TICKER

by Joe Alexandre

As I was preparing to write this article, I remembered reading about the BMW short film series somewhere. Sure enough, I dug through some old film ‘zines and found what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it was a magazine other than Micro-Film, it was Movie Maker issue 43 with The Polish Brothers on the cover, from the summer of 2001. The reason I had the mag was because there was a full page ad on page 59 for a web site called ClickFlick.tv in which my film Back Home Years Ago: The Real Casino had been announced as best doc at the bottom of the page. (Boy, the phone sure rang off the hook on that one!) Right next to it on page 58, a still of Clive Owen and an article on said short film series. Little did I know it would be a harbinger of things to come.

Flashback to 1999, I was busy promoting and editing various versions of my film, The Real Casino, which was financed by IFC. Around this time, I met Peter Broderick, head of recently defunct Next Wave films, a division of IFC, at an IFP function. Peter served as Executive Producer for Joe Carnahan’s Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane, which was the first film they provided finishing funds for and got an ex-lax release by Lions Gate. I’d heard various things about it, mostly negative comments by other filmmakers, so I didn’t know what to think when I finally rented it. I was blown away, actually, when you consider the budget limitation, and what Joe was able to accomplish in those limited parameters. The dialogue rocked, the performances were quite strong, and it delivered a fairly affective little twist at the end. I thought it was head and shoulders above the rest of the super low budget fare like El Mariachi, Clerks, etc. I sent Next Wave an email telling them how impressed I was, especially when I thought it would be just another vapid, superficial Tarantino rip off. They passed my email along to Joe, and a relationship was sparked.

We exchanged emails over time and I sent Joe my film, The Real Casino, which he liked quite a bit, he’d actually read a lot about Tony Spilotro, the Joe Pesci character in Casino, for a project he was working on. He also was very enthusiastic and impressed with my DV feature, Into The Chasm, despite some obvious flaws in sound and bare bones production value. As it turned out, I ended up moving to Northern California, where Joe resided. Joe introduced me to his friend and Producer of BGBO, Leon Corcos. Leon was something of an older brother to Joe, and myself, as it would turn out. He was a filmmaker in his own right, and made his bread and butter on commercials, political spots, and corporate videos. He actually put me to work not long after I arrived in town, and we became pretty close. Joe was in and out of town on writing assignments, and busy trying to put his next film together, Narc. I read the script, and simply, could not put it down. It’s easily one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. I talked to Joe pretty frequently and once in awhile we’d get together and play some tennis, Joe and I spanked Leon and Dan Leis (one of the stars of BGBO and just an overall really nice, low key guy) pretty well.

Flash forward to August of 2002: I’ve been in LA for about a year and half. Narc not only was made, starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, it’s taken the town by storm. And with good reason, it’s easily the best film I’ve seen in 2002, and one of the best, most intense (Scorsese, Kubrick, Oliver Stone, Michael Mann intense) films to come along in years. The actual film far surpasses the script. I’ve kept in touch with Leon, and discover that Joe is slated to direct one of those BMW Films. It started last year as a series of shorts Produced by David Fincher and included directors such as Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer, and Wong Kar Wai, all starring Clive Owen as the driver. Apparently, the campaign sold so many cars they decided to do it again. This year’s slate is produced by Ridley Scott (RSA-USA), and includes helmers John Woo, Tony Scott, and Joe Carnahan, with Leon Corcos as producer on Joe’s short, entitled Ticker. When Leon’s down in LA working on pre- production, he took me to dinner, and I said simply, “Hook a brother up, here.” He did. And, like Martin Sheen’s character, Capt. Willard, in Apocalypse Now, I wanted a mission, but when it was over, I’d never want another.

