hooker" scene, a little more privacy wouldn't hurt.

Patti, as you may have guessed, plays the Hooker. Again I was amazed at the amount of work the actors do to prepare for even the briefest moment in their character's life. The situation was potentially awkward, but Patti made it a breeze. She invested her character with attitude and charm and spirit and allowed us to pull off a tricky scene with humor and class. Like Linda, she put her trust in me totally on faith and allowed us to share her unique gift.

It was an added blessing to have Ivana involved. Not only did she contribute ideas and suggestions during the writing of the script, not only did she agree to play the pivotal role of "Christina" in her acting debut, not only did she provide tremendous insight and practical knowledge throughout the production, but she's also a great friend who made this experience so much more exciting and fulfilling just by being there to share it with me and talk about it and plan and strategize and just plain enjoy. Because it was more fun than I would have ever imagined. And when you're having fun, it's even better when you can share it with people you love.

Speaking of which, none of this would ever have happened with Jon. Day after day, take after take, cigarette after cigarette, Jon worked harder than anyone, worked more than anyone, performed far beyond my expectations and really took the whole project to a higher level. And he did it all with smiles and jokes and charm and grace and wit and fun and complete professionalism. For the past two days, I have been looking at the rough footage from what we shot last week and I keep thinking the same thing over and over: "Man, is he making me look good."

A script is only a script, but a performance is a living breathing organism with a life of its own. Jon's performance has given my script a life I never knew that it had. I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Jon and learn from him about what an actor can do. Because a good actor makes all the difference in the world. And for all I've learned in the past week, the most important thing is that there is a whole lot more for me to learn. But I am hooked for life on this gig and I'm going to keep on doing this until I get it right.

But first, I have to learn how to edit.

Love, HWD