Blind Item #10 - Stranger Things Have Happened - A Himmmm Blind Item - Part 3

Around that time Buddy let some of his wild streak take over, and we both got in trouble for "borrowing" an un-used hearse and cruising Hollywood one night.  He ended up sent off to school in Boston, then New York.  By my college years, Buddy was supposed to come with me to England again for a big concert.  But his acting career had started to take shape and landed a role in a television movie.  After getting his butt in trouble for his partying and slacking, he'd gotten more into physical training.  He also turned to acting seriously, supported by his mom and MY parents as well.  My Dad got him his first agent and helped set up a multi-film studio pact.  But all his acting, and my summer job working at a family production company – meant we couldn't team up yet.  We talked every few days, and were looking for a new project we could do together.  Something I could cut my teeth on in Producing-Directing-Writing; and he could star in.

I had discovered a very dark, underground comic through an old pal of mine who was an art school kid back east.  I loved this dark comic, and went to a friend of mine to help me find the author.  Barely out of my teens I wound up the proud owner of the movie rights, which I partnered with a producer and sold to an indie film outfit.  Oddly, they could not get a single director to attach to this movie.  I resisted calling in favors or getting family involved.  I stubbornly wanted to make it on my own.  Finally, I suggested a guy who had been directing music videos/commercials at a company my family co-owned where I was working.  This former A list, mostly movie director, (who today is trying to make a comeback after a big absence) was a genius and saw the potential right away.  He was THE Director we wanted; and allowed my friend to audition.  What we had was a nice, little, indie film.  I had sold all my interests in it but stuck around and helped do script punch-ups and dialogue doctoring for the screenplay.  I was sort of an all-purpose Executive Producer for everything.

The day Buddy got the call that he'd won the part, he called Nin at her Southern college to tell her.  Afterwards, I snuck upstairs to call her back.  She was auditioning for small movies herself, and I was helping her on the sly.  I begged her to fly out for the week, but always the smart one – she stayed at school to work and study her scripts (or her part-time off-again college boyfriend).  So that left Buddy and I to throw a celebration to blow out all the stops.  We invited EVERYBODY, and they all showed up.  My parents' house looked like Jake's house after that party scene in Sixteen Candles.  Pizza on the turntable, foam oozing from the vents.  When Dad came home early from his golfing trip, he lovingly pulled me by my hair - from beneath a blanket made of empty beer cans laying on top of me on the couch.  Buddy raised up from beneath the coffee table – smiling big, with bloodshot eyes. Dad said: "Whatever it was I hope it was worth you two now having to join the Army since I'm kicking you BOTH out."

Buddy and I looked at each other a brief, solemn second.  Then, as if on cue, we BOTH said – deadpan: "Stranger things have happened". Then with that same charisma, and a glint in his eye; he gave a big shit-eating grin.  Ferris Bueller couldn't have done it better.  Dad was so pissed off - but with gallows humor, could not help but laugh.  We promised to clean up and repair everything – which we did.  But I don't doubt that if Buddy's charismatic charm had not saved the day? I'd now have the most illustrious career as a latrine-cleaner in the history of the Army's Alaskan Command.

After the partying was done, we went full-on into making our way as young bucks on this movie.  It takes a LONG time to get a movie project from development to production. We stayed at it day and night.  Buddy made some smaller movies, and I worked other projects; but we always kept this one chugging ahead.  The team, especially the director, really pulled in an amazing group of the most incredible talent who'd not yet broken out to the big time.  After work on the script, I focused on the soundtrack.  Working with the director, and Buddy too – we all wanted an epic soundtrack of rock songs to match the powerful visuals.  I immediately went to London, and recruited this foreign-born, former A list singer of a very dark rock band.  When you get a legendary "Goth-father" to agree to do original tracks for this type of film? You're holding magic.  I told that musician the dark comic was inspired by his music, and music of groups like Joy Division.  He loved the comic, and he and I worked tirelessly to build the music whenever he was sober enough.  I helped write the words for the song, and came up with a haunting backing piano track.  He took it to a perfectly new level.

Buddy was working his ass off training and practicing his lines.  We'd run lines on the phone at 4am London time – though he never knew his sister was beside me in bed instead of at college in New Orleans.  She was on college break and, well…love makes you do stupidly dangerous stuff.  She was getting her own roles now in small movies, and I was so proud of her.  I knew she could be an epic female action star on her own.  But Buddy began having doubts about his own abilities on the film.  I was getting calls from Cissy, who was by now his fiance, asking me to please return home to L.A. to help him.  She was very worried and we were still only in pre-production.  She said he felt so pressured to make a huge hit – that he was heading for a breakdown.  After Nin snuck back to school in New Orleans, I caught the first plane home.