Not long after, I got a call from Mark, a production coordinator at RSA, to hold August 19-26 as that was the tentative shoot period. I was going to fly up to Northern California with the rest of the crew. I’m excited as this is the biggest shoot I’ve worked on. I’d worked on numerous commercials before, including one directed by Gordon Willis Jr., son of the famous D.P. who shot The Godfather films, as well as several spots that were shot by Barry Markowicz, who went on to shoot both Slingblade and The Apostle. Sure enough the dates changed slightly, it was going to be the 22nd through the 26th, and instead of flying up, I was going to drive a Super Cube up. (A large van that would become the electric “slop” truck, used by the grips and gaffers to store extra equipment from their truck.) Of course, I had to pick up some things on my way, including some video assist equipment, and got a ticket in Marina Del Rey driving a big commercial vehicle through a non commercial area, another portent of things to come. The truck guzzles gas on my way up North, but it’s a pleasant drive as it has a good cd and cassette player. I jam my Joy Division, just saw 24 Hour Party People, Roxy Music, and The Who cd’s, and finally make up it to the Hotel, where the production office is located, at about 9 pm. I meet Mark and Jonas, the UPM, and a few of the PA’s as well. I definitely get the “who is this guy” vibe. I see Leon later in the lobby, and he tells me, “be very attentive, these guys keep asking who you are, and only use their own production people.” He’s excited as he lists off the cast: Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta, Clive Owen, F. Murray Abraham, Robert Patrick (the T-2 guy), and Dennis Haysbert (Heat and the Fox show 24.) I get to my room, order up some room service, lay out my clothes for the next morning, and end up not being able to sleep. The call is 5 am, arrrghhh! I find myself glued to some stupid movie, It’s Alive, I think. It’s about a mutant infant terrorizing the streets of LA, cheesy for sure, but keeps my attention.

Day one, the alarm goes off, seems I’d just gotten to sleep when it’s time to roll. I get breakfast at the catering truck, get my walkie, and drive to the locale. The location is a remote road, near a vineyard, in which we have to drive this convoy of trucks along a winding river road to get to. I find out later that the river’s claimed many a passenger, and I can see why, there’s no guardrail, and not much between you and the drink. The sun’s coming up, and we all make it to the base camp safely. The crew is at about 125 people, and is like moving a small army, but it all goes very smoothly. The electric guys are looking for the slop truck and I park it next to them, and start moving, looking for a mission. As things get more settled, the 1st AD Brian Altham, a brit, and a very cool dude, calls a safety meeting. He explains the shot, which entails crashing a Humvee into a Suburban, real time, with a Helicopter flying over head, and various other shots. RSA is very, very conscientious about safety, it’s no joke, and is taken very seriously. It drives home just how big and ambitious this show really is.

On most shoots, the first thing you look to do as a PA, is get with a department: Camera, grips, art department, etc. I start helping the video assist guy get set up, and end up staying close to the Key set PA Robert Torres. He, Adan, Mo, and Bradley are the battled scarred vets and these guys basically do the work of ten men, they’re the best PA’s I’ve ever worked with. You quickly see the different kinds of PA’s there are: the grunts, like us, the office bitches (not gender specific) who are basically the teachers pets, doing the paperwork, running errands, etc. Then there are just basically the useless ones who you don’t know what the hell they’re doing. I also start to find out just how big time this shoot really is. The D.P. is Mauro Fiore, the guy who shot Training Day, the 2nd Unit D.P. is Larry Blanford, who’ll spend most of the day strapped to a chopper shooting pov shots of a stunt gunman also on the chopper, and shot all the aerial sequences in Top Gun. One myth is shattered right away, the old adage of the waste and laziness of Hollywood. I’m sure, as a matter of fact, I know, that’s the truth in some cases, but not here. Everyone, with a few of the aforementioned exceptions, is busting their hump to get the job done. It’s Charlie hustle from sun up to sundown. I discover later in the shoot that Joe has the tallest order to fill. John Woo has a crew of 200 plus, and 9 days, Tony Scott, similar crew, and 7 days, while Joe’s short is the most ambitious and he has only 5 days, and the smallest crew. Joe’s brilliance as a director cannot be over stated, but more on that later.

