I'm Not Dead... Yet! (52 page)

I may have lived in the Bible Belt for a few years, but I was raised as a non religious Jew; what did I know about evangelicals? He said the writer-producer had shot a documentary on Billy Graham, was a personal friend of the Graham family, and would help me with my religious learning curve.

Every new project brings hope, and I had a brainstorm for our family. Zephyr was at a point in his life where he realized unless he wanted to coach, basketball wasn’t going to be his life mission. Karla and I asked him, and with his high school principal’s blessing I told Zephyr, “I want you to pack for 3 months of
work
. You’re going to be my assistant. I don’t want you to bring a single schoolbook or think about school for one second. I’m going to
teach
you everything I know—I’ll be your teacher; or at least try.” (
Try
is a big word in our family. I judge others and myself by how hard they/I
try
. The
effort
is so very important to me.)

“Zephyr, if I’m location scouting and you have to pretend you’re an actor in the scene, and I’m checking my framing for a shot, then you stand where I tell you to stand. I’ll always take care of you, but the days and nights will be long. Moviemaking is not glamorous. It’s
tedious
.”

Zephyr was excited to be my new assistant. I said, “Yes” to the producer. Zephyr and I got in the car and began our journey to Nashville,

a new adventure for our family and a new escapade for my heart! Creativity! Inspiration! What could be better for the heart? Not ju
st my heart, but
all of our hearts!
(Yet another move… into hotels and motels for more than three months.)

The first (and most wonderful) thing that happened in Nashville was meeting the crew. Because I came to the film late, as a favor for my friend, I met a crew already in place. (For anyone thinking of shooting in Nashville, there are great, skilled people there.) I also became one lucky director—I was sent several reels for DP’s from LA, and by instinct chose the perfect man...

David Rudd instantly became an artistic soulmate. We are like brothers. We bounce ideas off of one another and neither of us care who gets credit or how the idea would spiral into another idea. Working with David Rudd actually has given my film-life a shot of adrenaline, igniting a new
hope
inside me that was dormant, just waiting to spew ideas again.

(If I have any say in the future, I never want to make a film without my creative soulmate, David Rudd.) We did our preproduction in Nashville at light speed, spending some time in Los Angeles casting the lead role of Billy, and to see if we could get Martin Landau for a pivotal role in the film. Mr. Landau and I hit it off immediately and I loved working with him.

And did we ever find the lead… Armie Hammer walked into the audition and possessed everything I was looking for in the character.
And he did something I think I’ve only seen twice in my life: gave an audition that was absolutely perfect. It was… brilliant. Even in the land of “BRILLIANT,” where the word is so overused that brilliant can mean ‘the steak was medium-rare, take it back,’ I actually saw true brilliance.

Armie was not immediately embraced by the producers because the pompous casting director had the ‘balls’ to say that Armie “always comes in second. He’s just not a star.” My advice to that casting director is to (get out of casting) wait a few years and then eat your ‘BRILLIANCE’ medium-rare, with a heaping side of your own words, and please don’t forget to add the bitterness.

Armie Hammer has since become a bonafide movie star. So how’s that for ‘always finishing second?'

I begged Karla to come to Nashville, wear age make-up and play Billy’s 65 year-old secretary in the film. I needed someone to nail two moments in the movie, and Karla was everything I hoped for.

A frantic last minute phone call got our best friend Cliff Bemis to fly in and replace a controversial non actor/real preacher. He would play one powerful scene at a tent revival, inspiring Billy to change his life. Cliff grounded the film and gave a stellar performance.

Working with Armie, Kris Polaha, Stephanie Butler, Noell Pittman, Lindsay Wagner and the entire cast and the crew on this film was a joy. The script was… well, let’s say maybe the two other directors were not fired. Maybe they quit. It was preachy and expositional—all ‘tell’ and very little ‘show’—but everyone working on this film did everything they could to bring it to life. And Zephyr not only assisted me, he took the initiative to run lines with the cast and assist anyone who needed help at any time and in any department. Seeing his effort, the crew chose ‘Way to go Zephyr!’ for the back of the
Billy
t-shirts. Zephyr fell in love with the family business, and got his SAG card. He loved the creative process.

While I was working on editing the film in L.A. and post production in NYC, Karla and Zephyr flew to Fairfield, Iowa, where the good people at the brand new, gorgeously constructed Stephen Sondheim Theater, were beginning rehearsals for my musical
Open Heart
.