The war metaphor is one that will pop up again and again. The base camp is a swirling dust bowl, the radios crackling away, “fire in the hole” a phrase that’s heard often as real weapons dispense blanks, helicopter buzzing about. Most of all, I feel like a green, raw, grunt just thrown into the firefight for the first time. Several of the PA’s ask if this is my first gig, it’s not, but certainly my first like this. Leon sees me, and smiles, “You asked for it.” I finally make it up to the set, after the crash. It’s quite a sight. The Suburban front end is smashed, it’s wheels inverted, as the axel is cracked. There are ambulances, paramedics, and big water trucks nearby to keep the ground moist to avoid fires. The stunt driver is walking about, and I bring him some water and a sandwich. He says he closed his eyes when he saw the speedometer at 55 and boom. I look inside the two cars and both are specially rigged with safety features, and have the back end gutted to place camera mounts. There were six cameras rolling to capture the crash. Of course, safety being of the utmost importance, no one’s hurt, not even a scratch. The basic gag is that Don Cheadle is driving along with bodyguards, carrying an important briefcase when a Humvee swerves into him, crashes, and two soldiers jump out of the Humvee with AR 15’s blazing. Don gets out, scratched up, and returns fire with his 9mm. He escapes into the vineyard and then the Chopper starts chasing him. He then presses a code into his cell phone, and Clive Owen will show up in the BMW Z4. The sun’s going down, and after various coverage is shot of the post crash scene, the Helicopter shots take precedence. We all huddle in a camouflaged covering so the chopper can’t see us, as there’s a camera capturing Don running through the vineyard, and a camera hidden at ground level getting the Chopper flying by shooting at Don. It’s a very cool shot. Joe knows exactly what he wants, and just wills it to happen, he’s a great field general. He knows when to push and when to lighten up the mood with some levity. Even though he’s a fairly new, young director he has the full respect of the crew, and behaves like an experienced veteran, even more impressive when you consider the sheer size and scope of this shoot.

The sun finally sets, we get all the shots we need, that’s a wrap. I get back to base camp and see F. Murray Abraham. He looks at me, smiles and says hello, I say hello back and think to myself he must think I’m somebody important. No, actually, that’s just the type of guy he is, a really nice pleasant man. I can’t help but think of him in Scarface and Ammadeus, and his nasty rough characters. Of course, that’s what great actors do: create memorable characters. He’s here for his wardrobe fitting for tomorrow’s shoot. Not until 9 pm or so do we get the vans rolling to the next location. We drive to a small airport near Sacramento, which is where we’ll shoot in the morning. Jordan “Jordo” Edelman is the “Transpo” guy, Transportation Captain, who organizes all the trucks and makes sure we get back to the hotel. He’s a very nice guy and has one heck of a tough job, but is very good at it. We get back to the hotel around 10 or so. I’m in the elevator and there’s a huge sign telling us all to check out in the morning, there’s a company move after tomorrow’s shoot to a new location. I get a copy of the script and storyboard’s but I’m so exhausted I can’t make heads or tails of it, I literally can’t focus on reading. I also shower now, so when I have to get up in 6 or so hours I can just pop out of bed and go.

Day two, this is the “easy” day. I think this might be the 19 hour day, but to tell you the truth, they all blend together, and it’s all such a blur, I’m not sure which was the 19 hour day. But, I do know we had one, most of the other days are a paltry 16 hours. We shoot at a small private jet airport, Murray (F. Murray) and Don (I call them by their first names because that’s what everyone else has done during the shoot), are in the scene we spend the first half of the day on. Murray’s character gives Don’s character, Sy, his assignment, and the shooting goes pretty smoothly, as it’s an interior in the small airport terminal. A Lear jet is being taxied on the runway in the background of the shot. I commit my first gaffe. My job is to lock down the back of the terminal, make sure no one enters the terminal once we’re set up for a shot. A big gas truck drives in the background and I’m not sure if it’s part of the shot or not. I’m just told to lock down pedestrian traffic, but sure enough, Mauro the DP calls cut when he sees the truck. Joe gives me a little shit about it later. We reposition ourselves to lock all traffic once cameras roll. Later, I meet one of the advertising agency guys, Brian DiLorenzo, from Fallon in Minneapolis, whom I knew when I lived there. Real nice guy, he’s an executive producer for Fallon and is over seeing all three shorts for the agency. Not only do I know both the director and producer, but one of the key ad people, who basically along with BMW are our raison d’etre. Like everything in Hollywood, it’s not who you know, it’s who you know.

We move in to a hanger on the other side of the terminal. This will be the last shot in the film when it’s all put together, (obviously, most of the time, for expediency and practicality, things are shot out of sequence and put together later in post.) This is where Clive Owen will drive Don Cheadle to the final destination. He will then be met by special agents played by Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert, and Robert Patrick. I get a chance briefly to speak to Mr. Liotta. Joe got my friend, Jan, and I into a special screening of Narc, back in March, where we met his wife, one of the producers. As chance would have it Jan ran into Ray the very next day at the Gym. We were working on a script, Sellout, perfect for Mr. Liotta as one of the leads. Jan pitched it to him and he gave us his manager’s contact info. I developed a relationship with one of his managers, Louise Ward, she passed on the script but was impressed with some of my other work I’d sent her, and she sort of hip pocketed (tentatively signed) me. But, not long after she moved to another agency and that ended that. I just wanted to thank Ray for his time and thought in helping us out. Again, a very nice, personable guy. I get the feeling a lot actors just want to be thought of as regular folks, but let’s face it they’re not. They live a completely different kind of life than most of us, then again, I suppose most guys just realize they have a great gig, and why not be cool. The last shot is with the stunt driver and stunt double for Don who drive in, tires screeching, doing a big donut, kicking up dust. The car is purposely beat up, and has bullet holes on the hood. The sun goes down, and we wrap. Again the PA’s, those of us who are the grunt PA’s, not the office bitches, (can you tell I’m bitter), have several hours of work ahead of us. We make it to the new hotel, which is near Auburn, CA, sometime around 10 or 11. I’m not really sure, hit the bed, I’m out.

Day three, the drive out to the set is a good half hour or more. We are in the Tahoe national forest, up in the mountains, somewhere between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. God’s country, I mean it really is spectacular. I get assigned to work with Jordo in Transpo, I drive one of the Ford excursions with some crew people down to the set which at a bridge at the base of the mountain. It is beautiful, but the drive is a little hairy, as it’s a long steep fall off the edge of the road, no guard rail and I’m definitely not one for heights. I end up getting re- assigned to watch over the water slop truck. This truck has extra cases of water, Gatorade, and soda for the crew, which is vital in the hot sun. It’s 90 plus the entire shoot. I feel a little sheepish just sitting around while my PA brothers are busting their ass on set, but Jordo assures me to stay put and dispense the cases of water as people come to pick it up. The chopper buzzes about the valley, it really feels like something out of a Vietnam movie. I talk to a few of the water truck guys, whose job it is to keep the ground around the set moist, as forest fires are a definite concern. The water truck guys are pretty cool, local guys, one of them is a nice inquisitive type, who’s never worked on a film before. His curiosity is refreshing, but after awhile becomes a little annoying. The day goes pretty smoothly, but we miss one key shot, as the sun goes down at the base of the mountain, we have to move up to get the sun again, and do another shot. We’ll get the shot missed first thing tomorrow morning. Back at base camp the UPM raves about a couple new PA’s he’s just hired, “these guys are real finds, good job guys.” Yeah, one of them is a real find! More on that later. The RSA guys act like I’m dipped in shit, Leon knows I’m busting my ass, and says so, but I’m invisible to these other guys. I’m just not one of their guys, I guess. We wrap, it’s a walk away, because we’re coming back to the same location tomorrow. I think, but I’m not sure, the blur thing again, this is the shortest day at 15 hours. Get to the new hotel, crash.

Day four, we get to the location and get the shot that was missed earlier. A couple of other guys who are worth mentioning are the 2nd AD, Eddie Nichols, and the 2nd 2nd Johnny Mmahatten, these guys are really busting their ass under incredible pressure, and do an incredible job, especially Eddie. I try to get some sunscreen on, but I’m getting pretty well burned. My sneakers are caked with dirt, my clothes all grimed up only a few hours on the set, my feet are sore, and my surgically repaired knee is getting a little tweaked. It’s rough work, but someone’s gotta do it. I ending working with a 3rd unit, directed by Leon, we’re shooting close up inserts of the car. The car’s supposed be shot up, and fluid leaking from the engine, it matches a shot of Don’s briefcase getting shot up, and fluid leaking from it. We (meaning the audience) don’t know what’s in the case. Later, I end up gathering garbage at the base camp, I’ve got a bunch of bags on a mag liner cart, and they’re falling off the cart as I’m trying to get it to the dumpster. One of the “great find” PA’s, Jerome, is standing around with his thumb up his ass watching me. I need to send him a written and engraved invitation to jump in and help. “Hey, bro, think you could gimme a hand here?” He wanders over and helps me get the garbage to the dumpster, when we get there I start throwing the bags in, he just turns around and wanders off. I’ve got like ten or so full bags to throw in. What a find! What a lazy jagoff!

One of the PA’s, Adan, teaches me a valuable lesson. As anyone who’s been on a film set knows, the buzz of the walkie- talkie is integral to the process. “So and so what’s you 20?” (location) “So and so, send some PA’s to the set, copy?” Now, I’m a lot like Uncle Paulie in GoodFellas, I hate phones and conferences. I hate talking on the phone, I hate cell phones, and I hate people hearing what I’m saying or what I’m being told. But, this isn’t the ‘outfit’, it’s a film shoot. And while I’m pretty good about it, I can get a lot better. Adan explains that if you’re not always on the radio letting people know you’re on a mission, letting people hear you’re name, no one knows what you’re doing. You could be busting your ass, but no one hears you on the radio, the AD’s don’t really know who you are. He’s right, and I do a lot better job of getting more vocal the rest of the shoot. At one point Joe Carnahan grabs a walkie and starts talking gibberish, “blah, blah, blah, copy that?” He literally has me laughing at loud, mocking it all. He keeps the crew in good spirits. It’s funny, someone mentions today’s Sunday, it’s so crazed I don’t even know what day it is. I can only distinguish them as day 1, 2, 3, etc. It’s getting close to sunset, the end of the day is near. Jordo grabs me and tells me to get into one of the Ford Excursions and just wait for further instruction. There’s buzzing about the set as Johnny the 2nd 2nd AD escorts Don Cheadle to my car. I’m low on gas, but I’ve got enough to get to the hotel, Johnny gives me some money out of his pocket to get gas to come back. It’s been a hectic shoot and Don has a lot of continuity issues to deal with. He has to wear a suit that’s clean pre- crash and another that’s dirty post crash. He has to have special cut makeup applied post crash, no makeup pre- crash, so it gets confusing. He’s been a trooper in dealing with it all and the producers want to make sure he gets back to his hotel as soon as possible.

Don jumps in the back seat, with a few magazines and vhs copy of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, and we take off. Let me just repeat this, I’m driving Don fucking Cheadle, one of my favorite actors, along with Ray Liotta, whom I just met in person as well, back to his hotel. He asks me if anyone else is coming, he assumed so, which is why he jumped in back. I say no, I’m just taking you back to the hotel. He tells me to pull over and he jumps in front. That’s the kind of guy he is, super cool. Once he’s in front I melt like a schoolgirl with a big crush. I tell him what a fan I am, quote a few of his lines from Traffic, “what are we on Larry King, here?” I talk about the Rat Pack, Out of Sight, I even mention Hamburger Hill, his first film, which I’d just seen on Bravo again a few weeks prior. Courtney Vance, Dylan McDermett, and Don reminds me Steven Webber, all got their breaks on that film. I think he’s impressed that I really know his body of work. I do forget to mention Boogie Nights, but what the heck, he knows what he was in. We talk about writing, the industry in general, acting. I tell him about my work, my relationship with Joe, what a great film Narc is, and a little of the back story on how it got made, or as much as I know about that. I find out who his agent is, and just talk about personal stuff, where he’s from, etc. He’s very cool. We get to the hotel and I ask him if he’d look at my film, The Real Casino, which I brought, as well as a few scripts, just in case something like this happens. Most actors won’t want to read a script in that situation, but watching a 25 minute short is a different story, and I figure since he was watching videos while in the trailer, what the heck. He responds, “bring it, bring it, bring it.” I stop and get gas for the drive back and am on a complete high. I have to admit, the first few days I had serious misgivings about the whole thing. I realized it was a great opportunity, but I’m really a writer/director and as much as I’d like to work production, this is really a rough way to make a buck, especially as a PA. But, this has made it all worth it. I get back to the set and help wrap, no sweat, happy to do it. I get something from the catering truck before they close shop for good. When I get back to the hotel, I step outside to have a smoke and see the catering guys getting ready to serve breakfast in six or so hours. These guys go basically 24/7. They get breakfast ready by 4:30 am or so, then serve lunch, and dinner, get back to the hotel and do it again. They maybe sleep two hours a night, maybe, and this is for a week straight. It’s not just sloppy Joe’s and sandwich’s, it’s skirt steak, scallops, halibut, shrimp, all great stuff. Sure, they make good money with OT and all, but tough way to make a living. Hollywood, making movies, the glamour of it all!

Day five, I get up and get breakfast at 5 am and get a copy of my film and press kit to the driver of Don’s trailer. We have a new location, but thankfully it’s very close to the one we’ve been at the last few days, a little closer from our hotel. Today is the last day of the shoot, and there’s a big explosion stunt planned. We get settled at the new base camp, and it’s near a bridge, along a running steam cutting through the mountains, but not as steep as where we were yesterday. There are three separate sets and units working. Again, beautiful locale. One is the helicopter unit, which is near the stream and very difficult to get to. We have to take an Excursion over a path and through the rock filled riverbed to get to the chopper guys. I’m trying to get a cooler of water and snacks to these guys but it’s getting tough to get down there, and there’s some tension building as it’s a real hot day. I finally effort my way down there with the supplies, they’re very pleased. We’ve had California Highway Patrol, CHP, locking down the traffic when we’re shooting all week. Eddie the 2nd AD is trying to get one of the CHP to lock up his side of the road. I know he has a walkie because I gave it to him personally. I make my way over and find out what’s wrong. “Don’t you have the walkie I gave you?” He responds, “Yeah, it’s in the car.” Boy, these CHP’s are real sharp guys, real rocket scientists. I want to say, hey pal, the whole purpose of giving you the walkie is so we can contact you. What do I say, “Hey pal, the whole purpose of giving you a walkie is so we can contact you.” He has a stupid glazed look in his eye, the guy’s probably so stupid he doesn’t know he’s alive. Not only is his walkie in the car, it’s not even turned on. By the way, these guys are getting paid pretty damn well to sit on their ass to hold traffic.

There’s a little tension to get this explosion shot because we’re in a national park, there’s a park ranger who says we need to get the shot by noon. Everyone hustles and we get in place and ready to go. Six cameras rolling again, and it’s a huge gasoline drum on top of the bridge rigged to explode with some debris that’s supposed to fall from the bridge. Everyone wants to see stuff explode so there’s a nice crowd building up the road from the bridge. It all goes off with out a hitch, not really as a big a deal as I’d thought it would be. Several water trucks are nearby keeping the area moist, as well as fire department and paramedics. Everything goes smoothly and safely. A lot of us PA’s have to clear up the debris under the bridge, every single little bit of corkboard. The park ranger watches to make sure it’s done, and we clean it all up. I make my way back to the craft service for some water. I look like I’ve just come back from combat, and feel like a battle tested veteran by now. Another of the PA’s, Jonathan, a real young kid who’s been completely useless the entire shoot, and who I kind of snapped at earlier, scurries around asking if he can get me anything. I guess he’s feeling a little sheepish. He’s really a young kid, and probably has no idea what an opportunity he has, but when something like this comes you really have to bust your ass and give it your all. There are plenty of things to learn, but as long as you’re making an effort, people will respect that. This kid’s clothes have been sparkling clean the entire shoot.

The rest of the day goes smoothly, it’s getting close to sundown and Don Cheadle and Clive Owen and are done and shuttled off in limos to the airport. I talk to the driver of Don’s trailer and he gives back my tape saying Don loved it. Before you know it, it’s almost 9 pm and I’m in the Production trailer getting some petty cash for the drive back, filling out my time card, and getting my day rate solidified. Leon’s in the trailer and ready to take off, he tells me to get going, he’ll give me a ride back to the hotel. I go back and drop off my walkie with Robert. I feel a little sheepish, because there’s still some work to be done. But, what the hell, a lot of other PA’s have bolted and Leon’s the Producer and when he says let’s go, who am I to argue. Leon says, “you worked your ass off, I haven’t seen you move like that in years.” I feel good at least he saw I was giving it my best. There’s a wrap party at a nearby bar, so we get back, get cleaned up and go. They’ve ordered some pizzas and I hang out, talk to a few people, thank Joe personally for getting me on. I’m tired and ready to go back to the hotel, but Leon has to say his thank you’s and goodbyes to everyone and pay for the party. I can’t leave until he does. I get back and crash, the phone rings at 8:30 am, it’s Robert and we all meet up in the lobby to convoy back to LA. We stop for breakfast on the way back. I say, “Damn, aren’t you guys sore?” They’re a little worn down but they’re used to it. They say it’s definitely not the normal show, though. Again, these guys are the best PA’s I’ve ever seen. We get back on the road and get separated, I take my time as I kind of like the drive. Finally, get back to LA and drop the truck off in Hollywood and get to my car. It’s parked near a friends’ house, because I live on the west side and don’t want to get killed on parking. After a nice dinner on RSA I finally get back to my place. A friend calls and reminds me he’s coming to town tomorrow, and it couldn’t possibly be worse timing. I’m very tired, exhausted, and I’m a little short with him. I apologize. He says, “no problem, I’m tired too, bro.” What a fucking joke! There’s no way to compare a few long bar shifts to working five 16 plus hour days in a row. Unless you’ve worked production, and even if you have, there’s no way to articulate how draining this shoot really was.

It takes me almost a week to get back to normal and feel like a human being again. I talk to Leon about a week later and he says the same thing. After the dust settles I work on my newest script, Clean Slate, and clean it up a bit. I call both Don Cheadle and Ray Liotta’s managers and get the script to them. It’s a totally different response when you call people like that and say, “I just worked on the BMW spot and talked to Ray/Don about a project…etc.” You get a little bit more attentive response. In the case of Ray Liotta the script gets directly to his production company. At bare minimum, I just hope it demonstrates some skill and leads to something, if not a direct sale. At the end of the day, I’m thrilled and greatly appreciative to have had this opportunity. I can say without hesitation to remember the name Joe Carnahan. He will be one of the great directors of all time. Narc is going to get an Oscar push by Paramount, and I think Ray Liotta will win for best actor. Joe’s BMW short will be incredible, and he’s already attached to direct a Harrison Ford film, A Walk Among the Tombstones. An already hot director will become even hotter. Not many, if any, filmmakers could have done what Joe accomplished. He’s the real deal. Personally, while I loved working on the film and all the high tech gadgetry, I see myself much more a filmmaker of character driven fare. I saw Mikey and Nicky, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk, a few weeks before I worked on Ticker. Even though it’s written and directed by Elaine May, it has Cassavetes fingerprints all over it. It’s technically sloppy, and not necessarily well crafted, but simply a mesmerizing film, one in which you can’t take your eyes off these characters. Those are the kind of films where my heart lies. I certainly hope I get the chance to work for Joe again on a feature, but this experience just brings home the fact that I’m a writer/director. I’m sure I could probably parlay this experience into more production work, but it’s not where my heart nor my calling really lie. But grateful for the experience.